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| |
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The holy Eucharist
completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of
the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by
Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own
sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.
CCC, 1322
"At the Last Supper, on
the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice
of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the
sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and
so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and
resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a
Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory is given to us."
CCC, 1323
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The Eucharist
Source and Summit
of Ecclesial Life |
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The Eucharist is "the
source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed
all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with
the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is
contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our
Pasch." CCC, 1324
"The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion
in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church
is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the
world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to
the Father in the Holy Spirit."
CCC,
1325
Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the
heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.
CCC, 1326
In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of
thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our
way of thinking." CCC, 1327
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What is this Sacrament called? |
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The inexhaustible richness
of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name
evokes certain aspects of it. It is called:
-
Eucharist,
because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words
eucharistein and
eulogein recall the Jewish blessings that
proclaim—especially during a meal—God's works: creation, redemption, and
sanctification.
CCC, 1328
-
The Lord's Supper,
because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his
disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding
feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.
CCC, 1329
-
The Breaking of
Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meal, when
as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, above all at
the Last Supper. It is by this action that his disciples will
recognize him after his Resurrection, and it is this expression that the
first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies; by
doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ,
enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.
-
The Eucharistic
assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the
assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church.
-
The memorial of the
Lord's Passion and Resurrection.
CCC, 1330
-
The Holy Sacrifice,
because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and
includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the
Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice
are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the
Old Covenant.
-
The Holy and
Divine Liturgy, because the Church's whole liturgy finds its
center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament;
in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We
speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of
sacraments. The Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are
designated by this same name.
-
Holy Communion,
because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us
sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body. We also call
it: the holy things (ta hagia; sancta)—the first meaning of the phrase
"communion of saints" in the Apostles' Creed—the bread of angels, bread
from heaven, medicine of immortality, viaticum. . . .
CCC, 1331
-
Holy Mass
(Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is
accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so
that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives.
CCC, 1332
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The Eucharist in the Economy of
Salvation: |
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The signs of bread and
wine:
|
|
 |
At the heart of the
Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ
and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood.
Faithful to the Lord's command the Church continues to do, in his memory and
until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: "He took
bread. . . ." "He took the cup filled with wine. . . ." The signs of bread
and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of
Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of creation. Thus in the
Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine, fruit of the
"work of human hands," but above all as "fruit of the earth" and "of the
vine"—gifts of the Creator. The Church sees in the gesture of the
king-priest Melchizedek, who "brought out bread and wine," a prefiguring of
her own offering.
CCC,
1333
In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first
fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator.
But they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus:
-
the unleavened bread
that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the
departure that liberated them from Egypt;
-
the remembrance of the
manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the
bread of the Word of God;
-
their daily bread is the
fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God's faithfulness to his
promises.
The "cup of blessing" at
the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an
eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of
Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive
meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.
CCC, 1334
The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the
blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed
the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his
Eucharist. The sign of water turned into wine at Cana already
announces the Hour of Jesus' glorification. It makes manifest the
fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Father's kingdom, where the faithful
will drink the new wine that has become the Blood of Christ.
CCC, 1335
The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the
announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who
can listen to it?" The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is
the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division. "Will
you also go away?": the Lord's question echoes through the ages, as a loving
invitation to discover that only he has "the words of eternal life" and that
to receive in faith the gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord
himself.
CCC, 1336
The institution of the Eucharist:
 |
 |
The Lord, having loved
those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had
come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal
he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love. In order to
leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and
to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the
memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his apostles to
celebrate it until his return; "thereby he constituted them priests of
the New Testament."
CCC,
1337
The three synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on to us the account of
the institution of the Eucharist; St. John, for his part, reports the words
of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum that prepare for the institution of
the Eucharist: Christ calls himself the bread of life, come down from
heaven.
CCC, 1338
Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at
Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:
(CCC, 1339)
| |
Then came the day
of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So
Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the passover meal for
us, that we may eat it. . . ." They went . . . and prepared the passover.
And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And
he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you
before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it again until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.". . . . And he took bread, and when he
had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my
body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And
likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for
you is the New Covenant in my blood." |
|
By celebrating the Last
Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the
Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' passing over to his father by
his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper
and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and
anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom.
