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the whole celebration. Gooder and Perham write that ‘this prayer could be
considered an epiclesis for the whole rite, so that the Holy Spirit could be seen
as enabling both the prayers that were offered and the presence of Christ to be
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experienced’. In the Creed, of course, the Holy Spirit is acknowledged as the
Lord, the giver of life, thus taking us back to the beginning of creation, and
connecting us to the new creation we are made in Christ through the Spirit.
Some Short Prefaces emphasize more than others that it is through the Spirit
that we live Christ’s risen life. Prayer A emphasizes that it is through Jesus, the
Father sends his ‘life-giving’ Spirit, and that it is through the Spirit, we are
made a people for God’s possession. Naturally, the Spirit is invoked over the
gifts, and a prayer to ‘renew us by your Spirit’ features towards the end. The
latter appears as a more explicit epiclesis in other Prayers, for example, in Prayer
B, where it reads ‘Send your Holy Spirit on your people’. With the exception of
the emphasis of the connection between the Incarnation and the Holy Spirit in
Prayer B, the Prayers are uniform in that the Holy Spirit is invoked over the
gifts and the assembly. The prayers before Holy Communion make no
reference to the Holy Spirit, and instead, focus on a prayer for being worthy to
even approach the altar. The prayers after Communion, however, make it clear
that it is through the power of God’s Spirit that his assembly can give him
praise, and that the missionary focus of the whole event is carried forward in
the power of the Spirit. Certainly, the Holy Spirit features prominently
throughout the liturgy; it is clear that the’ unending day’ and ‘new creation’
given in the Eucharist is through the Spirit, as it is also clear that the fruits and
commission are carried out in the Spirit. However, whether the liturgy
manages to make explicit, or to allude to the fact the whole event is carried out
in the Spirit is another question. It can also be asked whether there is an
over-emphasis of one aspect of the person of the Spirit in Western Eucharistic
liturgy to the cost of the fullness of the Spirit being shown. It is also the case,
however, that any consideration of the Holy Spirit must always remain
connected to the whole work and mystery of the Trinity, thus it is not
suggested here that simply more mention of the Holy Spirit in our liturgy
means a greater understanding of the Holy Spirit, or that the person of the
Spirit is more fully revealed this way.
Thinking about the eschatological dimension of the Anglican
Eucharistic rite, we can conclude that this is visible in a number of ways.
Firstly, in the extent to which the liturgy points to the presence of the Holy

30 Gooder and Perham, Echoing the Word, p. 3.

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