The communion liturgy that we will celebrate in a moment is built of very ancient words. Its basic flow, the prayers and responses, go back to the infant days of the faith. As such, they have old names, venerable Greek and Latin names. The anamnesis takes slightly different forms in different communion services, but it's always pretty much the same. For nearly 2,000 years Christians have prayed this anamnesis.
Anamnesis is the opposite of amnesia.
Then it will remember the creation of humanity and the fact that we humans have often abandoned God's commandments. It will remember the slavery of Egypt, the Exodus, the Giving of the Ten Commandments. The anamnesis often remembers the prophets and their call for justice, but today it jumps ahead to Jesus and remembers his story in capsule form. Anamnesis, of course, means remembering. And every time were hear it, just before the bread and the cup, we are simply remembering our story.