The Eucharist is not one rite among others: it is the sacrament in which Christ gives himself. Where Baptism washes away sin and Confirmation strengthens, the Eucharist communicates not only a grace — it contains "he who is himself the source of all grace", the living Christ, Body, Blood, soul and divinity, under the humble appearances of bread and wine[1]. That is why the Second Vatican Council calls it the "source and summit of the whole Christian life"[2]: everything flows from it and everything returns to it.
The very word says a great deal. Eucharist comes from the Greek eucharistein, "to give thanks": at the Last Supper, Jesus "took bread, gave thanks, broke it" and gave it, saying "This is my body"[3]. Since that evening, the Church has repeated this gesture without interruption, "until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26). Saint Justin already described it around 155; its structure has not changed in two thousand years[4].
This article presents the sacrament as a whole: its names, its institution, its matter and form, its three inseparable dimensions — sacrifice, presence, communion —, its minister, its fruitfulness in the soul and in the Church, and its openness to the glory to come. The great disputed questions have their own specialised articles, linked throughout the text: the Real Presence and transubstantiation, the sacrificial character, the answer to those who see in it only a symbol, and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Eucharist, "source and summit" of the Christian life
The sacrament of sacraments
Among the seven sacraments, the Eucharist holds a place apart. The others are ordered to it as to their end. The Catechism quotes the Council here:
"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." — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1324, quoting Lumen gentium 11 and Presbyterorum ordinis 5[5]
The reason for this primacy is simple and breathtaking: the other sacraments communicate a grace that comes from Christ; the Eucharist communicates Christ himself. Saint Thomas Aquinas draws the consequence: the Eucharist is "as it were the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend"[6]. That is why it completes Christian initiation: the baptised, "configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation", at last share "in the very sacrifice of the Lord"[7]. On the place of the Eucharist within the whole sacramental order, see Why do Catholics have seven sacraments?.
Why the Eucharist "contains" Christ himself
This difference in nature grounds everything else. The Catechism puts it in one striking sentence:
"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.'" — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1327, quoting Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV, 18, 5[8]
John Paul II would open his 2003 encyclical on the same intuition: "The Church draws her life from the Eucharist."[9] This is not a pious formula but an exact description: the Church is born of the Cross made present on the altar, feeds on the Body handed over, and tends toward the banquet of the Kingdom which the Eucharist already anticipates.
One sacrament, three inseparable dimensions
The Eucharist can only be understood by holding together three aspects which the Catechism lists and which can never be separated: "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"[10]. Tradition gathers them in three words: sacrifice, presence, communion. The same mystery is in turn offered (sacrifice), adored (presence) and received (communion) — and these three faces call to one another.
| Dimension | What it is | Central reference | Specialised article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacrifice | The memorial that makes present the one sacrifice of the Cross | CCC § 1362-1367; Trent, sess. XXII | Is the Eucharist a sacrifice? |
| Real Presence | The whole Christ, "truly, really, substantially", under the species | CCC § 1373-1381; Trent, sess. XIII | The Real Presence |
| Communion | Christ received as food, uniting us to Christ and to the Church | CCC § 1382-1401 | Receiving communion well |
This article follows that order, after naming the sacrament and recalling its institution.
The names of the Eucharist: a treasure in many words
"The unfathomable riches of this sacrament are expressed in the different names by which it is called. Each name evokes certain aspects of it," observes the Catechism[11]. To go through these names is already to go through the mystery.
Eucharist: thanksgiving
The most common name says what is essential. Eucharist refers to the Greek verbs eucharistein (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24) and eulogein (Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22), which "recall the Jewish blessings which proclaim — especially during a meal — God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification"[12]. Before being presence and sacrifice, the Eucharist is humanity's great thanksgiving to its Creator, borne by Christ.
The Lord's Supper, the Supper, the breaking of bread
Other names root the sacrament in the event of the Last Supper. We speak of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor 11:20), in connection with the Supper and with "the marriage supper of the Lamb" awaited in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 19:9)[13]. We speak above all of the breaking of bread: it is by this gesture that the disciples at Emmaus recognise the Risen Lord (Lk 24:13-35), and it is by this expression that the first Christians designated their assemblies (Acts 2:42, 46)[14].
