Eucharist

For other uses, see Eucharist (disambiguation).

"Most Precious Blood" redirects here. For other uses, see Most Precious Blood (disambiguation).

On Eucharistic liturgies, see the links given in Christian liturgy

The Eucharist (also known as Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, among many other names) is a rite or act of worship that nearly all Christians perform in order to fulfill the instruction that they believe Jesus gave his disciples, at his last meal with them before being turned over to his executioners, to do "in remembrance of him" certain actions that he did at that meal.

The actions that, as shown in the Words of Institution used in their liturgies, they believe Jesus did at his Last Supper and asked to be done in remembrance of him are those recounted by Paul the Apostle: "The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

The phrase "the Eucharist" may refer not only to the rite but also to the "bread" and "cup" consecrated in the rite, and, in this sense, Christians speak of "receiving the Eucharist", rather than "celebrating the Eucharist".

Names in use for the Eucharist

• "The Eucharist". The word is derived from Greek "Template:Polytonic" (transliterated as "eucharistia"), which means thankfulness, gratitude, giving of thanks. The Didache applies this term twice to a regular Christian function. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, writing while in custody on his way to being martyred in Rome in 107 or 110, uses it several times in his letters to refer to both the rite and the consecrated elements (for example "The Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ.") Although there are some who deny the authenticity of absolutely all the letters attributed to Ignatius, the prevailing opinion among scholars is that those here quoted are genuine: "Lightfoot and Zahn's acceptance of seven authentic letters is rarely challenged" Justin Martyr, writing around 150, gave a detailed description of the rite, and stated that "the Eucharist" was the name that Christians used: "And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist] ... in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh." Today, "the Eucharist" is the name still used by Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, Anglicans, United Methodists, and Lutherans. Most other Protestant traditions rarely use this term, preferring either "Communion", "the Lord's Supper", or "the Breaking of Bread".

• "The Lord's Supper", the term used in 1 Corinthians 11:20. After this use by Paul the Apostle, the term was historically not in use to describe the Eucharist (apart from direct quotes of 1 Corinthians) until the sixteenth century, when Martin Luther began to employ it. The terms "meal" and "supper" tend to be preferred by "minimalist" traditions, especially those strongly influenced by Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli and the Restoration Movement. "The Lord's Supper" is also a common term among Lutherans, as is "The Sacrament of the Altar". Other Churches and denominations also use the term, but generally not as their basic, routine term. The use is predominant among Baptist groups, who generally avoid using the term "Communion", due to its use (though in a more limited sense) by the Roman Catholic Church.

• "The Breaking of Bread", a phrase that appears in the New Testament in contexts in which, according to some, it may refer to celebration of the Eucharist: Luke 24:35;Acts 2:42, 2:46, 20:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16.

• "Communion" (from Latin communio, "sharing in common") or "Holy Communion", used, with different meanings, by Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, and many Protestants, including Lutherans. Catholics and Orthodox apply this term not to the Eucharistic rite as a whole, but only to the partaking of the consecrated bread and wine, and to these consecrated elements themselves. In their understanding, it is possible to participate in the celebration of the Eucharistic rite without necessarily "receiving Holy Communion" (partaking of the consecrated elements). Groups that originated in the Protestant Reformation usually apply this term instead to the whole rite. The meaning of the term "Communion" here is multivocal in that it also refers to the relationship of the participating Christians, as individuals or as Church, with God and with other Christians (see Communion (Christian)).

• "Mass", used in the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Church, Anglo-Catholicism, the Church of Sweden and some other forms of Western Christianity. Among the many other terms used in the Roman Catholic Church are "Holy Mass", "the Memorial of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord", the "Holy Sacrifice of the Mass", and the "Holy Mysteries".

• "Agape" or "Love-feast" is rarely used today. The term appears in the New Testament, in Jude 12: "These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after themselves". Ignatius of Antioch wrote: "Let that eucharist alone be considered valid which is celebrated in the presence of the bishop, or of him to whom he shall have entrusted it. ... It is not lawful either to baptize, or to hold a love-feast without the consent of the bishop." A Glossary of Eastern Orthodox Terms quoted in Love Feast concludes that for Ignatius the two terms, "eucharist" and "love-feast" were synonymous. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, quoted in the same source, states that the general opinion is that, though held together, the Agape and the Eucharist were distinct, the Eucharist coming at the end of the Agape, as the special rite instituted by Jesus followed a celebration of a Passover meal.
• The "Blessed Sacrament" and the "Blessed Sacrament of the Altar" are common terms for the consecrated elements, especially when reserved in the Church tabernacle. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the term "The Sacrament" is used of the rite. "Sacrament of the Altar" is in common use also among Lutherans.

• "The Divine Liturgy" is used in Byzantine Rite traditions, whether in the Eastern Orthodox Church or among the Eastern Catholic Churches. These also speak of "the Divine Mysteries", especially in reference to the consecrated elements, which they also call "the Holy Gifts".

• In Oriental Orthodoxy the terms "Oblation" (Syriac, Coptic and Armenian Churches) and "Consecration" (Ethiopian Church) are used. Likewise, in the Gaelic language of Ireland and Scotland the word "Aifreann", usually translated into English as "Mass", is derived from Late Latin "Offerendum", meaning "oblation", "offering".

• The many other expressions used include "Table of the Lord" (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:16), the "Lord's Body" (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:29), "Holy of Holies".

Within the New Testament, the rite is referred to once as "the Lord's supper" (1 Corinthians 11:20). Though "breaking of bread" is used in the New Testament also of an ordinary meal, it may possibly refer to the rite in 1 Corinthians 10:16, Luke 24:35, and in Acts 2:42, 2:46, 20:7. Other names possibly used, once only, for it are "agape" (Jude 12, "the table of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 10:16), "the cup of blessing" (1 Corinthians 10:16), "the body (of the Lord)" (1 Corinthians 11:29). With the sole exception of "agape", these names were not generally used, until the Protestant Reformation, outside the New Testament, and by about the year 100, at latest, the rite was usually called the Eucharist.

History

Jewish origins

Although the Eucharist, which commemorates the blessing of a cup at the close of the Last Supper, is distinct from the Qiddush (which is the "Jewish benediction and prayer recited over a cup of wine immediately before the meal on the eve of the sabbath or of a festival; the ceremony acknowledges the sanctity of the day that has just begun. Chanting, or recitation, usually performed by the head of the household, may involve several or all members of the family, depending on the custom; each then sips wine from the cup"), most commentators see it as having Jewish origins.

"Thanksgiving" (in Greek, "εὐχαριστία"[eucharistia]) and "blessing" (in Hebrew, "ברכה" [berakhah, berakah]; in Greek, "εὐλογία" [eulogia]) are words used of a prayer "addressed to God at meals for and over the food and drink. It is in this sense that the term was originally used in connection with the common meal of the early Christian community, at which the 'blessing' or 'thanksgiving' had special reference to Jesus Christ."

The Eucharist in the New Testament

Paul the Apostle wrote in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, usually dated to A.D. 52–57 about a meal that Christians celebrated and that he associated with what he said Jesus did and said at his Last Supper. Criticizing the way the Corinthians celebrated that meal, he repeated the information that he had "received from the Lord" and had "passed on" about Jesus' actions and directives on that occasion.1 Corinthians 11:23 Paul's description of the meal, which the Christians in Corinth held at their meetings, indicates that it may have had the form of the agape (see The Agape feast below). Those who within that meal partook of "this bread and ... the cup" thereby proclaimed the death of Jesus and, if they partook of them unworthily, were guilty of an offence against the body and blood of Jesus. In these statements, Paul the Apostle links only "this bread" and "the cup", and no other food and drink (such as other cups of wine) consumed at the meal, with proclaiming the Lord's death and, in the case of unworthy participation, with offending against the body and the blood of Jesus. In the same letter Paul speaks of "the cup of blessing which we bless" as "a participation in the blood of Christ", and of "the bread which we break" as "a participation in the body of Christ"; and in support of his prohibition of food from pagan sacrifices, he says: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." Paul called this agape meal, if properly celebrated, "the Lord's supper" (κυριακὸν δεῖπνον).

