“Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius …” you know how it goes! If those names sound vaguely familiar to you, it’s because they are the names of a few early Popes listed in Eucharistic Prayer I, which I tend to use at Sunday Mass. The Eucharistic Prayer is the main prayer of the Mass; it begins with the preface dialogue (“The Lord be with you … Lift up your hearts,” etc.) and ends with the doxology (“Through him and with him and in him …”). This is the part of the Mass where the bread and wine are consecrated to become the Body and Blood of Christ. There are four different Eucharistic Prayers (I, II, III, IV, plus a few special ones), and each one has its own “niche” in the life of the Church where it’s especially suited, although they can be interchanged. As for Eucharistic Prayer I, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (the book that tells me how to say Mass!) suggests that it’s especially good for Sundays. I think people are naturally curious as to why I use Eucharistic Prayer I so often, which they may not have heard so much in other places or with other priests. All of our Eucharistic Prayers are beautiful, but my personal practice has been to reserve Sunday for the use of the longest, and in some sense most solemn Eucharistic Prayer, and then mainly use the other Eucharistic Prayers during the week. After writing a bit for this column, I realized that I’m probably going to have to do a whole series on these Eucharistic Prayers! There is just so much in them … a lot of beauty, a lot of history. Too much to say in one week! I’ll return to the subject in the future. In the meantime, let’s give thanks for the rich treasury of these Prayers that God has given us through the Church.