The word Eucharist is defined within the religious context, as the sacrament that makes present, in the liturgical celebration of the Catholic Church, and under the species of bread and wine, the person of Jesus Christ, with his body, his blood, his soul. and his divinity. This term is derived from the Greek "eucharistia" which means "thanksgiving." Considered the sacrament par excellence, since in it God is present. All the other sacraments are oriented towards the Eucharist, assisting the soul to receive it better, including many of them are officiated within the Eucharist. For example, a person who is going to receive the sacrament of marriage, but has not made communion, can receive both sacraments on the same day.
The Eucharist is also called Holy Communion, Lord's Supper, Most Holy Sacrament, or Mass; and traditionally the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and some Lutheran churches accept it as the sacrament of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, under the kind of bread and wine, thus being the beginning and culmination of the life of every Christian.
According to the holy scriptures, the night before beginning his passion, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his apostles; Knowing that he would not be physically in this world soon, he wanted to leave something to men so that they would always keep it in mind. So at the Last Supper Christ took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them saying: “This is my body that will be given for you. In the same way, after dinner he drank the wine saying: “This is the chalice, it is the new covenant in my blood that will be poured out for you. Do this in commemoration of me.
When Christ says: "do this in commemoration of me", he entrusted to his apostles the power to celebrate it, since then and to the present day, the priests are those authorized by the church to consecrate the bread and wine. Understanding the word consecrate, as the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord.
When a believer receives the Eucharist, he is receiving the body of Christ. In order to participate in this, the person must have no sins; If an individual has committed a mortal sin, he should not take Communion without first having confessed. If the sin is venial or small, it is enough to repent, and ask God's forgiveness from the heart, to be able to receive the Eucharist.
