THE NATIONAL MISSIONARY SEMINARY OF ST PAUL,

GWAGWALADA ABUJA

FACULTY: DIVINITY

DEPARTMENT: THEOLOGY

COURSE:
SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY

TOPIC:
THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST
GROUP 2

STUDENTS’ NUMBERS:
NMS/659/19
NMS/599/16

CLASS: THEOLOGY THREE

LECTURER:
REV. FR. NDUKA UZOR, MSP (PhD)

DATE:
10TH NOVEMBER, 2021

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 OUTLINE

1. INTRODUCTION
2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY
EUCHARIST
2.1. PREFIGURATION OF THE LAST SUPPER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE PASSOVER
3. THE NEW TESTAMENT: CHRIST’S INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST
4. THE POST-APOSTOLIC AGES AND ECUMENICAL COUNCILS ON THE HOLY
EUCHARIST
4.1. THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE EARLY FATHERS AND THEOLOGIANS
4.2. THE COUNCILS ON THE EUCHARIST
4.2.1. THE FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL (1215)
4.2.2. THE SECOND COUNCIL OF LYONS (1274)
4.2.3. THE COUNCIL OF FLORENCE (1431-1449)
4.2.4. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT (1551-1563)
4.2.5. THE VATICAN II COUNCIL
5. CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. INTRODUCTION

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy declares that Christ on the night of his betrayal instituted
the Eucharistic sacrifice of his body and blood to be a memorial of his sacrificial death, a
sacrament of love and a sign of unity for his Church. 1 This brief articulation of the nature of the
Holy Eucharist highlights the essential theological imports and doctrinal formulations on the
sacrament: it has a sacrificial character, as well as it is source of unity in the Church made
possible by the real presence of Christ under the form of bread and wine.

Succinctly, in the historical development of the exploration into the mysteries of this sacrament
given to us by Christ, the Church Fathers strove to articulate the profundity of the Holy Eucharist
through the ages. Their writings together with declarations of Councils and magisterial
pronouncements have left much insight for understanding the depth and richness of the
Sacrament. Fittingly then, it is revered as the “source and summit of the Christian life.” 2 As such,
the Eucharist is so central in the life of the Church such that every other activities and sacraments
of the Church flow from it and finds their expression in it. if one agrees therefore that the
Eucharist is the source of the Church’s power, it is no wrong then to argue that it is the visible
sign on which her unity is built. 3 This entails that it constitutes the soul that gives life to the
members of the body of Christ, providing spiritual strength and a bond of physical communion
among the faithful especially when they gather at the Eucharistic table.

The mystery and power of this sacrament cannot be exhausted in its fullest depths. Hence this
research attempts only to trace a cursory historical trajectory of the Sacrament, from its
prefiguration in the Old Testament, its institution by Christ as a sacrament of his presence and
communion and its continuous reception through the ages to our present time.

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY

EUCHARIST

1
Sacrosanctum Concilium in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, Austine Flannery,
O.P. (ed). Vol 1. (Mumbai: St Pauls, 2014). no. 47
2
Lumen Gentium in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, Austine Flannery, O.P.
(ed). Vol 1. (Mumbai: St Pauls, 2014). no.11
3
Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 5, in Augustine Flannery ed, Vatican II: the conciliar and post conciliar Documents
(Iperu-Remo: Ambassador publication, 2003).

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Christian Theology draws a typological relationship between Christ’s actions on the night of his
passion during which he instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, and the Jewish Passover
celebration to commemorate the events of their deliverance from Egypt. Accordingly, the events
and setting of the Last Supper with its employ of the Passover liturgy points to Christ’s
enactment of a new Passover which Christians interpret as a fulfilment the old. In this way, we
trace the celebration of our sacrament from the Old Law.

2.1. PREFIGURATION OF THE LAST SUPPER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE

PASSOVER

The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist instituted at the last Supper drew its liturgical framework
organically from the celebration of the Jewish feast of the Passover as recorded in the Synoptics
and Johanine Gospels. For the Jews (of which Christ and his disciples were), the Passover was
highest religious feast which expressed the kernel of their faith and identity as people. Luis
Bermejo traces the origin of the Passover to the exodus experience during which it was already
celebrated as a fusion of two original independent feasts: the passover and the Matzoth of the
unleavened bread.4 The former was a springtime festival wherein a lamb was sacrificed to ensure
the safety of the flock. This practice is dated to a remote past of the Hebrews when they were
still semi-nomadic people. On the other hand, the Matzoth was an agricultural festival offering of
first fruits celebrated from 15th to 21st of Nisan during which only unleavened bread was to be
eaten to symbolize new beginnings.5 Scholars remark that this feast was of a pagan Canaanite
origin which the Jews adopted and gave a new religious meaning.

