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ENCYCLICAL LETTER
ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA
OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BISHOPS
PRIESTS AND DEACONS
MEN AND WOMEN
IN THE CONSECRATED LIFE
AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON THE EUCHARIST
IN ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE CHURCH
INTRODUCTION
1. 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. Ever since Pentecost, when the Church, the
People of the New Covenant, began her pilgrim journey towards her heavenly
homeland, the Divine Sacrament has continued to mark the passing of her days,
filling them with confident hope.
The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is
“the source and summit of the Christian life”.1 “For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth:
Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made
living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men”.2 Consequently the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present
in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of
his boundless love.
2. During the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 I had an opportunity to celebrate
the Eucharist in the Cenacle of Jerusalem where, according to tradition, it was
first celebrated by Jesus himself. The Upper Room was where this most holy
Sacrament was instituted. It is there that Christ took bread, broke it and
gave it to his disciples, saying: “Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is
my body which will be given up for you” (cf. Mk 26:26; Lk 22:19;
1 Cor 11:24). Then he took the cup of wine and said to them: “Take this,
all of you and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new
and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all, so that sins may
be forgiven” (cf. Mt 14:24; Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25). I am
grateful to the Lord Jesus for allowing me to repeat in that same place, in
obedience to his command: “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19), the
words which he spoke two thousand years ago.
Did the Apostles who took part in the Last Supper understand the meaning of the
words spoken by Christ? Perhaps not. Those words would only be fully clear at
the end of the Tri, the time from Thursday evening to Sunday morning. Those days embrace the
mysterium paschale; they also embrace the mysterium eucharisticum.
3. The Church was born of the paschal mystery. For this very reason the
Eucharist, which is in an outstanding way the sacrament of the paschal mystery,
stands at the centre of the Church's life. This is already clear from the
earliest images of the Church found in the Acts of the Apostles: “They devoted
themselves to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and the prayers” (2:42). The “breaking of the bread” refers to the
Eucharist. Two thousand years later, we continue to relive that primordial image
of the Church. At every celebration of the Eucharist, we are spiritually brought
back to the paschal Triduum: to the events of the evening of Holy Thursday, to
the Last Supper and to what followed it. The institution of the Eucharist
sacramentally anticipated the events which were about to take place, beginning
with the agony in Gethsemane. Once again we see Jesus as he leaves the Upper
Room, descends with his disciples to the Kidron valley and goes to the Garden of
Olives. Even today that Garden shelters some very ancient olive trees. Perhaps
they witnessed what happened beneath their shade that evening, when Christ in
prayer was filled with anguish “and his sweat became like drops of blood
falling down upon the ground” (cf. Lk 22:44). The blood which shortly
before he had given to the Church as the drink of salvation in the sacrament of
the Eucharist, began to be shed; its outpouring would then be completed
on Golgotha to become the means of our redemption: “Christ... as high priest
of the good things to come..., entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking
not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal
redemption” (Heb 9:11-12).
4. The hour of our redemption. Although deeply troubled, Jesus does not
flee before his “hour”. “And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this
hour?' No, for this purpose I have come to this hour” (Jn 12:27). He
wanted his disciples to keep him company, yet he had to experience loneliness
and abandonment: “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray
that you may not enter into temptation” (Mt 26:40-41). Only John would
remain at the foot of the Cross, at the side of Mary and the faithful women. The
agony in Gethsemane was the introduction to the agony of the Cross on Good
Friday. The holy hour, the hour of the redemption of the world. Whenever
the Eucharist is celebrated at the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem, there is an
almost tangible return to his “hour”, the hour of his Cross and
glorification. Every priest who celebrates Holy Mass, together with the
Christian community which takes part in it, is led back in spirit to that place
and that hour.
“He was crucified, he suffered death and was buried; he descended to the
dead; on the third day he rose again”. The words of the profession of
faith are echoed by the words of contemplation and proclamation: “This is
the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Saviour of the world. Come, let us
worship”. This is the invitation which the Church extends to all in the
afternoon hours of Good Friday. She then takes up her song during the Easter
season in order to proclaim: “The Lord is risen from the tomb; for our sake
he hung on the Cross, Alleluia”.
