Eucharist

Elevation of the Eucharist, after consecration in the traditional Roman rite.

Preparation of liturgical species and objects for Divine Liturgy according to the Slavic-Byzantine Rite.

The Eucharist (from the Greek εὐχαριστία, eucharistía, thanksgiving), also called Holy Sacrifice, Lord's Supper, Breaking Bread, Communion, Blessed Sacrament, Holy Mysteries b> or Holy Supper, according to the tradition of the Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Adventist churches and some Lutheran denominations, considered as a sacrament, is the body and blood of Jesus Christ under the species of bread and wine.

The elements of the Eucharist are the sacramental bread and sacramental wine which are consecrated on an altar and consumed thereafter. Communicants, those who consume the elements, can speak of 'receiving the Eucharist' as well as 'celebrating the Eucharist'.

Catholics believe that by consecration the substances of the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation) while the appearances (or "species") of the bread and wine wine remain unchanged. Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are actually present "in, with and under" the forms of bread and wine (sacramental union). Reformed Christians believe in a real spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Anglican Eucharistic theology universally affirms the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Others, such as the Christadelphians, consider the act to be only a symbolic re-enactment of the Last Supper and a commemorative memorial.

In the Catholic Church, in the Orthodox, Coptic and Anglican Churches, the Eucharist is considered the source and summit of every Christian's life. According to the catechism of the Catholic Church, the Eucharist represents a sign of unity, a bond of charity and a paschal banquet in which Christ is received, the soul is filled with grace and we are given a pledge of eternal life.

Terminology

The New Testament was originally written in the Greek language and the Greek noun εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), meaning "thanksgiving", is mentioned a few times in it, while that the related Greek verb εὐχαριστήσας occurs several times in New Testament accounts of the Last Supper, including the earliest earliest account:

I have received from the Lord what I have transmitted to you. The Lord Jesus, the night he was delivered, took bread and, after giving thanks (ε χαρισεεσας), he left him saying: "This is my body, which is delivered by you; do this in memory of me. »

The term εὐχαριστία (eucharistia) appears as a rite in the Didache (a document from the late 1st or early 2nd century), and by Ignatius of Antioch (who died between 98 and 117) and by Justin Martyr (First Apology written between 155 and 157). Today, "the Eucharist" it is the name still used by Eastern Orthodox, Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Lutherans. Other Protestant denominations rarely use this term, preferring "Communion", "The Lords Supper" or "Breaking of the Bread".

Theology of the Eucharist

Five main things can be considered that have been the object of theological reflection on the Eucharist: the institution of the sacrament, the Eucharist as a bloodless sacrifice, the Eucharist as the real presence of Christ, the Eucharist as communion, and the Eucharist as a pledge of future glory.

Institution of the sacrament

Catholic theology considers the Eucharist as a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper.

Gérard de Lairesse - The institution of the Eucharist

The Catholic Church affirms that the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus Christ, as recounted in the Synoptic Gospels, took place when he took the bread in his hands, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying:

Take and eat, this is my body, which will be delivered by you. Likewise, he took the chalice and gave it to his disciples saying, Take and drink all of it, for this is my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in commemoration of me.

Cfr. Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26

Now, this occurred, according to the evangelical accounts in a broad context:

• Easter dinner: according to the synoptic gospels the institution is given during the Easter dinner (Matthew 26:17-25; Mark 14:12-21; Luke 22:7-18).
• The Catholic Church understands that the Eucharist was already prefigured in the Old Testament, especially at the Easter Supper, celebrated by the Jews, where they consumed unleavened bread, lamb meat roasted on fire and bitter herbs.
• The main elements of the celebration of the Jewish Passover are found in the following biblical texts: Ex 12:1-8; Dt 16; Lv 23:5-8; Nm 28:16-25.
• St. Paul considers the death of Jesus on the cross in the paschal code: "Christ our Passover has been immolated" (cf.1Cor 5:7). St. John the Evangelist does the same by applying to Christ the phrase referred to the Paschal Lamb: "no bone shall be broken" (cf.Exodus 12:46) in John 19:36.
• The Passion. In the account of the institution of the Eucharist, Jesus announces his own violent death: he speaks of “my body, which will be delivered”, “the chalice of my blood, which will be shed”.
• Mutual service. According to the story of the evangelist John, before the supper Jesus washed his disciples' feet and commanded all of them to follow that example of servitiality (John 13:1-20), loving as he loved them (John 15:12).

Eucharist as sacrifice

The Catholic Church believes that in the Eucharist the same and unique sacrifice that Christ made on the cross is made present ("re-presented") once and for all, its memory is perpetuated through the centuries and apply its fruit.

