Basic Texts for the American Catholic Church Diocese of California Eucharist
THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYERS

These webpages are intended to help you become more familiar with the various texts used during the "Mass" or "Eucharistic Liturgy" of the American Catholic Church Diocese of California. In particular, there are several different "Eucharistic Prayers" that the presider (the priest or bishop) may choose near the middle of the Mass. Each of these has a similar structure and each contains some words that are identical in nearly all of the Eucharistic Prayers (especially the "Eucharistic Acclamations" sung or spoken by all the people, and the "words of institution" recited by the presider, which include the words spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper.)

To help you see both the similarity in structure and the differences between the various Eucharistic Prayers (both in wording and in length), they are printed in parallel columns on the following pages. Texts and responses sung or spoken by all the people are indicated in bold type. The "words of institution" are printed in dark red. Some of the texts spoken by the presider are optional for certain Masses or liturgical seasons, as indicated in small italics.

• Eucharistic Prayers I - IV
   
• Eucharistic Prayers for Masses of Reconciliation I - II
   
• Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children I - III
   
• Eucharistic Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions I - IV
   
• Return to the Main Page on The Order of Mass.