Consequently, during the Mosaic era and in the light of the Exodus experience, these two feasts
were merged and given new significance: the celebration of Yahweh providential deliverance of
the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt which continued as a liturgical feast up to the time of
Jesus. Exodus Chapter 12:1-29 recounts the instructions on the celebration of the Passover and
the feast of the unleavened bread accordingly. And so, the Lord instructs Moses to direct all the
sons of the Hebrews to select a lamb without blemish (Ex. 12:5) to kill and take the blood to put
on the doorposts and doorframes of their house, and to eat the lamb in haste with bitter herbs and
unleavened bread as the passover in honor of the Lord (cf verses 8-11). It is named so because

4
Bermejo, Luis M. B. Body Broken and Blood Shed: The Eucharist of the Risen Christ. (Gujarat: Gurajat Sahitya
Prakash, 1997). Pg. 3
5
Ibid. Pg. 4.

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God instructed that his angel will “passover” the doorsposts of the Israelites who had the mark of
blood on them, while killing every first male born of the Egyptians (Ex 12: 22-23). More so,
these rituals of the Pesach as noted verse 14 and 24-27 are ordered by God to be kept as a
memorial for all generations, in a definitive manner of commemorating God’s salvific actions of
the past. It was this anamnetic dimension to the celebration of the Passover that clearly
anticipated the Eucharistic anamnesis of Christ’s passion and resurrection in the new
dispensation. In this way it serves as a biblical type of the Holy Eucharist.

The Pesach was celebrated for seven days and on the first night, there is a special ritual family
meal called Seder to remind themselves of the significance of the feast. 6 The Thursday morning
involves the sacrificial killing of the lamb without blemish in the Temple which would be
consumed in the evening at home in a religious banquet as part of the Passover festivities. 7 The
actual banquet comprised of different parts including preparatory sessions as well as the main
rituals. Firstly, a group of ten, sited, the head begins the proceeding by blessing and passing the
first cup of wine mixed with water which is followed by the recitation of the Hallel Psalms (Ps
111-113). These psalms set a mood of thanksgiving and joy. After the first part of the Psalms,
bitter herbs are eaten commemorating the bitterness in Egypt, and then the second cup of wine is
taken, following the washing of hands. This concludes the preparatory session of the banquet. 8
Properly, then, the unleavened bread is blessed, broken and given to the participants who eat it
together with the lamb slain in the morning. This again is followed by the third cup of wine and
the recitation of the second part of the Hallel (Ps 115-118).

Similarly, the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out that the Passover was not the only
prefiguration of the Holy Eucharist. God’s providential feeding of the people of Israel with
manna in the desert was also a profound anticipation of this Eucharistic meal.9

3. THE NEW TESTAMENT: CHRIST’S INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST

6
Onwukeme, Victor MSP., The Old Testament: A Background Study, (Cork: Watermans Printers Ltd., 2016). Pg.
137.
7
Bermejo, Luis M. B. Body Broken and Blood Shed: The Eucharist of the Risen Christ. Pg. 14.
8
Ibid. Pg. 15.
9
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Rev. ed., (Ibadan: Society of St Paul, 2013.) no. 1334.

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St Paul and the Synoptics in their account of the last Supper, observed that Jesus took the bread
and “gave thanks” (Lk. 22:19, Mark 14:23, Matt. 26:27, 1 Cor. 11:24), and this gave occasion for
the Greek root of the Sacrament eucharist which means thanksgiving.10 These four accounts are
quite scanty to provide a full chronology of events at the last supper, yet they provide the basic
theological insights into the mandate and purpose of the Eucharist. Christ, took bread, gave
thanks, broke it and gave to his disciples to eat as his body; and did same with the wine as his
blood. Afterwards He asked them to do this always in memory of him. It is worthy of note that
the Marcan account of the Passover links the bread and wine of Christ’s final meal with his
impending death while interpreting them in the light of the Old Testament sacrificial traditions of
Exodus 24: 8 and Isaiah 53:12 and the hope of a messianic banquet. 11 He then invites his
disciples to share in this death by partaking of the Eucharistic banquet.