"Do this in memory of me" CCC, 1340
The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words "until he comes" does
not only ask us to remember Jesus and what he did. It is directed at the
liturgical celebration, by the apostles and their successors, of the
memorial of Christ, of his life, of his death, of his Resurrection, and of
his intercession in the presence of the Father.
CCC, 1341
From the beginning the Church has been faithful to the Lord's command. Of
the Church of Jerusalem it is written:
CCC, 1342
| |
They devoted
themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and the prayers. . . Day by day, attending the temple together and
breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and
generous hearts. |
|
It was above all on "the
first day of the week," Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the
Christians met "to break bread." From that time on down to our own day
the celebration of the Eucharist has been continued so that today we
encounter it everywhere in the Church with the same fundamental structure.
It remains the center of the Church's life.
CCC, 1343
Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery
of Jesus "until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances, "following
the narrow way of the cross," toward the heavenly banquet, when all the
elect will be seated at the table of the kingdom.
CCC, 1344 |
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The Liturgical Celebration of the
Eucharist |
|
The Mass of all ages:
As early as the second century we have the witness of
St. Justin Martyr
for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have
stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families. St.
Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius around the year 155,
explaining what Christians did:
(CCC,
1345)
| |
On the day we call
the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the
same place.
The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read,
as much as time permits.
When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered
admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.
Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves . . . and for
all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by
our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain
eternal salvation.
When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.
Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to
him who presides over the brethren.
He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe,
through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a
considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have
been judged worthy of these gifts.
When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give
voice to an acclamation by saying: ‘Amen.'
When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded,
those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted"
bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent. |
|
The liturgy of the
Eucharist unfolds according to a fundamental structure which has been
preserved throughout the centuries down to our own day. It displays two
great parts that form a fundamental unity:
(CCC, 1346)
-
the gathering, the
liturgy of the Word, with readings, homily, and general intercessions;
-
the liturgy of the
Eucharist, with the presentation of the bread and wine, the consecratory
thanksgiving, and communion.
The liturgy of the Word
and liturgy of the Eucharist together form "one single act of worship"; the
Eucharistic table set for us is the table both of the Word of God and of the
Body of the Lord.
Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with
his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them;
sitting with them at table "he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it
to them."
CCC, 1347
The movement of the celebration:
All gather together. Christians come together in one place for the
Eucharistic assembly. At its head is Christ himself, the principal agent of
the Eucharist. He is high priest of the New Covenant; it is he himself who
presides invisibly over every Eucharistic celebration. It is in representing
him that the bishop or priest acting in the person of Christ the head (in
persona Christi capitis) presides over the assembly, speaks after the
readings, receives the offerings, and says the Eucharistic Prayer. All have
their own active parts to play in the celebration, each in his own way:
readers, those who bring up the offerings, those who give communion, and the
whole people whose "Amen" manifests their participation.
CCC, 1348
The Liturgy of the Word includes "the writings of the prophets," that
is, the Old Testament, and "the memoirs of the apostles" (their letters and
the Gospels). After the homily, which is an exhortation to accept this Word
as what it truly is, the Word of God, and to put it into practice, come the
intercessions for all men, according to the Apostle's words: "I urge that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all
men, for kings, and all who are in high positions."
CCC, 1349
The presentation of the offerings (the Offertory). Then, sometimes in
procession, the bread and wine are brought to the altar; they will be
offered by the priest in the name of Christ in the Eucharistic sacrifice in
which they will become his body and blood. It is the very action of
Christ at the Last Supper—"taking the bread and a cup." "The Church
alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator, when she offers what comes
forth from his creation with thanksgiving." The presentation of the
offerings at the altar takes up the gesture of Melchizedek and commits the
Creator's gifts into the hands of Christ who, in his sacrifice, brings to
perfection all human attempts to offer sacrifices.
