Bread, Wine, and the World

In this post we will turn our attention to the connection between Holy Communion and environmental discipleship.  The best place to start is with the texts of the various versions of the Great Thanksgiving in the prayer book.

The diverse eucharistic prayers[1] in the Book of Common Prayer offer rich fare for environmentally focused theological reflection.  Indeed, the 1979 book demonstrates a renewed concern for praising God for the material creation.  The Alternate Form of the Great Thanksgiving in Rite One, new to this prayer book, intentionally adds thanksgivings for creation and the incarnation which are absent in the previous rite:

All glory be to thee, O Lord our God, for that thou didst create heaven and earth, and didst make us in thine own image; and, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to take our nature upon him….

Praising God for creation (in contradiction to those who fretted that this was some kind of “liberal catholic” innovation) is a return to the earliest eucharistic liturgies of the Church.  The canon of the mass recorded by Hippolytus (c. 200 a.d.) offers: “We render thanks unto thee, O God, through Thy Beloved Child Jesus Christ…through Whom Thou madest all things and in Whom Thou wast well-pleased…”.[2] Likewise the early third century “Anaphora of Addai and Mari” exalts God as creator:

Worthy of glory from all mouths and thanksgivings from all tongues is the adorable and glorious Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who created the world in his lovingkindness and its inhabitants in his clemency….[3]

The Great Thanksgiving is a celebration of all of God’s mighty acts, and while the events of the passion and resurrection of Jesus are central to the feast they are not the sole grounds for praise and adoration.  Thus all of the eucharistic canons introduced in Rite II consistently include praise for creation.  The prime example of this is the much-maligned and infrequently used Eucharistic Prayer C.[4] While the language of the prayer has not weathered the passing of the years gracefully[5], it offers the most robust celebration of God’s work in creation:

God of all power, Ruler of the Universe, you are worthy of glory and praise.

Glory to you for ever and ever.

At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home.

By your will they were created and have their being.

From the primal elements you brought forth the human race, and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us the rulers of creation. But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another.

Have mercy, Lord, for we are sinners in your sight .[6]

Not only is God magnified for creation, the prayer also evokes concern for the environment by acknowledging the earth to be fragile, and, as our island home, God’s unique provision for human life.  Likewise the prayer recognizes humanity’s special responsibility as God’s appointed “rulers of creation” and infers that failure in this role is a part of our rebellion against God and betrayal of his trust.

Eucharistic Prayer D, an adaptation of the Liturgy of St Basil, makes explicit the 1979 book’s affinity for the Christian East’s liturgy and theology.  This prayer praises God as the Maker of all things and sets forth the purpose of the created realm:  “Fountain of life and source of all goodness, you made all things and fill them with your blessing; you created them to rejoice in the splendor of your radiance.”[7]

So the prayers introduced in the 1979 book restore the ancient practice of praising God for his physical creation each time we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  In the next post we’ll take up how these Great Thanksgivings envision our role in relationship to caring for God’s creation.

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