The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Pasch, the actualization and sacramental offering of his only sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body... The memorial is not only the memory of past events... these events become, in a certain way, present and current. Because it is a memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of the institution: "This is my Body, which will be given up for you" and "This cup is the new Covenant in my blood, which will be poured out for you" (Lk 22,19-20). In the Eucharist, Christ gives the same body that he gave for us on the cross, and the same blood that "shed for many [...] for the remission of sins" (Mt 26,28).

The sacrifice of the cross and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are a single sacrifice, since in both one and the other, Christ is the priest who offers the sacrifice and the victim who is offered. They differ only in the way the sacrifice is offered. On the cross Christ offered it in a bloody way, and by himself, and in the Mass in an unbloody way and by the ministry of the priests. "And since in this divine sacrifice that is made in the mass, and bloodlessly immolates the same Christ who on the altar of the cross "offered himself once in a bloody way"; […] this sacrifice [is] truly propitiatory."

Only validly ordained priests can preside over the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord. As a sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the deceased, and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.

The sacrifice of the mass does not add anything to the sacrifice of the cross, but makes the same and unique sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally present on our altars. presents") the same and unique sacrifice of the cross.

On the Fathers of the Church

The Didache, the most important writing of the Apostolic Fathers, makes the following warning: «Come together on the Lord's day and break the bread and give thanks after having confessed your sins, in order to may your sacrifice (thusia) be pure."

Saint Ignatius of Antioch (d. around 107) indicates the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist, dealing, in the same text, with the Eucharist and the altar; and the altar as the place where the sacrifice is offered (thusiastérion): «Take care, then, not to celebrate more than one Eucharist, because one is the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one is the chalice for the gathering of his blood, and one altar, and in the same way there is only one bishop with the presbyters and deacons".

Saint Justin Martyr (d. around 165) considers as a figure of the Eucharist that sacrifice of fine flour that those who were cured of leprosy had to offer. The pure sacrifice prophesied by Malachi, which is offered everywhere, is none other —according to the saint— than "the bread and the chalice of the Eucharist".

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (d. around 202) teaches that the flesh and blood of Christ are “the new sacrifice of the New Covenant”, “which the Church received from the apostles and which she offers to God throughout the world”. world". He regards it as the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy.

Tertullian (d. after 220) designates participation in the Eucharistic solemnity as "being at the altar of God", and communion as "participating in the sacrifice".

Saint Cyprian (f. 258) teaches that Christ, as a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, «offered a sacrifice to God the Father, and indeed the same one that Melchizedek had offered, that is, consisting of bread and wine, is that is to say, that he offered his body and his blood". so that he saw that Christ had offered it."

Saint Ambrose (f. 397) teaches that in the sacrifice of the Mass Christ is both an offering and a priest: «Although now Christ is not seen to sacrifice himself, nevertheless, he sacrifices himself on earth whenever he is offered the body of Christ; moreover, it is manifest that He even offers a sacrifice in us, since his word is the one that sanctifies the sacrifice that is offered».

In the Middle Ages

Pedro Lombardo affirms in the book of Sentences: «what is offered and consecrated by the priest is called sacrifice and oblation because it is a memory and representation of the true sacrifice and of the holy immolation made on the altar of the cross. Christ died only once and in it he immolated himself; but he is immolated every day in the sacrament, because in the sacrament the memory of what has been done only once is fulfilled ».

St. Thomas Aquinas

Saint Thomas Aquinas resolves different objections to the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist, continuing the doctrine of the Fathers and affirming the identity of the Eucharistic sacrifice with that made by Christ on the cross.

In the Protestant Reformation

Until the Protestant Reformation, in sixteen centuries of Christianity, there had never been a direct attack on the doctrine of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther affirms that, since man is only justified by God through faith and not works, the Mass is one more human work with no greater efficacy than that of increasing faith. The sacrifice of Christ it is one and the mass is a gift received, not a sacrificial offering that we can give to God. Therefore, he abolished the Roman canon and private masses, leaving only the memory of the Supper.

Ulrich Zwingli, also starting from the fact that Christ's sacrifice is unique, affirms that the mass is only a memory of the sacrifice, a guarantee of the redemption that the Lord obtained for us.

John Calvin affirms not only the uniqueness of the sacrifice, but also of the priest who excludes any successor or vicar. The latest editions of his book Institution of the Christian Religion admit that the mass is sacrifice but praise and thanksgiving, never of propitiation

Recently, some reformers have reconsidered the theology of the Eucharistic sacrifice and in the theological documents elaborated between Catholics and Lutherans or Anglicans there are various positions that are more or less close, although not yet common. ^{[citation required]}

In the Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church addressed, at the Council of Trent, the controversy with the Protestants about the sacrificial nature of the Mass. Its definitions were approved in session XXII (September 17, 1562). The Council mentions that they are based on "this ancient faith, founded on the holy Gospel, on the traditions of the Apostles and on the doctrine of the Holy Parents".