Holy Sacrifice, Holy Mass
Because it "makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Saviour", the Eucharist is called the Holy Sacrifice, or the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the "sacrifice of praise" (Heb 13:15), the "pure sacrifice" (Mal 1:11)[15]. The very word Mass comes from the final dismissal (missio): "the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished ends with the sending forth of the faithful so that they may fulfil God's will in their daily lives"[16].
Communion, Blessed Sacrament, viaticum
Received, the Eucharist is Communion, because it unites us to Christ to form "one body" (1 Cor 10:16-17)[17]. Kept and adored, it is the Most Blessed Sacrament — "the sacrament of sacraments"[18]. Saint Ignatius of Antioch already called it the "medicine of immortality" and the "bread of angels"[19]. Given to the dying, it becomes viaticum, bread for the final passage.
| Name | Aspect emphasised | Biblical source |
|---|---|---|
| Eucharist | Thanksgiving to the Father | Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24 |
| Lord's Supper | Memorial of the last meal | 1 Cor 11:20 |
| Breaking of bread | Recognition of the Risen Lord, fraternal communion | Lk 24:35; Acts 2:42 |
| Holy Sacrifice / Holy Mass | Sacrifice of Christ and sending forth | Heb 13:15; Mal 1:11 |
| Communion | Union with Christ and among the faithful | 1 Cor 10:16-17 |
| Most Blessed Sacrament | Presence to be adored | — |
| Viaticum | Bread for the final passage | — |
The institution at the Last Supper
"Do this in memory of me"
The sacrament is not an invention of the Church: it comes from an express command of Christ, given "on the night he was betrayed". The account of the institution has come down to us four times — through the three Synoptics and through Saint Paul[20]. The Catechism quotes Saint Luke's version:
"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.'" — Gospel according to Saint Luke 22:19-20 (cf. Mt 26; Mk 14; 1 Cor 11:23-26)[21]
Saint Paul, writing around 54, is the earliest witness to these words; he "received from the Lord" them and handed them on (1 Cor 11:23). On the evidential weight of the verb "is" — "this IS my body", and not "this represents" — see the article The Real Presence, which treats the exegesis in detail.
A commandment, not only a remembrance
The command "Do this in remembrance of me" does not ask for a mere exercise of tender memory. "It is directed at the liturgical celebration, by the apostles and their successors, of the memorial of Christ"[22]. From the beginning the Church was faithful to it: the first Christians "devoted themselves… to the breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42), above all "on the first day of the week", Sunday, the day of the Resurrection[23] [24]. From this flows the Sunday obligation: see Why is Sunday Mass obligatory?.
John 6: the announcement at Capernaum
Where the Synoptics and Paul recount the institution, Saint John reports the discourse that prepares it: in the synagogue at Capernaum, "Christ designates himself as the bread of life, come down from heaven"[25]. This discourse already divides the disciples, as the announcement of the Passion will scandalise 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." — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1336 (quoting Jn 6:60, 67)[26]
The realism of "eat my flesh" is commented on in detail in the article Why is the Eucharist not only a symbol?.
The foreshadowings of the Old Covenant
The Eucharist did not fall from heaven unprepared: the whole Old Covenant sensed it in advance. The Church sees in the gesture of Melchizedek, "king and priest", who "brought out bread and wine" (Gen 14:18), "a prefiguration of her own offering"[27]. The manna in the desert recalls to Israel that it "lives by the bread of the word of God" (Dt 8:3)[28]. The "cup of blessing" of the Jewish Passover meal (1 Cor 10:16) adds "an eschatological dimension, that of messianic expectation"[29]. And the multiplication of the loaves, like the water changed into wine at Cana, "prefigures the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist"[30]. "Jesus instituted his Eucharist by giving a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup."[31]
The matter and form of the sacrament
Like every sacrament, the Eucharist involves a sensible sign (the matter) and words that determine it (the form). The subject is treated in its own right in The matter and form of the sacraments; the essentials are recalled here.
Wheaten bread and wine from the vine
The matter was fixed by Christ himself: "the essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine"[32]. "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."[33] These signs are not arbitrary: they speak of the goodness of creation, "fruit of the earth and of the vine" and of "the work of human hands", offered in thanksgiving to the Creator[34]. The Latin rite uses unleavened bread, after the image of the unleavened bread of the Jewish Passover; the Eastern rites use leavened bread — a legitimate difference of discipline, with no bearing on validity.
