The Eucharistic Prayer at time of Senseless Tragedy
from
"In Remembrance of Me-Eucharistic Prayers for the
Lesser Feasts and Festivals and other times in the life of the Church"
John Dornheim
P: It is truly right and a good and joyful thing that we give you
thanks, at all times and in all places, in times of gladness and of
sadness, Holy Father, eternal and all powerful God, through Christ our
Lord. In him you have brought us through the waters of baptism and made
us one body, the church, the communion of saints. Therefore with the
whole Church on earth, with angels and all the saints, we proclaim your
glory and with one voice sing (say):
The Sanctus is sung or said.
P: You are indeed holy, O God, the fountain of all holiness. Over the
waters of creation, you brought light from darkness. Out of the waters
of the flood, you brought life from death. Through the waters of the
Red Sea, you brought freedom from bondage. In the waters of baptism,
you bring communion from isolation.
With Rachel, you wail for your children because they are no more. With
Jesus, you weep over the death of Lazarus, his friend. Like a mother
hen, you yearn to comfort and protect your chicks. In the passion of
your Son, you bring all our pains and all our sorrows into your very
Self.
We thank you for creation, for redemption, and for your love that will
reconcile and rule all in all. Especially we thank you for the gift of
Jesus, who is one with you and makes us one in him and one in the faith
of your Church. May we, as insufficient as we are, be strengthened to
offer comfort and forgiveness to those most affected by this tragedy.
On the night before he suffered death, as Jesus gathered his friends
around the table he took bread and, offering thanks to you; he broke
it, and gave it to all of them, saying: ?Take and eat; this is my body,
given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.?
After all of them had eaten, he again took the cup and, offering thanks
to you, he gave it for all to drink, saying: ?This cup is the new
covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the
forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.?
For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we
proclaim the Lord?s death until he comes.
C: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.
P: Therefore, O God, with this bread and cup we remember the
incarnation of your Son, his prayer that we may be one, his death and
resurrection, his ascension and continual intercession for us, and his
sending of the life giving spirit. We cry out for the resurrection of
our lives and the lives of those untimely taken, when Christ will come
again in beauty and power to share with us the great and promised
feast.
C: Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
P: Send your Holy Spirit to bless us and these your gifts of bread and
wine, that the bread we break may be a communion in the body of Christ,
and that the cup we share may be a communion in the blood of Christ.
C: Amen. Come, Holy Spirit,
P: In the waters of baptism you have made us one with him; give us
unity in the faith in this time of inexplicable death, and enable us to
grow in all things in him. May we hear Jesus say to us as he said to
the widow of Nain and to Jairus ?Do not weep? and to her son and his
daughter ?Rise.? Join our prayers with those of your servants of every
time and every place, and unite them with the ceaseless petitions of
our great high priest until he comes as victorious Lord of all.
C: Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all
honor and glory are yours almighty God, now and forever. Amen.
P: And now with the confidence of children of God, we boldly pray:
C: Our Father in heaven...
Permission granted for one time local use of The Eucharistic Prayer at
time of Senseless Tragedy from "In Remembrance of Me-Eucharistic
Prayers for the Lesser Feasts and Festivals and other times in the life
of the Church" ©2007 The Rev. John F. C. Dornheim
