The Most Holy Eucharist
The source and summit of the Christian life — the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ truly, really, and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine.
Wheat bread (unleavened in the Latin Church, leavened in most Eastern Churches) and grape wine — both required, both consecrated by the priest in persona Christi.
A validly ordained bishop or priest alone can confect the Eucharist. Bishops, priests, and deacons distribute Holy Communion as ordinary ministers; extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may assist in particular circumstances.
Over the bread: Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you. Over the chalice: Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.
Hoc est enim Corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur. Hic est enim calix Sanguinis mei novi et aeterni testamenti, qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum.
Any baptized Catholic in the state of grace (free from mortal sin), having observed the one-hour Eucharistic fast.
- ✦Real, substantial union with Christ — 'He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him' (Jn 6:56)
- ✦Forgiveness of venial sin and preservation from future mortal sin
- ✦Increase of sanctifying grace and the theological virtues
- ✦Strengthening of the bond with the Church, the Body of Christ
- ✦The pledge of future glory and resurrection
Whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins. (Matthew 26:26–28) Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. (John 6:54–55)
On the night before He suffered, Christ at the Last Supper took bread and wine and gave them to the Apostles as His Body and Blood, commanding: 'Do this in memory of me.' From that moment the Eucharist — the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass — has been celebrated daily in the Church.
The Catholic Church confesses with the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and the Council of Trent (1551) that by the words of consecration the whole substance of the bread is changed into the substance of Christ's Body, and the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His Blood — a change which the Church fittingly and properly calls transubstantiation. The appearances (the species — what one sees, touches, and tastes) remain unchanged; the substance is changed.
Because the Eucharist contains Christ Himself — His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity — it is the source and summit of the Christian life (Lumen Gentium 11). All the other sacraments, and indeed all the ministries and works of the Church, are bound up with the Eucharist and ordered to it. The reverence of the Church toward the Blessed Sacrament — adoration, Benediction, the consecration of the host in the tabernacle — has shaped Catholic architecture, music, prayer, and devotion across two millennia.
A 14th-century prayer to the soul, body, and blood of Christ — placed by St. Ignatius at the head of his Spiritual Exercises.
St. Thomas Aquinas's hymn to the hidden God of the Eucharist — composed at the request of Urban IV for the new Feast of Corpus Christi.
St. Thomas Aquinas's Vespers hymn for Corpus Christi — the last two stanzas (the Tantum Ergo) are sung at every Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Given by Christ to St. Faustina Kowalska in 1935 — prayed on rosary beads, offering the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus to the Father.
A prayer for those who cannot receive the Eucharist sacramentally — taught by St. Alphonsus Liguori and indulgenced by Pius VI.