The words of consecration
The form of the sacrament is the words of Christ which the priest repeats in persona Christi: "the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: 'This is my body given for you… This is the cup of my blood…'"[35]. It is these words which, "by the power of the words and the action of Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present… his Body and his Blood"[36].
The epiclesis and the institution narrative
The Eucharistic Prayer articulates two moments. In the epiclesis, the Church "asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine, so that they may become… the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ"[37]. In the institution narrative, the words of Christ effect what they signify. Saint John Chrysostom puts it without evasion:
"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." — Saint John Chrysostom, De proditione Judae 1, 6, quoted in CCC § 1375[38]
The Eucharistic sacrifice
The Eucharist is not only a meal: it is first a sacrifice — the memorial that makes present the one sacrifice of the Cross. This is the proper subject of the article Why is the Eucharist a sacrifice?; its framework is given here.
The memorial that makes present
The key word is memorial. In the Bible, the memorial "is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God… In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real"[39]. So it is with the Passover of Christ:
"When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates the Passover of Christ, and it becomes present: the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the Cross remains ever present." — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1364, quoting Lumen gentium 3[40]
The sacrificial character is written into the very words of institution: "my Body which will be given for you", "my Blood which will be shed"[41]. The Eucharist is therefore a sacrifice "because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the Cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit"[42].
"One and the same victim"
The Cross and the Mass are not two sacrifices, but one, offered in two ways. The Council of Trent defined this against the Reformers:
"There is one and the same victim, the same person now offers it through the ministry of priests who then offered himself on the Cross: only the manner of offering differs." — Council of Trent, Session XXII (1562), Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, ch. 2 (DS 1743), quoted in CCC § 1367[43]
The Mass therefore does not "redo" the Cross nor add to it: it makes it present. "This same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the Cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner" — that is why "this sacrifice is truly propitiatory"[44].
The sacrifice of the Church, for the living and the dead
Because the Church is the Body of Christ, she "shares in the offering of her Head": "with him, she herself is offered whole and entire"[45]. The life, praise, suffering and work of the faithful are united to the offering of Christ and "acquire a new value"[46]. The sacrifice is offered in communion with the Virgin and all the saints, and "also for the faithful departed who have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified"[47]. Dying, Saint Monica asked nothing else of her son Augustine:
"Bury this body anywhere you will! Give yourselves no trouble over it! This only I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be." — Saint Monica, reported by Saint Augustine, Confessions IX, 11, 27, quoted in CCC § 1371[48]
The Real Presence and transubstantiation
If the Mass makes the sacrifice present, it is because it makes Christ himself present. This is the heart of Eucharistic dogma, treated in detail in The Real Presence and What is transubstantiation?; here is the minimum to hold.
"Truly, really, substantially"
Christ is present in many ways — in his Word, in the prayer of the Church, in the poor, in the minister. "But 'most especially in the Eucharistic species'"[49]. This presence is unique:
"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.'" — Council of Trent, Session XIII (1551), DS 1651, quoted in CCC § 1374[50]
It is called "real", Paul VI specifies, "not in an exclusive sense, as if the other presences were not real, but by way of excellence, because it is substantial"[51].
Transubstantiation
How does this bread become this Body? Through a change which the Church has named with precision. The term transsubstantiatis appears for the first time in a conciliar text at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215)[52]; it was defined at the Council of Trent:
"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." — Council of Trent, Session XIII (1551), DS 1642, quoted in CCC § 1376[53]
What changes is the substance — what the thing is in depth; what remains are the species, the sensible appearances (taste, aspect, dimensions). Saint Ambrose already explained it by the almighty power of the creative word: "the power of the blessing prevails over that of nature"[54].
The whole Christ under each species
An important consequence: "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"[55]. Whoever receives communion under the species of bread alone therefore receives "the whole fruit of Eucharistic grace"[56]. And the presence "begins at the moment of consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist"[57] — the foundation of Eucharistic reservation and adoration.
The worship of adoration owed to the Eucharist
Since Christ is truly there, the Eucharist "is to be honoured with the worship of adoration"[58]. We bend the knee, keep the consecrated hosts in the tabernacle, expose them for veneration and carry them in procession[59]. Saint Thomas Aquinas sang this faith in the Adoro te devote:
"Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more… 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." — Saint Thomas Aquinas, hymn Adoro te devote, quoted in CCC § 1381[60]
On the practice and meaning of this devotion, see Eucharistic adoration and The procession of the Blessed Sacrament.
