Eucharistic Prayer II

In Brief

Eucharistic Prayer II is the shortest of the three new eucharistic prayers added to the Roman Missal in 1968, and the one most often heard on weekdays.¹ The Consilium presented it as "inspired by the anaphora of Hippolytus", the ancient prayer of the so-called Apostolic Tradition.¹ That is the whole of its antiquity. The prayer is a twentieth-century composition, drafted for the reform and promulgated by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 23 May 1968, usable from 15 August 1968.¹ It has its own preface, though the rubrics allow others; its post-Sanctus opens with the words that give the entry its Latin incipit, "Vere Sanctus es, Domine, fons omnis sanctitatis".²

The Shape of the Liturgy

Part by Part

Authorship & Date

The prayer's authorship belongs to the reform, not to antiquity. The final redaction was the work of Bernard Botte and Louis Bouyer, working from the anaphora of the Apostolic Tradition in Botte's own reconstruction.³ Bugnini is explicit about what they did and did not do: they used Hippolytus's prayer as a model, but the result is "not, as it were, a new edition of his prayer". The structure was deliberately altered, adding the Sanctus, a pre-institution epiclesis, the saints and the intercessions, none of which the ancient text supplies in that form.⁷ Vagaggini's study of the Canon's defects had meanwhile supplied the intellectual case for the whole enterprise of new prayers.⁷

A further caution comes from the scholarship on the supposed source. The Hippolytan authorship, Roman provenance and third-century date of the Apostolic Tradition are all disputed; Bradshaw, Johnson and Phillips argue the document is composite "living literature" from different periods.⁸ So there are two layers of uncertainty: what the ancient text was, and how much of it the new prayer keeps. The entry therefore never calls EP II "the Canon of Hippolytus" or "the oldest Roman prayer".

Witnesses & Editions

The first witness is the decree itself: Notitiae 4 (1968) prints the promulgation, Prot. R. 26/967, signed by Cardinal Gut and Archbishop Antonelli, with the Roman Canon expressly remaining in use.¹ The same fascicle prints the prayer and the norms for its use.¹ The 1970 typical edition gives the definitive text, Prex Eucharistica II, nn. 101–108: the dialogue, the proper preface, the Sanctus, the Vere Sanctus with its epiclesis "Haec ergo dona… Spiritus tui rore sanctifica", the institution narrative introduced by "Qui cum Passioni voluntarie traderetur", the Memores igitur, the intercessions Recordare, Domine and Memento etiam fratrum nostrorum, the commemoration of the saints, and the Per ipsum.²

One negative witness is worth noting. The 1970 commemoration of the saints reads "cum beata Dei Genetrice Virgine Maria, beatis Apostolis et omnibus Sanctis": no St Joseph. His name, "beato Ioseph, eius Sponso", entered all three new prayers only by the Congregation's decree of 1 May 2013.⁹

Theology & Spirit

EP II is the Antiochene shape in Roman dress. A single consecratory epiclesis stands before the institution narrative, and all the intercessions come after the anamnesis: the order the Consilium's catechesis calls Antiochene, kept Roman by the epiclesis's placement before the narrative.⁵ The Church's eightfold grammar applies throughout: thanksgiving in the preface, the Sanctus, the epiclesis, the institution narrative and consecration, the anamnesis, the oblation, the intercessions, the doxology.⁶

The theology is spare and luminous. The preface confesses Christ as the Word through whom all things were made, sent as Saviour and Redeemer; the epiclesis asks the Father to sanctify the gifts "by the dew of your Spirit", an image of gentle descent; the post-anamnesis petition asks that sharing the Body and Blood may gather the communicants "into one by the Holy Spirit".² Unity is the prayer's end: the Church throughout the world perfected in charity, the dead admitted to the light of God's face, all the saints at last praising God through the Son. The 1968 norms commend it for weekdays and special circumstances, where its brevity serves the day's Mass without diminishing it.¹

Relations

EP II stands second among four. The Roman Canon, which "may always be used", is its ancient companion and its alternative at every Mass.¹ Eucharistic Prayers III and IV are its fellow compositions of 1968: the third longer, with a variable preface, for Sundays and feasts; the fourth built on an Eastern model, with a fixed preface. Behind EP II stands the anaphora of the so-called Apostolic Tradition in Botte's reconstruction, the prayer's named inspiration and not its text.¹