CCC, 1350
From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and
wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of
the collection, ever appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ who
became poor to make us rich: (CCC,
1351)
| |
Those who are well
off, and who are also willing, give as each chooses. What is gathered is
given to him who presides to assist orphans and widows, those whom
illness or any other cause has deprived of resources, prisoners,
immigrants and, in a word, all who are in need. |
|
The
anaphora: with
the Eucharistic Prayer—the prayer of thanksgiving and consecration—we come
to the heart and summit of the celebration:
(CCC, 1352)
| |
In the preface,
the Church gives thanks to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy
Spirit, for all his works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. The
whole community thus joins in the unending praise that the Church in
heaven, the angels and all the saints, sing to the thrice-holy God. |
|
In the
epiclesis,
the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit (or the power of his
blessing) on the bread and wine, so that by his power they may become the
body and blood of Jesus Christ and so that those who take part in the
Eucharist may be one body and one spirit (some liturgical traditions put the
epiclesis after the anamnesis). CCC,
1353
In the
institution narrative, the power of the words and the action
of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present
under the species of bread and wine Christ's body and blood, his sacrifice
offered on the cross once for all.
In the anamnesis that follows, the Church calls to mind the Passion,
resurrection, and glorious return of Christ Jesus; she presents to the
Father the offering of his Son which reconciles us with him.
CCC, 1354
In the
intercessions, the Church indicates that the Eucharist is
celebrated in communion with the whole Church in heaven and on earth, the
living and the dead, and in communion with the pastors of the Church, the
Pope, the diocesan bishop, his presbyterium and his deacons, and all the
bishops of the whole world together with their Churches.
In the communion, preceded by the Lord's prayer and the breaking of
the bread, the faithful receive "the bread of heaven" and "the cup of
salvation," the body and blood of Christ who offered himself "for the life
of the world":
CCC, 1355
| |
Because this bread and
wine have been made Eucharist ("eucharisted," according to an ancient
expression), "we call this food Eucharist, and no one may take part in
it unless he believes that what we teach is true, has received baptism
for the forgiveness of sins and new birth, and lives in keeping with
what Christ taught." |
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The Sacramental Sacrifice
Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence |
If from the beginning
Christians have celebrated the Eucharist and in a form whose substance has
not changed despite the great diversity of times and liturgies, it is
because we know ourselves to be bound by the command the Lord gave on the
eve of his Passion:
"Do this in remembrance of
me." CCC, 1356
We carry out this command
of the Lord by celebrating the memorial of his sacrifice. In so doing, we
offer to the Father what he has himself given us: the gifts of his creation,
bread and wine which, by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the words of
Christ, have become the body and blood of Christ. Christ is thus really and
mysteriously made present.
CCC,
1357
We must therefore consider the Eucharist as:
(CCC, 1358)
-
thanksgiving and praise
to the Father;
-
the sacrificial memorial
of Christ and his Body;
-
the presence of Christ
by the power of his word and of his Spirit.
Thanksgiving and
praise to the Father:
The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished by Christ
on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of
creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God is
presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ.
Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving
for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in
humanity.
CCC, 1359
The
Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a
blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his
benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption, and
sanctification. Eucharist means first of all "thanksgiving."
CCC, 1360
The
Eucharist is also the sacrifice of praise by which the Church
sings the glory of God in the name of all creation. This sacrifice of praise
is possible only through Christ: he unites the faithful to his person, to
his praise, and to his intercession, so that the sacrifice of praise to the
Father is offered through Christ and with him, to be accepted in him.
CCC, 1361
The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church:
The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making
present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy
of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find
after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial.
CCC, 1362
In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection
of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for
men. In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain
way present and real. This is how Israel understands its liberation from
Egypt: every time Passover is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present
to the memory of believers so that they may conform their lives to them.
CCC, 1363
In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church
celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made
present: the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever
present. "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which ‘Christ our Pasch
has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption
is carried out." CCC, 1364
Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a
sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in
the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and
"This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood." In
the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the
cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins."
CCC, 1365
The Eucharist is thus a
sacrifice because it re-presents (makes
present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because
it applies its fruit:
(CCC,
1366)
| |
[Christ], our Lord and
God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his
death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting
redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at
the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to
leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the
nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to
accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory
perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be
applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit. |
|
The sacrifice of Christ
and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim
is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests,
who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is
different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the
Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the
altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner . . . this
sacrifice is truly propitiatory."
CCC, 1367
The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church which
is the Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him,
she herself is offered whole and entire. She unites herself to his
intercession with the Father for all men. In the Eucharist the sacrifice of
Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of
the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with
those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value.
Christ's sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all
generations of Christians to be united with his offering.