5. “Mysterium fidei!—The Mystery of Faith!”. When the priest
recites or chants these words, all present acclaim: “We announce your death, O
Lord, and we proclaim your resurrection, until you come in glory”.
In these or similar words the Church, while pointing to Christ in the mystery of
his passion, also reveals her own mystery: Ecclesia de Eucharistia.
By the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the Church was born and set out upon
the pathways of the world, yet a decisive moment in her taking shape was
certainly the institution of the Eucharist in the Upper Room. Her foundation and
wellspring is the whole Triduum paschale, but this is as it were gathered
up, foreshadowed and “concentrated' for ever in the gift of the Eucharist. In
this gift Jesus Christ entrusted to his Church the perennial making present of
the paschal mystery. With it he brought about a mysterious “oneness in time”
between that Triduum and the passage of the centuries.
The thought of this leads us to profound amazement and gratitude. In the paschal
event and the Eucharist which makes it present throughout the centuries, there
is a truly enormous “capacity” which embraces all of history as the
recipient of the grace of the redemption. This amazement should always fill the
Church assembled for the celebration of the Eucharist. But in a special way it
should fill the minister of the Eucharist. For it is he who, by the authority
given him in the sacrament of priestly ordination, effects the consecration. It
is he who says with the power coming to him from Christ in the Upper Room:
“This is my body which will be given up for you This is the cup of my blood,
poured out for you...”. The priest says these words, or rather he puts his
voice at the disposal of the One who spoke these words in the Upper Room and
who desires that they should be repeated in every generation by all those who in
the Church ministerially share in his priesthood.
6. I would like to rekindle this Eucharistic “amazement” by the present
Encyclical Letter, in continuity with the Jubilee heritage which I have left to
the Church in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte and its Marian
crowning, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. To contemplate the face of Christ,
and to contemplate it with Mary, is the “programme” which I have set before
the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out into
the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the new evangelization. To
contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests
himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the living sacrament of
his body and his blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the
Eucharist; by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened. The Eucharist is
both a mystery of faith and a “mystery of light”.3 Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way
relive the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “their eyes
were opened and they recognized him” (Lk 24:31).
7. From the time I began my ministry as the Successor of Peter, I have always
marked Holy Thursday, the day of the Eucharist and of the priesthood, by sending
a letter to all the priests of the world. This year, the twenty-fifth of my
Pontificate, I wish to involve the whole Church more fully in this Eucharistic
reflection, also as a way of thanking the Lord for the gift of the Eucharist and
the priesthood: “Gift and Mystery”.4 By proclaiming the Year of the Rosary, I wish to put this, my twenty-fifth
anniversary, under the aegis of the contemplation of Christ at the school of
Mary. Consequently, I cannot let this Holy Thursday 2003 pass without
halting before the “Eucharistic face” of Christ and pointing out with new
force to the Church the centrality of the Eucharist.
From it the Church draws her life. From this “living bread” she draws her
nourishment. How could I not feel the need to urge everyone to experience it
ever anew?
8. When I think of the Eucharist, and look at my life as a priest, as a Bishop
and as the Successor of Peter, I naturally recall the many times and places in
which I was able to celebrate it. I remember the parish church of Niegowić,
where I had my first pastoral assignment, the collegiate church of Saint Florian
in Krakow, Wawel Cathedral, Saint Peter's Basilica and so many basilicas and
churches in Rome and throughout the world. I have been able to celebrate Holy
Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lakeshores and seacoasts; I have
celebrated it on altars built in stadiums and in city squares... This varied
scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me a powerful experience of
its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when
it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is
always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven
and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation. The Son of God became man in
order to restore all creation, in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made
it from nothing. He, the Eternal High Priest who by the blood of his Cross
entered the eternal sanctuary, thus gives back to the Creator and Father all
creation redeemed. He does so through the priestly ministry of the Church, to
the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. Truly this is the mysterium fidei which
is accomplished in the Eucharist: the world which came forth from the hands of
God the Creator now returns to him redeemed by Christ.
