At the heart of the service is the Eucharistic Prayer – sometimes called the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving. This is where bread and wine are set apart, and where we give thanks for all that God has done for us in Christ.
In Common Worship there are eight different Eucharistic Prayers. Each tells the story of God’s saving love in a slightly different way, with different emphases and rhythms. Some are shorter, some are more formal, some echo ancient prayers of the Church, and others are more modern compositions. All of them take us to the same place – thanksgiving for Christ’s death and resurrection, and prayer for the Spirit to make him present among us in bread and wine.
Prayer D is one of these eight. It is a new composition, not a translation of an older text. It was written to tell the story of redemption in direct, dramatic language – so that the past might come alive in the present moment.
One of its features is the way it uses vivid, concrete images from scripture rather than abstract ideas. The sentences are short, punchy, and easy to follow. And throughout the prayer there are moments when the congregation responds aloud with words of praise. So this prayer is not just something the priest says on behalf of the people – it is shared work, the “liturgy” of the whole congregation.
Like all Eucharistic Prayers, Prayer D has a structure. First comes the thanksgiving. We give thanks for creation and for the gift of life. The prayer begins with heaven itself as the setting, linking us with the angels and the whole communion of saints.
Then comes the Sanctus, the great song of heaven and earth together: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.” Prayer D places the word heaven both before and after the Sanctus, almost like bookends, reminding us that in worship heaven and earth meet.
Next comes the institution narrative – the retelling of what Jesus did at the Last Supper. In Prayer D this is shorter and simpler than in some other prayers, but the heart of it is the same: Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. He took the cup and shared it, saying, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Then comes the anamnesis – a word that means “remembrance.” In Prayer D it is strikingly simple. It uses a single verb: “We celebrate the cross.” In other prayers we “recall” or “remember” Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. Here it is more direct: we celebrate the cross and all it means.
After that comes the epiclesis – the prayer for the Holy Spirit. In Prayer D it comes towards the end: “Send your Spirit on us now.” The words echo the Emmaus story, when the risen Christ was made known to his disciples in the breaking of the bread. In the same way, we ask that the Spirit will make Christ known to us here and now.
Finally, the prayer ends with the doxology – words of praise to the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Spirit. And just as in Prayer A, there is a further congregational acclamation at the very end.
So what makes Prayer D distinctive? Its concrete, scriptural language. Its shorter, dramatic style. Its repeated responses that draw the congregation in. Its focus on heaven and earth joined in praise. And its powerful simplicity: we celebrate the cross, we ask for the Spirit, we proclaim Christ’s victory.
All the Eucharistic Prayers are ways of telling the same great story – God’s saving love in Jesus Christ, made present to us in bread and wine. But Prayer D, in particular, helps that story feel alive, vivid, and immediate.