CCC, 1368
In the catacombs the Church is often represented as a woman in prayer, arms
outstretched in the praying position. Like Christ who stretched out his arms
on the cross, through him, with him, and in him, she offers herself and
intercedes for all men.
The whole Church is united with the offering and intercession of Christ.
Since he has the ministry of Peter in the Church, the Pope is associated
with every celebration of the Eucharist, wherein he is named as the sign and
servant of the unity of the universal Church. The bishop of the place is
always responsible for the Eucharist, even when a priest presides; the
bishop's name is mentioned to signify his presidency over the particular
Church, in the midst of his presbyterium and with the assistance of deacons.
The community intercedes also for all ministers who, for it and with it,
offer the Eucharistic sacrifice: (CCC,
1369)
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Let only that
Eucharist be regarded as legitimate, which is celebrated under [the
presidency of] the bishop or him to whom he has entrusted it.
Through the ministry of priests the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful
is completed in union with the sacrifice of Christ the only Mediator,
which in the Eucharist is offered through the priests' hands in the name
of the whole Church in an unbloody and sacramental manner until the Lord
himself comes. |
|
To the offering of Christ
are united not only the members still here on earth, but also those already
in the glory of heaven. In communion with and commemorating the
Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, the Church offers the Eucharistic
sacrifice. In the Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the
cross with Mary, united with the offering and intercession of Christ.
CCC, 1370
The Eucharistic sacrifice is also offered for the
faithful departed
who "have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified," so that they may
be able to enter into the light and peace of Christ:
(CCC, 1371)
| |
Put this body
anywhere! Don't trouble yourselves about it! I simply ask you to
remember me at the Lord's altar wherever you are.
Then, we pray [in the anaphora] for the holy fathers and bishops who
have fallen asleep, and in general for all who have fallen asleep before
us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose
behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim
is present. . . . By offering to God our supplications for those who
have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we . . . offer Christ
sacrificed for the sins of all, and so render favorable, for them and
for us, the God who loves man. |
|
St. Augustine admirably
summed up this doctrine that moves us to an ever more complete participation
in our Redeemer's sacrifice which we celebrate in the Eucharist:
(CCC, 1372)
| |
This wholly redeemed
city, the assembly and society of the saints, is offered to God as a
universal sacrifice by the high priest who in the form of a slave went
so far as to offer himself for us in his Passion, to make us the Body of
so great a head. . . . Such is the sacrifice of Christians: "we who are
many are one Body in Christ.'‘ The Church continues to reproduce this
sacrifice in the sacrament of the altar so well-known to believers
wherein it is evident to them that in what she offers she herself is
offered. |
|
The presence of
Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit:
"Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the
right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways to
his Church: in his word, in his Church's prayer, "where two or three are
gathered in my name," in the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, in the
sacraments of which he is the author, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in
the person of the minister. But "he is present . . . most
especially in
the Eucharistic species."
CCC,
1373
The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It
raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the
spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend." In the most
blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the
soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore,
the whole
Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." "This presence is
called ‘real'—by which is not intended to exclude the other types of
presence as if they could not be ‘real' too, but because it is presence in
the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which
Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."
CCC, 1374
 |
It is by the conversion of
the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present
in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the
Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy
Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:
(CCC, 1375)
| |
It is not man that
causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he
who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of
Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's.
This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered. |
|
And St. Ambrose says about
this conversion:
| |
Be convinced that this
is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated.
The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the
blessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Christ's word, which
can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into
what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their
original nature than to change their nature. |
|
The Council of Trent
summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer
said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of
bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy
Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine
there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the
substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the
wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church
has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."
CCC, 1376
The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration
and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present
whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of
their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide
Christ.
CCC, 1377
Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express
our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine
by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration
of the Lord. "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the
sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but
also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care,
exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in
procession."
CCC, 1378
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The tabernacle was first
intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it
could be brought to the sick and those absent, outside of Mass. As faith in
the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became
conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the
Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be
located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be
constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the
real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
CCC, 1379
It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his
Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from
his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence;
since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to
have the memorial of the love with which he loved us "to the end," even to
the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously
in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he
remains under signs that express and communicate this love:
(CCC, 1380)
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The Church and the world
have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this
sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in
adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for
the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never
cease. |
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"That in this sacrament
are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that ‘cannot be
apprehended by the senses,' says St. Thomas, ‘but only by faith, which
relies on divine authority.' For this reason, in a commentary on Luke 22:19
(‘This is my body which is given for you.'), St. Cyril says: ‘Do not doubt
whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith,
for since he is the truth, he cannot lie."
