The Eucharist is for Our Sanctification

Fr. Joachim Trytania

In the Catechism of Trent (1551) we read that the Sacrament of the Eucharist "must be said to be truly the source of all graces, because it contains in a wonderful way Christ our Lord, the source of every heavenly gift and blessing and the author of the sacraments; this sacrament is the source from which the other sacraments derive whatever goodness and perfection they possess."

The unique place which the Eucharist occupies among the sacraments has been indicated from the early times when the liturgy was celebrated and is still seen in the practice of the Church today. From the early years of the Church it was its custom to administer the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation on the night of Holy Saturday, just before the Easter Mass. The reconciliation of sinners with the Church took place on Maundy Thursday during the celebration of the Sacrifice. The sacrament of Holy Matrimony - as well as Holy Orders - has always been, and still is, solemnly administered during Mass. It is during the Mass of Maundy Thursday that the oil used in Extreme Unction is consecrated. In the history of the Church, all sacraments in their administration are closely connected with the Eucharist, the source from which all derive their efficacy.

The Eucharist is the center of Christian life as Christ is the center of Christian religion. Hardly anything we might say to stress the importance of this sacrament would be an exaggeration. I was greatly surprised to hear one of my seminary professors say that a priest of the Church is ordained primarily not to preach the gospel, not to comfort the sick with the consoling truths of our religion, not to lead in works of social improvement, but solely to offer the sacrifice of the Mass. To celebrate the Eucharist with the people. At all cost the sacrifice of the Mass must continue; the food of Christian souls must be ever administered. Since Christ is truly, really and substantially present in the Eucharist, the reverence due to it is a necessary consequence of the truth that, as a result of the words of consecration, the living body and blood of Christ are present in this sacrament under the appearances of bread and wine. Hence the devotion to the Eucharist is not an incidental, pious practice of Catholics, but it is the very essence of the Catholic life.

The faith of the Church in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist rests upon the words which Jesus used at the Last Supper, words which have ever been interpreted by Catholic Tradition in this sense. From the words of Christ it follows not only that His presence in the Eucharist is real, but also that it is permanent. The body and blood of Christ are contained in this sacrament not only in the moment in which it is received by the faithful but independently of its administration. "The most Holy Eucharistis a symbol of a sacred thing, and is a visible form of an invisible grace...other sacraments have then first the power of sanctification when one uses them, whereas in the Eucharist, before it is used, there is contained the Author of sanctity."