McBrien remarks that for the Orientals, shared meals signified peace, trust and community, yet
more than that, it was Christ’s last Passover meal with his disciples in his earthly life.
Furthermore, He identified himself with the bread and wine as his body and blood which would
be poured for the atonement of sins and the establishment of a new covenant. 12 Of all the
accounts, Matthew sets a more concrete historical account of Christ Last Supper in the evening
of the Passover. The Jews regarded every death, especially innocent ones as possessing the
character of atonement. Little wonder, Christ identified himself with the paschal lamb, whose
own suffering and death would bring about the expiation of the sins of all. Matthew recounts that
‘Then he took a cup and gave thanks, and passed it to them saying, “Drink from this, all of you,
for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness
of sins”13 Matthew adds this phrase on forgiveness of sins to relate the Eucharistic rite to Christ’s
impending death on the cross with an atoning and saving significance. More so, the Gospel of
Matthew stresses the covenantal dimension to the Holy Eucharist.

Consequently, within this framework of a Jewish liturgy, Jesus transforms the feast to become
the vehicle of his sacrament to his Church. Bermejo captures this beautiful transforming religious
event as these words: “Now the deliverance from Egypt recedes to the background and its place
10
McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism, 3rd Ed. (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1994). Pg. 820
11
Harrington, Daniel J. S.J. “The Gospel According to Mark”. in Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer and
Roland E. Murphy (Eds.), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, (Bangalore, Theological Publications in India,
2018). Pg. 626.
12
McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism, Pg. 590
13
Matthew 26:27.

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is taken by his own death and resurrection, sacramentally present in the new rite…, Calvary has
displaced Exodus and bread and wine are no longer simple material elements but symbols that
convey the real presence of the giver; the Christian Eucharist is born”. 14 Fittingly then, in the
events of the post-resurrection, the disciples gathered occasionally for these shared meals, with
the renewed conviction that Christ was in their midst as they gathered in his name (Matt 18:20).
More so was this conviction drawn from the fact that they were following Christ’s injunction
who ordered it to be done in His memory, and in anticipation of his coming, “For as often as you
eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians
11: 26).15

4. THE POST-APOSTOLIC AGES AND ECUMENICAL COUNCILS ON THE HOLY

EUCHARIST

Walter Cardinal Brandmuller once stated that the Eucharistic celebration is not a human creation,
nor a ritual invented by human beings. It has its origin from that upper room in Jerusalem on the
evening before Jesus’s passion, when he offered himself under the appearances of bread and
wine to God the Father as a sacrifice to redeem the world. 16 It is important to note that Christ
himself gave the command “Do this in memory of me” to the church and determined the
essential form of the celebration. The Church having received this great command, through the
sacred imposition of hands which occurs in the administration of the sacrament of Holy Orders
continues the celebration of the tradition which came down to her from the lord. The Church
stands therefore as a fragile vessel which receive and hand on the Redeemer’s truth and grace to
future generations. Through the sacrament of the Eucharist are implanted to the faithful all the
graces of the incarnation and redemption. 17 Accordingly, having examined the biblical roots of
the Sacraments, it is pertinent at this point to turn our gaze towards the teachings of the Fathers
of the Church who were witnesses to the faith and who lived at different periods during the early

14
Bermejo, Luis M. B. Body Broken and Blood Shed: The Eucharist of the Risen Christ. Pg. 15.
15
McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism, Pg. 591.

Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 5, in Augustine Flannery ed, Vatican II: the conciliar and post conciliar Documents
(Iperu-Remo: Ambassador publication, 2003)
Philipon, M. M. the Sacraments in the Christian life (London: Sand and Co publishers Ltd, 1994), 92
16
Walter Cardinal Brandmuller, Homily at the Solemn Votive mass of the Most Blessed Eucharist, in sacred
Liturdy ed, Alcuid Reid, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press 2013), 310.
17
Philipon, M. M. the Sacraments in the Christian life (London: Sand and Co publishers Ltd, 1994), 92.