9. The Eucharist, as Christ's saving presence in the community of the faithful
and its spiritual food, is the most precious possession which the Church can
have in her journey through history. This explains the lively concern
which she has always shown for the Eucharistic mystery, a concern which finds
authoritative expression in the work of the Councils and the Popes. How can we
not admire the doctrinal expositions of the Decrees on the Most Holy Eucharist
and on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass promulgated by the Council of Trent? For
centuries those Decrees guided theology and catechesis, and they are still a
dogmatic reference-point for the continual renewal and growth of God's People in
faith and in love for the Eucharist. In times closer to our own, three
Encyclical Letters should be mentioned: the Encyclical Mirae Caritatis of
Leo XIII (28 May 1902),5 the Encyclical Mediator Dei of Pius XII (20 November 1947)6
and the Encyclical Mysterium Fidei of Paul VI (3 September 1965).7
The Second Vatican Council, while not issuing a specific document on the
Eucharistic mystery, considered its various aspects throughout its documents, especially the
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium and the Constitution on
the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium.
I myself, in the first years of my apostolic ministry in the Chair of Peter,
wrote the Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980),8
in which I discussed some aspects of the Eucharistic mystery and its importance
for the life of those who are its ministers. Today I take up anew the thread of
that argument, with even greater emotion and gratitude in my heart, echoing as
it were the word of the Psalmist: “What shall I render to the Lord for all his
bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the
Lord” (Ps 116:12-13).
10. The Magisterium's commitment to proclaiming the Eucharistic mystery has been
matched by interior growth within the Christian community. Certainly the
liturgical reform inaugurated by the Council has greatly contributed to a
more conscious, active and fruitful participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the
Altar on the part of the faithful. In many places, adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament is also an important daily practice and becomes an inexhaustible
source of holiness. The devout participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic
procession on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is a grace from the
Lord which yearly brings joy to those who take part in it.
Other positive signs of Eucharistic faith and love might also be mentioned.
Unfortunately, alongside these lights, there are also shadows. In some
places the practice of Eucharistic adoration has been almost completely
abandoned. In various parts of the Church abuses have occurred, leading to
confusion with regard to sound faith and Catholic doctrine concerning this
wonderful sacrament. At times one encounters an extremely reductive
understanding of the Eucharistic mystery. Stripped of its sacrificial meaning,
it is celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet. Furthermore, the
necessity of the ministerial priesthood, grounded in apostolic succession, is at
times obscured and the sacramental nature of the Eucharist is reduced to its
mere effectiveness as a form of proclamation. This has led here and there to
ecumenical initiatives which, albeit well-intentioned, indulge in Eucharistic
practices contrary to the discipline by which the Church expresses her faith.
How can we not express profound grief at all this? The Eucharist is too great a
gift to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation.
It is my hope that the present Encyclical Letter will effectively help to banish
the dark clouds of unacceptable doctrine and practice, so that the Eucharist
will continue to shine forth in all its radiant mystery.
CHAPTER ONE
THE MYSTERY OF FAITH
11. “The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed” (1 Cor 11:23)
instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his body and his blood. The words of the
Apostle Paul bring us back to the dramatic setting in which the Eucharist was
born. The Eucharist is indelibly marked by the event of the Lord's passion and
death, of which it is not only a reminder but the sacramental re-presentation.
It is the sacrifice of the Cross perpetuated down the ages.9 This truth is well expressed by the words with which the assembly in the Latin
rite responds to the priest's proclamation of the “Mystery of Faith”:
“We announce your death, O Lord”.
The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift—however
precious—among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it
is the gift of himself, of his person in his sacred humanity, as well as the
gift of his saving work. Nor does it remain confined to the past, since “all
that Christ is—all that he did and suffered for all men—participates in the
divine eternity, and so transcends all times”.10
When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the memorial of her Lord's death and
resurrection, this central event of salvation becomes really present and “the
work of our redemption is carried out”.11 This sacrifice is so decisive for the salvation of the human race that Jesus
Christ offered it and returned to the Father only after he had left us a
means of sharing in it as if we had been present there. Each member of the
faithful can thus take part in it and inexhaustibly gain its fruits. This is the
faith from which generations of Christians down the ages have lived. The
Church's Magisterium has constantly reaffirmed this faith with joyful gratitude
for its inestimable gift.12 I wish once more to recall this truth and to join you, my dear brothers and
sisters, in adoration before this mystery: a great mystery, a mystery of mercy.
