Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
Rituals

The Mass / Eucharist

Devotional Rituals

Citation Formats

General Reference

APA Style

BibTeX

Origin 30 to 700 CE

The central act of Christian worship, instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper when he broke bread and shared wine as his body and blood, saying, Do this in remembrance of me. Rooted in the Jewish Passover, it became the Church's chief liturgy from apostolic times. The rite moves through gathering, the Liturgy of the Word (Scripture readings and homily), and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where the priest consecrates bread and wine, recalling Christ's sacrifice; the faithful then receive Communion. Catholics hold the elements truly become the body and blood of Christ. It renews the covenant, unites believers, and imparts grace.

Facts
Practice
Who Performs ItSourced to the subject's own account
Clergy or ordained officiants 1
Obligation
Obligatory 1Tradition: Roman Catholicism
Sourced to the subject's own accountObligatory: the faithful are bound to take part on Sundays and holy days of obligation
Frequency
Daily 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountDaily; the faithful are bound on Sundays and holy days
Solitary or CommunalSourced to the subject's own account
Performed by a gathered group 1
Liturgical and Scriptural RoleSourced to the subject's own account
Roman Catholic teaching holds it as the source and summit of the Christian life, the central act of worship around which the whole of a parish's liturgical calendar is arranged. 1
Origins
Origin PeriodSourced to the subject's own account
30 to 700 CE 1
Origin PeriodSourced to the subject's own account
The Roman rite settles into its classical shape by the early medieval period 1
Place of OriginSourced to the subject's own account
Jerusalem 1
Historical OriginSourced to the subject's own account
The Catechism of the Catholic Church traces the rite's institution to the Last Supper, at which Jesus is recorded taking bread and wine and commanding his disciples to repeat the action in his memory. 1
Form
Implements and MaterialsSourced to the subject's own account
Wheat bread and wine; a paten and chalice; an altar 1
Meaning
Literal MeaningSourced to the subject's own account
The Catechism of the Catholic Church glosses Eucharist as thanksgiving, from the Greek verb meaning to give thanks, the term Catholic tradition uses interchangeably with the Mass for the rite's central sacrament. 1
Attributions
Purpose
The Mass, or Eucharist, re-enacts the Last Supper by consecrating bread and wine, understood by Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology as becoming the body and blood of Christ, and by most Protestant traditions in a range of more symbolic or spiritual terms. 2
Learn More
The Rite the Churches Divided Over

The Eucharist (Greek eucharistia, thanksgiving), also called the Mass, the Divine Liturgy, Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper, is the ritual re-enactment of the Last Supper, in which bread and wine are consecrated and shared. Its warrant is the command reported in the Synoptic Gospels and, earliest of all, in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians from around the middle of the first century: Do this in remembrance of me. From the second century it stands at the center of Christian worship, and the shape Justin Martyr describes in his First Apology around the middle of that century, readings, common prayer, the offering of bread and wine, a great thanksgiving, and distribution, is recognizably the shape still followed.

How often ordinary believers actually received communion, however, changed dramatically over the centuries in a way the rite's continuous outward shape can obscure. Early Christian practice generally involved frequent, often weekly, communion for the whole congregation, but by the high medieval period lay reception had become rare enough, amid growing awe around the consecrated elements and a corresponding rise in the practice of merely watching the priest communicate, that the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, the same council that defined transubstantiation, found it necessary to mandate a minimum: every believer of age was required to confess and receive communion at least once a year, around Easter, a rule remembered as the Easter duty and one that only makes sense against a backdrop of declining lay participation in the rite it was meant to safeguard.

Real Presence and the Theologies That Split Over It

What happens to the bread and wine has divided Christians more sharply than almost any other question. The Catholic Church teaches transubstantiation, the term fixed at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and defined against the Reformers at the Council of Trent: the substance of bread and wine becomes the substance of Christ while the outward appearances remain. The Eastern Orthodox affirm a real change without binding it to that scholastic vocabulary. At the Reformation the accounts multiplied: Luther held to a real presence in, with, and under the elements; Calvin taught a spiritual presence truly received by faith; Zwingli read the rite as a memorial. Sixteenth-century England fought and, in some cases, burned people over the difference.

