Mass celebrated in Szczepanów, Poland, on the 750th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Stanislaus, May 10, 2003, by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Eucharist in the Catholic Church refers to both the celebration of the Mass, that is the Eucharistic Liturgy, and the consecrated bread and wine which according to the faith become the body and blood of Christ. Blessed Sacrament is a devotional term used in the Roman Catholic Church to refer to the Eucharistic species (the Body and Blood of Christ). Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1909x1273, 974 KB) en: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI since 2005) on May 10, 2003, during the celebration of the 750th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Stanislaus in Szczepanów, Poland. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1909x1273, 974 KB) en: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI since 2005) on May 10, 2003, during the celebration of the 750th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Stanislaus in Szczepanów, Poland. ... A Medieval Low Mass by a bishop. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the College of Cardinals which as a body elects a new pope. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... Catholic devotions are prayer forms which are not part of the official public liturgy of the Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics. ...

Sacrament

In the teaching of the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is one of the seven sacraments, and is commonly referred to as "the Blessed Sacrament". The Institution of the Eucharist is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The Eucharist is a commemoration, or, in Greek, anamnesis [1] of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ (called the Paschal Mystery), understood in the fullest sense that it has 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; 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. In Christian belief and practice, a sacrament is a rite that mediates divine grace, constituting a sacred mystery. ... Our Lady of Lourdes - Mary appearing at Lourdes with Rosary beads. ... Anamnesis (Greek: αναμνησις = recollection, reminiscence) is a term used in medicine, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and religion. ... The Passion is the theological term used for the suffering, both physical and mental, of Jesus in the hours prior to and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. ... The chronology of Jesus depicts the traditional chronology established for the events of the life of Jesus by the four canonical gospels (which allude to various dates for several events). ... The resurrection of Jesus is an event in the New Testament in which God raised him from the dead[1] after his death by crucifixion. ... The Paschal Mystery refers to the suffering, death, Resurrection, and Glorification of Jesus Christ. ...

Scriptural foundations

The Catholic Church sees as the main basis for this belief the words of Jesus himself at his Last Supper: the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20) and Saint Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 11:23-25 recount that in that context Jesus said of what to all appearances were bread and wine: "This is my body … this is my blood." Many, but not all Protestants generally interpret this symbolically rather than literally. Protestants of Calvinist theological views are more inclined to interpret this passage symbolically. The doctrine of a symbolic Eucharist was more expressly propounded by the 16th-century Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke are so similar that they are called the synoptic gospels (from Greek, συν, syn, together, and οψις, opsis, seeing). ... Paul of Tarsus (b. ... See also: Second Epistle to the Corinthians and Third Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ... John Calvin (July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564) was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and was a central developer of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism or Reformed theology. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      For other uses, see... Zwinglis Successor Zwinglis successor, Heinrich Bullinger, was elected on December 9, 1531, to be the pastor of the Great Minster at Zürich, a position which he held to the end of his life (1575). ...

The Gospel of John in Chapter 6, The Discourse on the Bread of Life, presents Jesus as saying: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you … he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him" (John 6:53-56). According to John, Jesus did not tone down these sayings, even when many of his disciples abandoned him (John 6:66), shocked at the idea. The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist. ...

Saint Paul implied an identity between the apparent bread and wine of the Eucharist and the body and blood of Christ, when he wrote: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27).

Historical development

See also: Historical roots of Catholic Eucharistic theology

Early Christianity observed a ritual meal known as the "agape feast" held on Sundays which became known as the Day of the Lord, to recall the resurrection, the appearance of Christ to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the appearance to Thomas and the Pentecost which all took place on Sundays after the Passion. Jude, and the apostle Paul referred to these as "your love-feasts", by way of warning (about "who shows up" to these). Agape is one of the Greek words for love, and refers to the "divine" type of love, rather than mere human forms of love. This preceding form of the service apparently was a full meal, with each participant bringing food, and with the meal eaten in a common room. Following the agapè meal, as at the Last Supper, the apostle, bishop or priest prayed several prayers in combination with the words of institution over bread and wine placed on a specially made and cleaned altar table; after which the Communion was received from their hands by all the faithful present. In the later half of the first century, especially after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, passages from the writings of the apostles were read and preached upon before the consecration of the bread and wine took place. Justin the Martyr records that, in his time, the rituals already were closely described. The historical roots of Catholic Eucharistic theology are the basis upon which a number of ecclesial communities, or churches, express their faith in the bread of life as given by Jesus, and are to be found in the Church Fathers, Scripture, the writings of Thomas Aquinas, and other early church... The Agape feast was one term used for the Eucharistic celebration of the early Christians. ... AgapÄ“ (IPA: or IPA: ) (Gk. ... Saint Justin Martyr (c. ...

