Epicleses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A liturgical invocation or prayer in which the Holy Spirit is called upon to sanctify and make sacred specific elements during a ceremony
2. Referring to the act within Christian worship that seeks divine grace for consecrating offerings
3. This term denotes the theological practice of invoking God's spirit to transform ordinary items into holy ones during religious rites

Etymology: "Epicleses" is the plural of "epiclesis," a term borrowed from Ancient Greek "epíklēsis," meaning "invocation" or "calling upon." In Greek, the root sense was a surname or added name, from "epikaleîn," "to call upon" or "to call on as a surname," built from "epi," "upon," and "kaleîn," "to call." Greek speakers used the word in everyday contexts for a summons or an appeal, long before it acquired a religious meaning. In Christian liturgy, the word came to name the moment in the Eucharist when the priest calls down the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine so that they become sacred. Eastern Orthodox and some other traditions treat this invocation as the decisive part of the consecration, while Western churches have traditionally located the consecration in the words of institution. That disagreement over where the sacred change happens gives the word its particular theological weight.

Synonyms: invocations, supplications, prayers, calls, pleas