The frequency question also resurfaced dramatically in the modern era. Centuries after Lateran IV's minimum annual requirement, ordinary Catholic practice still generally involved receiving communion only a few times a year, until Pope Pius X, in a series of decrees beginning in 1905, actively encouraged frequent and even daily communion for the laity and lowered the age of first communion for children, reversing a long-standing pattern of comparative rarity and restoring something closer to the frequency of the earliest centuries; a similar twentieth-century liturgical movement toward more frequent lay communion took hold, on somewhat different theological grounds, across several Protestant traditions as well. That one meal-rite can carry such incompatible theologies while its outward form and even its frequency of reception have shifted so much across history is itself a central fact of its story.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Assembled From

For seven centuries the Dies Irae was sung in the Requiem, the Mass for the dead.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Sung near the beginning of the Mass on Sundays and feasts, omitted in Advent and Lent.

Source General Instruction of the Roman Missal, third typical editionCongregation for Divine Worshipthe holders' own account
Kyrie Eleison, Mantras

The Kyrie is retained untranslated as the opening acclamation of the Roman Mass.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)
The Fraction, Rituals

Broken during the Agnus Dei, followed by the commixture.

Source General Instruction of the Roman Missal, third typical editionCongregation for Divine Worshipthe holders' own account

Belongs to Tradition

Kept in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first denomination in the United States founded by Black people. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Kept in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Kept across the provinces of the Anglican Communion. Anglicans call it Holy Communion, the Eucharist or the Mass according to churchmanship, and the Thirty-Nine Articles reject transubstantiation while leaving the manner of Christ's presence deliberately undefined.

Anglicans call it Holy Communion, the Eucharist or the Mass according to churchmanship, and the Thirty-Nine Articles reject transubstantiation while leaving the manner of Christ's presence deliberately undefined.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Kept in the Armenian Apostolic Church. Each of the Oriental Orthodox churches keeps its own ancient liturgy in its own language, the Coptic of Saint Basil, the Armenian Badarak, the Ethiopian Qeddase, with a substantial fast required beforehand.

Kept in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Kept in the Church of Cyprus, autocephalous since the Council of Ephesus in 431. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Church of England, the province from which the Prayer Book tradition comes. Anglicans call it Holy Communion, the Eucharist or the Mass according to churchmanship, and the Thirty-Nine Articles reject transubstantiation while leaving the manner of Christ's presence deliberately undefined.

Kept in the Church of Greece. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Church of Ireland. Anglicans call it Holy Communion, the Eucharist or the Mass according to churchmanship, and the Thirty-Nine Articles reject transubstantiation while leaving the manner of Christ's presence deliberately undefined.

Kept in the Church of Sweden, which retained the historic episcopate through the Reformation as few Lutheran churches did. Lutherans keep the liturgical shape but drop the language of sacrifice, teaching that Christ is truly present in, with and under the bread and wine, a presence distinguished from both transubstantiation and a merely symbolic view.

Kept in the Church of the Nazarene, which stands in the Wesleyan holiness line. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Kept in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Each of the Oriental Orthodox churches keeps its own ancient liturgy in its own language, the Coptic of Saint Basil, the Armenian Badarak, the Ethiopian Qeddase, with a substantial fast required beforehand.

The Lord's Supper is celebrated every Sunday, which was one of the founding contentions of this movement and remains its most visible difference from the other American bodies of believer's baptism.

The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Kept in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the see of first honour among the Orthodox churches. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Each of the Oriental Orthodox churches keeps its own ancient liturgy in its own language, the Coptic of Saint Basil, the Armenian Badarak, the Ethiopian Qeddase, with a substantial fast required beforehand.

Kept in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Each of the Oriental Orthodox churches keeps its own ancient liturgy in its own language, the Coptic of Saint Basil, the Armenian Badarak, the Ethiopian Qeddase, with a substantial fast required beforehand.

Kept in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Lutherans keep the liturgical shape but drop the language of sacrifice, teaching that Christ is truly present in, with and under the bread and wine, a presence distinguished from both transubstantiation and a merely symbolic view.