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centuries. For it is in them that the Church’s faith and understanding of the Eucharist reveal
itself.18

4.1. THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE EARLY FATHERS AND THEOLOGIANS

The Church’s Fathers’ contribution constitutes a major part of the Eucharistic dogma. The Greek
theologians from Justin the Marty to St John Chrysostom, the Alexandrians and the Antiochens
focused more on the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and his saving deeds. It is worthy of
note that some of their expressions about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist indicates as
Richard Conrad observe that from the early period, there was a basic belief in a change taking
place in the bread and wine during consecration.19 The Alexandrian theologians like Clement ,
Origin, and Cyril interpreted the Eucharist as the coming of the divine logos into the bread and
therefore understood the communion with the logos as the primary thing.20

St Ignatius of Antioch: A martyr at the very beginning of the second century wrote to the
Church of Smyrna: “The Docetist abstain from the Eucharist and from prayers, because they do
not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our lord Jesus Christ, the flesh which the Father out
of his goodness raised from the dead”21

St Justin Martyr: In his first Apology in which he explains Christian doctrine to the emperors
of the second century states “For we do not take these things as common bread and common
drink, but in the same was as Jesus Christ our saviour, made flesh by the word of God, took flesh
and blood for our salvation, so too the food which is made a Eucharist by a form of prayer
coming from him- a food with which our flesh and our blood are nourished in order to be
transformed.”22 The introductory prayers that are recited today “the lord be with you, and also
with your spirit, lift up your hearts, we lift them up to the lord are found in the account of St
Justin about the year 150.23

18
Nicolas, Marie-Joseph. What is the Eucharist? (London: Hawthorn Books Inc, 1960), 25.
19
Conrad, Richard. The Catholic Faith (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1994),153.
20
Ime Okon Inyang, The Eucharist as a Form of Christian Life its Relevance to Evangelical Witnessing in
Sacramentum Caritaris (Ba thesis, Gwagwalada, Abuja: The National Missionary Seminary of St Paul, June
2012), 9-10.
21
Nicolas, Marie-Joseph. What is the Eucharist? 26.
22
Ibid., 26.
23
McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism, 765.

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St John Chrysostom (347-407): In a homily delivered on the Eucharist stated “Christ through
the Eucharist has lead us to a closer friendship and has given to those who desire him not only to
see him, but even to touch, and eat him, and fix their teeth in his flesh, and to embrace him, and
satisfy all our love”24

St Irenaeus 120-303: He writes at the end of the second century “creator sovereign and lord of
all things, he takes the cup from creation and declares it in his own blood, and through it he finds
his way into our blood. And he assures us that the bread taken from creation is his own body
with which he feeds our bodies. The physical bread nourishes our body in that it makes it
immortal, this is because of the heavenly element it contains once it has become a Eucharist.”25

St Ambrose 340-397: Writes “the word of Christ which could make from nothing what at first
did not exist, can it not change what exist already (bread) into what this bread was not? What we
make present by this word is the body born of the virgin. Why do you set about seeking for
natural laws when it’s a matter of Christ’s body, since this same body was born of the virgin?
Jesus Christ himself cries out: this is my body. Before the blessing of the heavenly words, it is
another kind of thing which we distinguish by name, but after the consecration, it is the body that
is signified. He himself said that it was his blood. Before the consecration it has another name,
but after consecration it is called blood.”26

St Cyril of Jerusalem 314-386: The great doctor of the sacraments writes in his fourth
mystagogical catechesis “therefore let us share in the body and blood of Christ with complete
conviction, for in the figure of the ‘bread’ the ‘body’ is given to us and in the figure of the ‘wine’
is given to us the ‘blood’. It is true that the body and blood which are given under the appearance
which are not those of the reality but symbolises it so that by sharing in the body and the blood
of Christ we may become one body and one blood with Christ. Thus we become “Christophoroi”
that is Christ bearers.”27

24
Fink, John F. The Doctors of the Church: An introduction to the Church’s great teachers, vol 1 (New York: St
Paul publishers, 2000), 86.
25
Nicolas, Marie-Joseph. what is the Eucharist? 26-27.
26
Ibid., 27.
27
Nicolas, Marie-Joseph. what is the Eucharist?, 27-28.