Council of Trent.

Some of their definitions were:

1. Mass is a true and own sacrifice that is offered to God;
2. Such a sacrifice is representation and memorial of the sacrifice made on the cross by Christ, for which his healthy efficacy applies to the remission of sins;
3. the offerer and the offer both at Mass and on the cross is the same Jesus Christ. The difference is given because on the cross the offering was raw and in the unbelieving Mass and because on the cross Christ made the offer for himself, and on the Mass, by the ministry of the priests;
4. is a visible sacrifice, as the Council demands human nature;
5. His institution was made by Christ himself, when he said, "do this in my memory" (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24).

In recent teaching

In the encyclical Mediator Dei, Pius XII takes up the Tridentine doctrine of the Eucharistic sacrifice:

• its institution
• its character of true renewal of the sacrifice of the cross. In this regard, he will recall:
  • the identity of the priest and the victim (Jesus Christ)
  • the difference in the mode of your offer (scruty and incrutiny). On this point he mentions:

divine wisdom has found an admirable way to make manifest the sacrifice of our Redeemer with external signs, which are symbols of death, since, thanks to the transproduction of bread in the body and wine in the blood of Christ, as well as his body is actually present, his blood is also present; and in that way the Eucharistic species, under which it is present, symbolize the crude separation of the body and blood. In this way, the commemoration of his death, which really happened in Calvary, is repeated in each of the sacrifices of the altar, since, through various signs, Jesus Christ is meant and shown as a victim.

Mediator Dei, n. 89

• the identity of the ends of the sacrifice of the cross and of the Eucharist: the glorification of God, the thanksgiving, the propitiation for our sins and those of all human, living and dead, and the impetration of the grace and blessing of God.

• the infinite value of the divine sacrifice.
• the need for the collaboration of the faithful in the Eucharistic sacrifice. However, on this point he marked the difference between the common priesthood of the faithful, received in Baptism, and the ministerial priesthood, conferred by the Sacrament of Holy Order.

Conciliar Fathers at the Second Vatican Council.

The Second Vatican Council, in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, stated:

Our Saviour, at the Last Supper, the night they betrayed him, instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood, with which he would perpetuate for centuries, until his return, the Sacrifice of the Cross and to entrust his Bride, the Church, the Memorial of his Death and Resurrection: sacrament of piety, sign of unity, bond of charity, and feast of peace, in which the soul is committed.

Sacrosanctum concilium47

Saint Paul VI in the encyclical Mysterium Fidei underlines the offering of the Church as part of the sacrifice:

the Church, in performing the function of priest and victim together with Christ, offers all the sacrifice of the Mass, and every one is offered in it. [...] For all mass, though privately celebrated by a priest, is not private action, but action of Christ and the Church, which, in the sacrifice he offers, learns to offer himself as a universal sacrifice, and applies to the salvation of the whole world the only and infinite redeeming virtue of the sacrifice of the Cross. For every Mass that is celebrated is offered not only for the salvation of some, but also for the salvation of the whole world.

Mysterium fidei, n. 4

The Pope himself, in the Creed of the People of God, expressed:

We believe that the Mass which is celebrated by the priest representing the person of Christ, by virtue of the power received by the sacrament of order, and which is offered by him in the name of Christ and the members of his Mystical Body, is really the sacrifice of Calvary, which becomes sacramentally present in our altars.

Creed of the People of GodNo. 24

Saint John Paul II in the encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, mentioned that in the Eucharist:

the event of the Lord's passion and death is indelibly registered. It not only evokes it but makes it sacramentally present. It is the sacrifice of the Cross that perpetuates itself for centuries.

Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 11

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has rescued all the elements that have been covered, exposing them in this way:

The Eucharist is the heart and summit of the life of the Church, since in it Christ associates his Church and all its members to his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; through this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body, which is the Church.

The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Pasch, that is, of the work of salvation carried out by the life, death and resurrection of Christ, a work that is made present by the liturgical action.

It is Christ himself, High Priest and Eternal of the New Covenant, who, through the ministry of priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And he is also Christ himself, truly present under the species of bread and wine, the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

Only validly ordained priests may preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

As a sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the deceased, and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.

Christ, who passed from this world to the Father, gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory that we will have with him: participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength throughout the pilgrimage of this life makes us desire eternal Life and unites us from now on to the Church in heaven, to the Holy Virgin Mary and to all the saints.