Kept in the Free Methodist Church. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Kept in the Georgian Orthodox Church, which has used its own language and script in worship since the fifth century. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Global Methodist Church, formed in 2022. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Kept in the Greek Orthodox churches. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Lutherans keep the liturgical shape but drop the language of sacrifice, teaching that Christ is truly present in, with and under the bread and wine, a presence distinguished from both transubstantiation and a merely symbolic view.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Each of the Oriental Orthodox churches keeps its own ancient liturgy in its own language, the Coptic of Saint Basil, the Armenian Badarak, the Ethiopian Qeddase, with a substantial fast required beforehand.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Catholics hold the Mass to be the sacrifice of Calvary offered again without bloodshed, the bread and wine becoming the body and blood of Christ by transubstantiation, and attendance is obliged on Sundays and holy days.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Kept in the Romanian Orthodox Church, the one Orthodox church of the Byzantine tradition whose language is Romance. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Russian Orthodox Church, in the Slavonic recension of the Byzantine books. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Episcopal Church, whose own Prayer Book descends from the Scottish rather than the English line. Anglicans call it Holy Communion, the Eucharist or the Mass according to churchmanship, and the Thirty-Nine Articles reject transubstantiation while leaving the manner of Christ's presence deliberately undefined.

Kept in the United Methodist Church. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Kept in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox call it the Divine Liturgy, most often that of John Chrysostom, sung throughout behind an icon screen, with leavened bread and communion given in both kinds from a spoon after preparation by fasting and confession.

Kept in the Wesleyan Church. The Lord's Supper is celebrated as a means of grace and Wesley pressed constant communion on the societies, though quarterly celebration became the practice for most of Methodist history for want of ordained ministers.

Conducted By

The eucharistic liturgy is celebrated by a validly ordained priest.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)
Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

A rector is the incumbent of the parish and presides at its eucharist.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

A vicar is the incumbent of the parish and presides at its eucharist.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Critiqued By

Christian Science, Denominations

Communion is kept as a silent spiritual communion without bread or wine, twice a year, and the material elements are held to be unnecessary to it.

Friends keep no outward supper of bread and wine, holding that communion is the direct and unmediated meeting of the worshipper with God and that this is what a meeting for worship is.

Held Differently

Communion is celebrated rarely and in the churches' own forms rather than on the mission pattern. The Kimbanguists keep it three times a year with elements of their own choosing, a departure they made deliberately and defend.

Source Kimbangu: An African Prophet and His ChurchMarie-Louise Martin

Element Of

The movement did not seek its own liturgy. It works inside churches that already celebrate the eucharist and leaves their rite as it found it.

Related To

The feast exists to honour the eucharist outside the setting of Holy Week.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)
Intinction, Practices

One of the permitted ways of giving communion under both kinds.

Source General Instruction of the Roman Missal, third typical editionCongregation for Divine Worshipthe holders' own account

The rite whose admission rule this question governs.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)
The Anaphora, Rituals

The Roman rite calls its own anaphora the Canon and used one alone for well over a thousand years.

Source General Instruction of the Roman Missal, third typical editionCongregation for Divine Worshipthe holders' own account

Both names belong to one institution. This entry describes the Protestant celebration, at a table, in the vernacular, with the cup given to all; the other describes the Catholic Mass. Neither is a variant of the other.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)

Recited at every celebration of this rite.

Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)
Viaticum, Rituals

The same sacrament, brought to a bedside instead of received at a liturgy.

Source Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd editionHoly Seethe holders' own account

Ritual Implements

Sources
1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition
Holy See, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997the holders' own accountView the Source
2. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised edition
F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2005s.v. EucharistView the Source
Quaker Faith and Practice: The Book of Christian Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in Britain
Britain Yearly Meeting, Britain Yearly Meetingthe holders' own accountView the Source
General Instruction of the Roman Missal, third typical edition
Congregation for Divine Worship, Congregation for Divine Worship, 2002General Instruction of the Roman Missal, on the structure of the ritethe holders' own accountView the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.