• Roman CanoncompanionThe ancient Canon alongside which EP II was added in 1968; the Canon may always be used instead.¹
• Eucharistic Prayer IIIcompanionThe second new prayer of 1968, longer, with a variable preface, recommended for Sundays and feasts.¹
• Eucharistic Prayer IVcompanionThe third new prayer of 1968, built on an Eastern model.¹
• Anaphora of the Apostolic TraditionsourceThe anaphora of the so-called Apostolic Tradition, traditionally ascribed to Hippolytus, which the 1968 presentation names as EP II's inspiration.¹

Disputed Questions

Is Eucharistic Prayer II "the anaphora of Hippolytus"? The Consilium's presentation says it is inspired by that anaphora; Bugnini says it is not a new edition of it, its structure having been deliberately altered; and modern scholarship disputes the Hippolytan ascription of the source itself.¹⁷⁸ The entry's position follows the evidence: a new composition inspired by the ancient anaphora, honestly labelled.

Go Deeper

The prayer's interest is in what the redactors added to their model. The ancient anaphora has no Sanctus and no intercessions in the Roman sense; EP II supplies both, and supplies them in the Roman order, epiclesis before the narrative and intercessions after. The result is the reform's most portable prayer: ancient in inspiration, Roman in structure, brief enough for a weekday. For the composition history, Bugnini's insider account and Bouyer's memoir; for the source question, the Bradshaw commentary; for the text, the 1970 Missal.⁷³⁸²

On Domus Dei

• The Roman Rite

Recommended reading

• Consilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de sacra Liturgia, Notitiae 4 (1968), no. 40: the new Eucharistic Prayers, 1968.'Inspired by the anaphora of Hippolytus' (p. 153); the decree of 23 May 1968 (p. 156); the norms on use (pp. 157–159) (pp. 153–160). Read online
• Bugnini, Annibale, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975, tr. Matthew J. O'Connell, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1990.The insider's account: the new prayers were not new editions of ancient ones; EP II's structure was deliberately altered (p. 456). Read online
• Bradshaw, Paul F.; Johnson, Maxwell E.; Phillips, L. Edward, The Apostolic Tradition: A Commentary, Hermeneia, Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002.The commentary that unsettled the Hippolytan ascription: composite, 'living literature'.
• Bouyer, Louis, Mémoires, Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2015.Bouyer's memoir on the final redaction of EP II by Botte and himself (pp. 124–125).
• Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum, auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum (editio typica 1970), Vatican City: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1970.The editio typica text of the prayer (nn. 101–108). Read online