All three Synoptic Gospels recount those actions of Jesus at his Last Supper that Christians do in remembrance of him. On the significance of the differences in the ways they described the event, see Criterion of multiple attestation. The narrative in Luke also mentions an instruction to do in remembrance of Jesus what he did with the bread.

Acts 2:42 and 2:46 tell of the very first Christians "continuing steadfastly in the breaking of bread", interpreted, especially by those who use "the Breaking of Bread" as the name for the rite, as a reference to the Eucharist.

Chapters 13-17 of the Gospel of John attribute to Jesus a series of teachings and prayers at his Last Supper, but does not mention the actions commemorated in the Eucharist. On the other hand, John 6, in particular verses such as 6:55–56 ("For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him"), is widely interpreted as an allusion to the Eucharist. Peculiarities in phrasing as compared to the Synoptics are thought to reflect the liturgical tradition of the Johannine community.

Early Christianity

The Didache is the earliest surviving written church order, usually dated to between 100 and 120. It includes indications about prayers at a celebration that it calls the εὐχαριστία (Thanksgiving or Eucharist), involving a cup and broken bread, and to which only the baptized were to be admitted. Like modern Eucharistic celebrations, this short text does not mention a Passover meal. It does not explicitly refer to the Last Supper of Jesus, to his death and resurrection, and to many other matters that are dwelt on in present-day celebrations of the Eucharist.

Side-by-side comparison of some early sources on the Eucharist

To some of the earliest accounts related to the Eucharist, the following table adds indications of certain aspects recounted in some sources and not reported in others.

1 Corinthians	Mark	Matthew	Luke	Didache	Ignatius of Antioch	Justin Martyr
11:23 ... the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks (εὐχαριστήσας – eucharistēsas), he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.	14:22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed (εὐλογήσας - eulogēsas), and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks (εὐχαριστήσας - eucharistēsas) he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."	26:26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed (εὐλογήσας - eulogēsas), and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks (εὐχαριστήσας – eucharistēsas) he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."	22:13 ... they prepared the passover. 14 And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks (εὐχαριστήσας – eucharistēsas) he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks (εὐχαριστήσας – eucharistēsas) he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 20 And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. ..."	9.1 Concerning the eucharist (= the thanksgiving, τῆς εὐχαριστίας – tēs eucharistias) give thanks (εὐχαριστήσατε – eucharistēsate) thus: 9.2 First, concerning the cup: "We give thanks (εὐχαριστοῦμεν – eucharistoumen) to you, our Father, For the holy vine of David your servant which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever." 9.3 And concerning the fragment: "We give thanks to you (εὐχαριστοῦμεν – eucharistoumen), our Father, For the life and knowledge, which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant." But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, unless they have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs." 10.1 After you have had your fill, give thanks (εὐχαριστήσατε – eucharistēsate) thus: 10.2 We give thanks (εὐχαριστοῦμεν – eucharistoumen) to you holy Father for your holy Name which you have made to dwell in our hearts and for the knowledge, faith and immortality which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever. 10.3 You Lord almighty have created everything for the sake of your Name; you have given human beings food and drink to partake with enjoyment so that they might give thanks; but to us you have given the grace of spiritual food and drink and of eternal life through Jesus your servant. 10.4 Above all we give you thanks (εὐχαριστοῦμεν – eucharistoumen) because you are mighty. To you be glory for ever. 10.5 Remember Lord your Church, to preserve it from all evil and to make it perfect in your love. And, sanctified, gather it from the four winds into your kingdom which you have prepared for it. Because yours is the power and the glory for ever.	… the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which flesh suffered for our sins, and which in His loving-kindness the Father raised up. … Let that eucharist alone be considered valid which is under the bishop or him to whom he commits it. … It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to baptize, or to hold a love-feast. But whatsoever he approves, that also is well-pleasing to God, that everything which you do may be secure and valid (Smyrnaeans, 6, 8). Give heed to keep one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup unto union with His blood. There is one altar, as there is one bishop, together with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants; that whatsoever you do, you may do according unto God (Philadelphians, 4).	There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water …when the president has given thanks … those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced... And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles … have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body"; and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood"; and gave it to them alone.
No mention of Passover; reference made to Last Supper; the bread referred to as the body of Christ and the cup as the new covenant in the blood of Christ; proclamation of the death of Jesus	No mention of Passover in the passage quoted; the bread referred to as the body of Christ and the cup as the blood of Christ; no proclamation or explicit mention of the death of Jesus	No mention of Passover in the passage quoted; the bread referred to as the body of Christ and the cup as the blood of Christ; no proclamation or explicit mention of the death of Jesus; reference to forgiveness of sins	Meal called Passover; a first cup not referred to Christ, bread referred to as the body of Christ and a second cup as the new covenant in the blood of Christ; reference to Jesus' coming suffering and to the fulfillment of the Passover in the Kingdom of God; no proclamation or explicit mention of death of Jesus	Separate thanksgivings for a cup and for broken bread, followed, "after you have had your fill", with another thanksgiving, with no mention of food other than the cup and bread, of Passover, Last Supper, body and blood or death of Jesus, but the cup and bread are declared to be holy	No mention of Passover meal or Last Supper; no explicit mention of bread; Eucharist declared to be the flesh of Christ that suffered; oneness of the Eucharist to be in keeping with the oneness of the flesh of Christ and of the cup unto union with his blood; requirements for validity of the Eucharist; connection between Eucharist and "altar"	No mention of any meal becausse it is done pursuant to a baptism, the bread and the cup of wine mixed with water, over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, declared to be, respectively, the body and the blood of Christ
Bread, thanks, declaration that it was the body of Christ; after supper "in the same way the Cup", declaration that it was the new covenant in the blood of Christ	"As they were eating", bread, blessing and declaration that it was the body of Christ; afterwards, cup, thanks and declaration that it was the blood of Christ	"As they were eating", bread, blessing and declaration that it was the body of Christ; afterwards, cup, thanks and declaration that it was the blood of Christ	During Seder, first a cup and thanks, then bread, thanks and declaration that it was the body of Christ, then, after the meal, another cup, declared to be the new covenant in the blood of Christ	A cup (thanks for the Holy Vine of David revealed through Jesus) and broken bread (thanks for the life and knowledge revealed through Jesus), then, "after you have had your fill", thanks to the Father for his indwelling Name and for the knowledge, faith and immortality revealed through Jesus.	Rite, involving an altar, associated with the flesh of Christ and his blood (explicit mention of a cup); for validity it must be carried out under the bishop or his delegate	No mention of food other than bread and watered wine; prayers and thanksgivings; a president and deacons, acknowledgement of the similarity with Mithraic rites
Remembrance instruction mentioned both for bread and cup	No mention of remembrance instruction	No mention of remembrance instruction	Remembrance instruction mentioned for bread only	No mention of remembrance instruction	No mention of remembrance instruction	Remembrance instruction mentioned for bread only

Christian theology concerning the Eucharist

Many Christian denominations classify the Eucharist as a sacrament. Some Protestants prefer to call it an ordinance, viewing it not as a specific channel of divine grace but as an expression of faith and of obedience to Christ.