Communion: receiving Christ
Sacrifice and presence are wholly ordered to one end: that Christ be received. "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."[61]
A twentieth-century Italian mystic restated this union with the very image of the offertory: in words that Véra Grita († 1969) says she received from Jesus in February 1969, "Me in you, as in the holy Sacrifice where water is united to wine: one single thing"[62]. The image proves nothing by itself — it is a private revelation without recognition by the Church — but it says well what communion effects: the communicant is not added to Christ from the outside, he becomes one with him, like water mingled with wine.
"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man"
Christ's invitation is pressing:
"Truly, 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." — Jesus, Gospel according to Saint John 6:53, quoted in CCC § 1384[63]
The dispositions required: state of grace, examination, fasting
Receiving Christ demands preparation. Saint Paul warns solemnly:
"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… for any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." — Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, quoted in CCC § 1385[64]
Hence a constant rule of the Church: "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."[65] Communion therefore supposes recourse to confession when conscience accuses one of grave sin. To this are added the prescribed Eucharistic fast (cf. CIC, can. 919) and a bodily attitude of respect[66]. Before the greatness of the gift, the faithful take up the centurion's words: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."[67]
Frequency and obligation
The Church "obliges the faithful… to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season" — that is the minimum, the "Easter duty"[68]. But she "warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily"[69]. One may receive communion twice on the same day, each time taking part in Mass[70]. On the conditions for a rightly understood frequent communion, see Growing in frequent communion and Common mistakes about frequent communion.
The fruits of communion
The Catechism unfolds the effects of communion in a few connected fruits:
- It increases union with Christ. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:56). What food does for the body, communion accomplishes in the soul: it "preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism"[71] [72].
- It separates from sin. The Body handed over and the Blood shed "for the forgiveness of sins" purify: communion "wipes away venial sins" and "preserves from future mortal sins", for "the more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him"[73] [74] [75]. Note: it is not the sacrament for the forgiveness of mortal sins — "this is proper to the sacrament of Reconciliation"[76].
- It makes the unity of the Church. "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body" (1 Cor 10:17). The Eucharist "renews, strengthens and deepens" the incorporation into the Church accomplished at Baptism[77].
- It 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"[78].
The same sending forth into the world is found in words that Véra Grita († 1969) says she received from Jesus: "Carry me with you, carry me outside: may my Eucharistic Presence spread over humanity Faith, Love, Peace"[79]. Here again, a private revelation without recognition by the Church, cited as an illustration and not as proof: the communion received does not stop at the communicant, it sends him forth to carry Christ along the roads, into the streets and families.
| Fruit of communion | Reference | Limit to know |
|---|---|---|
| Intimate union with Christ | CCC § 1391-1392 | Supposes faith and the state of grace |
| Remission of venial sins | CCC § 1393-1394 | Does not erase mortal sins |
| Preservation from future mortal sins | CCC § 1395 | An effect, not an automatic guarantee |
| Unity of the Body of the Church | CCC § 1396 | Commits us to fraternal charity |
| Pledge of future glory | CCC § 1402-1405 | A presence still "veiled" |
The minister of the Eucharist
"In persona Christi": only the priest consecrates
Consecration is not within the power of every baptised person: "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."[80] The bishop or priest acts "in persona Christi capitis", "representing" Christ, who is "the principal agent" and "the high priest of the New Covenant" presiding invisibly over every celebration[81]. That is why the validity of the Mass depends on the sacrament of Holy Orders received by the celebrant: see The ordinary and extraordinary minister, The intention of the minister and The validity of the sacraments.
The bishop, the pope, the assembly
Every Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the whole Church. "The bishop of the place is always responsible for the Eucharist, even when a priest presides"; the pope is named in it "as a sign and servant of unity"[82]. Saint Ignatius of Antioch said it as early as the beginning of the second century:
"Let that Eucharist alone be regarded as legitimate which is celebrated under the presidency of the bishop or of him to whom he has entrusted it." — Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8, 1, quoted in CCC § 1369[83]
The assembly, for its part, is no spectator: all "have their own active part in the celebration… the whole people whose Amen manifests their participation"[84].
The Eucharist "makes the Church"
Sacrament of unity, bond of charity
One of the oldest cries of admiration before the Eucharist is Saint Augustine's:
"O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!" — Saint Augustine, In Evangelium Ioannis 26, 6, 13, quoted in CCC § 1398[85]
The Eucharist does not only nourish individuals: it builds the Body. "If you are the body of Christ and his members, it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord… Be, then, a member of Christ, that your Amen may be true," Augustine preached to his faithful[86].