In his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, Benedict XVI expressed himself as follows:

By instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus anticipates and implies the Sacrifice of the cross and the victory of the resurrection. At the same time, it is revealed as the true lamb immolated, foreseen in the design of the Father since the creation of the world, as read in the first Letter of Saint Peter (cf. 1,18-20). By placing in this context his gift, Jesus manifests the saving sense of his death and resurrection, a mystery that becomes the renewing factor of history and the whole cosmos. In fact, the institution of the Eucharist shows how that death, of itself violent and absurd, has become a supreme act of love and definitive liberation of evil for humanity.

Sacramentum caritatis n. 10

Eucharist as real presence

Catholic priest elevates the consecrated host and chalice.

The Catholic Church believes that "Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a true, real and substantial way: with his Body and with his Blood, with his Soul and his Divinity. Christ, whole and whole, God and man, is present in her in a sacramental way, that is, under the Eucharistic species of bread and wine. This presence is called "real", not exclusively, as if the other presences were not "real", but par excellence, because it is substantial, and through it Christ, God and man., becomes fully present."

Furthermore, it affirms "that by the consecration of the bread and wine the conversion of all the substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of all the substance of the wine into the substance of His Blood takes place; the Catholic Church has justly and appropriately called this change transubstantiation." This conversion takes place in the Eucharistic prayer with the consecration, through the efficacy of the word of Christ and the action of the Holy Spirit. However, the sensible characteristics of the bread and wine remain unchanged, that is, the "eucharistic species". bread is his body and not a representation of his body.

And he points out that "Christ's Eucharistic presence begins at the moment of consecration and lasts as long as the Eucharistic species subsist" and that "Christ is fully present in each of the species and fully whole in each of its parts, so that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ"

For this reason, when believing that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ, the cult of latria must be rendered to it, that is, the adoration reserved to God, both during the Eucharistic celebration and outside of it. The Church, in fact, preserves the consecrated Hosts with the utmost diligence, brings them to the sick and other people unable to participate in Holy Mass, presents them to the solemn adoration of the faithful, carries them in procession and invites frequent visit and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, reserved in the Tabernacle. By virtue of this, he understands that the Eucharist stands out from the rest of the sacraments since while they have the mission of sanctifying, in the Eucharist is the very author of the holiness.

The Churches of the Anglican Communion maintain that the bread and wine, once consecrated, are the Body and Blood of Christ, without analyzing what happens with the primary substances, simply in the words of the Lord Jesus: «This bread is my Body", "this wine is my blood", for this reason it is considered Jesus Christ in the Sacrament, Real Presence of the Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. ^{[citation required]}

The Lutheran Church, for its part, confesses that in the sacrament the body and blood of Christ subsist together with the elements of bread and wine, calling this theory «consubstantiation». ^{[citation required]}

Most Reformed churches (Baptists, Pentecostals, etc.) believe that the bread and wine do not change and only use the Eucharist as a remembrance of the Last Supper.

On the Fathers of the Church

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Fathers of the Church strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about the conversion of the bread into the body and the it came in the blood of Christ. Here are some examples:

Martirio de San Ignacio de Antioquía.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch (d. between 98 and 117) expresses his faith in different letters written to the Christian communities on the way to his martyrdom: «They (the docetas) abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the The Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins and who, through his goodness, the Father raised from the dead. one the chalice for the unity of their blood."

Justin Martyr (d. between 162 and 168) in his First Apology writes: «And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [Eucharist], of which no one can participate except those who believe that the things we teach are true and that He has been washed with baptism for the remission of sins. and for regeneration, and who lives in the way that Christ has commanded. Because we do not receive them as common bread and common drink; but in the same way that Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had flesh and blood for our salvation, so we have also been taught that the food that is blessed by the prayer of his word, and from which nourishes our blood and flesh by transmutation, it is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who became flesh. Because the apostles in the memoirs written by them, which are called Gospels, have given us what was entrusted to them; that Jesus took bread, and having given thanks, he said: Do this in remembrance of me, this is my body; and that, in the same way, taking the cup and having given thanks, he said: This is my blood; and he gave it to them alone. (Luke 22:19)"

Saint Irenaeus of Lyon (d. around 200): «Just as the earthly bread receiving the invocation of God is no longer the usual bread, but the Eucharist, composed of two elements, earthly and celestial, so also our bodies receiving the Eucharist are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection".

Saint Ambrose (f. 397): «Let us be well convinced that this is not what nature has produced, but what the blessing has consecrated, and that the power of the blessing exceeds that of nature, because by blessing nature itself is changed... Could not the word of Christ, who could make what did not exist out of nothing, change existing things into what they were not yet? Because it is no less to give things their original nature than to change it."

Saint John Chrysostom (f. 407): «How many people say today: 'I would like to see Christ in person, his face, his clothes, his shoes.' Well, in the Eucharist it is him you see, the one you touch, the one you receive! You wanted to see his clothes; and it is he himself who gives himself to you not only to see him, but to touch him, eat him, welcome him into your heart».

