ANAMNÈSI (ὀνόμνησις). — Remembrance, commemoration: this is that part of the Canon of the Mass which immediately follows the Consecration and recalls the principal mysteries of Christ’s life. It therefore depends strictly on the Consecration and is connected with II. The remembrance of the mysteries, the offering to the Father, the petition that He accept the sacrifice, the effects of the sacrifice itself and of Communion constitute its substance, while the commemoration of the sacrifice of Abel, Abraham, and Melchizedek brings the ancient figures to life and constitutes the characteristic feature of the a. In other liturgies it is called Post pridie, post mysteria, post secreta, while St. Isidore calls it Confirmatio Sacramenti. It is sometimes also called Collatio ad panis fractionem, because the breaking of the bread followed II. The Mozarabic Liber Ordinum has many forms of the a., whereas the Gelasian and Gregorian have only one: Unde et memores nos servi tui... which is that of the Latin liturgy and which the Liber Pontificalis (ed. L. Duchesne, I, Paris 1886, p. 127) attributes, without foundation, to Pope Alexander I. The substance is identical in all the a., even though in some the form is more elaborate. It is always, however, filled with unction in recalling the most significant moments of the Redeemer’s life. Their variety is explained by the fact that the a. varied according to the days and feasts, forming a rich collection of texts of great theological importance, especially in the East.
The a. forms part of the primitive liturgy and of the apostolic canon. To be convinced of this, it is enough to recall St. Justin: «De pane illo praedici quem nobis Christus noster facer praecepit in memoriam corporis a se assumpti et de calice quem in memoriam sanguinis sui cum gratiarum actione fieri praecepit» Dial. cum Tryph., 70) and St. Cyprian «Resurrectionem Domini mane celebramus... passionis eius mentionem in sacrificiis omnibus facimus,» (Epist. LXIII, 16-17: PL, 4, 387).
These texts testify to the antiquity of the a. From the liturgical point of view, the a. is therefore of fundamental importance, and a careful analysis of the texts reveals Christ’s exhortation to the disciples to renew the mystery of the Supper, faith in the real presence of the body and blood in the consecrated bread and wine, and the fact that the mystery of transubstantiation is complete with the words of the Consecration. Moreover, in the a. we have proof that the Canon follows a historical sequence, with the account of the Supper, the consecration of the bread and wine, and the remembrance of Christ’s Passion, death, descent into hell, Resurrection, and Ascension. All this undoubtedly constitutes the primitive nucleus of the Mass, reduced to its essential elements (v. CANONE; EPICLESI; MESSA).