Many Christians, even those who deny that there is any real change in the bread or wafer and wine or juice used, recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite, though they differ about exactly how, where, and when Christ is present.

The Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry document of the World Council of Churches, attempting to present the common understanding of the Eucharist on the part of the generality of Christians, describes it as "essentially the sacrament of the gift which God makes to us in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit", "Thanksgiving to the Father", "Anamnesis or Memorial of Christ", "the sacrament of the unique sacrifice of Christ, who ever lives to make intercession for us", "the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, the sacrament of his real presence", "Invocation of the Spirit", "Communion of the Faithful", and "Meal of the Kingdom".

Roman Catholic Church

At a celebration of the Eucharist at Lourdes, the chalice is displayed to the people immediately after the consecration of the wine.

Main article: Eucharist (Catholic Church)

In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eucharist is one of the seven sacraments, but is also considered the "the source and summit of the Christian life" (Lumen Gentium 11) and that "The other sacraments...are bound up with the Eucharist and are orientated toward it" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324). The institution of the Eucharist is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The Eucharist is a commemoration, or, in Greek, anamnesis [3] of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ (called the Paschal Mystery), understood in the fullest sense given to it in Biblical tradition. In other words, it is a memorial which does not just bring to mind the event celebrated, but also makes it truly present. The Eucharist is therefore understood to be not simply a representation of Christ's presence, or a remembrance of his Passion and Death, but an actual participation in the Sacrifice of Christ, the manifestation, in the present, of an event that occurred once for all in time. The Eucharist makes present that one sacrifice, not a different sacrifice. The priest and victim of the sacrifice are one and the same (Christ); the only difference is in the manner in which it is offered — the Church teaches that the Mass is the sacrifice at Calvary made present in an unbloody manner.

File:Fr Ratzinger Introibo ad altare Dei.JPG

At a field Mass in 1951, Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, future Pope Benedict XVI, begins a Low Mass with the "prayers at the foot of the altar"

The only minister of the Eucharist, that is, one authorized to celebrate the rite and consecrate the Eucharist, is a validly ordained priest (either bishop or presbyter) acting in the person of Christ (in persona Christi). In other words the priest celebrant represents Christ, who is the Head of the Church, and acts before God the Father in the name of the Church. The matter used must be wheaten bread and grape wine; this is essential for validity.

According to the Roman Catholic Church, when the bread and wine are consecrated in the Eucharist, they cease to be bread and wine, and become instead the body and blood of Christ. The empirical appearances are not changed, but the reality is. The consecration of the bread (known as the host) and wine represents the separation of Jesus' body from his blood at Calvary. However, since he has risen, the Church teaches that his body and blood can no longer be truly separated. Where one is, the other must be. Therefore, although the priest (or minister) says "The body of Christ" when administering the host, and "The blood of Christ" when presenting the chalice, the communicant who receives either one receives Christ, whole and entire.

The mysterious change of the reality of the bread and wine used in the Eucharist, a change to which patristic writers had given other equivalent names, began to be called "transubstantiation" in the Eleventh Century. It seems that the first text in which the term appears is of Gilbert of Savardin, Archbishop of Tours, in a sermon from 1079 (Patrologia Latina CLXXI 776). The term first appeared in a papal document in the letter Cum Marthae circa to a certain John, Archbishop of Lyon,29 November 1202, then in the Fourth Lateran Council (1215)and afterward in the book "Iam dudum" sent to the Armenians in the year 1341. An explanation utilizing Aristotle's hylemorphic theory of reality did not appear until the thirteenth Century, with Alexander of Hales (died 1245).

At a Solemn Tridentine Mass, the host is displayed to the people before communion.

The definition of the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, which concerns what is changed, not how the change occurs, is given in the following words of the thirteenth session of the Council of Trent, quoted in paragraph 1376 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that 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."

Though the Church sees this change as occurring "in a way surpassing understanding" and so as something that can never be fully explained or understood, the Catholic Church considers that the term "transubstantiation", with its accompanying unambiguous distinction between "substance" or underlying reality, and "accidents" or humanly perceptible appearances, still best safeguards against the opposite extremes of a cannibalistic interpretation (the accidents remain real, not an illusion) or of a merely symbolic interpretation (the substance is changed from that of bread and wine to that of the body and blood of Christ) of the Eucharist.

Holy Communion, in the sense of partaking of the consecrated elements of the Eucharist, may be given to Catholics either during Mass (the Eucharist) or outside of Mass. Outside of Mass, it is normally given only under the form of bread. At Mass, it may be given in this same way ("under one kind") or "under both kinds": "Holy Communion has a fuller form as a sign when it is distributed under both kinds. For in this form the sign of the Eucharistic banquet is more clearly evident and clear expression is given to the divine will by which the new and eternal Covenant is ratified in the Blood of the Lord, as also the relationship between the Eucharistic banquet and the eschatological banquet in the Father's Kingdom … (However,) Christ, whole and entire, and the true Sacrament, is received even under only one species, and consequently that as far as the effects are concerned, those who receive under only one species are not deprived of any of the grace that is necessary for salvation."

Those unable to receive Holy Communion under one or other of the two forms can thus obtain without diminution the grace necessary for salvation that, in view of John 6:53, is believed to be linked with the Eucharist: coeliacs allergic to the gluten in bread may receive Christ in Holy Communion under the form of wine alone, and alcoholics under the form of bread alone.

The consecrated hosts are kept in a tabernacle after the celebration of the Mass, so that they can be brought to the sick or dying during the week, and also that Jesus, present in the Eucharist, may be worshipped and adored. Occasionally, the Eucharist is exposed in a monstrance, so that it may be the focus of prayer and adoration.

Eastern Christianity: true sacrifice and objective presence but pious silence on the particulars

Main article: Divine Liturgy

Like Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East believe that Christ is really, fully, uniquely present in the Eucharistic elements, and that, in the Divine Liturgy, the one sacrifice of Christ is made present; and that the exact means by which the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is a mystery. They do not define any precise moment the change occurs, considering it complete only at the end of the Epiklesis. As in the Roman Catholic Church, any of the consecrated elements, or "holy gifts", that remain at the end of the Divine Liturgy are normally consumed by a priest or deacon.

The holy gifts reserved for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts or communion of the sick are specially consecrated as needed, especially on Holy Thursday, and are not simply leftovers from the Divine Liturgy. They are kept in an elaborately decorated tabernacle, which is a container placed on the altar and is often in the shape of a church. Eucharistic adoration is unknown outside the Liturgy itself, except among more latinised Eastern Catholics and those Orthodox Christians who worship according to a Western Rite.

Anglicans/Episcopalians: Real Presence with opinion

Main article: Anglican Eucharistic theology

The historical position of the Anglican Communion is found in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1571, which state "the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ"; and likewise that "the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ" (Articles of Religion, Article XXVIII: Of the Lord's Supper). The fact that the terms "Bread" and "Wine" and the corresponding words "Body" and "Blood" are all capitalized may reflect the wide range of theological beliefs regarding the Eucharist among Anglicans. However, the Articles also state that adoration, or worship per se, of the consecrated elements was not commanded by Christ and that those who receive unworthily do not actually receive Christ but rather their own condemnation.