Sources

1. Primary textConsilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de sacra Liturgia, Notitiae 4 (1968), no. 40: the new Eucharistic Prayers, 1968, pp. 157–159; p. 153; p. 156; pp. 157–160. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · cultodivino.va PDF: the presentation of the prayers ('elle s'inspire de l'anaphore d'Hippolyte'), p. 153; the decree, Prot. R. 26/967, 23 May 1968, p. 156; the norms ('Canon Romanus, qui semper adhiberi potest'), pp. 157-159
2. Primary textMissale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum, auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum (editio typica 1970), Vatican City: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1970, Prex Eucharistica II (nn. 101–108). LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org scan, djvu OCR with page images checked: the SCDW decree of 26 Mar 1970 as the Missal prints it, carrying 'Prot. n. 166/70' (the AAS printing at 62 (1970) 554 carries no protocol number); the Normae universales de anno liturgico et de calendario; the Ordo Missae cum populo, whose text begins at p. 385 (p. 383 is the section title page and p. 384 is blank) and ends with n. 145 at p. 476, with Eucharistic Prayer IV's 'Confitémur tibi, Pater sancte' at n. 118, p. 467; the Appendix's alternative penitential acts at pp. 487-489; the Ordo Missae sine populo, pp. 479-486, with the Confiteor at p. 479; the sprinkling rite at p. 889
3. Primary textBouyer, Louis, Mémoires, Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2015, pp. 124–125.Verified 2026-09-20 · Seen in quotation 2026-09-20: the two passages on the final drafting of Eucharistic Prayer II by Bernard Botte and Bouyer himself (pp. 124–125) read as quoted in the 2026 New Liturgical Movement article on EP II's genesis; the memoir itself was not opened
4. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, Missale Romanum: Apostolic Constitution on the New Roman Missal, 1969. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read on vatican.va (given at Rome, Holy Thursday, 3 April 1969): promulgation of the new Missal, effective the First Sunday of Advent (30 Nov 1969); SC as the basis of the revision. Re-read 14 Sep 2026 in English and Latin for the Eucharistic Prayer: 'The major innovation concerns the Eucharistic Prayer … we have decided to add three new Canons to this Prayer' ('tres novi Canones adderentur statuimus'; vatican.va's Latin prints the typo 'stauiimus')
5. Magisterial / canonicalConsilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de sacra Liturgia, “Catechesis on the new Eucharistic Prayers”, Notitiae 4 (1968), 1968, pp. 148-155, p. 152. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · French text read: Eucharistic Prayer II 's'inspire de l'anaphore d'Hippolyte'; Prayer IV follows 'la tradition antiochienne', and the regrouped intercessions 'suit l'exemple de la tradition antiochienne' while the epiclesis stays Roman, before the institution narrative. Alexandria is named twice (p. 150, on where the epiclesis and intercessions fall); Basil is never named anywhere in the fascicle, so the Basil-Alexandria genealogy of Prayer IV is scholarly, not the Holy See's. p. 151: 'une seule anaphore ne peut contenir toute la richesse pastorale, spirituelle et théologique souhaitable', and every Church but Rome's has always had several; p. 150, the supplication that the Father make the bread and wine the Body and Blood of Christ, and p. 152, 'l'épiclèse consécratoire, c'est-à-dire … la supplication adressée au Père'; p. 153, 'Elles restent néanmoins de style romain'
6. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, General Instruction of the Roman Missal (third typical edition; English translation), United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, §79. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on usccb.org: §41 ('Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy'); §69; §119; §§281-283; §295; §299 ('desirable wherever possible'); §357 ('three readings'); 2026-09-15: §6 ('separated by four centuries, embrace one and the same tradition'), §7 ('only very slight changes'), §157 ('With the people he adds'); 2026-09-16: §§2, 32, 43, 45, 70, 73, 82, 112–113, 160–161, 199, 252–254, 284, 320, 322, 357 and 390 read in the vatican.va English (the same translation), among them §2 ('The sacrificial nature of the Mass, solemnly asserted by the Council of Trent'), §43 ('The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant'), §357 ('For Sundays and solemnities, three readings are assigned') and §390 ('It is up to the Conferences of Bishops to decide on the adaptations')
7. ScholarshipBugnini, Annibale, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975, tr. Matthew J. O'Connell, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1990, p. 456; p. 450 n. 4. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org lending copy, search inside (editor): p. 450 n. 4, study group 10 (the Ordinary of the Mass) enlarged, its members including J. Gelineau; pp. 8-9, Pius XII's commission for the general reform appointed 'May 28, 1948', Micara presiding, its meetings held 'in absolute secrecy'
8. ScholarshipBradshaw, Paul F.; Johnson, Maxwell E.; Phillips, L. Edward, The Apostolic Tradition: A Commentary, Hermeneia, Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002.Verified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued: publisher summary read 2026-09-20 — treats the document as composite material from different periods and challenges the Hippolytan ascription; the book itself was not opened
9. Magisterial / canonicalCongregatio de Cultu Divino et Disciplina Sacramentorum, “Decretum 'Paternas vices' (Prot. N. 215/11/L)”, Notitiae 49 (2013) 217–218, 2013. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued 2026-09-20 from the canon (latin-roman.md §1.1): the Latin on vatican.va; protocol number in Notitiae 49 (2013) 217; signed Card. Cañizares Llovera and Abp Roche, acting 'vigore facultatum a Summo Pontifice Francisco tributarum' — a Congregation decree by papal faculty, not a papal act. Inserts St Joseph into Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV (EP II: 'beato Ioseph, eius Sponso'), 1 May 2013