Epiklesis in the anaphora or lack there of

[Carpatho Russian]

Additionally, not all liturgics sources agree with your statement regarding the lack of an epiklesis. Even the Liturgy of Mari had an epiklesis...

Whether there is or isn't an epiklesis in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari is debatable.  Those who would like to see one will see it.  Those who don't, won't.  If the following quote is an epiklesis, it is very semenal.  It does not call upon the Holy Spirit to "make" (James and Chrysostom) or "show" (Basil) the bread and wine to be the Body and Blood of Chirst.
From the Anaphora of Addai and Mara (as quoted from Bouyer's Eucharist):
"And may there come, O my Lord, thine Holy Spirit and rest upon this offering of thy servants and bless it and hallow it that it may be to us, O my Lord, or the pardon of offences and the remission of sins and for the great hope of resurrection from the dead and for new life in the kingdom of heaven with all those who have been wellpleasing in thy sight."
I feel like I'm hijacking this thread.  If you want to start a new thread, it might become interesting!

[arimethea]

It does not call upon the Holy Spirit to "make" (James and Chrysostom) or "show" (Basil) the bread and wine to be the Body and Blood of Chirst.

Go back and read the entire prayers and you will see that we are never calling on the Holy Spirit but rather on God the Father to send his Holy Spirit. It may seem like I am splitting hairs but it is an important hair.

Also the more ancient versions of the Anaphora of Basil lack the phrase "Your Holy Spirit may come upon us and upon the gifts here presented" so that what is said is "0 Holy of Holies, that by the favor of Your goodness, <this is where the text to the Holy Spirit is added> to bless, sanctify, and make..."

[Carpatho Russian]

Go back and read the entire prayers and you will see that we are never calling on the Holy Spirit but rather on God the Father to send his Holy Spirit. It may seem like I am splitting hairs but it is an important hair.

Splitting hairs, yes.  But conceded for a bad choice of words on my part.
The point I was trying to make is that the "epiklesis" of A&M has neither "make" nor "show" the gifts to be the Body and Blood of Christ.  There is no request in this anaphora for the bread and wine to become (make or show) the Body and Blood of Christ.
I'll steal a quote from Bouyer...
"let us note that if it requests the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the oblation, it does not explicitly petition for the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ"  (Eucharist page 149)

[FrChris]

Splitting hairs, yes.  But conceded for a bad choice of words on my part.
The point I was trying to make is that the "epiklesis" of A&M has neither "make" nor "show" the gifts to be the Body and Blood of Christ.  There is no request in this anaphora for the bread and wine to become (make or show) the Body and Blood of Christ.

Well, again I must refer to a statement I wrote earlier indicating that not all sources agree with your assessment.

Now that I am back to my office and have my references available, I can look some things up.  In the article by Peter Cobb titled 'The Anaphora of Addai and Mari', part of the The Study of Liturgy, he discusses this particular epiklesis as well as the anaphora.

On page 218, Mr. Cobb finishes his description of this Liturgy by translating the anaphora and then adding:

Next comes an epiclesis of the Holy Spirit on the oblation, and a final prayer of thansgiving

So, this author believes the epiclesis is towards the Holy Spirit, and the terminology indicates that there is nothing remarkable about the epiclesis such as what you are indicating exists (i.e., no evidence indicating a lack of intention towards the gifts).

But there's more on the epiclesis, that supprts my earlier contention that there is disagreement among experts regarding this question. Cobb indicates that Ratcliff believes the epiclesis is actually in line with the Liturgy of the Apostles and a communion devotion that was incorporated into the anaphora at a later time. Botte argues that the anaphora used in this liturgy is Semitic in style and archaic, and was introduced into the liturgy in the middle of a prayer that disrupts the unity of this supplication to God. While Botte's argument had in the past been thought to be authoritative, Cutrone indicates that the ommission of the phrase 'in my name' from a recently discovered manuscript of this liturgy very much weakens Botte's arguments.

the well-known liturgical expert Dix, though, disagrees with the addition theory of Ratcliff and Botte and feels 'it is an integral part of the text' (pg. 219).

Your source by Bouyer was cited in the bibliography for this article by Cobb, but was not otherwise referred to or footnoted.

[Carpatho Russian]

1)   I never stated that Addai and Mari lacked an epiclesis.  I did say that those who would like to see one will, those who don’t, won’t.  (For clarification, I did not title this post.  The moderator, when the tread was split gave it its title.  I probably would have title it, “The anaphora of Addai and Mari”.)
2)   As you stated, there is no consensus among scholars whether the epiclesis is original to A&M.
3)   If the epiclesis is original, it is not as developed as those found in James, Basil, and Chrysostom.  “It does not explicitly petition for the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ."  Looking at this epiclesis, knowing James, Basil, and Chrysostom, we can say that the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is implied.  But, for someone who has never seen or read James, Basil, and Chrysostom, and naïve to the Orthodox understanding of the Eucharist, they would be hard pressed to see the offering as the Body and Blood of Christ.
4)   This has forced me to dust off and open books I have not looked at in years.  I think it’s time to start re-reading some of these.

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