What more could Jesus have done for us? Truly, in the Eucharist, he shows us a
love which goes “to the end” (cf. Jn 13:1), a love which knows no
measure.
12. This aspect of the universal charity of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is based
on the words of the Saviour himself. In instituting it, he did not merely say: “This is my
body”, “this is my blood”, but went on to add: “which is given for you”,
“which is poured out for you” (Lk 22:19-20). Jesus did not simply
state that what he was giving them to eat and drink was his body and his blood;
he also expressed its sacrificial meaning and made sacramentally present
his sacrifice which would soon be offered on the Cross for the salvation of all.
“The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in
which the sacrifice of the Cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of
communion with the Lord's body and blood”.13
The Church constantly draws her life from the redeeming sacrifice; she
approaches it not only through faith-filled remembrance, but also through a real
contact, since this sacrifice is made present ever anew, sacramentally
perpetuated, in every community which offers it at the hands of the consecrated
minister. The Eucharist thus applies to men and women today the reconciliation
won once for all by Christ for mankind in every age. “The sacrifice of Christ
and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice”.14 Saint John Chrysostom put it well: “We always offer the same Lamb, not one
today and another tomorrow, but always the same one. For this reason the
sacrifice is always only one... Even now we offer that victim who was once offered and who will never be consumed”.15
The Mass makes present the sacrifice of the Cross; it does not add to that
sacrifice nor does it multiply it.16 What is repeated is its memorial celebration, its “commemorative
representation” (memorialis demonstratio),17 which makes Christ's one, definitive redemptive sacrifice always present in
time. The sacrificial nature of the Eucharistic mystery cannot therefore be
understood as something separate, independent of the Cross or only indirectly
referring to the sacrifice of Calvary.
13. By virtue of its close relationship to the sacrifice of Golgotha, the
Eucharist is a sacrifice in the strict sense, and not only in a general
way, as if it were simply a matter of Christ's offering himself to the faithful
as their spiritual food. The gift of his love and obedience to the point of
giving his life (cf. Jn 10:17-18) is in the first place a gift to his
Father. Certainly it is a gift given for our sake, and indeed that of all
humanity (cf. Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20; Jn
10:15), yet it is first and foremost a gift to the Father: “a sacrifice that the Father accepted, giving, in return for this total self-giving
by his Son, who 'became obedient unto death' (Phil 2:8), his own paternal
gift, that is to say the grant of new immortal life in the resurrection”.18
In giving his sacrifice to the Church, Christ has also made his own the
spiritual sacrifice of the Church, which is called to offer herself in union
with the sacrifice of Christ. This is the teaching of the Second Vatican Council
concerning all the faithful: “Taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which
is the source and summit of the whole Christian life, they offer the divine
victim to God, and offer themselves along with it”.19
14. Christ's passover includes not only his passion and death, but also his
resurrection. This is recalled by the assembly's acclamation following the
consecration: “We proclaim your resurrection”. The Eucharistic
Sacrifice makes present not only the mystery of the Saviour's passion and death,
but also the mystery of the resurrection which crowned his sacrifice. It is as
the living and risen One that Christ can become in the Eucharist the “bread of
life” (Jn 6:35, 48), the “living bread” (Jn 6:51). Saint
Ambrose reminded the newly-initiated that the Eucharist applies the event of the
resurrection to their lives: “Today Christ is yours, yet each day he rises again for you”.20
Saint Cyril of Alexandria also makes clear that sharing in the sacred mysteries
“is a true confession and a remembrance that the Lord died and returned to
life for us and on our behalf”.21
15. The sacramental re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice, crowned by the
resurrection, in the Mass involves a most special presence which—in the words
of Paul VI—“is called 'real' not as a way of excluding all other types of
presence as if they were 'not real', but because it is a presence in the fullest
sense: a substantial presence whereby Christ, the God-Man, is wholly and
entirely present”.22 This sets forth once more the perennially valid teaching of the Council of
Trent: “the consecration of the bread and wine effects the change of the whole
substance of the bead into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of
the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. And the holy
Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called this change transubstantiation”.23
Truly the Eucharist is a mysterium fidei, a mystery which surpasses our
understanding and can only be received in faith, as is often brought out in the
catechesis of the Church Fathers regarding this divine sacrament: “Do not see—Saint Cyril of Jerusalem exhorts—in the bread and wine
merely natural elements, because the Lord has expressly said that they are his
body and his blood: faith assures you of this, though your senses suggest
otherwise”.24
Adoro te devote, latens Deitas, we shall continue to sing with the Angelic Doctor. Before this mystery of
love, human reason fully experiences its limitations. One understands how, down
the centuries, this truth has stimulated theology to strive to understand it
ever more deeply.