CCC, 1381
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Godhead here in
hiding, whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true. |
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The Paschal Banquet |
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The
Mass is at the same time, and
inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is
perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and
blood. But the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed
toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To
receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for
us. CCC, 1382
The
altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of
the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery:
the altar
of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so
since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the
midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our
reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving himself to us. "For
what is the altar of Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?" asks
St. Ambrose. He says elsewhere, "The altar represents the body [of Christ]
and the Body of Christ is on the altar." The liturgy expresses this unity of
sacrifice and communion in many prayers. Thus the Roman Church prays in its
anaphora: (CCC, 1383)
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We entreat you,
almighty God,
that by the hands of your holy Angel
this offering may be borne to your altar in heaven
in the sight of your divine majesty,
so that as we receive in communion at this altar
the most holy Body and Blood of your Son,
we may be filled with every heavenly blessing and grace. |
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"Take this and eat it, all of you":
communion
The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the
sacrament of the Eucharist: "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."
CCC, 1384
To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so
holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever,
therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man
examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one
who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment
upon himself." Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of
Reconciliation before coming to communion.
CCC, 1385
Before so great a sacrament, the faithful can only echo humbly and with
ardent faith the words of the Centurion: "Domine, non sum dignus ut intres
sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea" ("Lord, I am
not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my
soul will be healed."). And in the Divine Liturgy of St. John
Chrysostom the faithful pray in the same spirit:
(CCC, 1386)
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O Son of God, bring me
into communion today with your mystical supper. I shall not tell your
enemies the secret, nor kiss you with Judas' kiss. But like the good
thief I cry, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." |
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To prepare for worthy
reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required
in their Church. Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey
the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our
guest. CCC, 1387
It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful,
if they have the required dispositions, receive communion when they
participate in the Mass. As the Second Vatican Council says: "That more
perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the
priest's communion, receive the Lord's Body from the same sacrifice, is
warmly recommended."
CCC, 1388
The Church obliges the faithful to take part in the Divine Liturgy on
Sundays and feast days and, prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation, to
receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter
season. But the Church strongly encourages the faithful to receive the holy
Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily.
CCC, 1389
Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion
under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit
of Eucharistic grace. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving
communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the
Latin rite. But "the sign of communion is more complete when given under
both kinds, since in that form the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more
clearly." This is the usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern
rites.
CCC, 1390
The fruits of Holy Communion:
Holy Communion augments our union with Christ. The principal fruit of
receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ
Jesus. Indeed, the Lord said: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
abides in me, and I in him." Life in Christ has its foundation in the
Eucharistic banquet: "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of
the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me."
CCC, 1391
On the feasts of the Lord, when the faithful receive the Body of the Son,
they proclaim to one another the Good News that the first fruits of life
have been given, as when the angel said to Mary Magdalene, "Christ is
risen!" Now too are life and resurrection conferred on whoever receives
Christ.
What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully
achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen
Christ, a flesh "given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,"
preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This
growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the
bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to
us as viaticum.
CCC, 1392
Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy
Communion is "given up for us," and the blood we drink "shed for the many
for the forgiveness of sins." For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us
to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and
preserving us from future sins:
(CCC,
1393)
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For as often as we eat
this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord. If we
proclaim the Lord's death, we proclaim the forgiveness of sins. If, as
often as his blood is poured out, it is poured for the forgiveness of
sins, I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins.
Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy. |
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As bodily nourishment
restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which
tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away
venial sins. By giving himself to us Christ revives our love and enables us
to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him:
(CCC, 1394)
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Since Christ died for
us out of love, when we celebrate the memorial of his death at the
moment of sacrifice we ask that love may be granted to us by the coming
of the Holy Spirit. We humbly pray that in the strength of this love by
which Christ willed to die for us, we, by receiving the gift of the Holy
Spirit, may be able to consider the world as crucified for us, and to be
ourselves as crucified to the world. . . . Having received the gift of
love, let us die to sin and live for God. |
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By the same charity that
it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins.
