Question: What is the proper hand gesture for concelebrants during the consecration? Many concelebrating priests make a distinction between the gesture for the epiclesis (extending hands over the offering) and the gesture for the consecration (extending the right hand toward the bread/wine). With the sole difference of two hands versus one hand, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM] uses the same language for both. Are we to infer that both for the epiclesis and the consecration, concelebrants should extend their hand over the offering? — J.V., Cheshire, Connecticut
Question: Before the Prayer over the Offerings, the priest celebrant extends his hands, saying, “Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.” Does the word "sacrifice" refer to the Body and Blood of the Lord into which bread and wine will be transformed, or does it simply mean the gifts (bread and wine) on the altar at the moment? Also, in each of the four Eucharistic Prayers, the prayer addresses God as "Father" in one paragraph and as "Lord" in the next one. Why is there a change of addressing to God from one paragraph to another? What is the reason for the switching from "Father" to "Lord" and vice versa? — A.P.H., Washington, D.C.
