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Anamnesis, that is to say, memento or memorial,
applies to the prayer in which are recalled the different
mysteries of the Passion, the Resurrection, Ascension, etc.
Epiclesis is the invocation in which the eternal Fa
ther is implored to send the Holy Ghost upon the Obla
tion.
I. The Oblation is, by the receiving and the presen
tation to God of the offerings, the immediate prepa
ration for the holy Sacrifice.
Turning towards the congregation the priest reiterates
his invitation, Dominus vobiscum; then summoning
the faithful to prayer, he says Oremus. No prayer,
however, is said, the cantors immediately beginning the
antiphon of the Offertory which the priest himself
recites. Some liturgists think that formerly at this
moment there were recited, as on Good Friday, a series
of prayers in which all classes of the Christian com
munity were specified. Others say that this was the
time when the diptychs or tablets containing the names
of those persons to be specially remembered in the holy
Sacrifice were read aloud. However this may be, it is the
time for the faithful to specify privately their intentions
in union and conformity with Jesus Christ who is about
to descend upon the altar. In the early Church it was
at this time that the priest and his assistants received
the offerings made by the faithful, bread, wine and
other necessaries for the holy Sacrifice. From the
fourth century, a psalm was sung antiphonally to main
tain attention and good order during the offertory.
When the offerings had been received, the assistants
set apart and carried to the altar all that was to be
consecrated. In commemoration of this the subdeacon
takes from the credence table the chalice and
host and carries them to the altar, where they are received