Tintoretto's the Last Supper, giving a chaotic impression.

These meals and subsequent Eucharistic rituals evolved into more formal worship services, which became known as the Mass in the West and as the Divine Liturgy in the East. Image File history File links Tintosoup. ... Image File history File links Tintosoup. ... Tintoretto (real name Jacopo Comin) September 29, 1518 - May 31, 1594) was one of the greatest painters of the Venetian school and probably the last great painter of the Italian Renaissance. ... The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. ...

The word Eucharist is from the Greek word eucharistia, which means thanksgiving. Catholics typically restrict the term 'communion' to the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ by the communicants during the celebration of the Mass and to the communion of saints in which receiving the Eucharist comes fully present. The Communion of Saints is the doctrine that the saints (i. ...

In about 106, Saint Ignatius of Antioch criticized those who "abstain from the Eucharist and the public prayer, because they will not admit that the Eucharist is the self-same Body of our Savior Jesus Christ, which [flesh] suffered for our sins, and which the Father in His goodness raised up again" (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6, 7). Similarly, St. Ambrose of Milan countered objections to the doctrine, writing "You may perhaps say: 'My bread is ordinary.' But that bread is bread before the words of the Sacraments; where the consecration has entered in, the bread becomes the Flesh of Christ" (The Sacraments, 333/339-397 A.D. v.2,1339,1340). Saint Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus)(c. ... The Letter to the Smyrnaeans was written by Saint Ignatius of Antioch around AD 110. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ...

The earliest known use, in about 1079, of the term "transubstantiation" to describe the change from bread and wine to body and blood of Christ was by Hildebert de Savardin, Archbishop of Tours (died 1133). This was long before the Latin West, under the influence especially of Saint Thomas Aquinas (c. 1227-1274), accepted Aristotelianism. (The University of Paris was founded only between 1150 and 1170.) Hildebert, Hydalbert, Gildebert or Aldebert, sometimes styled Hildebert of Tours (c. ... This is a list of the bishops and archbishops of Tours: Bishops 1 Gatianus ca 249-301 vacant 301-338 2 Lidorius 338-370 3 St. ... Saint Thomas Aquinas (also Thomas of Aquin, or Aquino; c. ... Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. ...

In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council used the word transubstantiated in its profession of faith, when speaking of the change that takes place in the Eucharist. The Fourth Council of the Lateran was summoned by Pope Innocent III with his Bull of April 19, 1213. ...

In 1551 the Council of Trent officially defined 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" (Session XIII, chapter IV; cf. canon II). The Council of Trent is the Nineteenth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

The attempt by some twentieth-century Catholic theologians to present the Eucharistic change as an alteration of significance (transignification rather than transubstantiation) was rejected by Pope Paul VI in his 1965 encyclical letter Mysterium fidei In his 1968 Credo of the People of God, he reiterated that any theological explanation of the doctrine must hold to the two-fold claim that, after the consecration, 1) Christ's body and blood are really present; and 2) bread and wine are really absent; and this presence and absence is real and not merely something in the mind of the believer. Transignification[1] is a doctrine, largely in progressive Roman Catholic circles, which attempts a rational explanation of the Real Presence of Christ at Mass. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ...

Eucharistic Liturgy

Eucharistic liturgy and Mass are the terms used to describe celebration of the Eucharist in the Western or Latin liturgical rite of the Catholic Church. The term Mass is derived from the late-Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: "Ite, missa est" ("Go, the dismissal is made") [2]. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

For the structure of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Church, see Mass (Catholic Church)

For the structure of the Mass in the Eastern Catholic Churches, see Divine Liturgy

For the reforms of the Roman-Rite Mass after the Second Vatican Council, see Mass of Paul VI

For the structure of the Mass before the Second Vatican Council, see Tridentine Mass.

Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article, refers to the sui juris particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church that developed in the area of western Europe and northern Africa where Latin was for many centuries the language of education and culture. ... For an explanation of the specific reforms of the Second Vatican Council, see Mass of Paul VI. For the Mass of the Council of Trent, see Tridentine Mass. ... The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous particular Churches in full communion with the Pope of Rome. ... The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. ... The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... This article is about the post-Vatican-II changes to the Mass; for an explanation of the current structure of the Mass, see Mass (Catholic Church). ... The Tridentine Mass (Pontifical High Mass) being celebrated at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Wyandotte, Michigan - 1949. ...