Anglicans generally and officially believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but the specifics of that belief range from transubstantiation, sometimes with Eucharistic adoration (mainly Anglo-Catholics), to something akin to a belief in a "pneumatic" presence, which may or may not be tied to the Eucharistic elements themselves (almost always "Low Church" or Evangelical Anglicans). The normal range of Anglican belief ranges from Objective Reality to Pious Silence, depending on the individual Anglican's theology. There are also small minorities on the one hand which affirm transubstantiation, or on the other hand, reject the doctrine of the Real Presence altogether. The classic Anglican aphorism with regard to this debate is found in a poem by John Donne (sometimes attributed to Elizabeth I):

He was the Word that spake it;

He took the bread and brake it;

and what that Word did make it;

I do believe and take it.

Anglican belief in the Eucharistic Sacrifice ("Sacrifice of the Mass") is set forth in the response Saepius officio of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to Pope Leo XIII's Papal Encyclical Apostolicae curae.

Anglicans and Roman Catholics declared that they had "substantial agreement on the doctrine of the Eucharist" in the Windsor Statement on Eucharistic Doctrine from the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Consultation and the Elucidation of the ARCIC Windsor Statement.

Lutherans — the sacramental union: "in, with, and under the forms"

Disagreement exists across the various Lutheran bodies regarding the appropriateness of the term Eucharist. Some Lutherans, particularly those who reject high church theology, object to the term because it ostensibly puts the emphasis on human response (i.e., thanksgiving), which they argue is inconsistent with Lutheran theology. They note that this point is presented in Article XXIV.66 of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. Lutheran groups that accept the term note its use throughout the Lutheran Confessions in the Book of Concord. In the Lutheran Book of Concord, Apology XXIV.1 it is asserted that among Lutherans Holy Communion is celebrated weekly: "In our churches Mass is celebrated every Sunday and on other festivals, when the sacrament is offered to those who wish for it after they have been examined and absolved." This was their response to those who accused them of abolishing the Eucharist. Strict adherence to this assertion varies in present day Lutheranism.

Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ Himself (for example, Augsburg Confession, Article 10) in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is more accurately and formally known as "the sacramental union". A detailed defense of and an agreement concerning this doctrine was the subject of the Wittenberg Concord of 1536. It has been called "consubstantiation" by some, but this term is rejected by Lutheran Churches and theologians as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name.

For Lutherans, there is no sacrament unless the elements are used according to Christ's institution (consecration, distribution, and reception). This was articulated in the Wittenberg Concord's formula: Nihil habet rationem sacramenti extra usum a Christo institutum ("Nothing has the character of a sacrament apart from the use instituted by Christ"). As a consequence of their belief in this principle, some Lutherans have opposed the reservation of the consecrated elements (also known as the reserve host), private masses, Eucharistic adoration, and the belief that the presence of Christ's body and blood continue in the reliquæ (what remains of the consecrated elements after all have communed in the worship service). This interpretation is not universal among Lutherans.

A variety of practices exist regarding the handling of bread and wine that remain after the communion service. In high church congregations, the practice tends to be similar to that of the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions — the host is stored in a place of honor such as a tabernacle, consumed by those leading the service or (in the case of wine) poured into the earth. In less formal congregations, the elements receive no special treatment. They may be used again for another service or the remaining bread may be taken home and eaten by those in attendance.

Most Lutheran congregations have some mechanism to provide communion to those who are too ill or infirm to receive the sacrament at worship services. A pastor or a congregational member who is "called" for this role may consecrate the bread in the presence of the person being visited. Some congregations also send individuals or families directly from the communion service to deliver the elements to the ill or home-bound.

Lutherans use the terms "in, with and under the forms of [consecrated] bread and wine" and "sacramental union" to distinguish their understanding of the Lord's Supper from those of the Reformed and other traditions. More liberal Lutheran churches tend to practice open communion, inviting all who are baptized to participate. Conservative Lutheran churches are more likely to practice closed communion (or "close communion"), restricting participation to those who are in doctrinal agreement with them. This might involve the formal declaration of "altar and pulpit fellowship", another term for Eucharistic sharing coupled with the acceptance of the ministrations of one another's clergy. (Some argue that this is not simply a matter of liberal and conservative, but is complicated by high church and low church understandings of authority and ontology.)

Methodism — Real Presence as "Holy Mystery"

According to the Articles of Religion in the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church,

A United Methodist Elder presides at the Eucharist

The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death; in so much that, to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.

Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of bread and wine in the Supper of our Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.

The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is faith.

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshiped.

Methodists typically kneel at the altar to receive, but based on individual need or preference, may stand or be served in the pew. Most Methodist Churches use grape juice for "the Cup", and either leavened yeast bread or unleavened bread. The juice may be distributed in small cups, but the use of a common cup and the practice of communion by intinction (where the bread is dipped into the common cup and both elements are received together) is becoming more common among many Methodists.

The Methodist Church believes in the real presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion:

Jesus Christ, who "is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being" (Hebrews 1:3), is truly present in Holy Communion. Through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, God meets us at the Table. God, who has given the sacraments to the church, acts in and through Holy Communion. Christ is present through the community gathered in Jesus' name (Matthew 18:20), through the Word proclaimed and enacted, and through the elements of bread and wine shared (1 Corinthians 11:23–26). The divine presence is a living reality and can be experienced by participants; it is not a remembrance of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion only.

The followers of John Wesley, himself an Anglican clergyman, have typically affirmed that the sacrament of Holy Communion is an instrumental Means of Grace through which the real presence of Christ is communicated to the believer, but have otherwise allowed the details to remain a mystery. In particular, Methodists reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation (see "Article XVIII" of the Articles of Religion, Means of Grace). In 2004, the United Methodist Church reaffirmed its view of the sacrament and its belief in the Real Presence in an official document entitled This Holy Mystery. Of particular note here is the Church's unequivocal recognition of the anamnesis as more than just a memorial but, rather, a re-presentation of Christ Jesus:

Holy Communion is remembrance, commemoration, and memorial, but this remembrance is much more than simply intellectual recalling. "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24–25) is anamnesis (the biblical Greek word). This dynamic action becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present, so powerfully as to make them truly present now. Christ is risen and is alive here and now, not just remembered for what was done in the past.

This affirmation of Real Presence — of what is sometimes called anamnetical real presence — can be seen clearly illustrated in the language of the United Methodist Eucharistic Liturgy (for example: Word and Table 1) where, in the epecletical portion of the Great Thanksgiving, the celebrating minister prays over the elements:

A United Methodist Elder consecrates the elements

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

For most United Methodists — and, indeed, for much of Methodism as a whole — this reflects the furthest extent to which they are willing to go in defining Real Presence. They will assert that Jesus is really present, and that the means of this presence is a "Holy Mystery"; the celebrating minister will pray for the Holy Spirit to make the elements "be the body and blood of Christ", and the congregation will even sing, as in the third stanza of Charles Wesley's hymn Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast:

Come and partake the gospel feast,

Be saved from sin, in Jesus rest;

O taste the goodness of our God,

and eat his flesh and drink his blood.[4]

Methodists believe that Holy Communion should not only be available to the clergy in both forms (the Bread and the Cup), but to the layman as well. According to Article XIX of the Articles of Religion in the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church,

The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people; for both the parts of the Lord's Supper, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be administered to all Christians alike.

Calvinist Reformed: spiritual feeding, "pneumatic" presence

Many Reformed Christians, who follow John Calvin hold that Christ's body and blood are not physically present in the Eucharist. The elements are only symbols of the reality, which is spiritual nourishment in Christ.

The sum is, that the flesh and blood of Christ feed our souls just as bread and wine maintain and support our corporeal life. For there would be no aptitude in the sign, did not our souls find their nourishment in Christ. [...] I hold...that the sacred mystery of the Supper consists of two things—the corporeal signs, which, presented to the eye, represent invisible things in a manner adapted to our weak capacity, and the spiritual truth, which is at once figured and exhibited by the signs.

