The Holy Eucharist

The Holy Eucharist—sometimes called the Mass, the Holy Communion, the Divine Liturgy, or the Lord’s Supper—is the central sacrament of the Christian Faith and the supreme act of the Church. The term Eucharist comes from the Greek word for “thanksgiving” (εὐχαριστία). In the Eucharist, we give thanks for the Lord’s saving work on our behalf and receive the One who saves us. In the Eucharist, we faithfully fulfill the Lord’s command, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk. 22:21, 1 Cor. 11:24-25). In the Eucharist, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26) by joining ourselves to His redemptive Sacrifice.

St. Edward’s celebrates the Holy Eucharist every Sunday at 10:00 am and most other days at 10:30 am. 

The liturgy of the Eucharist has always consisted of two distinct actions, now generally called the “Liturgy of the Word” and the “Liturgy of the Altar.” In the Liturgy of the Word, we recount the saving acts of God in the words of Scripture, to which we often respond with a confession of the Faith (the Creed), concluding with a reflection on the proclamation of the Gospel in a sermon or homily. In the Liturgy of the Altar, we offer the gifts of bread and wine, pray over them, and then share them in the communion of the Lord’s Body and Blood. While these actions are distinct, they are also inseparable: by hearing and meditating on the teachings and deeds of the Lord, we prepare ourselves to receive Him sacramentally. Alongside these two actions, we also pray for the Church and the world, we confess our sins and receive forgiveness, we praise God in word and song, and we receive the Lord’s blessing.

The Church has celebrated the Eucharist in every circumstance and setting imaginable—from the glorious grandeur of the great cathedrals to the austere simplicity of catacombs and prison camps. But what remains constant is the Church’s unfailing witness to the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of her Lord. Christians from the earliest days have never ceased to celebrate the Eucharist as our primary act of worshipping God, so great is our conviction that the Eucharist is the precious food of new and unending life in Christ, the “medicine of immortality,” as St. Ignatius of Antioch calls it.

More than a Symbol

Traditionally, Anglicans believe that Christ is really and truly present in the Eucharist, but we refrain from defining the precise mode of this presence. As Bishop (Blessed) Lancelot Andrewes wrote in 1609 to Cardinal (Saint) Robert Bellarmine, “Christ said, ‘This is my Body.’ He did not say, ‘This is my Body in this way.’ … We believe no less than you that the presence is real. Concerning the method of the presence, we define nothing rashly.” For Anglicans the various theories of Christ’s eucharistic presence are useful attempts to clarify and understand the sacrament, but no particular theory can be imposed with dogmatic certitude, for this mystery ultimately surpasses human comprehension. However, in deference to the plain sense of the Lord’s own words (“This is my Body,” “This is my Blood”), Anglicans reject the view that the Eucharist is a mere memorial or symbol of the Last Supper.