Transubstantiation

According to the Catholic Church, when the bread and wine are consecrated in the Eucharist, they cease to be bread and wine, and become instead the Most Precious 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's 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. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 535 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 685 pixel, file size: 237 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This photo was downloaded from flickr. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ...

Transubstantiation (from Latin transsubstantiatio) is the change of the substance of bread and wine into that of the body and blood of Christ, the change that according to the belief of the Catholic Church occurs in the Eucharist. It concerns what is changed (the substance of the bread and wine), not how the change is brought about. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Substance theory, or substance attribute theory, is an ontological theory about objecthood, positing that a substance is distinct from its properties. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ...

"Substance" here means what something is in itself. (For more on the philosophical concept, see Substance theory.) A hat's shape is not the hat itself, nor is its colour the hat, nor is its size, nor its softness to the touch, nor anything else about it perceptible to the senses. The hat itself (the "substance") has the shape, the colour, the size, the softness and the other appearances, but is distinct from them. Whereas the appearances, which are referred to by the philosophical term accidents are perceptible to the senses, the substance is not. Substance theory, or substance attribute theory, is an ontological theory about objecthood, positing that a substance is distinct from its properties. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Accidental property. ...

When at his Last Supper Jesus said: "This is my body", what he held in his hands had all the appearances of bread. However, the Catholic Church believes that the underlying reality was changed in accordance with what Jesus said, that the "substance" of the bread was converted to that of his body. In other words, it actually was his body, while all the appearances open to the senses or to scientific investigation were still those of bread, exactly as before. The Church believes that the same change of the substance of the bread and of the wine occurs at every celebration of the Eucharist, The Last Supper in Milan (1498), by Leonardo da Vinci According to the Gospels, the Last Supper (also called Lords Supper) was the last meal Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles before his death. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... For other uses, see Eucharist (disambiguation). ...

The bread is changed in the Eucharist into Jesus' body, but, because Jesus, risen from the dead, is living, not only his body is present, but Jesus as a whole, body and blood, soul and divinity. The same holds for the wine changed into his blood.

The Catholic Church accordingly believes that through transubstantiation Christ is really, truly and substantially present under the remaining appearances of bread and wine, and that the transformation remains as long as the appearances remain. For this reason the consecrated elements are preserved, generally in a church tabernacle, for giving holy communion to the sick and dying, and also for the secondary, but still highly prized, purpose of adoring Christ present in the Eucharist. The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... The Tabernacle at St. ... Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic and in Anglican Churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful. ...

In the judgement of the Catholic Church, the concept of transubstantiation, with its accompanying unambiguous distinction between "substance" or underlying reality, and "accidents" or humanly perceptible appearances, safeguards against what it sees as the mutually opposed errors of, on the one hand, a merely figurative understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (the change of the substance is real), and, on the other hand, an interpretation that would amount to cannibalistic (a charge which pagans leveled at early Christians who did not understand the rites of the Catholic Church in that it was considered an unbloody sacrifice) eating of the flesh and corporal drinking of the blood of Christ (the accidents that remain are real, not an illusion). The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... Look up substance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Accidental property. ... The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus the Christ is really (and not merely symbolically, figuratively or by his power) present in what was previously just bread and wine. ... This article is about consuming ones own species. ...

Some put forward the idea that transubstantation is a concept intelligible only in terms of Aristotelian philosophy. But the earliest known use of the term "transubstantiation" to describe the change from bread and wine to body and blood of Christ was by Hildebert de Savardin, Archbishop of Tours (died 1133) in about 1079, long before the Latin West, under the influence especially of Saint Thomas Aquinas (c. 1227-1274), accepted Aristotelianism. (The University of Paris was founded only between 1150 and 1170.) Saint Thomas Aquinas (also Thomas of Aquin, or Aquino; c. ... Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. ...

Minister of the sacrament

The only minister of the Eucharist (someone who can consecrate the Eucharist) is a validly ordained priest^[1] (bishop or presbyter). He acts in the person of Christ, representing Christ, who is the Head of the Church, and also acts before God in the name of the Church.^[2] Several priests may concelebrate the same offering of the Eucharist.^[3] Priesthood in the Catholic Church is the second of the three orders of ordained ministry, Bishop, Priest and Deacon. ... A bishop in the Catholic Church is a member of the College of Bishops, is an ordained minister, and holds the fullness of the priesthood. ... Presbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations, a synonym of episkopos, which has come to mean bishop. ... In persona Christi is a Latin phrase which translates literally as in the person of Christ. ... Concelebration in the Catholic Church is the presiding of a number of priests at the celebration of the Eucharist with either a priest or bishop as the principal presider and the other priests and bishops present in the sanctuary assisting in the consecration of the Eucharist. ...

