What is the Eucharist?

The institution

The Eucharist was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday, the night before his Passion. The narrative is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-20) and in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Christ took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his apostles with the words "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them with the words "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins."

He concluded with the command "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24), which the Catholic Church understands as the institution of the priesthood and as the perpetual mandate to offer the Eucharist until the end of time. For the Institution of the Eucharist as the fifth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, see the rosary mystery page.

The Real Presence and transubstantiation

Catholic doctrine teaches that, at the words of consecration spoken by a validly ordained priest in the Mass ("This is my body... This is my blood..."), the bread and wine are changed in their substance into the Body and Blood of Christ. The appearances of bread and wine remain (taste, color, weight, texture); the underlying reality is now Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity.

This change is called transubstantiation. The doctrine was formally defined at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and again at the Council of Trent (Session XIII, 1551, Decree on the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist).¹

The Real Presence is real in three senses:

• Substantial: the Body and Blood of Christ are present in the substance of what was bread and wine, not merely as a symbol or memorial.
• Whole: Christ is fully present under each species (the consecrated bread alone, or the consecrated wine alone, contains the entire Christ); and Christ is fully present in any portion of either species (a fragment of the host or a drop of the precious Blood is fully Christ).
• Permanent: the change endures as long as the appearances persist. This is why the consecrated Hosts are reserved in the tabernacle and venerated.

The Eucharist as sacrifice

The Eucharist is not only a sacrament but a sacrifice. The Mass makes present anew, on the altar, the one sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: "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" (CCC 1367).²

This is why the Mass is the source and summit of the Christian life: it is the same redemptive act of Christ on Calvary, made present sacramentally in every age.

Reception of Holy Communion

Catholics in the state of grace (free from grave sin) may receive Holy Communion at Mass. The proper preparation includes:

• The state of grace, requiring sacramental confession before Communion if one has committed a mortal sin since the last Communion.
• A one-hour fast from food and drink (water and medicine excepted).
• Reverent reception, in the hand or on the tongue, with the response Amen.

The Catechism teaches that to receive Communion unworthily, conscious of mortal sin, is itself a grave sin (1 Corinthians 11:27-29; CCC 1385).

For the Eucharistic prayers of devotion, see the Anima Christi.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Council of Trent, Session XIII (October 11, 1551), Decree on the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, especially Chapter 4 on transubstantiation. ↩

2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1322 to 1419, on the Eucharist. ↩