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Augustine 354-430: Writes: “it is because he lived in the flesh and it is this flesh which he has
given to us to eat for our salvation, that no one must eat this flesh who does not believe and
adore it.”28

St Aquinas: He was famous for his writings on the Eucharist. He wrote several Eucharistic
hymns such as “Pange Lingua” “O Salutaris Hostia” and many others. He was commissioned by
pope Urban IV in 1624 to compose the celebratory mass and the divine office for the newly
instituted feast of Corpus Christi. Three years later, the Council of Trent used St Thomas’
treatment of the Eucharist as a basis for its own doctrinal formulation. One of the many profound
elements of Aquinas’ teaching about the Eucharist is that he elaborately discussed the real
presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the supernatural and miraculous conversion of bread and
wine into the true body and blood of Christ, and the miraculous suspension of the accidents of
bread and wine after the consecration.29

4.2. THE COUNCILS ON THE EUCHARIST

The Church expresses its understanding of the Eucharist most deeply and most comprehensively
in the Liturgy, which is an important expression of the magisterium. The earlier Councils, when
rejecting distortions and heretical errors, made infallible pronouncements upon certain central
aspects of the sacraments. The 4th Lateran Council, Constance, Trent, Council of Lyon II (1275)
and Florence, formulated the scholastic understanding of the faith of the Eastern Church.30

4.2.1. THE FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL (1215)

After several local Councils had pronounced had little contributions to the dogmatic declaration
of the Eucharist, the fourth Lateran Council was the first to defined the identity of the
consecrated gifts with the historical body and blood of Christ, by virtue of the Transubstantiation
(the belief that the substance of bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of christ),
occurs the change of the being of the natural element (bread and wine) into the being of the body
and blood of Christ.31 The council of Constance in (1414-1418) re-affirmed this teaching against

28
Ibid., 29.
29
Goyette, John J. Aquinas on the Eucharist as Spiritual Food,
www.thomasaquinas.edu/a-liberating-education/why-we-study/st-thomas-aquinas-eucharist-spiritual-food
30
Rahner, Karl. Encyclopedia of Theology, (New Delphi: St Paul Publishers 2010), 454.
31
Rahner, Karl. Encyclopedia of Theology, 456.

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Wycliffe and Huss.32 This council held that the real presence of Christ in the sacred species
comes about only through the ordained priest who confects the Eucharist.33

4.2.2. THE SECOND COUNCIL OF LYONS (1274)

Held that the sacrament of the Eucharist with unleavened bread is truly substantiated into the
body of our lord Jesus Christ and the wine into his blood.34

4.2.3. THE COUNCIL OF FLORENCE (1431-1449)

It stated that the benefit of the sacrament of the Eucharist in the soul of those who receive it is
the union of man with Christ. Since through grace man is made one body with Christ and united
in his members, it follows therefore that through the Eucharist grace is bestowed on those who
receive it worthily. In the Eucharist we recall the beloved memory of our saviour and by it, man
is withheld from evil and strengthen in good.35

4.2.4. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT (1551-1563)

The Eucharistic doctrine of the council of Trent should be understood as a declaration of the
traditional faith in opposition to the protestant views.36 The reformers, among whom Zwingli and
Calvin denied the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Martin Luther admitted only
consubstantiation. Against all the reformers, the Council the Council of Trent made some
pronouncements on the doctrine of the Eucharist to bring clarity regarding the reformers attacks.
Some important points which were being denied were elaborated and emphasized to remove
ambiguity as much as possible. In three sessions, the Council treated different aspects of the
Eucharist. In session XIII of November 1551, it treated the Eucharist in general, in session XXI
of July 1562, it treated Holy Communion, and in session XXII of September 1562, it treated the
Eucharist as a sacrifice.37 The Council taught and professed that in the blessed sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and wine, our lord Jesus Christ, true God and
man is truly, really and substantially contained under the appearance of those perceptible

32
Ibid., 455.
33
McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism, 765.
34
Ibid., 764.
35
Paul Halsall, Decree for the Armenians: the council of Florence, https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu.
36
Nicolas, Marie-Joseph. What is the Eucharist? 32.
37
Ime Okon Inyang, The Eucharist as a Form of Christian Life its Relevance to Evangelical Witnessing in
Sacramentum Caritaris, 10.

