ἐπίκλησις
Epiclesis
eh-pih-KLEE-sis
The prayer in which the priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit upon the gifts so that they become the Body and Blood of Christ.
a calling down upon; an invocation
In every Eucharistic Prayer the priest asks the Father to send his Spirit upon the bread and wine. This invocation is the epiclesis. The Catechism describes it as being, together with the words of institution, at the heart of each sacramental celebration: the Spirit is invoked so that the gifts are transformed and so that those who receive them are made one body. A second epiclesis asks the Spirit to come upon the people.
Sources checked 29 September 2026