Eucharistic liturgy has differed through the centuries and in different Churches. Because of these differences, it is essential that eucharistic liturgy be studied from ahistorical perspective. In The Celebration of the Eucharist, Enrico Mazza offers a thorough account of the theology of the Eucharist and presents a historical analysis of the origin and variety of eucharistic liturgies and their development in the Church. Beginning with the Last Supper, Father Mazza weaves his way through interpretations elaborated by the Fathers of the Church and medieval writers to provide the rich tapestry of concepts and categories adopted by Vatican Council II. Complete with an appendix including Jewish texts and early Eucharistic Prayers, abbreviations, bibliography, and notes, The Celebration of the Eucharist is a comprehensive source for those who have an interest in the theology of the Eucharist in the course of history. Chapters are Old Testament Sacrifices and Ritual Meal," "The Origin of the Christian Eucharist," "From the Jewish Liturgy to the Christian Eucharist," "Primitive Anaphoras: From the Didache to the Mystical Eucharist," "Primitive Anaphoras: Developments of the Eucharistic Liturgy," "Thematic Developments in the Eucharistic Liturgy," "The Early Patristic Period," "Tertullian and Cyprian," "The Fourth Century," "The Early Middle Ages," "The Scholastic High Middle Ages," "The Eucharist and the Relics of the Saints," "The Reformation and the Council of Trent," "The Liturgical Reform of Vatican Council II," "The Implementation of the Liturgical Reform," "The Parts of the Eucharistic Prayer," and "The Last Supper and the Church's Eucharist." Enrico Mazza is professor of liturgical history at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He is the author of Mystagogy: A Theology of Liturgy in the Patristic Ages, Eucharistic Prayers of the Roman Rite, and The Origins of the Eucharistic Prayer published by The Liturgical Press. "

In this critical analysis Enrico Mazza concentrates on structure as he traces the evolution of the Eucharistic Prayer (anaphora) from its origins in the ancient Jewish rites and its Christian beginnings in the Didache. He then examines the paleoanaphoras of the early centuries and moves through the origin and progressive development of the larger anaphoric families (Alexandrian, Roman, Antiochene), showing the influence of the Jewish rites on the formation of the Christian texts before arriving finally at the classical anaphoras of the fourth century. Enrico Mazza is professor of liturgical history at the Universit... Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He is the author of Mystagogy: A Theology of Liturgy in the Patristic Ages and Eucharistic Prayers of the Roman Rite.

This book is a historical-theological commentary on the approved, postconciliar, Eucharistic prayers of the Roman Rite. The author, Father Enrico Mazza, traces each prayer to its root time and gives the reader the cultural-theological climate of those times before analyzing the theological principles as translated in the prayers today.