What is the Sacrament of the Eucharist?
Chapter 5 (Pages 76-78) of The Catholic Christian Instructed in the Sacraments, Sacrifices, Ceremonies and Observances of the Church by Way of Question and Answer by Richard Challoner (1810).
Chapter Text
Q. What do you mean by the sacrament of the Eucharist?
A. The sacrament which our Lord Jesus Christ instituted at his last supper, in which he gives us his body and blood under the forms or appearances of bread and wine.
Q. Why do you call this sacrament the Eucharist?
A. Because the primitive Church and the holy Fathers have usually called it so for the word eucharist in the Greek signifies thanksgiving, and is applied to this sacrament, because of the thanksgiving which our Lord offered in the first institution of it, Saint Matthew 26.27. Saint Mark 14.23. Saint Luke 22.19. 1 Cor. 11.24. And because of the thanksgiving with which we are obliged to offer and receive this great sacrament and sacrifice, which contains the abridgment of all God's wonders, the fountain of all grace, the standing memorial of our redemption, and the pledge of a happy eternity. This blessed sacrament is also called the holy communion, because it unites the faithful with one another, and with their head Jesus Christ. 1st Corinthians 10 verses 16 and 17. And it is called the supper of our Lord because it was first instituted by Christ at his Last Supper.
Q. What is the faith of the Catholic Church concerning this sacrament?
A. That the bread and wine are changed by the words of consecration into the real body and blood of Christ.
Q. Is it then the belief of the church that Jesus Christ himself, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament?
A. It is; for where the body and blood of Christ are, there his soul also and his divinity must be; and consequently there must be whole Christ God and man: there is no taking him in pieces.
Q. Is that which we receive in this sacrament the same body as that which was born of the blessed virgin, and which suffered for us upon the cross?
A. It is the same body: for Christ never had but one body; The only difference is, that then his body was mortal and passable, but now immortal and impassable.
Q. Then the body of Christ in the sacrament cannot be hurt or divided, neither is it capable of being digested or corrupted?
A. No certainly: for though the sacramental species, or the outward forms of bread and wine are liable to these changes, the body of Christ is not.
Q. Is it then a spiritual body?
A. It may be called a spiritual body, in the same sense as St. Paul, 1 Cor. XV.44. speaking of the resurrection of the body says, It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body: not but that it still remains a true body as to all that is essential to a body, but that it partakes in some measure of the qualities and properties of a spirit.
Quiz
Review the questions and verify your answers by clicking the tab.
What is the Eucharist?
The sacrament which our Lord Jesus Christ instituted at his last supper, in which he gives us his body and blood under the forms or appearances of bread and wine.
Do we really receive Christ in the Eucharist?
Yes. The bread and wine are changed by the words of consecration into the real body and blood of Christ.
Can the Body of Christ be damaged in the Sacrament in any way?
No, the sacramental appearances, or the external forms of bread and wine, may alter, be digested, and decay; however, the body of Christ remains unchanged.