In the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, reflection was richer in nuances due to the influence of scholasticism. There were tendencies of exaggerated physical realism: the flesh of Christ in the Eucharist would be absolutely the same as he had after his incarnation and the Mass would be a case of anthropophagy willed by God. The followers of this line were called "Cafarnaitas".

Pascasio Radbert (785-865) was a Carolingian theologian and abbot of Corbie, whose best-known and most influential work was De Corpore et Sanguine Domini (written between 831 and 833), which is a exhibition on the nature of the Eucharist. In this, Pascasio agrees with Ambrosio in affirming that the Eucharist contains the true historical body of Jesus Christ. According to Pascasio, God is the truth itself and, therefore, his words and actions must be true. Christ's proclamation at the Last Supper that the bread and wine were his body and his blood must be taken literally, since God is the truth. Therefore, he believes that the transubstantiation of the bread and wine offered in the Eucharist really occurs. Only if the Eucharist is the true body and blood of Christ can the Christian know that it is salvific.

The theology of the sacramental symbol also made its way, which distinguished between the presence of the body and blood of the Lord after his incarnation and the manner of his sacramental presence. Berengar of Tours went even further, emphasizing symbolism in an extreme way. The Catholic Church in various synods condemned Berengar's position and forced him to subscribe to professions of faith, some of which went to the other extreme.

The Mass of Bolsena, Rafael.

We must wait until the 13th century for a more balanced theological reflection. From the hands mainly of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the affirmation of the real and sacramental presence makes its way. With the help of Aristotelian philosophy –especially the distinction between substance and accidents– the theology of “transubstantiation” is elaborated. Thomas Aquinas deals theologically with the subject in the third part of the Summa Theologiae, questions 75 to 77; Corpus Christi, solemnity instituted by Pope Urban IV after the miracle of Bolsena. In the Fourth Lateran Council the scholastic terminology was consecrated: «Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the species of bread and wine, after being transubstantiated, by divine virtue, the bread in the body and the it came in the blood...". in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."

John Wyclif rejects Aquinas's theory of transubstantiation. He does not accept the disappearance of the substance of bread and wine nor the permanence of accidents without a subject of inhesion. For him the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is sacramental or in sign, in a virtual way. These propositions were condemned by the local Councils of Oxford, Canterbury and London in 1382. These condemnations were ratified at the Ecumenical Council of Constance.

In the Reformation

All the Reformers agreed that Christ does not remain in the consecrated bread and wine after Mass, that he should not be worshiped in them, and therefore should not be kept. However, they maintained significant differences between Yeah:

• Luther always affirmed the real presence of Christ, although he completely rejected the dogma of transustantiation, as he considered it a "sophisticated speculation" In their stance, bread and wine do not cease to be such, but the Body and Blood of Christ are together with them. This theory has been called "consubstantiation" or "impanation" although he has never called it by these names.

• Zuinglio, Karlstadt and Ecolampadio claimed a merely symbolic presence.

• Calvin admits a certain presence (“virtus spiritualis”) during the celebration of dinner but related to faith.

• The Anabautists considered that the reality of the body and blood of Christ in the celebration of the Supper is not determined by a transubstantiation, but because the Christian community is the body of Christ. It effectively shares the same food; and it is his blood because each member of the Christian community also loves as Christ loved, until he gave life to others. Thus the wine and the bread that is part of the Supper are community union with the blood of Christ and participation of his body, so that those who share the same food are one body. ICor 10:16-17of which Christ is head Eph 1:22-23 Col 1:18.

In the Counter-Reformation

The issue was addressed in the XIII session of the Council of Trent in the year 1551, where the Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist was approved.

The purpose of the Council was to present Catholic doctrine, refuting the propositions of the reformers. According to his definitions, the presence of Christ in the sacrament is not a sign or figure (Zuingli, Echolampadius), nor virtual (Calvino), but is fixed in this way: "in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist is contained true, really and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ".

He distinguished between "natural" and "sacramental" presence, according to the Council as real as the first: "Because they are not things that are mutually repugnant that our Savior himself is always seated at the right hand of God the Father, according to his way natural to exist, and that in many other places it is sacramentally present to us in its substance, through that mode of existence, which although we can barely express it with words, through thought, enlightened by faith, we can reach God and be possible. we must constantly believe it. Indeed, so all our ancestors, all those who were in the true Church of Christ who spoke about this most holy sacrament, very openly professed that our Redeemer instituted this most admirable sacrament at the Last Supper, when, after the blessing of the bread and the He came, with express and clear words, he testified that he gave his Apostles his own body and his own blood." With this he avoided super-realism (Cafarnaites) and spiritualist symbolism (Berengar, Zwingli, Echolampadius).