Following a phrase of Augustine, the Calvinist view is that "no one bears away from this Sacrament more than is gathered with the vessel of faith." "The flesh and blood of Christ are no less truly given to the unworthy than to God's elect believers", Calvin said; but those who partake by faith receive benefit from Christ, and the unbelieving are condemned by partaking. By faith (not a mere mental apprehension), and in the Holy Spirit, the partaker beholds God incarnate, and in the same sense touches him with hands, so that by eating and drinking of bread and wine Christ's actual presence penetrates to the heart of the believer more nearly than food swallowed with the mouth can enter in.

Calvin specifically rejected adoration of the Eucharistic bread and wine as "idolatry", however. Leftover elements may be disposed of without ceremony (or reused in later services); they are unchanged, and as such the meal directs attention toward Christ's bodily resurrection and return.

Latter Day Saint movement

Main article: Sacrament (Latter Day Saints)

To Latter Day Saints (or Mormons), the Eucharist (in LDS theology it is "The Sacrament") is viewed as a renewal of the covenant made at baptism. As such, it is considered efficacious only for baptized members in good standing. However, the unbaptized are not forbidden from communion, and it is traditional for children not yet baptized (baptism occurs only after the age of eight) to participate in communion in anticipation of baptism. According to the Sacrament prayers, a person eats and drinks in remembrance of the body and blood of Jesus, and promises always to remember him and keep his commandments. In return the prayer promises that the participant will always have the Spirit to be with them.

The Sacrament is considered to be a weekly renewal of a member's commitment to follow Jesus Christ, and a plea for forgiveness of sins.

Like most Restorationist sects of Christianity, the Latter Day Saints do not believe in any kind of literal presence. They view the bread and wine as symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chooses to use water instead of wine following the Doctrine and Covenants where a believed revelation from the Lord says "it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory — remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins".

Zwinglian Reformed: no Real Presence

Main article: Memorialism

Some Protestant groups (also called the Lord's Supper or the Lord's Table) as a symbolic meal, a memorial of the Last Supper and the Passion in which nothing miraculous occurs. This view is known as the Zwinglian view, after Huldrych Zwingli, a Church leader in Zurich, Switzerland during the Reformation. It is commonly associated with the United Church of Christ,Baptists, and the Disciples of Christ. As with the Reformed view, elements left over from the service may be discarded without any formal ceremony, or if feasible may be retained for use in future services.

Some of the Reformed hold that Calvin actually held this view, and not the Spiritual feeding idea more commonly attributed to him; or that the two views are really the same.

The successor of Zwingli in Zurich, Heinrich Bullinger, came to an agreement theologically with John Calvin. The Consensus Tigurinus lays out an explanation of the doctrine of the Sacraments in general, and specifically, that of Holy Communion, as the view embraced by John Calvin and leaders of the Church of Zurich who followed Zwingli. It demonstrates that at least the successors of Zwingli held to the real spiritual presence view most commonly attributed to Calvin and Reformed Protestantism.

Some Christian denominations that hold this view include the United Church of Christ,Baptist Church, Disciples of Christ, and Church of the Nazarene.

Summary of views

Because Jesus Christ is a person, theologies regarding the Eucharist involve consideration of the way in which the communicant's personal relationship with God is fed through this mystical meal. However, debates over Eucharistic theology in the West have centered not on the personal aspects of Christ's presence but on the metaphysical. The opposing views are summarized below.

Further information: Real Presence

• "Transubstantiation" — the substance (fundamental reality) of the bread and wine is transformed in a way beyond human comprehension into that of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, but the accidents (physical traits, including chemical properties) of the bread and wine remain; this view is that taught by the Roman Catholic Church and by the Eastern Orthodox Synod of Jerusalem, and is held by many Anglicans, especially in Anglo-Catholic circles.
• "In, with and under the forms" — the body and blood of Jesus Christ are substantially present in, with and under the substance of the bread and wine, which remain. This is the view held by most Lutherans, and some Anglicans. Lutherans and non-Lutherans refer to this view as 'consubstantiation'. Although, for some, this term is difficult to understand, it remains the confessed understanding of the Lutheran faith.
• "Objective reality, but pious silence about technicalities" — the view of all the ancient Churches of the East, including the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Catholic Churches) and the Assyrian Church of the East as well as perhaps most Anglicans. These, while agreeing with the Roman Catholic belief that the sacrament is not merely bread and wine but truly the body and blood of Christ, and having historically employed the "substance" and "accidents" terminology to explain what is changed in the transformation, usually avoid this terminology, lest they seem to scrutize the technicalities of the manner in which the transformation occurs.
• "Real Spiritual presence", also called "pneumatic presence", holds that not only the Spirit of Christ, but also the true body and blood of Jesus Christ (hence "real"), are received by the sovereign, mysterious, and miraculous power of the Holy Spirit (hence "spiritual"), but only by those partakers who have faith. This view approaches the "pious silence" view in its unwillingness to specify how the Holy Spirit makes Christ present, but positively excludes not just symbolism but also trans- and con-substantiation. It is also known as the "mystical presence" view, and is held by most Reformed Christians, such as Presbyterians, as well as some Methodists and some Anglicans, particularly Low Church Reformed Anglicans. See Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 29. This understanding is often called "receptionism". Some argue that this view can be seen as being suggested — though not by any means clearly — by the "invocation" of the Anglican Rite as found in the American Book of Common Prayer, 1928 and earlier and in Rite I of the American BCP of 1979 as well as in other Anglican formularies:

And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and of thy almighty goodness, vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine; that we, receiving them according to thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood.

• "Symbolism" — the bread and wine are symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and in partaking of the elements the believer commemorates the sacrificial death of Christ. This view is also known as "memorialism" and "Zwinglianism" after Ulrich Zwingli and is held by several Protestant and Latter-day Saint denominations, including most Baptists.
• "Suspension" — the partaking of the bread and wine was not intended to be a perpetual ordinance, or was not to be taken as a religious rite or ceremony (also known as adeipnonism, meaning "no supper" or "no meal"). This is the view of Quakers and the Salvation Army, as well as the hyperdispensationalist positions of E. W. Bullinger, Cornelius R. Stam, and others.

Ritual and liturgy

The Agape feast

File:TheosAgape.jpg

"ὁ θεòς ἀγάπη ἐστίν" God Is Love on a stele in Mount Nebo.

The Eucharistic celebrations of the early Christians were embedded in, or simply took the form of, a meal. While centered on the ritual of the bread and wine, it also included various other actions, including sometimes elements of the Passover seder and of Mediterranean banquets, funerary and otherwise. These were often called Agape Feasts, although terminology varied in the first few centuries along with other aspects of practice. Agape is one of the Greek words for love, specifically meaning selfless love, or God's love for mankind, and so "agape feasts" are also referred to in English as "love-feasts".