These are praiseworthy efforts, which are all the more helpful and insightful to
the extent that they are able to join critical thinking to the “living faith”
of the Church, as grasped especially by the Magisterium's “sure charism of
truth” and the “intimate sense of spiritual realities”25 which is attained above all by the saints. There remains the boundary indicated
by Paul VI: “Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of
this mystery, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, must firmly maintain
that in objective reality, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have
ceased to exist after the consecration, so that the adorable body and blood of
the Lord Jesus from that moment on are really before us under the sacramental
species of bread and wine”.26
16. The saving efficacy of the sacrifice is fully realized when the Lord's body
and blood are received in communion. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is intrinsically
directed to the inward union of the faithful with Christ through communion; we
receive the very One who offered himself for us, we receive his body which he
gave up for us on the Cross and his blood which he “poured out for many for
the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28). We are reminded of his words:
“As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who
eats me will live because of me” (Jn 6:57). Jesus himself reassures us
that this union, which he compares to that of the life of the Trinity, is truly
realized. The Eucharist is a true banquet, in which Christ offers himself
as our nourishment. When for the first time Jesus spoke of this food, his
listeners were astonished and bewildered, which forced the Master to emphasize
the objective truth of his words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you”
(Jn 6:53). This is no metaphorical food: “My flesh is food indeed, and
my blood is drink indeed” (Jn 6:55).
17. Through our communion in his body and blood, Christ also grants us his
Spirit. Saint Ephrem writes: “He called the bread his living body and he
filled it with himself and his Spirit...
He who eats it with faith, eats Fire and Spirit... Take and eat this, all of you,
and eat with it the Holy Spirit. For it is truly my body and whoever eats it
will have eternal life”.27 The Church implores this divine Gift, the source of every other gift, in the
Eucharistic epiclesis. In the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom,
for example, we find the prayer: “We beseech, implore and beg you: send your
Holy Spirit upon us all and upon these gifts... that those who partake of them
may be purified in soul, receive the forgiveness of their sins, and share in the
Holy Spirit”.28 And in the Roman Missal the celebrant prays: “grant that we who are
nourished by his body and blood may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become
one body, one spirit in Christ”.29 Thus by the gift of his body and blood Christ increases within us the gift of
his Spirit, already poured out in Baptism and bestowed as a “seal” in the
sacrament of Confirmation.
18. The acclamation of the assembly following the consecration appropriately
ends by expressing the eschatological thrust which marks the celebration of the
Eucharist (cf. 1 Cor 11:26): “until you come in glory”. The
Eucharist is a straining towards the goal, a foretaste of the fullness of joy
promised by Christ (cf. Jn 15:11); it is in some way the anticipation of
heaven, the “pledge of future glory”.30 In the Eucharist, everything speaks of confident waiting “in joyful hope for
the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ”.31 Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to
receive eternal life: they already possess it on earth, as the
first-fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in
the Eucharist we also receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end
of the world: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and
I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54). This pledge of the
future resurrection comes from the fact that the flesh of the Son of Man, given
as food, is his body in its glorious state after the resurrection. With the
Eucharist we digest, as it were, the “secret” of the resurrection. For this
reason Saint Ignatius of Antioch rightly defined the Eucharistic Bread as “a
medicine of immortality, an antidote to death”.32
19. The eschatological tension kindled by the Eucharist expresses and
reinforces our communion with the Church in heaven. It is not by chance that
the Eastern Anaphoras and the Latin Eucharistic Prayers honour Mary, the
ever-Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God, the angels, the holy
apostles, the glorious martyrs and all the saints. This is an aspect of the Eucharist which merits greater attention: in
celebrating the sacrifice of the Lamb, we are united to the heavenly
“liturgy” and become part of that great multitude which cries out:
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev
7:10). The Eucharist is truly a glimpse of heaven appearing on earth. It is a
glorious ray of the heavenly Jerusalem which pierces the clouds of our history
and lights up our journey.