He also defined the presence in each of the two species, against all the reformers, who defended communion under both species. And the permanent character of this presence, against those who denied it outside of communion. He affirmed the validity of the term "transubstantiation", against all the reformers, who denied the validity of the term and its meaning. Finally, he draws the practical consequences of the above: Eucharistic adoration, distribution of the Eucharist to the sick outside of Mass, reservation of the Eucharist after the celebration.

In recent teaching

Pope Pius XII in the encyclical Mediator Dei reaffirmed the real presence and the Eucharistic cult and in the encyclical Humani Generis he condemned theological positions that spoke of symbolic presence.

The Vatican Council II, according to José Aldazábal, did not devote any document to it, only a chapter of the Sacrosanctum Concilium Constitution, while the Council of Trent dedicated no less than three sessions to address the issue of the Eucharist. However, according to this author, what is interesting about this Council is that it is full of allusions to the Eucharist as the center of the ecclesial mystery. Likewise, it continues, as a result of the Council's teachings, a joint vision of all aspects of the sacrament. For example, the royal presence and worship, accentuated as a central point, had made the celebration and communion of the faithful pass into the background. Likewise, an idea of sacrifice detached from the category of memorial had accentuated the separation between the two dimensions of "sacrifice" and "sacrament".

Paul VI in the encyclical Mysterium Fidei reproposed the main lines of Tridentine theology and affirmed the different modes of Christ's presence in his Church, giving priority to the Eucharistic.

Likewise, in the Creed of the People of God he stated: «Any interpretation of theologians that seeks some understanding of this mystery, in order for it to agree with the Catholic faith, must safeguard that, in the very nature of things, independently of our spirit, the bread and wine, once the consecration has been completed, have ceased to exist, so that, after it, the adorable body and blood of Christ are truly present before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine., as the Lord himself wanted, to give us food and unite us in the unity of his mystical Body".

St. John Paul II.

Saint John Paul II in the encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, stressed that «the Church lives from the Eucharist. This truth does not only express a daily experience of faith, but contains in synthesis the core of the mystery of the Church. She experiences with joy how the Lord's promise is continually fulfilled, in multiple ways: "Behold, I am with you every day until the end of the world"; (Mt 28, 20); In the Holy Eucharist, through the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with a unique intensity. Since, at Pentecost, the Church, the People of the New Covenant, began its pilgrimage to the heavenly homeland, this divine Sacramento has marked her days, filling them with confident hope."

Benedict XVI in the apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis began it by expressing: «Sacrament of charity, the Most Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, revealing to us the infinite love of God for each person. man. In this admirable Sacramento the "greatest" (cf. Jn 15,13). Indeed, Jesus "loved them to the end" (Jn 13,1). With this expression, the evangelist presents the gesture of infinite humility of Jesus: before dying for us on the cross, wrapping himself in a towel, he washes the feet of his disciples. In the same way, in the Eucharistic Sacrament Jesus continues to love us “to the extreme”, even to the gift of his body and his blood. What emotion must have seized the hearts of the Apostles before the gestures and words of the Lord during that Supper! What admiration the Eucharistic Mystery must also arouse in our hearts!"

Last Supper fresco in Milan (1498), by Leonardo da Vinci.

Eucharist as communion

From the Latin communĭo, the term communion refers to participating in the common.

According to Joan M. Canals, «the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council has restored the active participation of the faithful in the celebration», «prayer in the holy presence is a prayer of communion with Christ and with the brothers expressed in solidarity and charity".

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that «The Church is the "communion of saints": this expression first designates the "holy things" ["sancta"], and above all the Eucharist, "which signifies and at the same time brings about the unity of believers, who form a single body in Christ" (LG 3)»

In the Acts of the Apostles, the experience of the first Christian community is recounted, which unites the celebration of the breaking of bread to their commitments of communion up to the division of goods: «Everyone met assiduously to listen to the teaching of the Apostles and participate in common life, in the breaking of bread and in prayers (...) All the believers remained united and put their own in common: they sold their property and goods, and distributed the money among themselves, according to the needs of each one. Intimately united, they frequented the Temple daily, broke bread in their homes, and ate together with joy and simplicity of heart; they praised God and were loved by all the people. And every day, the Lord increased the community with those who had to be saved."

In the patristic era we also find signs of the relationship between the Eucharist and the union of the Christian community. Let us remember this quote from Saint Ignatius of Antioch: “Try to serve yourselves with the fruit of the one Eucharist; Indeed, the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ is one and the chalice is one for the unity of his blood, the altar is one as is the bishop with the priests and deacons, my confreres, so that everything you do may be done according to God".