This ritual was apparently a full meal, with each participant bringing a contribution to the meal according to their means. Perhaps predictably enough, it could at times deteriorate into merely an occasion for eating and drinking, or for ostentatious displays by the wealthier members of the community. This was criticized by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:20–22.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that the general opinion is that, though held together, they were distinct, the Eucharist coming at the end of the Agape, as the special rite instituted by Jesus followed a celebration of a Passover meal: "In the opinion of the great majority of scholars the Agape was a meal at which not only bread and wine but all kinds of viands were used, a meal which had the double purpose of satisfying hunger and thirst and giving expression to the sense of Christian brotherhood. At the end of this feast, bread and wine were taken, according to the Lord's command, and after thanksgiving to God were eaten and drunk in remembrance of Christ and as a special means of communion with the Lord Himself and through Him with one another. The Agape was thus related to the Eucharist as Christ's last Passover to the Christian rite which He grafted upon it. It preceded and led up to the Eucharist, and was quite distinct from it. In opposition to this view it has been strongly urged by some modern critical scholars that in the apostolic age the Lord's Supper was not distinguished from the Agape, but that the Agape itself from beginning to end was the Lord's Supper which was held in memory of Jesus. It seems fatal to such an idea, however, that while Paul makes it quite evident that bread and wine were the only elements of the memorial rite instituted by Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23-29), the abuses which had come to prevail at the social gatherings of the Corinthian church would have been impossible in the case of a meal consisting only of bread and wine (compare 1 Corinthians 11:21, 1 Corinthians 11:33 f.) Moreover, unless the Eucharist in the apostolic age had been discriminated from the common meal, it would be difficult to explain how at a later period the two could be found diverging from each other so completely."

Soon after the year 100, Ignatius of Antioch refers to the agape or love-feast: "Let that eucharist alone be considered valid which is celebrated in the presence of the bishop, or of him to whom he shall have entrusted it. ... It is not lawful either to baptize, or to hold a love-feast without the consent of the bishop." Letter 96 from Pliny the Younger to Trajan in about 112 suggests that the meal was taken after at least that part of the Eucharistic rite that is now called the Mass of the Catechumens or Liturgy of the Word. Tertullian too writes of these meals. Clement of Alexandria (c.150-211/216) distinguished so-called "Agape" meals of luxurious character from the agape (love) "which the food that comes from Christ shows that we ought to partake of". Accusations of gross indecency were sometimes made against the form that these meals sometimes took. Referring to Clement of Alexandria, Stromata III,2, Philip Schaff commented: "The early disappearance of the Christian agapæ may probably be attributed to the terrible abuse of the word here referred to, by the licentious Carpocratians. The genuine agapæ were of apostolic origin (2 Pet. ii. 13; Jude 12), but were often abused by hypocrites, even under the apostolic eye (1 Corinthians 11:21). In the Gallican Church, a survival or relic of these feasts of charity is seen in the pain béni; and, in the Greek churches. in the Template:Polytonic or eulogiæ distributed to non-communicants at the close of the Eucharist, from the loaf out of which the bread of oblation is supposed to have been cut."

Augustine of Hippo also objected to the continuance in his native North Africa of the custom of such meals, in which some indulged to the point of drunkenness, and he distinguished them from proper celebration of the Eucharist: "Let us take the body of Christ in communion with those with whom we are forbidden to eat even the bread which sustains our bodies." He reports that even before the time of his stay in Milan, the custom had already been forbidden there.

Canons 27 and 28 of the Council of Laodicea (364) restricted the abuses. The Third Council of Carthage (393) and the Second Council of Orleans (541) reiterated this legislation, which prohibited feasting in churches, and the Trullan Council of 692 decreed that honey and milk were not to be offered on the altar (Canon 57), and that those who held love feasts in churches should be excommunicated (Canon 74).

There have been various survivals and revivals, however. In the 18th century, Pietist Christians began to hold Love Feasts that looked back to the ancient Agape. Many Christians today after celebrating the Eucharist or another liturgy, now routinely participate in an informal sharing of light refreshments and conversation. This post-Eucharistic gathering is often called "fellowship hour" or "coffee hour" and is regarded by many clergy as a particularly opportune time for engaging adults in Christian education. Others hold ritual Agape meals.

See also Agape feast.

Anglican

In many of the provinces and national jurisdictions of the Anglican Church, the Eucharist is designated as the principal service of the Church. The service for Holy Eucharist is found in the Book of Common Prayer for each national Church in the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church holds the Eucharist as the highest form of worship, the Church's main service. Daily celebrations are now the case in most cathedrals and many parish churches, and there are few churches with a priest where Holy Communion is not celebrated at least once every Sunday. The nature of the ritual with which it is celebrated, however, varies according to the orientation of the individual parish, diocese or national Church.

See Book of Common Prayer and Ritualism.

Baptist

The bread and "fruit of the vine" indicated in Matthew, Mark and Luke as the elements of the Lord's Supper are interpreted by Baptists as unleavened bread and, in line with their historical stance (since the mid-19th century) against partaking of alcoholic beverages, grape juice, which they commonly refer to simply as "the Cup".

Eastern Christianity

Main article: Divine Liturgy

Among Eastern Christians, the Eucharistic service is called the Divine Liturgy. It comprises two main divisions: the first is the Liturgy of the Catechumens which consists of introductory litanies, antiphons and scripture readings, culminating in a reading from one of the Gospels and often, a sermon; the second is the Liturgy of the Faithful in which the Eucharist is offered, consecrated, and received as Holy Communion. Within the latter, the actual Eucharistic prayer is called the anaphora, literally: "offering" or "carrying up" (Template:Polytonic). In the Byzantine Rite, two different anaphoras are currently used: one is attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and the other to St. Basil the Great. Among the Oriental Orthodox, a variety of anaphoras are used, but all are similar in structure to those of the Byzantine Rite. In the Byzantine Rite, the Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom is used most days of the year; St. Basil's is offered on the Sundays of Great Lent, the eves of Christmas and Theophany, Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, and upon his feast day (January 1). At the conclusion of the Anaphora the bread and wine are held to be the Body and Blood of Christ.

Conventionally this change in the elements is understood to occur at the Epiklesis (Greek: "invocation") by which the Holy Spirit is invoked and the consecration of the bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Christ is specifically requested, but since the anaphora as a whole is considered a unitary (albeit lengthy) prayer, no one moment within it can be readily singled out.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses commemorate Christ's death as a ransom or propitiatory sacrifice by observing The Lord's Evening Meal, or Memorial, each year on Nisan 14 according to the ancient Jewish calendar. They believe that this is the only celebration commanded for Christians in the Bible. Of those who attend the Memorial a small minority worldwide will partake of the eating of the unleavened bread and the drinking of the wine.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 people can receive salvation and thus spend eternity with God in heaven. They are called the "anointed" and are the only ones who can partake of the bread and wine.

The celebration of the Memorial of Christ's Death proceeds as follows: In advance of the Memorial, Jehovah's Witnesses invite anyone that may be interested to attend this special night. The week of the Memorial is generally filled with special activity in the ministry, such as door-to-door work. A suitable hall, for example a Kingdom Hall, is prepared for the occasion. The Memorial begins with a song and a prayer. The prayer is followed by a discourse on the importance of the evening. A table is set with wine and unleavened bread. Jehovah's Witnesses believe the bread stands for Jesus Christ's body which he gave on behalf of mankind, and that the wine stands for his blood which redeems from sin. They do not believe in transubstantiation or consubstantiation. Hence, the wine and the bread are merely symbols (sometimes referred to as "emblems"), but they have a very deep and profound meaning for Jehovah's Witnesses. A prayer is offered and the bread is circulated among the audience. Only those who are "anointed" partake. Then another prayer is offered, and the wine is circulated in the same manner. After that, the evening concludes with a final song and prayer.

It is common for the bread and wine to be passed and have no partakers.

Latter Day Saint movement

In the Latter Day Saint movement (also known as Mormonism), the Sacrament is the Lord's Supper, in which participants eat bread and drink wine (or water, in the case of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since the late 1800s). It is essentially the same as the Eucharist, Communion in some other Christian denominations. Normally in Mormon congregations, the Sacrament is provided every Sunday as part of the Sacrament meeting.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the word "ordinance" is used approximately as the word Sacrament is used in Christianity in general.

