The Eucharist
The Sacrament of the Eucharist
The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.
Cathechism of the Catholic Church #1322
Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant’s union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
Cathechism of the Catholic Church #1416
The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfilment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity.
Pope St. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia §1
At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved 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 eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.
The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ’s faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God’s word and be nourished at the table of the Lord’s body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.
Sacrosanctum Concilium §47-48
Please prepare yourself to receive the Lord in Holy Communion by first receiving
the Sacrament of Penance (also known as Reconciliation or Confession).
The Lord Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and waits for us to visit Him in every tabernacle.
Please come visit Him either in the Cathedral Blessed Sacrament Chapel or the Our Lady of the Clergy Chapel located in the Parish Office area.
Also, did you know that we are in the midst of a National Eucharistic Revival?
Find out more information below!
We offer Religious Education classes here at the Cathedral of St. Mary to prepare children to receive the Sacraments. It is a two-year preparation process for a child to receive his or her First Holy Communion (and First Confession). It is also a two-year preparation process for a child to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
“RCIA” stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the process by which an adult person can receive any or all of the initial sacraments Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion. RCIA is also the way for someone to enter and be initiated into the Catholic Church.