Saint Thomas Aquinas underlines that the grace of the Eucharist is the "unity of the Mystical Body", communion with Christ and among us, the unity of the Christian people.

In this regard, the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms the following fruits or effects of communion:

• Communion increases one's union with Christ.
• Communion with the resurrected flesh of Christ, "lived by the Holy Spirit and life-giving", preserves, increases and renews the life of grace received in Baptism.
• Communion separates from sin.
• It strengthens the charity which, in everyday life, tends to weaken; and this life-giving charity wipes away the venial sins.
• Preserve future mortal sins.
• The unity of the Mystical Body: The Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist join Christ more closely. For this reason, Christ unites all the faithful in one body: the Church.
• Communion entails a commitment to the poor.

Eucharist as a pledge of future glory

According to the Gospel of Saint John, Christ has promised eternal life to those who receive him in this sacrament:

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal Life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:54-56.

Eucharistic adoration.

Eucharistic adoration in the Basilica of Mafra, Portugal - Real and Venerable Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament of Mafra.

In an ancient prayer it is said:

O holy feast, in which Christ is our food; the memorial of his passion is celebrated; the soul is filled with grace, and we are given the garment of future glory!

From Corpus Christi's Office

In the cited sentence an order of time is mentioned, three perspectives: present ("the soul is filled with grace"), past ("memorial of his passion") and future ("pledge of future glory"), which is the subject of this section.

According to Josep M. Rovira Belloso, “the strength of the Eucharist consists in anticipating the presence of Christ, the final term of all human history. Furthermore, it impels us towards that end that will only come with the collaboration of the responsible freedom of human beings. In order to be anticipation, the sacrament is rooted in Christ: from this absolute future, which is found "at the right hand of the Father", Christ is Lord of time. The Eucharist is, therefore, an anticipation of the divine fullness, which has been promised to us and which we await with faith. It is the advent initiated of that fullness. The Lord wanted to anticipate among his friends his presence and his grace ».

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: «The Church knows that, already now, the Lord comes in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, this presence is veiled. That is why we celebrate the Eucharist (...) while we await the glorious coming of Our Savior Jesus Christ".), we do not have a more secure garment, a more manifest sign than the Eucharist. Indeed, each time this mystery is celebrated, "the work of our redemption is accomplished"; (LG 3) and "we break the same bread that is a remedy for immortality, an antidote not to die, but to live forever in Jesus Christ" (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Eph 20,2)».

Elements of the Eucharist

The material used, the way in which it is carried out, the minister who carries it out and the participants in it can be mentioned.

Matter

Preparations for the celebration of the Eucharist. In the foreground you can see vinajeras containing wine and water.

You must use wheat bread and vine wine.

In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the use of unleavened bread (without fermentation) is confirmed for the Latin rite, which must be recently made. Orientals have used and use fermented bread, which is accepted as valid by the Roman See.

For the faithful who suffer from celiac disease, the Church has regulated the preparation of hosts "with the minimum amount of gluten necessary to obtain bread-making without adding foreign substances or resorting to procedures that denature the bread". provided that "the celiac faithful who cannot receive communion under the species of Bread, including bread with a minimum amount of gluten, can receive communion under the sole species of Wine". The priest who suffers from this disease, and cannot tolerate Not even a minimum amount of gluten cannot celebrate individually, but he can, with the permission of the Bishop, concelebrate with other priests and receive Communion only under the species of wine, although he cannot preside over the concelebration.

The wine for the Eucharistic celebration must be "from the product of the vine" (cfr. Lc 22, 18), natural and pure, that is, not mixed with foreign substances. It is mixed with a little water, of according to an ancient custom that according to some documents goes back to Jesus Christ himself. The water alludes to the water and blood that came out of the side of Christ after the spear (cf. Jn 19 34) and to the union of the Christian people with Christ.

For priests who, for health reasons, cannot drink wine, even in small quantities, it is foreseen, with the permission of the Bishop, to use must, that is, "fresh or preserved grape juice, whose fermentation has been suspended for through procedures that do not alter its nature (for example, freezing)".

Shape

The Catholic Church believes that the bread becomes the body and the wine the blood of the Lord at the most solemn moment of the mass called consecration. In it, the priest recounts the scene of the institution of the sacrament and repeats the words used by Jesus, "this is my body", "this is my blood", "do this in memory of me", mentioned above. The Church teaches that "the power of Christ's words and actions and the power of the Holy Spirit make his Body and Blood sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine, his sacrifice offered on the cross once and for all." ».

Minister

Only the priest and the validly ordained bishop can validly celebrate the Eucharist. According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, several ministers can celebrate the Eucharist together. This act is called concelebration, and according to this document, in it "the unity of the priesthood and sacrifice, as well as of all the people of God, is profitably manifested."