Others, who are not priests, may act as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, distributing the sacrament to others, but not as ministers of the Eucharist, ordinary or extraordinary. "By reason of their sacred Ordination, the ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are the Bishop, the Priest and the Deacon, to whom it belongs therefore to administer Holy Communion to the lay members of Christ’s faithful during the celebration of Mass. In addition to the ordinary ministers there is the formally instituted acolyte, who by virtue of his institution is an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion even outside the celebration of Mass. If, moreover, reasons of real necessity prompt it, another lay member of Christ’s faithful may also be delegated by the diocesan Bishop, in accordance with the norm of law, for one occasion or for a specified time. Finally, in special cases of an unforeseen nature, permission can be given for a single occasion by the Priest who presides at the celebration of the Eucharist."^[4] Unlike in several Protestant churches, in the Roman Catholic Church the term minister is not commonly used to refer to a member of the clergy nor as a common term of address. ... This article is about religious acolytes. ...

"Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion" are not to be called "Eucharistic ministers", even extraordinary ones^[5]), since that would imply that they, too, somehow transubstantiate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.

"Extraordinary ministers may distribute Holy Communion at eucharistic celebrations only when there are no ordained ministers present or when those ordained ministers present at a liturgical celebration are truly unable to distribute Holy Communion. They may also exercise this function at eucharistic celebrations where there are particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion."^[6] "Only when there is a necessity may extraordinary ministers assist the Priest celebrant in accordance with the norm of law."^[7]

Receiving the Eucharist

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.

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. The Most Holy Eucharist, however, can be administered to children in danger of death if they can distinguish the body of Christ from ordinary food and receive communion reverently" (Code of Canon Law, canon 913). In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Eucharist is administered to infants immediately after Baptism and Confirmation (Chrismation) Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 478 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1140 × 1429 pixel, file size: 410 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 478 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1140 × 1429 pixel, file size: 410 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous particular Churches in full communion with the Pope of Rome. ... Chrismation is the name given in Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern_rite Catholic churches to the sacrament known as confirmation in the Latin Rite Catholic churches. ...

"A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible" (Code of Canon Law, canon 916).

Catholics may receive Communion during Mass or outside of Mass, but "a person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates", except as Viaticum (Code of Canon Law, canon 917).

Holy Communion may be received under one kind (the Sacred Host alone), or under both kinds (both the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood). "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" (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 281-282).

"The Diocesan Bishop is given the faculty to permit Communion under both kinds whenever it may seem appropriate to the priest to whom, as its own shepherd, a community has been entrusted, provided that the faithful have been well instructed and there is no danger of profanation of the Sacrament or of the rite's becoming difficult because of the large number of participants or some other reason" (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 283).

Reception, not only of the Sacred Host, but also of the Precious Blood from the Chalice is not required for the validity of the Sacrament, except by the priest celebrating Mass.

In most Eastern Catholic Churches the Eucharist is always received under both species (bread and wine), and is normally distributed to communicants only by ordained clergy, who, in Churches that use leavened bread, in particular those of Byzantine Rite, do so by using a spoon to take from the chalice the pieces of consecrated bread that have been placed in it. The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called Constantinopolitan, is the liturgical rite used (in various languages) by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches and by several Eastern Rite particular Churches within the Catholic Church. ...

In the West, reception of Host on the tongue, rather than on the hand, was customary before the Second Vatican Council, but was prescribed neither by the Roman Missal nor by the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Almost all Episcopal Conferences have now decided to allow communicants (at their personal discretion) to receive the Host on the hand, except when Communion is distributed by intinction (partly dipping the Host in the Chalice before distributing it). The Roman Missal (Missale Romanum) is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Latin rite of Mass. ... In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is a conference consisting of all the bishops within a given territory. ... Intinction is the Eucharistic practice of dipping the consecrated bread, or host, into the consecrated wine before distributing it to the communicant. ...

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 118 mentions a "Communion-plate for the Communion of the faithful", distinct from the paten, to prevent the Host or fragments of it falling on the ground. A paten is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic hosts. ...

Matter for the Sacrament

The bread used for the Eucharist must be wheaten only, and recently made, and the wine must be natural, made from grapes, and not corrupt. The bread is unleavened in the Latin, Armenian and Ethiopic Rites, but is leavened in most Eastern Catholic churches. A small quantity of water is added to the wine.^[8]

For questions on the use of gluten-free or low-gluten bread and of "mustum" (natural grape juice) see the 24 July 2003 letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which resumes and clarifies earlier declarations. is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei) is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. ...