20. A significant consequence of the eschatological tension inherent in the
Eucharist is also the fact that it spurs us on our journey through history and
plants a seed of living hope in our daily commitment to the work before us.
Certainly the Christian vision leads to the expectation of “new heavens” and
“a new earth” (Rev 21:1), but this increases, rather than lessens,
our sense of responsibility for the world today.33 I wish to reaffirm this forcefully at the beginning of the new millennium, so
that Christians will feel more obliged than ever not to neglect their duties as
citizens in this world. Theirs is the task of contributing with the light of the
Gospel to the building of a more human world, a world fully in harmony with
God's plan.
Many problems darken the horizon of our time. We need but think of the urgent
need to work for peace, to base relationships between peoples on solid premises of justice and solidarity, and to defend human life
from conception to its natural end. And what should we say of the thousand
inconsistencies of a “globalized” world where the weakest, the most
powerless and the poorest appear to have so little hope! It is in this world
that Christian hope must shine forth! For this reason too, the Lord wished to
remain with us in the Eucharist, making his presence in meal and sacrifice the
promise of a humanity renewed by his love. Significantly, in their account of
the Last Supper, the Synoptics recount the institution of the Eucharist, while
the Gospel of John relates, as a way of bringing out its profound meaning, the
account of the “washing of the feet”, in which Jesus appears as the teacher
of communion and of service (cf. Jn 13:1-20). The Apostle Paul, for his
part, says that it is “unworthy” of a Christian community to partake of the
Lord's Supper amid division and indifference towards the poor (cf. 1 Cor
11:17-22, 27-34).34
Proclaiming the death of the Lord “until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26)
entails that all who take part in the Eucharist be committed to changing their lives and making them in a certain way completely “Eucharistic”. It is
this fruit of a transfigured existence and a commitment to transforming the
world in accordance with the Gospel which splendidly illustrates the
eschatological tension inherent in the celebration of the Eucharist and in the
Christian life as a whole: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).
CHAPTER TWO
THE EUCHARIST BUILDS THE CHURCH
21. The Second Vatican Council teaches that the celebration of the Eucharist is
at the centre of the process of the Church's growth. After stating that “the
Church, as the Kingdom of Christ already present in mystery, grows visibly in
the world through the power of God”,35 then, as if in answer to the question: “How does the Church grow?”, the
Council adds: “as often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our
pasch is sacrificed' (1 Cor 5:7) is celebrated on the altar, the work of
our redemption is carried out. At the same time in the sacrament of the
Eucharistic bread, the unity of the faithful, who form one body in Christ (cf. 1
Cor 10:17), is both expressed and brought about”.36
A causal influence of the Eucharist is present at the Church's very origins. The Evangelists specify that it was
the Twelve, the Apostles, who gathered with Jesus at the Last Supper (cf. Mt
26:20; Mk 14:17; Lk 22:14). This is a detail of notable importance,
for the Apostles “were both the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy”.37
By offering them his body and his blood as food, Christ mysteriously involved
them in the sacrifice which would be completed later on Calvary. By analogy with
the Covenant of Mount Sinai, sealed by sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood,38
the actions and words of Jesus at the Last Supper laid the foundations of the
new messianic community, the People of the New Covenant.
The Apostles, by accepting in the Upper Room Jesus' invitation: “Take, eat”,
“Drink of it, all of you” (Mt 26:26-27), entered for the first time
into sacramental communion with him. From that time forward, until the end of
the age, the Church is built up through sacramental communion with the Son of
God who was sacrificed for our sake: “Do this is remembrance of me... Do
this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24-25;
cf. Lk 22:19).
22. Incorporation into Christ, which is brought about by Baptism, is constantly
renewed and consolidated by sharing in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, especially by
that full sharing which takes place in sacramental communion. We can say not
only that each of us receives Christ, but also that Christ receives
each of us. He enters into friendship with us: “You are my friends” (Jn 15:14). Indeed, it is because of
him that we have life: “He who eats me will live because of me” (Jn
6:57). Eucharistic communion brings about in a sublime way the mutual
“abiding” of Christ and each of his followers: “Abide in me, and I in you”
(Jn 15:4).
