1B. SOME THEOLOGICAL THEMES IN AN1. The Addressee of the AnaphoraEucharistic prayers are usually addressed to God the Father, since they are pronounced as prayers of theMystical Body, the continuation of Christ on earth. As He worshipped the Father, prompted by the Spirit, sodoes the Church. In an early reference to the eucharist, around 150 AD, St. Justin wrote:Then bread and a cup of water and of mixed wine are brought to him who presides over the brethren, and he takesthem and offers praise and glory to the Father of all in the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and gives thanksat some length that we have been deemed worthy of these things from Him (1 Ap.65:3).The traditional practice was to pray through Christ to the Father. St. Paul recommends it1 and practised ithimself: he starts nearly all his epistles with a praise or thanksgiving directly addressed to the Father throughChrist2. St. Clement, in his letter to the Corinthians, after having addressed a number of petitions to theFather, ends his prayer in this way:You, who alone has power to do this, and still more good also among us, we praise You through the High Priest ofour souls, Jesus Christ, through Whom is to You honour and glory, both now and from generation to generation andthrough eternities of eternities.3St. Polycarp, before his martyrdom, prayed:Lord, almighty God, Father of Your beloved and blessed Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtainedknowledge of You, God of the angels and powers and of the entire creation and of the whole race of the righteous ...Therefore I praise You for all, I bless You, I glorify You through the eternal and heavenly High Priest Jesus Christ,Your beloved Son, through whom to You, with Him and the Holy Spirit, is honour, both now and for all future ages.Amen.4In Didache5, the Church Order of Hippolytus and the writings inspired by Hippolytus: Canons ofHippolytus, Apostolic Constitutions book 8 (with one exception) and the Epitome, all prayers are addressedto t...