Nuptial Mass and other Ritual Masses

A Catholic altar laid out for a Nuptial Mass.

A Nuptial Mass[3] is simply a Mass within which the sacrament of Marriage is celebrated. Other sacraments too are celebrated within Mass. This is necessarily so for the sacrament of Orders, and is normal, though not obligatory, for the sacrament of Confirmation, as well as that of Marriage. Unless the date chosen is that of a major liturgical feast, the prayers are taken from the section of the Roman Missal headed "Ritual Masses". This section has special texts for the celebration, within Mass, of Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Orders, and Marriage, leaving Confession (Penance or Reconciliation) as the only sacrament not celebrated within a celebration of the Eucharist. There are also texts for celebrating, within Mass, Religious Profession, the Dedication of a Church and several other rites. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (876 × 1314 pixel, file size: 196 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (876 × 1314 pixel, file size: 196 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Roman Missal (Missale Romanum) is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Latin rite of Mass. ...

If, of a couple being married in the Catholic Church, one is not a Catholic, the rite of Marriage outside Mass is to be followed. However, if the non-Catholic has been baptized in the name of all three persons of the Trinity (and not only in the name of, say, Jesus, as is the baptismal practice in some branches of Christianity), then, in exceptional cases and provided the bishop of the diocese gives permission, it may be considered suitable to celebrate the Marriage within Mass, except that, according to the general law, Communion is not given to the non-Catholic (Rite of Marriage, 8). This article or section contains too many quotations for an encyclopedic entry. ...

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction

The Blessed Sacrament is displayed in a procession at the 2005 Southeastern Eucharistic Congress.

Exposition of the Eucharist is the display of the consecrated host on an altar in a Monstrance. The rites involving exposition of the Blessed Sacrament are the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Eucharistic adoration. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1324x1013, 290 KB) Summary First Annual (2005) Southeastern Eucharistic Congress, Charlotte, NC. Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Blessed Sacrament Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1324x1013, 290 KB) Summary First Annual (2005) Southeastern Eucharistic Congress, Charlotte, NC. Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Blessed Sacrament Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... To consecrate an inanimate object is to dedicate it in a ritual to a special purpose, usually religious. ... Look up Altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A solar monstrance Monstrance is the vessel used in the Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, and Anglican Churches to display the consecrated Eucharistic Host, during Eucharistic adoration or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. ... In the Catholic Church , Benediction usually refers to the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. ... Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic and in Anglican Churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful. ...

According to Catholic theology, adoration of the host is not adoration of bread, but of Christ who becomes present under the appearance of bread and wine during the Mass through the Words of Institution. See also: http://www.savior.org/ (live online adoration webcam), (not a substitute for physical Eucharistic Adoration but looked upon as an alternative when not possible to go physically). Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... The words of institution are the words of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament used in some forms of Christian liturgy to consecrate the Eucharist. ...

Eastern Catholics other than Maronites usually do not practise this devotion as such. The Eastern perspective that Christ's Flesh and Blood are meant primarily for us to consume is maintained. Maronites (Marunoye ܡܪܘܢܝܐܶ; in Syriac, Mâruniyya مارونية in Arabic) are members of an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope of Rome. ...

Tabernacle

The Sacred Hosts are kept in a tabernacle after Mass, so that the Blessed Sacrament can be brought to the sick and dying outside the time of Mass, and also so that the Blessed Sacrament may be worshipped and adored. On occasion, the Eucharist is exposed in a monstrance, so that it may be the focus of prayer and Adoration. The Tabernacle at St. ... A solar monstrance Monstrance is the vessel used in the Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, and Anglican Churches to display the consecrated Eucharistic Host, during Eucharistic adoration or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. ... Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic and in Anglican Churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful. ...

References

1. ^ canon 900, CIC 1983
2. ^ Canon 899, CIC 1983
3. ^ Canon 902, CIC 1983
4. ^ Redemptionis Sacramentum, 154-155; cf. also Instruction Ecclesiae de mysterio, article 8
5. ^ Redemptionis Sacramentum, 156
6. ^ Instruction Ecclesiae de mysterio, article 8
7. ^ Redemptionis Sacramentum, 88
8. ^ Code of Canon Law, canon 924 and 926; cf. Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 707, and General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 319-324.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal or GIRM is the liturgical document which governs the celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church with the force of canon law. ...

External links

• http://www.savior.org/ - Live Video Stream of the Eucharist