By its union with Christ, the People of the New Covenant, far from closing in
upon itself, becomes a “sacrament” for humanity,39 a sign and instrument of the salvation achieved by Christ, the light of the
world and the salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-16), for the redemption of
all.40 The Church's mission stands in continuity with the mission of Christ: “As the
Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 20:21). From the
perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and her communion with the body and
blood of Christ in the Eucharist, the Church draws the spiritual power needed to
carry out her mission. The Eucharist thus appears as both the source and
the summit of all evangelization, since its goal is the communion of mankind
with Christ and in him with the Father and the Holy Spirit.41
23. Eucharistic communion also confirms the Church in her unity as the body of
Christ. Saint Paul refers to this unifying power of participation in the
banquet of the Eucharist when he writes to the Corinthians: “The bread which
we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ? Because there is one
bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1
Cor 10:16-17). Saint John Chrysostom's commentary on these words is profound
and perceptive: “For what is the bread? It is the body of Christ. And what do
those who receive it become? The Body of Christ—not many bodies but one
body. For as bread is completely one, though made of up many grains of wheat,
and these, albeit unseen, remain nonetheless present, in such a way that their
difference is not apparent since they have been made a perfect whole, so too are
we mutually joined to one another and together united with Christ”.42 The argument is compelling: our union with Christ, which is a gift and grace
for each of us, makes it possible for us, in him, to share in the unity of his
body which is the Church. The Eucharist reinforces the incorporation into Christ
which took place in Baptism though the gift of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor
12:13, 27).
The joint and inseparable activity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, which is
at the origin of the Church, of her consolidation and her continued life, is at work in the Eucharist. This was clearly evident to the author of
the Liturgy of Saint James: in the epiclesis of the Anaphora, God the
Father is asked to send the Holy Spirit upon the faithful and upon the offerings,
so that the body and blood of Christ “may be a help to all those who partake
of it ... for the sanctification of their souls and bodies”.43 The Church is fortified by the divine Paraclete through the sanctification of
the faithful in the Eucharist.
24. The gift of Christ and his Spirit which we receive in Eucharistic communion
superabundantly fulfils the yearning for fraternal unity deeply rooted in the
human heart; at the same time it elevates the experience of fraternity already
present in our common sharing at the same Eucharistic table to a degree which
far surpasses that of the simple human experience of sharing a meal. Through her
communion with the body of Christ the Church comes to be ever more profoundly
“in Christ in the nature of a sacrament, that is, a sign and instrument of
intimate unity with God and of the unity of the whole human race”.44
The seeds of disunity, which daily experience shows to be so deeply rooted in
humanity as a result of sin, are countered by the unifying power of the
body of Christ. The Eucharist, precisely by building up the Church, creates human community.
25. The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable
value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to the
celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The presence of Christ under the
sacred species reserved after Mass—a presence which lasts as long as the
species of bread and of wine remain 45—derives from the celebration of the sacrifice and is directed towards
communion, both sacramental and spiritual.46 It is the responsibility of Pastors to encourage, also by their personal
witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration, and exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament in particular, as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present
under the Eucharistic species.47
It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the
Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in
his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the
“art of prayer”,48 how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in
silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy
Sacrament? How often, dear brother and sisters, have I experienced this, and
drawn from it strength, consolation and support!
This practice, repeatedly praised and recommended by the Magisterium,49
is supported by the example of many saints. Particularly outstanding in this
regard was Saint Alphonsus Liguori, who wrote: “Of all devotions, that of
adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the
one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us”.50 The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating it but also by
praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very
wellspring of grace. A Christian community desirous of contemplating the face of
Christ in the spirit which I proposed in the Apostolic Letters Novo Millennio
Ineunte and Rosarium Virginis Mariae cannot fail also to develop this
aspect of Eucharistic worship, which prolongs and increases the fruits of our
communion in the body and blood of the Lord.
1“In the course of the day the faithful should not omit visiting the Blessed
Sacrament, which in accordance with liturgical law must be reserved in churches
with great reverence in a prominent place. Such visits are a sign of gratitude,
an expression of love and an acknowledgment of the Lord's presence”: Paul VI,
Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei (3 September 1965): AAS 57 (1965), 771.
