The Eucharist and Christendom

It is not hard to see why the Eucharist is viewed as miraculous. The key moment of the ceremony comes during the Eucharistic prayer. At that point, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “the power of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit” make Jesus’ body and blood “sacramentally present.” The priest, after partaking of the bread and wine, invites the faithful to receive Communion, usually by eating only the bread, or the Host.

The Catholic Church teaches that the bread and the wine are miraculously transformed into the literal body and blood of Christ—a doctrine called transubstantiation. This teaching arose gradually, with the word first being defined and used officially in the 13th century. In the days of the Protestant Reformation, certain aspects of the Catholic Eucharist were called into question. Luther rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation in favor of consubstantiation. The distinction is subtle. Luther taught that the bread and the wine coexist with, rather than transform into, the flesh and blood of Jesus.

What was the original observance that Jesus instituted like?

Over time, other differences regarding the meaning of the Eucharist as well as the manner and frequency of its celebration developed among the denominations of Christendom. Nonetheless, in some form this ritual has remained of fundamental importance throughout Christendom. What, though, was the original observance that Jesus instituted like?