It is commanded:

• in the ordination of the Bishop and of the priests
• in the blessing of an Abbot
• in the Mass Crismal (Miss in which the Bishop blesses the oils on Holy Thursday)

Also -always according to the same document- it is recommended for:

• Holy Thursday Mass
• the Mass celebrated in the councils, in the meetings of bishops and synods
• the convent mass
• the main mass celebrated in the churches and in the oratory.
• Masses celebrated in any kind of meetings of priests, both secular and religious
• in the management of the Deacon

Participants

Although only a validly ordained priest can perform the consecration, the Church teaches that the Eucharist is the "source and summit of all Christian life", "compendium and sum of our faith", canon 230 of Canon Law In its third paragraph, it has established that where the need of the Church advises it and there are no ministers, the laity can replace them in some of their functions, that is, exercising the ministry of the word, presiding over liturgical prayers, administering baptism and giving Holy Communion according to the prescription of the law.

According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, receiving the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin is a sacrilege and only those who are in a state of grace, that is, without any mortal sin, can receive it. Based on 1 Cor 11:27-29 affirms the following: "Whoever is aware of being in grave sin (mortal sin) should not receive the Body of the Lord without first going to sacramental confession".

The Church urges its faithful to participate in it every Sunday and holy days of obligation, and to receive sacramental communion at least once a year, and strongly recommends that the parishioners receive the Holy Eucharist on Sundays and the days of party, or even more often, even every day, but always in a state of grace.

The Eucharistic celebration occurs in the context of a meeting. The Church believes that at its head is Christ himself, who is the main actor. As his representative, the bishop or priest presides over the assembly "in persona Christi capitis" ("in the person of Christ the Head"). All the faithful take an active part in the celebration, each in their own way: the lectors, those who present the offerings, those who give communion, and the entire town whose "Amen" manifests their participation.

We will also recall here again that «the Church, in fulfilling the function of priest and victim together with Christ, offers the entire sacrifice of the mass, and offers herself entirely in it»; "Because every Mass, even if it is celebrated privately by a priest, is not a private action, but an action of Christ and of the Church."

Development of the rite

In the First Apology of Justin Martyr (cc.LXV-LXVII) the Eucharistic celebration is described with the following parts: liturgy of the word, homily, prayer of the faithful, embrace of peace, presentation of the gifts and prayer eucharistic, eucharistic communion, communion of goods.

"65. Then, to him who presides over the brethren, he is offered bread and a glass of wine, and he takes praise and glory to the Father of the universe by the name of his Son and by the Holy Spirit and pronounces a long prayer of thanks, for having given us those gifts that come from him... And once the president has given thanks and acclaimed all the people, those who among us are called "ministers" or "deacons" give each of the attendees part of the bread and wine and water on which the thanksgiving was said and they take him to the absent.

66. And this food is called among us "Eucaristy", of which no one is lawful to participate, but he who believes to be true to our teachings and has washed himself in the bathroom that gives the remission of sins and regeneration, and lives according to what Christ taught us... when Jesus, taking the bread and giving thanks, said: "Do this in memory of me, this is my body." And he also took the chalice and thanked him, and said, "This is my blood," and he gave them only part.

67. Then we all rise up to one and raise our preces, and these finished, as we already said, offers bread and wine and water, and the president, according to his strength, also makes up to God his preces and thanksgiving and all the people exclaims saying "Amen". Now comes the distribution and participation, which is made to each one, of the foods consecrated by the thanksgiving and their sending through the deacons to the absent."

From the 3rd century the testimonies about the celebration of the Eucharist are increasingly clear, either in relation to the celebrative scheme that substantially remains the one proposed by Justin, or by the numerous texts of Eucharistic prayers for the celebration. Such texts contain a true theological and faith catechesis on the Eucharist. In the book of the Apostolic Constitutions the order of the celebration is indicated: liturgy of the word, prayer of the catechumens and embrace of peace (the catechumens retire), presentation of the gifts, anaphora or Eucharistic prayer, communion, prayer after communion, blessing and farewell prayer.

The Eucharistic Prayer consists of the following elements:

1. Thanksgiving expressed in the Preface.
2. Aclamation of the praise of the people with the sanctus.
3. La epiclesis to ask for the intervention of the Holy Spirit that will transform the bread into the body and wine into the blood of the Lord.
4. La narration of the institution with the words consecration.
5. The memorial or anamnesis of the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
6. La offering of the Church through and along with the sacred victim.
7. Requests and intercessions for the living and dead.
8. La doxology end that glorifies God.

In some Protestant or Evangelical churches the food is blessed, the elements are taken from the hands of the elders or deacons, the passages where it is instituted are read, they participate and end with prayers of adoration and thanksgiving. ^{[citation required]}