The Eucharist

Last Supper, Juan de Juanes, c. 1562.

“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross through the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his believed Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given.’”[1]

The Holy Eucharist is considered by the Church to be the “source and summit of the Christian life,”[2] for the Eucharist is Christ’s own Body and Blood, ie. His entire Self, experienced under the sacramental veil of bread and wine. The sacrament gains its name from its nature as an act of thanksgiving to God. In the Greek language of the Early Church, Εὐχαριστεῖν (eucharistein) means ‘thanksgiving’ or ‘the act of giving thanks,’ hence the Eucharist is the ultimate act of thanksgiving to God for in it we celebrate the entirety, receive the entirety, and gift the entirety of Christ. And as Christ Himself has commanded us, “Do this in remembrance of me,” so the Church is given the authority to not only celebrate but effect the change in bread and wine by the Lord’s own words into the Body and Blood of the Son of God:

We carry out this command of the Lord by celebrating the memorial of his sacrifice. In so doing, we offer to the Father what he has himself given us: the gifts of his creation, bread and wine which, by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the words of Christ, have become the body and blood of Christ. Christ is thus really and mysteriously made present. We must therefore consider the Eucharist as: Thanksgiving and praise to the Father; The sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body; The Presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit.[3]

At St. Edward’s, those children who are preparing for their First Holy Communion participate in the First Communion Program, which is in addition to the 3rd Grade Faith Formation classes. The program consists of parent/child meetings, workshops, and liturgical celebrations. 

Please click on the link below to transfer to the Faith Formation page for more information:

Faith Formation page

For Adults seeking to make their First Communion, thereby completing their initiation into the Catholic Church, St. Edward’s has the RCIA Program in which the individual is assisted in their journey of faith and prepared for the reception of the sacraments.

Please click on the link below to transfer to the RCIA page for more information:

RCIA