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Eucharistic Preface

The opening Eucharistic thanksgiving follows the dialogue between priest and people, praises God for creation, and concludes with the Sanctus, the hymn of the heavenly hosts.[^1][^2]

Also known as: First Eucharistic Prayer

Published 10/2/2026Updated 3 revisionsPage history

Liturgical setting

In Understanding the Liturgy, the opening thanksgiving of the Anaphora is described as the “First Eucharistic Prayer”: it follows the priest’s dialogue with the people and gives thanks for God’s creation of the universe and all creatures, visible and invisible.1 It concludes with the Sanctus, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts.”2

Introductory dialogue

The following exchange takes place between the priest and congregation:3

  • Priest: “The Lord be with you all.” Congregation: “And with your spirit.”3
  • Priest: “Lift up your hearts.” Congregation: “They are with the Lord.”3
  • Priest: “Let us give thanks to the Lord.” Congregation: “It is meet and worthy.”3

Understanding the Liturgy cites Saint John Chrysostom’s explanation that the greeting and response express mutual prayer: the priest prays for the people, and the people pray for the priest.4

Thanksgiving for creation

The priest affirms that giving thanks is fitting and right, then begins the first Eucharistic Prayer with “O Thou Who art.” The commentary interprets this address as an acknowledgment of God’s underived being and connects it with God’s revelation to Moses in Exodus 3:14.5

The prayer recalls the heavenly powers created by God, who worship Him unceasingly, and includes the Cherubim and Seraphim.6 During this section, the deacon exhorts the congregation to look toward the East; the commentary associates this direction with Paradise and expectation of Christ’s coming.6

The Sanctus and the following prayer

The people sing: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thine holy glory.” The commentary connects this hymn with Isaiah 6:3 and, citing Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, explains its recitation as participation in the praise of the heavenly hosts.7

The priest then repeats the threefold “Holy” and begins the second Eucharistic Prayer, a thanksgiving for salvation.7 Thus, the commentary distinguishes the first prayer’s thanksgiving for creation from the second prayer’s remembrance of God’s saving acts after humanity’s fall.12

References

Sources

  1. 1.Understanding the Liturgy — Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 43)
    The Anaphora begins with the great prayer of thanksgiving, from which the Eucharist derives its name (Eucharist means thanksgiving). This prayer of Thanks-giving can be divided into two parts. The First Eucharistic Prayer, which starts immediately following the priest's dialogue with the people, “The Lord be with you all ...”, is a hymn of thanksgiving concerning God's wonderful acts of the creation of the universe and all the creatures both visible and invisible.
  2. 2.Understanding the Liturgy — Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 44)
    with the Sanctus, or the hymn of the Seraphim (Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts . . .). The Second Eucharistic Prayer, is a hymn of thanksgiving concerning God’s wonderful acts of salvation, following man’s fall from grace.
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 536)
    During the mass, the priest takes the mat that is over the host into his right hand and makes the three following signs of the cross: first, to the west, signing the congregation and saying, "The Lord be with you all," to which it responds, "And with your spirit"; second, to the east, signing his fellow servers and saying, "Lift up your hearts," to which the congregation responds, "They are with the Lord"; and, third, he signs himself, saying, "Let us give thanks to the Lord," to which the congregation responds, "It is meet and worthy."
  4. 4.Understanding the Liturgy — Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 44)
    St. John Chrysostom explains this exchange of greetings between the priest and the people by this, “The priest prays for the people, and the people also pray for the priest, for the words “and with your spirit” are nothing but this.”
  5. 5.Understanding the Liturgy — Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 46)
    The priest now reiterates that it is meet (fitting) and right to give thanks to the Lord, then he starts the first Eucharistic Prayer. ... “O Thou Who art,” is a statement, separate from what follows. It is an attribute of God. God is the one “Who Is”, Whose being is not derived from someone else. ... “And God said unto Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM’, and He said, ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.’” (Ex 3:14).
  6. 6.Understanding the Liturgy — Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 49)
    The priest then starts to enumerate all the ranks of the heavenly powers Whom God had created, and who worship Him day and night without ceasing. ... The Deacon now exhorts us to look towards the East. ... By looking towards the East, we are keeping the memory of Paradise, our original home, and we are awaiting the coming of our Lord. ... The priest continues, with two more of the heavenly orders, the Cherubim, full of eyes and the Seraphim, with six wings.
  7. 7.Understanding the Liturgy — Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 50)
    The people now sing this beautiful hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thine holy glory.” This is the Hymn that Isaiah the prophet heard the Seraphim sing without ceasing. (Isa 6:3) “We recite this doxology which comes to us from the Seraphim that we may be sharers of the hymnody of the heavenly hosts.” ... Holy, Holy, Holy, truly O Lord, our God! Thus exclaims the priest, repeating the “Sanctus”, then he starts the second Eucharistic Prayer; a hymn of thanks-giving to God for our salvation.

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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.