In the Community of Christ, the word "sacrament" is also used in the more common, generic sense used by most of Christianity, meaning a rite or "ordinance".

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Sacrament is performed on a weekly basis during Sacrament meeting with exceptions arising during General and Stake conferences). As most males in the Church age 16 years and older are able to perform the ordinance, it is common for wards to send men to the homes of sick (usually homebound) members of the congregation, and administer the sacrament to them. Also, fathers of families occasionally perform it with their families during times of illness or travel, but this requires the approval of the bishop, as it should not replace the regular attendance of congregation meetings.

Lutheran

The "Lutheran Eucharistic service" is similar in form to the Roman Catholic and "high" Anglican services. Administration of the bread and wine varies between congregations. The bread can be a thin wafer, or leavened or unleavened bread. The wine may be administered via a common cup (the "chalice"), or through individual cups that may be either prefilled or filled from the chalice during the communion. Intinction is acceptable, but rarely used. Some congregations that use wine make grape juice available for those who are abstaining from alcohol, and some will accommodate those with an allergy to wheat or grapes.

Reformed/Presbyterian

In the Reformed Churches the Eucharist is variously administered. Acknowledging that the bread at the Passover celebration was almost certainly unleavened, some Churches use bread without any raising agent (whether leaven or yeast). The Presbyterian Church (USA), for instance, prescribes "bread common to the culture". The wine served might be true alcoholic red wine or grape juice, usually served not from a chalice, but from individual cups. Hearkening back to the regulative principle of worship, the Reformed tradition had long eschewed coming forward to receive communion, preferring to have the elements distributed throughout the congregation by the presbyters (elders) more in the style of a shared meal, but some Churches have reappropriated a High Church liturgy in the spirit of Philip Schaff's Mercersburg theology, which held ancient traditions of the Church in higher esteem than did much of the Reformed world. The elements may be found served separately with "consecration" for each element or together. Communion is usually open to all baptized believers, and although often it is reserved for those who are members in good standing of a Bible-believing Church, participation is left as a matter of conscience.

Roman Catholicism

Main article: Eucharist (Catholic Church)

See Mass (Catholic Church) for Catholic worship in the Latin Rite and Divine Liturgy for worship in the Eastern Catholic Churches.

In the Western Church, the administration of the Most Holy Eucharist to children requires that they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so that they understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity and are able to receive the body of Christ with faith and devotion.

Open and closed communion

Main articles: Open communion, Closed communion, and Full communion

Christian denominations differ in their understanding of whether they may receive the Eucharist together with those not in full communion with them. Closed communion was the universal practice of the early Church. The famed apologist St. Justin Martyr (c. 150) wrote: "No one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true...." For the first several hundred years of Church history, non-members were forbidden even to be present at the sacramental ritual; visitors and catechumens (those still undergoing instruction) were dismissed halfway through the liturgy, after the Bible readings and sermon but before the Eucharistic rite. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, used in the Byzantine Churches, still has a formula of dismissal of catechumens (not usually followed by any action) at this point.

The ancient Churches, such as the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox exclude non-members from Communion under normal circumstances, though they may allow exceptions, e.g., for non-members in danger of death who share their faith in the reality of the Eucharist and who are unable to have access to a minister of their own religion. Many conservative Protestant communities also practice closed communion, including conservative Lutheran Churches like the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod practices "close" communion, which means that while membership in a Lutheran church is expected, individual pastors may use their discretion, meaning that many LC-MS churches have a more relaxed attitude. The Landmark Baptist Churches also practices closed communion, as a symbol of exclusive membership and loyalty to the distinctive doctrines of their fellowship.

Most Protestant communities practice open communion, including some Anglican, Reformed, Evangelical, Methodist, and more-liberal Lutherans (such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Church of Sweden). Some open communion communities adhere to a symbolic or spiritual understanding of the Eucharist, so that they have no fear of sacrilege against the literal body and blood of Christ if someone receives inappropriately. Others feel that Christ calls all of his children to his table, regardless of their denominational affiliation. Many Churches that practice open communion offer it only to baptized Christians (regardless of denomination), although this requirement is typically only enforced by the recipients' honesty. Some Progressive Christian congregations offer communion to any individual who wishes to commemorate the life and teachings of Christ, regardless of religious affiliation. .

Modern theories

Jesus Seminar

“The purely symbolic meal of modern Christianity, restricted to a bit of bread and a sip of wine or juice, is tacitly presupposed for the early church, an assumption so preposterous that it is never articulated or acknowledged.” This quotation reflects the iconoclastic view of the Jesus Seminar, "a research team of about 200 New Testament scholars founded in 1985 by the late Robert Funk and John Dominic Crossan under the auspices of the Westar Institute". They concluded, because of the deeply ingrained Jewish prohibition against drinking blood and the history of Greek memorial dining societies, the rite of the last supper "had its origins in a pagan context."

John Dominic Crossan suggests that there are two traditions "as old as we can trace them" of the eucharist, that of Paul, reflecting the Antioch Church's tradition, and that of the Didache, the first document to give explicit instruction regarding prayers to be said at a celebration that it called the Eucharist, without mentioning Passover, or Last Supper, or Death of Jesus/blood/body. According to Crossan, Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, in the context of correcting the eating habits of the Corinthians serves to reestablish "the Pre-Pauline tradition, ritual of bread/body + meal + ritual of cup/blood."

For Crossan, both traditions underline the primary importance of the Shared Meal to historical First Century Christian ritual. In the Jerusalem tradition, of James and Peter, the meal is of higher importance than blood and body since the Didache fails to mention them. Both traditions reflect the pitfalls of a shared meal among social unequals, namely freeloading. The Didache says in 12:3-4, if you work, you eat. Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says if you don't work, you don't eat. "Both stipulations must presume a communal share-meal or they make no sense." The administrative difficulties of communal meals, easily glossed over in a small congregation of Jewish peasants, become more intractable as the church succeeds and grows and adds Gentile adherents, foreshadowing the eventual reduction to symbolism over substance. Crossan asks "why symbolize divinity through a medium of food that is non-food? Maybe non-food symbolizes a non-Jesus and a non-God?"

Crossan proposes that "those meals were real meals as share-meals. The community shared together whatever food it had available, which both symbolized and ritualized but also actualized and materialized the equal justice of the Jewish God"; and that the eucharist trajectory went from inclusive Jewish communal meals to exclusive somber Greek memorials. "It is necessary to calculate very carefully what was lost and what gained in moving from Jesus' real meal with open commensality to its continuance in a ritual meal with Christian commensality."

For Funk, hellenized Jew Paul references a Greek Lord's Supper which is not a Passover meal, and does not have the participants giving thanks (while Paul does mention Jesus' giving of thanks at the Last Supper), rather the purpose is to proclaim Jesus' death until he comes again, in the manner of Hellenic societies formed "to hold meals in remembrance of those who had died and to drink a cup in honor of some god."

Dionysus theory

Professor Stephen L Harris declared that "long before Jesus linked wine and bread as part of the Christian liturgy (Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:17–20) the two tokens of divine favor were associated in the Dionysian tradition. In his play, Bacchae (worshippers of Bacchus, another name for Dionysus), the Athenian playwright Euripides (c. 485–406 BC) has the prophet Tiresias observe that Demeter and Dionysus, respectively, gave humanity two indispensable gifts: grain or bread to sustain life and wine to make life bearable.Harris claimed rather that Tiresias urged his hearers to see in Dionysus's gift of wine a beverage that brings into communion with the divine.