The ecumenical question
This unity makes the divisions among Christians all the more painful. The Church acknowledges that "the Eastern Churches… possess true sacraments — above all, by apostolic succession: the Priesthood and the Eucharist", which makes possible, in certain circumstances, a communion in sacris[87]. On the other hand, "the ecclesial communities sprung from the Reformation… especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Orders, have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness": intercommunion is therefore not possible there[88]. Grave necessity may nevertheless, under conditions, open access to the sacraments for other Christians who ask for them and profess the Catholic faith on this point[89].
"Pledge of future glory": the eschatological dimension
The Eucharist is not only turned toward the past (the Cross) and the present (the presence): it opens the future. An ancient antiphon sings it:
"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." — Antiphon O sacrum convivium (office of Corpus Christi, attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas), quoted in CCC § 1402[90]
Each Mass is an "anticipation of heavenly glory"[91], turned toward the "new wine" of the Kingdom (Mt 26:29) and toward the Lord's return which the Church calls: "Marana tha — Come, Lord Jesus" (1 Cor 16:22; Rev 22:20)[92]. Saint Ignatius of Antioch already saw in it the "medicine of immortality, antidote against death, but to live in Jesus Christ forever"[93]. Of this hope of the new heavens, "we have no surer pledge or dearer sign than the Eucharist"[94]. That is why it accompanies the Christian to the threshold of death, where it is given to him as viaticum.
The Eucharist at the heart of the spiritual life
Corpus Christi and the genius of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Faith in the Real Presence shaped the piety of a whole people. In the thirteenth century, following the visions of Saint Juliana of Cornillon at Liège, and after the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena (1263), Pope Urban IV instituted by the bull Transiturus de hoc mundo (1264) the feast of the Blessed Sacrament, Corpus Christi, extended to the whole Church and fixed to the Thursday after the octave of Pentecost[95]. It was to Saint Thomas Aquinas that Urban IV entrusted the office of the feast: to him we owe the sequence Lauda Sion, the Pange lingua (from which the Tantum ergo is taken) and the Verbum supernum prodiens (from which the O salutaris is taken), and the Adoro te devote[96] — the summit of Eucharistic theology made prayer. The history of the Eucharistic miracles, signs given to faith, is gathered in Eucharistic miracles.
What the saints say
The saints never ceased to live on this sacrament. John Paul II summed up the Church's call to Eucharistic worship:
"The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration… Let our adoration never cease." — John Paul II, letter Dominicae cenae 3, quoted in CCC § 1380[97]
What the saints say of this mystery is gathered in What do the saints say about Eucharistic adoration; the dimension of love and intimacy is developed in God's infinite love in the Eucharist and Our relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.
Historical landmarks of Eucharistic dogma
- Around the year 30 — JerusalemThe institution at the Last Supper
Jesus, "on the night he was betrayed", institutes the Eucharist: "This is my body… Do this in memory of me" (1 Cor 11:23-25).
- Around 54 — Saint Paul's epistleThe oldest written testimony
Saint Paul hands on to the Corinthians the account received "from the Lord" (1 Cor 11:23-26): the Eucharistic faith is apostolic.
- Around 155 — RomeSaint Justin describes the Mass
In his First Apology, Justin describes to the emperor the course of the Eucharist: Word, thanksgiving, communion — the structure that endures.
- 1215 — Fourth Lateran CouncilThe word 'transubstantiation'
First official use of the term transsubstantiatis in a conciliar text to express the change effected at consecration.
- 1263-1264 — Bolsena / OrvietoThe miracle of Bolsena and Corpus Christi
After the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena, Urban IV institutes Corpus Christi by the bull Transiturus. Saint Thomas Aquinas composes its office.
- 1551 — Council of Trent, sess. XIIIThe Real Presence and transubstantiation defined
Against the Reformation, Trent defines that Christ is present "truly, really, substantially" (DS 1651) and confirms the word transubstantiation (DS 1642).
- 1562 — Council of Trent, sess. XXIIThe sacrifice of the Mass defined
Trent defines the Mass as a "true and proper sacrifice": one victim with the Cross, "only the manner of offering differs" (DS 1743).
