The Seed of the Church

Ah, back in the world of blogging.

Since I have been back in Tampa, most of my time has been split between visiting mission partners and having quality time with my immediate family. My younger sister is about to enter her first year of college and my parents will officially be empty-nesters, so quality time is a must in my house for these few weeks.

I officially head to Seton Hall in one week! (Check out the counter that I wasted spent an hour trying to figure out) Stay tuned for more frequent updates of my life as a missionary.

In one of the many amazing conversations that I had with my mission partners these past few weeks, we were discussing the Eucharistic prayers used at Mass. Many times priests prefer using the shortest one (Eucharistic Prayer II or, as I have dubbed it, the "dewfall" prayer), but the new priest at this MP's parish had taken to saying the loooongest version (Eucharistic prayer I or, as I like to call it, the "all the saints" prayer). The priests at training liked to use this version as well. As the celebrant breezes through the close to 40 saints that are included in the prayer I always wonder who these people were. In fact, this MP remarked that she wished the priest would take the time in a homily to mention one of these saints a week so that the congregation could follow what was happening in the Eucharistic prayer. (Here is a link to the text of all 4 regularly used Eucharistic prayers, if you have no idea what I am talking about, or if you just want a refresher)

It just so happens that today, the feast of St. Sixtus II and his companions, that the priest centered his homily around Eucharistic Prayer I! I knew that I had to share the information with all of you! I know I will not do it justice, so if you are looking for a better explanation to the Eucharistic Prayers, I will point you in the direction of this book that seems to be a better source. Basically the priest said that the first Eucharistic Prayer commemorates the martyrs of Rome, the martyrs whose sacrifice made Christianity possible. Tertullian is famously quoted as saying that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church". Without these amazing witnesses to budding Christianity, the Church would not be what she is today. So we celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice not only with the Church on earth, but we get to join those in heaven as well.

In the next day or two, my ambition is to post the list of the 40ish saints listed in Eucharistic Prayer I with a little description and a link to a more detailed page for each. I hope someone finds it useful! I know I will have tons of fun looking up these saints and I look forward to the next time our priest uses the "all the saints" prayer.