Theophagy theory

Others have declared that an idea of theophagy (eating one's god), or at least of feeding on the life-force of a mystical entity, was characteristic of the central rites of some Greco-Roman and Near-Eastern mystery religions and have claimed that the "acts and ordinances" of Jesus and his apostles were "memorialized" in that context. According to them, the Eucharist conveyed the purported mystical benefits of flesh-eating and blood-drinking that were proclaimed by the proponents of animal sacrifices and of cannibalism, and can be seen to translate the vestiges of ancient animal sacrifice and/or ritualistic cannibalism into the current age.

Mushroom theory

Another theory that attributes a pre-Christian connection to the Eucharist is that of John Allegro and Carl Ruck, who claim that Jesus was seen as a vegetation god incarnated, like Dionysus and Osiris, as an entheogenic plant or fungus or both.

Survey of views on blood-drinking in the Eucharist

In an article in the Biblical Theology Bulletin of 2002, Michael J. Cahill reviewed the ideas of some writers on the question of the drinking of blood in the Eucharist. On the one hand, "the fact of the Jewish blood prohibition presents a problem for those who insist on the historicity of the New Testament texts that relate the institution of the Eucharist." On the other hand, "those who reject the historicity on the grounds of the incongruity have not provided a satisfactory history of this fascinating religious phenomenon."

After reporting, generally without expressing judgment, but sometimes pointing out weaknesses, various individual theories that have been put forward, such as those of Hyam Maccoby and A. N. Wilson, he concluded:

The survey of opinion, old and new, reveals wide disagreement with a fundamental divide between those who can accept that the notion of drinking blood could have a Jewish origin and those who insist that this is a later development to be located in the Hellenistic world. What both sides share is an inability to proffer a rationally convincing argument that can provide a historical explanation for the presence of this particular component of the Eucharistic rite. Those who hold for the literal institution by Jesus have not been able to explain plausibly how the drinking of blood could have arisen in a Jewish setting. In fact, this difficulty has been turned into an argument for authenticity. For example, Jeremiah quotes Dalman: "Exactly that which seems scandalous will be historical" (170-71). W. D. Davies draws attention to the fact that Dalman also argued that the Pauline version of the institution arose in a gentile environment to eliminate the difficulties presented by the more direct Markan form (246). It would appear to be obvious that the difficulties would have been greater in a Jewish environment. Davies' conclusion is apt: "When such divergent conclusons have been based upon the same evidence any dogmatism would be foolish" (246). On the other hand, I have earlier argued that previous suggestions supporting the non-Jewish source have been vitiated by vague generalities or by association with inappropriate pagan rituals.

See also

• Baptism
• Eucharistic discipline
• Eucharistic miracle
• Eucharistic theologies contrasted
• Eucharistic theology
• Intinction
• Mithraism — Similarities to Christianity
• Open communion
• Osiris — The Osirian Sacrament
• Sacrament (Latter Day Saints)
• Sacrament
• Sacramental wine
• Thanksgiving after Communion
• Year of the Eucharist

Books

• 1963 edition of The New Saint Joseph: First Communion Catechism, Baltimore Catechism
• Anderson, S. E. The First Communion
• Chemnitz, Martin. The Lord's Supper. J. A. O. Preus, trans. St. Louis: Concordia, 1979. ISBN 0–570–03275-X
• Dix, Dom Gregory. The Shape of the Liturgy. London: Continuum International, 2005. ISBN 0–8264–7942–1
• Elert, Werner. Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries. N. E. Nagel, trans. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1966. ISBN 0–570–04270–4
• Felton, Gayle. This Holy Mystery. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2005. ISBN 0–88177–457-X
• Father Gabriel. Divine Intimacy. Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1996 reprint ed. ISBN 0–89555–504–2
• Grime, J. H. Close Communion and Baptists
• Hahn, Scott. The Lamb's Supper — Mass as Heaven on Earth. Darton, Longman, Todd. 1999. ISBN 0–232–52500–5
• Henke, Frederick Goodrich A Study in the Psychology of Ritualism. University of Chicago Press 1910
• Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1970. ISBN 0–8146–0432–3
• Kolb, Robert and Timothy J. Wengert, eds. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000. (ISBN 0–8006–2740–7)
• Lefebvre, Gaspar. The Saint Andrew Daily Missal. Reprint. Great Falls, MT: St. Bonaventure Publications, Inc., 1999
• Macy, Gary. The Banquet's Wisdom: A Short History of the Theologies of the Lord's Supper. (2005, ISBN 1–878009–50–8)
• Magni, JA The Ethnological Background of the Eucharist — Clark University. American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education, IV (No. 1–2), March, 1910.
• McBride, Alfred, O.Praem. Celebrating the Mass. Our Sunday Visitor, 1999.
• Neal, Gregory. Grace Upon Grace 2000. ISBN 0–9679074–0–3
• Nevin, John Williamson. The Mystical Presence: A Vindication of the Reformed or Calvinistic Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. 1846; Wipf & Stock reprint, 2000. ISBN 1–57910–348–0.
• Oden, Thomas C. Corrective Love: The Power of Communion Discipline. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1995. ISBN 0–570–04803–6
• Sasse, Hermann. This Is My Body: Luther's Contention for the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2001. ISBN 1–57910–766–4
• Schmemann, Alexander. The Eucharist. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997. ISBN 0–88141–018–7
• Stoffer, Dale R. The Lord's Supper: Believers Church Perspectives
• Stookey, L.H. Eucharist: Christ's Feast with the Church. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993 ISBN 0–687–12017–9
• Tissot, The Very Rev. J. The Interior Life. 1916, pp. 347–9.
• Wright, N. T. The Meal Jesus Gave Us

External links

• [5] — Network of Eucharistic Adoration
• http://www.savior.org/ — Live Video Stream of the Eucharist
• The Lord's Supper: What Is Its Scriptural Extent?
• [6] — Eucharistic Miracles
• http://www.revneal.org/onlinecommunion.html — Streaming Video of a United Methodist Celebration of the Holy Eucharist
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Lord's Supper

Liturgical texts & services

• The Ordinary of the Mass, Roman Rite according to current edition of the Roman Missal
• The Ordinary of the Sacred Liturgy according to the Roman Missal of 1962
• The Priest's Service Book Orthodox Divine Liturgy.
• The Book of Common Prayer, used by the Episcopal Church (ECUSA). Contains the liturgy for the Eucharist and other rites.
• Word and Table I, The Eucharistic Liturgy of The United Methodist Church.

History, theology, practice, etc.

• Eucharist @ the Catholic Encyclopedia and @ the Catholic Dictionary
• EWTN — The Holy Eucharist — Easy yet comprehensive website with Catholic Teaching on the Eucharist
• Paragraph 1376 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Celebrating Eucharist — A contemporary online guide to Eucharistic practice starting from current Anglican rites
• This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion
• The Duty of Constant Communion by John Wesley
• Holy Communion as a Means of Grace by Gregory S. Neal
• Online Holy Communion: Theological Reflections Regarding The Internet and The Means of Grace by Gregory S. Neal
• Typology and the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion by Gregory S. Neal
• Christians and Alcohol by Hermano Cisco of babylonfalls.org. Considers the symbolism of the wine.
• The Lord's Supper — by Ralph Waldo Emerson, rejecting the Lord's supper as a perpetual rite.
• My Brethren — Studies — The Lord's Supper and the Service of God
• A Baptist viewpoint
• A Church of Christ viewpoint
• A Mennonite viewpoint
• A Reformed (Presbyterian) viewpoint
• Pilgram Marpeck's defense of continuing to practice Lord's Supper (1531)
• Scholarly articles on the Lord's Supper from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library