Eucharist

The Eucharist is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus's instruction, as recounted in the New Testament (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), to do in memory of him what at his Last Supper he did when he gave his disciples bread, saying: "This is my body", and wine saying:"This is my blood." The rite is classified as one of the Christian sacraments. The word Eucharist is also applied to the bread and wine consecrated in the course of the rite and in which Christians in general recognize a special presence of Christ, though they differ about the mode, locus and time of that presence.

Ritual & Liturgy

The Agape feast. The Eucharistic celebration of the early Christians, while centered on the ritual of the bread and wine, also included various other ritual elements, including elements of the Passover seder and of Mediterranean funerary banquets, termed Agape Feasts. Agape is one of the Greek words for love. Such Agapes were widespread, though not universal, in the early Christian world.

Related Topics:
Agape feast - Passover - Seder - Agape - Greek

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This service apparently was a full meal, with each participant bringing their own food, with the meal eaten in a common room. Perhaps predictably enough, it could at times deteriorate into a mere occasion for eating and drinking, or for ostentatious displays by the wealthier members of the community, as was already observed by St. Paul (cf. {{bibleverse|1|Cor|11:20-22|63}}). Because of such abuses, the Agape gradually fell into disfavor, and after being subjected to various regulations and restrictions, was definitively dropped by the Church between the 6th and 8th centuries.

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Orthodox Christianity

In Orthodoxy, the Eucharistic service is called the Divine Liturgy. It comprises two main divisions: the Liturgy of the Catechumens which consists of introductory litanies, antiphons and scripture readings; and the Liturgy of the Faithful in which the Eucharist is offered. Within the latter, the actual Eucharistic prayer is called the Anaphora ( "offering"). Two different Anaphoras are used in modern times: one attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and one to St. Basil the Great. St. John Chrysostom's Anaphora is used most days of the year; St. Basil's on Sundays of Great Lent, the eves of Christmas and Theophany, Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, and his feast day (January 1). At the conclusion of the Anaphora the bread and wine are regarded as the Body and Blood of Christ. Conventionally this change in the elements occurs at the Epiklesis ( "invocation") where the Holy Spirit is invoked and it is specifically requested, but since the Anaphora as a whole is considered a unitary (albeit lengthy) prayer no one movement in it can be readily singled out.

Related Topics:
St. John Chrysostom - St. Basil the Great - Great Lent - Christmas - Theophany - Holy Thursday - Holy Saturday - Holy Spirit

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Roman Catholicism

• Mass

Protestantism

• Book of Common Prayer
• Lutheran distinctives