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realities.38 It is the official teaching of the Council of Trent that the mass is a true sacrifice, not
only of praise and thanksgiving and of commemoration but also of expiation for the living and
the dead, without diminishing the value of the sacrifice of Calvary. Christ is the same victim and
priest in the Eucharist as he was on the cross, although the mode of offering is different at mass.
The sacrifice of the cross was a bloody sacrifice; the sacrifice of the mass is unbloody.
Nonetheless, the fruits of the latter sacrifice are the same as those of the former. The sacrifice of
the mass, Trent declared is properly offered not only for the sins, penalties, satisfactions and
other needs of the faithful who are living but also for the departed in Christ who are not yet fully
cleansed.39 The Council of Trent held that the mass is not merely a sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving and not merely a commemoration of the offering of the cross, but a real and proper
sacrifice in which the priest offers the body and blood of Christ. It is an expiatory sacrifice for
the living and the dead. Christ himself remains the same victim and the same priest as on the
cross, though now acting through the priest.40

4.2.5. THE VATICAN II COUNCIL

In approaching the Eucharistic doctrine of the Church, the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
took a pastoral dimension and provided a more balanced view of the Eucharistic mystery, the
Euchgaristic doctrine is found mainly in some of the documents namely: the constitution on the
sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), and the Dogmatic constitution on the Church (Lumen
Gentium) as well as decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio), and presbyterum ordinis. In
all this, the Council emphasizes the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the active
participation of the people of God.

Sacrosantum Concilium: This Document of the Second Vatican Council enumerates the various
aspects of the Eucharist mystery. It held that the Eucharist is a paschal banquet in which Christ is
eaten; it is the memorial of Christ death and resurrection, it is the sacrament of love, the sign of
unity, and the bond of charity. The Eucharist here is seen as the high point of the Church’s
worship emphasizing the position of the Eucharist over other sacraments. 41 It dedicates a full

38
J. Neuner and J. Dupis, eds. The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church (Bangalore:
Theological publications in India 1994), 463.
39
McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism, 763.
40
Rahner, Karl. Encyclopedia of Theology, (New Delphi: St Paul Publishers 2010), Pg. 454.
41
Ime Okon Inyang, The Eucharist as a Form of Christian Life its Relevance to Evangelical Witnessing in
Sacramentum Caritaris, 12.

12
chapter on the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, expounding its depth and centrality. The Fathers
then issue decrees for a revision of the Sacred Mass in such manner as to enable a full and active
participation of all the faithful gathered round the Table of the Lord, to obtain the desired
spiritual and pastoral efficacy.42 Worthy of note among these revision is the restoration and
recommendation of the faithful to receive the Holy Communion under both Kinds.

Lumen Gentium: the constitution on the Church in the same vein as Sacrosantum Concilium
added that through the celebration of the Eucharist, the works of redemption is carried out.43 This
document asserts that the liturgy of the word and the Eucharistic liturgy properly constitutes one
single act of worship. It is Lumen Gentium that identifies the Eucharist as the source and summit
of the Christian life.

The Eucharistic theology of the Second Vatican Council has largely reshaped our participation in
the Eucharistic banquet, restoring the Liturgy of the Mass in such a way that it makes way for an
active and informed participation of the faithful in the mysteries celebrated. Thus, through an
adequate understanding of the Sacrament consciously take part in the celebration with full
collaboration with the Priest who offers the sacrifice. In this way, it declares that during the
Sacrifice of the Mass during which we participate at the table of the Lord, the faithful are to offer
themselves to God, so that they are daily drawn in a more intimate union with God.44

5. CONCLUSION

Through this brief historical exploration of the nature and place of the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist, one is able to glean that from its institution, Christ willed to be the lifeline of our
Christian faith. He left it as a memorial of his passion and paschal mysteries, and so whenever
the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, it re-enacts Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary through which we
receive graces and Christ’s presence is made ever new in his Church. It is a source and symbol of
unity, love and self-offering to which we are all called to enrich ourselves, and thenceforth live it
out in our lives. It is the source and summit of our Christian lives.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
42
Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 49.
43
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, no. 3.
44
Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 48.

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Bermejo, Luis M. B. Body Broken and Blood Shed: The Eucharist of the Risen Christ. (Gujarat:
Gurajat Sahitya Prakash, 1997).

Conrad, Richard. The Catholic Faith. (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1994).

Fink, John F. The Doctors of the Church: An introduction to the Church’s great teachers, vol 1.
(New York: St Paul publishers, 2000).

Harrington, Daniel J. S.J. “The Gospel According to Mark”. in Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A.
Fitzmyer and Roland E. Murphy (Eds.), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary,
(Bangalore, Theological Publications in India, 2018).

Goyette, John J. Aquinas on the Eucharist as Spiritual Food, www.thomasaquinas.edu/a-

liberating-education/why-we-study/st-thomas-aquinas-eucharist-spiritual-food (Retrieved
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