The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament and a sacrifice in which Our Saviour Jesus Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is contained, offered, and received under the appearances of bread and wine.
1. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the night before He died. The Apostles were present.
EUCHARIST in Greek means thanksgiving. The sacrament is so called because when Christ instituted it, He gave thanks. Today, it is the chief means by which we give thanks to God, through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
2. The Holy Eucharist is also called the Blessed Sacrament, because it is the most excellent of all sacraments. It gives us Christ Himself. “My delight is to be with the children of men” (Proverbs 8:31).
It is called the Sacrament of the Altar, because it is consecrated and reserved upon an altar. It is offered up on the altar in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
3. The Holy Eucharist is called Holy Communion when it is received, usually in church. It is called Holy Viaticum when it is received during a serious illness, or at the hour of death.
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At the Consecration at Mass, the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Sacrament that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper (1). In the Blessed Eucharist is the same Person who was born in Bethlehem (3), crucified on Calvary (2), and rose gloriously from the dead on the first Easter morning (4).