- 1962-1965 — Vatican II'Source and summit'
Lumen gentium 11 and Sacrosanctum concilium place the Eucharist as the "source and summit of the whole Christian life" and renew the liturgy.
- 2003 — John Paul II'The Church draws her life from the Eucharist'
The encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia recalls the indissoluble bond between the Eucharist and the Church.
The Eucharist and the Divine Will
In the spirituality of the Divine Will lived by the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, the Eucharist holds a central place: the Christ who gives himself as food is the very model of the soul that wants to "live in the Divine Will", that is, to let the divine acting take the place of its own acting. Daily communion was, in Luisa's life, the absolute centre of her hidden existence[98]. Far from being a marginal theme, the Eucharist is thus the place where there is accomplished, sacramentally, what the Book of Heaven calls the union of the two wills, the human and the divine. Jesus himself tells her so, linking the Eucharist and the Cross as the two faces of a single gift:
"If the Eucharist is a pledge of future glory, the Cross is the coin with which to purchase this glory. […] The Eucharist is the balm that prevents corruption; it gives immortality to soul and body. The Cross, for its part, embellishes the soul […]. The Cross and the Eucharist are, as it were, complementary." — Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta, The Book of Heaven, volume 3, 1 May 1900[99]
To go further
- The Real Eucharistic Presence — why the bread truly becomes the Body of Christ, and the answer to objections.
- Why is the Eucharist not only a symbol? — the realism of John 6 and of the words of institution.
- What is transubstantiation? — substance and species, Lateran IV and Trent.
- Why is the Eucharist a sacrifice? — the Mass as memorial of the Cross.
- Eucharistic adoration — the meaning and practice of worship of the Blessed Sacrament.
- Eucharistic miracles — Lanciano, Bolsena, Buenos Aires: the signs given to faith.
- The matter and form of the sacraments — bread, wine and the words of consecration.
- Viaticum — the Eucharist given to the dying.
- Why do Catholics have seven sacraments? — the place of the Eucharist in the sacramental whole.
Notes and References
Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1324, quoting Lumen gentium 11 and Presbyterorum ordinis 5: "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."
1 2 5Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1328: on the name Eucharist, from the Greek verbs eucharistein (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24) and eulogein (Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22), "which recall the Jewish blessings which proclaim — especially during a meal — God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification."
3 11 12Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1345, quoting Saint Justin Martyr, First Apology 65 and 67 (around 155): description of the course of the Eucharistic celebration addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius, which has "remained the same to our own day."
4Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1374, quoting Saint Thomas Aquinas (Summa theologiae III, q. 73, a. 3), the Council of Trent (DS 1651) and Paul VI (Mysterium fidei 39): "'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.'"
6 50 51Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1322, Mame/Plon, 1992 (official French text, vatican.va): "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, those, through the means of the Eucharist, participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice."
7Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1327, quoting Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus hæreses IV, 18, 5: "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.'"
8John Paul II, encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), no. 1, vatican.va: "The Church draws her life from the Eucharist (Ecclesia de Eucharistia vivit). This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church."
9Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1358: "We must therefore consider the Eucharist as thanksgiving and praise to the Father, as the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body, as the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit."
10Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1329: the names Lord's Supper (1 Cor 11:20), Breaking of bread (Mt 26:26; Lk 24:13-35; Acts 2:42, 46), Eucharistic assembly (synaxis, 1 Cor 11:17-34).
13 14Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1330: Memorial, Holy Sacrifice / holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise" (Heb 13:15), "pure sacrifice" (Mal 1:11); Holy and Divine Liturgy, Most Blessed Sacrament, "the sacrament of sacraments."
15 18Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1332: Holy Mass, from the Latin missio (sending forth), "so that they may fulfil God's will in their daily lives."
16Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1331: Communion (1 Cor 10:16-17); "the holy things" (ta hagia); "bread of angels, bread of heaven, medicine of immortality" (Saint Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians 20, 2), viaticum.
17 19Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1338: "The three Synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on to us the account of the institution of the Eucharist; for his part, St. John reports Jesus' words in the synagogue at Capernaum… Christ designates himself as the bread of life, come down from heaven (cf. Jn 6)."
20 25Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1339, quoting Lk 22:19-20 (cf. Mt 26:17-29; Mk 14:12-25; 1 Cor 11:23-26): "'This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me… This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.'"
21Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1341: the command "Do this in remembrance of me" "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."
22Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1342, quoting Acts 2:42, 46: the first Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."
23Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1343: "It was above all 'on the first day of the week,' Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met 'to break bread' (Acts 20:7)."
24Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1336, quoting Jn 6:60, 67-68: "'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?'"
26Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1333: "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." The Church sees in Melchizedek's gesture (Gen 14:18) "a prefiguration of her own offering" (Roman Canon).
27 33 34Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1334: bread and wine in the Old Covenant, the unleavened bread of the Passover, the manna (Dt 8:3), the "cup of blessing" (1 Cor 10:16) and its eschatological dimension. "Jesus instituted his Eucharist by giving a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup."
28 29 31Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1335: the multiplications of the loaves (Mt 14:13-21; 15:32-39) and the water changed into wine at Cana (Jn 2:11) "prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist."
30Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1412: "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."
32 35Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1353: the epiclesis (invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine) and the institution narrative, in which "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."
36 37Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1375, quoting Saint John Chrysostom (De proditione Judae 1, 6: PG 49, 380) and Saint Ambrose (De mysteriis 9, 50, 52: PL 16, 405-406): "It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but Christ himself… 'This is my body': this word transforms the things offered."
38 54Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1363: "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 (cf. Ex 13:3). In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real."
39Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1364, quoting Lumen gentium 3 and Heb 7:25-27: "The sacrifice that Christ offered once for all on the Cross remains ever present… 'As often as the sacrifice of the Cross… is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out.'"
40Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1365, quoting Lk 22:19-20 and Mt 26:28: "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.'"
41Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1366, quoting the Council of Trent (DS 1740): the Eucharist is a sacrifice "because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the Cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit."
42Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1367, quoting the Council of Trent, Session XXII (1562), Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, ch. 2 (DS 1743): "There is one and the same victim, the same person now offers it through the ministry of priests who then offered himself on the Cross: only the manner of offering differs… this sacrifice is truly propitiatory."
43 44Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1368: "The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church, which is the Body of Christ, shares in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and entire… The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer and work, are united with those of Christ… and acquire a new value."
45 46Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1371, quoting the Council of Trent (DS 1743) and Saint Augustine, Confessions IX, 11, 27: the Eucharistic sacrifice offered "for the faithful departed who have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified"; the words of Saint Monica: "remember me at the altar of the Lord."
47 48Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1373, quoting Sacrosanctum concilium 7, Rom 8:34, Mt 18:20, Mt 25:31-46: Christ present in many ways, "but most especially in the Eucharistic species."
49Fourth Lateran Council (1215), constitution Firmiter credimus (ch. 1, De fide catholica), first official use of the verb transsubstantiatis in the text of an ecumenical council to designate the change effected at consecration. The term would be taken up and defined at the Council of Trent (DS 1642). Cf. CCC § 1376.
52Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1376, quoting the Council of Trent, Session XIII (1551), DS 1642: "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… this change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."
53Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1377, quoting the Council of Trent (DS 1641): "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."
55 57Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1390, quoting GIRM 240: "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."
56(source introuvable : cec-1418)
58Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1378, quoting Paul VI (Mysterium fidei 56): the worship of adoration given to the Eucharist "not only during Mass but also outside of it: by keeping the consecrated hosts with the utmost care… by carrying them in procession."
59Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1381, quoting Saint Thomas Aquinas (Summa theologiae III, q. 75, a. 1) and the hymn Adoro te devote: "Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more… 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."
60Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1382: "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."
61Véra Grita, Porte-moi avec toi ! L'Œuvre des Tabernacles Vivants dans les manuscrits originaux de Véra Grita, texts presented by François-Marie Léthel and Roberto Carelli, trans. Morand Wirth, Elledici, Turin, 2017, p. 285. Words presented as spoken by Jesus (February 1969): "Me in you, as in the holy Sacrifice where water is united to wine: one single thing." Private revelation without recognition by the Church, cited as an illustration and not as doctrinal proof.
62Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1384, quoting Jn 6:53: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."
63Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1385, quoting 1 Cor 11:27-29: Saint Paul's exhortation to self-examination; "Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion."
64Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1415: "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."
65Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1387, quoting the Code of Canon Law, can. 919: "To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. Bodily demeanour (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment."
66Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1386, quoting Mt 8:8: "Domine, non sum dignus… — Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."
67Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1389, quoting CIC can. 920: "The Church obliges the faithful… 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."
68 69Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1388, quoting Sacrosanctum concilium 55 and CIC can. 917: it accords with the meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful receive communion when they take part in Mass; they may receive communion twice on the same day.
70Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1391, quoting Jn 6:56-57: "Holy Communion augments our union with Christ… 'He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.'"
71Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1392, quoting Presbyterorum ordinis 5: communion "preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism", bread for the pilgrimage unto viaticum.
72Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1393, quoting Saint Ambrose (De sacramentis 4, 28: PL 16, 446): "Holy Communion separates us from sin… The Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past faults."
73Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1394, quoting the Council of Trent (DS 1638): "As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity… and this living charity wipes away venial sins."
74Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1395: "By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins… The Eucharist is not ordered to the forgiveness of mortal sins. That is proper to the sacrament of Reconciliation."
75 76Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1396, quoting 1 Cor 10:16-17, 1 Cor 12:13 and Saint Augustine (Sermon 272: PL 38, 1247): "The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church… Be, then, a member of Christ, that your Amen may be true."
77 86Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1397, quoting Mt 25:40 and Saint John Chrysostom (In 1 Cor. hom. 27, 4: PG 61, 229-230): "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."
78Véra Grita, Porte-Moi avec toi !, texts presented by François-Marie Léthel and Roberto Carelli, trans. Morand Wirth (Elledici, Turin, 2017), p. 161. Words presented as spoken by Jesus: "Carry me with you, carry me outside: may my Eucharistic Presence spread over humanity Faith, Love, Peace." Private revelation without recognition by the Church, cited as an illustration and not as doctrinal proof.
79Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1411: "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."
80Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1348: "At its head is Christ himself, the principal agent of the Eucharist. He is high priest of the New Covenant… It is by representing him that bishop or priest (acting 'in persona Christi capitis') presides over the assembly… the whole people whose Amen manifests their participation."
81 84Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1369, quoting Saint Ignatius of Antioch, To the Smyrnaeans 8, 1, and Presbyterorum ordinis 2: responsibility of the bishop and the pope for the Eucharist; "Let that Eucharist alone be regarded as legitimate which is celebrated under the presidency of the bishop or of him to whom he has entrusted it."
82 83Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1398, quoting Saint Augustine (In Evangelium Ioannis tractatus 26, 6, 13) and Sacrosanctum concilium 47: "O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!"
85Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1399, quoting Unitatis redintegratio 15 and CIC can. 844 § 3: the Eastern Churches "possess true sacraments — above all, by apostolic succession: the Priesthood and the Eucharist", making possible a certain communion in sacris.
87Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1400, quoting Unitatis redintegratio 22: "The ecclesial communities sprung from the Reformation… especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Orders, have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness."
88Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1401, quoting CIC can. 844 § 4: in case of grave necessity, Catholic ministers may administer the sacraments to other Christians who ask for them of their own accord, manifest Catholic faith in these sacraments, and are properly disposed.
89Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1402, quoting the antiphon O sacrum convivium (office of Corpus Christi): "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."
90 91Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1403, quoting Mt 26:29, 1 Cor 16:22 and Rev 22:20: the gaze turned toward "the new wine in the Kingdom" and the call "Marana tha — Come, Lord Jesus."
92Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1405, quoting Lumen gentium 3 and Saint Ignatius of Antioch (To the Ephesians 20, 2): "Of this great hope… we have no surer pledge or dearer sign than the Eucharist… medicine of immortality, antidote against death, but to live in Jesus Christ forever."
93 94Bull Transiturus de hoc mundo of Pope Urban IV (1264), instituting the feast of the Blessed Sacrament (Corpus Christi) for the universal Church, fixed to the Thursday after the octave of Pentecost, following the visions of Saint Juliana of Cornillon (Liège) and the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena (1263). Saint Thomas Aquinas composed the office of the feast (sequence Lauda Sion, hymns Pange lingua, Adoro te devote).
95 96Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1380, quoting John Paul II, letter Dominicae cenae 3 (1980): "The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love… Let our adoration never cease."
97L. Piccarreta, The Book of Heaven, volume 3, 1 May 1900: "If the Eucharist is a pledge of future glory, the Cross is the coin with which to purchase this glory. The Cross and the Eucharist are, as it were, complementary… The Eucharist is the balm that prevents corruption. It is like those aromatic herbs which, when corpses are anointed with them, are preserved from corruption. It gives immortality to soul and body." On the central place of the Eucharist and daily communion in the life of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947), see the biographical file Luisa Piccarreta and The Book of Heaven.
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