The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the
more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin. The Eucharist is
not ordered to the forgiveness of mortal sins—that is proper to the
sacrament of Reconciliation. The Eucharist is properly the sacrament of
those who are in full communion with the Church.
CCC, 1395
The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church. Those
who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it
Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body—the Church. Communion
renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already
achieved by Baptism. In Baptism we have been called to form but one body.
The Eucharist fulfills this call: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it
not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it
not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we
who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread:"
(CCC, 1396)
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If you are the body
and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the
table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you receive. To that which
you are you respond "Amen" ("yes, it is true!") and by responding to it
you assent to it. For you hear the words, "the Body of Christ" and
respond "Amen." Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen
may be true. |
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The Eucharist commits
us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given
up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren:
(CCC, 1397)
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You have tasted the
Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother,. . . . You
dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food
someone judged worthy to take part in this meal. . . . God freed you
from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more
merciful. |
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The Eucharist and the
unity of Christians. Before the greatness of this mystery St. Augustine
exclaims, "O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!"
The more painful the experience of the divisions in the Church which break
the common participation in the table of the Lord, the more urgent are our
prayers to the Lord that the time of complete unity among all who believe in
him may return.
CCC, 1398
The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church
celebrate the Eucharist with great love. "These Churches, although separated
from us, yet possess true sacraments, above all—by apostolic succession—the
priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest
intimacy." A certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist,
"given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not
merely possible but is encouraged."
CCC, 1399
Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the
Catholic Church, "have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic
mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament
of Holy Orders." It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church,
Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible. However
these ecclesial communities, "when they commemorate the Lord's death and
resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in
communion with Christ and await his coming in glory."
CCC, 1400
When, in the Ordinary's judgment, a grave necessity arises, Catholic
ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of
the Sick to other Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church,
who ask for them of their own will, provided they give evidence of holding
the Catholic faith regarding these sacraments and possess the required
dispositions.
CCC, 1401 |
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The Eucharist
"Pledge of the
Glory to Come" |
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In an ancient prayer the
Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which
Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul
is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us." If
the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our
communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and
grace", then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory.
CCC, 1402
At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward
the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall
not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new
with you in my Father's kingdom." Whenever the Church celebrates the
Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to
come." In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord
Jesus!" "May your grace come and this world pass away!"
CCC, 1403
The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he
is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we
celebrate the Eucharist "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our
Savior, Jesus Christ," asking "to share in your glory when every tear will
be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall
become like you and praise you for ever through Christ our Lord."
CCC, 1404
There is no surer pledge or
clearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth "in
which righteousness dwells," than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery
is celebrated, "the work of our redemption is carried on" and we "break
the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote
for death, and the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ." CCC, 1405
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IN BRIEF |
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Jesus said: "I am the
living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he
will live forever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him"
(Jn 6:51, 54, 56). CCC, 1406
The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it
Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of
praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by
this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the
Church. CCC, 1407
The Eucharistic celebration always
includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the
Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the
consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical
banquet by receiving the Lord's body and blood. These elements
constitute one single act of worship.
CCC, 1408
The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of
salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a
work made present by the liturgical action.
CCC, 1409
It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who,
acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic
sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of
bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
CCC, 1410
Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate
the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.
CCC, 1411
The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape
wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest
pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper:
"This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my
blood. . . ." CCC, 1412
By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the
Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of
bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true,
real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his
divinity.
(cf. Council of Trent: DS
1640; 1651). CCC, 1413
As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of
the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from
God.
CCC, 1414
Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the
state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive
communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
CCC, 1415
Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's
union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave
sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity
between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the
Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
CCC, 1416
The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when
they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do
so at least once a year.
CCC, 1417
Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be
honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is .
. . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration
toward Christ our Lord"
(Paul VI,
MF 66). CCC, 1418
Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the
Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice
identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of
this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the
Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.
CCC, 1419 |
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All are invited!! |
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At St. Justin, Martyr, all
are invited who do not receive Holy Communion because of age (some children
may not be old enough) or other reason (not yet a Catholic Christian) to
come forward with your arms crossed in front of you to receive a blessing as
you ask Jesus into your heart spiritually.
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