CHAPTER THREE
THE APOSTOLICITY OF THE EUCHARIST
AND OF THE CHURCH
26. If, as I have said, the Eucharist builds the Church and the Church makes the
Eucharist, it follows that there is a profound relationship between the two, so
much so that we can apply to the Eucharistic mystery the very words with which,
in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, we profess the Church to be “one, holy,
catholic and apostolic”. The Eucharist too is one and catholic. It is also
holy, indeed, the Most Holy Sacrament. But it is above all its apostolicity that
we must now consider.
27. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in explaining how the Church is
apostolic— founded on the Apostles—sees three meanings in this
expression. First, “she was and remains built on 'the foundation of the
Apostles' (Eph 2:20), the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ
himself”.51 The Eucharist too has its foundation in the Apostles, not in the sense that it
did not originate in Christ himself, but because it was entrusted by Jesus to
the Apostles and has been handed down to us by them and by their successors. It
is in continuity with the practice of the Apostles, in obedience to the Lord's
command, that the Church has celebrated the Eucharist down the centuries.
The second sense in which the Church is apostolic, as the Catechism points
out, is that “with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps
and hands on the teaching, the 'good deposit', the salutary words she has heard
from the Apostles”.52 Here too the Eucharist is apostolic, for it is celebrated in conformity with
the faith of the Apostles. At various times in the two-thousand-year history of
the People of the New Covenant, the Church's Magisterium has more precisely
defined her teaching on the Eucharist, including its proper terminology,
precisely in order to safeguard the apostolic faith with regard to this sublime
mystery. This faith remains unchanged and it is essential for the Church that it
remain unchanged.
28. Lastly, the Church is apostolic in the sense that she “continues to be
taught, sanctified and guided by the Apostles until Christ's return, through
their successors in pastoral office: the college of Bishops assisted by priests,
in union with the Successor of Peter, the Church's supreme pastor”.53 Succession to the Apostles in the pastoral mission necessarily entails the
sacrament of Holy Orders, that is, the uninterrupted sequence, from the very
beginning, of valid episcopal ordinations.54 This succession is essential for the Church to exist in a proper and full sense.
The Eucharist also expresses this sense of apostolicity. As the Second Vatican
Council teaches, “the faithful join in the offering of the Eucharist by
virtue of their royal priesthood”,55 yet it is the ordained priest who, “acting in the person of Christ, brings
about the Eucharistic Sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the
people”.56 For this reason, the Roman Missal prescribes that only the priest should recite
the Eucharistic Prayer, while the people participate in faith and in silence.57
29. The expression repeatedly employed by the Second Vatican Council, according
to which “the ministerial priest, acting in the person of Christ, brings about
the Eucharistic Sacrifice”,58 was already firmly rooted in papal teaching.59
As I have pointed out on other occasions, the phrase in persona Christi “means
more than offering 'in the name of' or 'in the place of' Christ. In persona means
in specific sacramental identification with the eternal High Priest who is the
author and principal subject of this sacrifice of his, a sacrifice in which, in
truth, nobody can take his place”.60 The ministry of priests who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders, in the
economy of salvation chosen by Christ, makes clear that the Eucharist which they
celebrate is a gift which radically transcends the power of the assembly
and is in any event essential for validly linking the Eucharistic consecration
to the sacrifice of the Cross and to the Last Supper. The assembly gathered together for the celebration of the Eucharist, if it is to
be a truly Eucharistic assembly, absolutely requires the presence of an ordained
priest as its president. On the other hand, the community is by itself incapable
of providing an ordained minister. This minister is a gift which the assembly receives
through episcopal succession going back to the Apostles. It is the Bishop
who, through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, makes a new presbyter by conferring
upon him the power to consecrate the Eucharist. Consequently, “the Eucharistic
mystery cannot be celebrated in any community except by an ordained priest, as the Fourth Lateran Council expressly taught”.61
30. The Catholic Church's teaching on the relationship between priestly ministry
and the Eucharist and her teaching on the Eucharistic Sacrifice have both been
the subject in recent decades of a fruitful dialogue in the area of ecumenism.
We must give thanks to the Blessed Trinity for the significant progress and
convergence achieved in this regard, which lead us to hope one day for a full
sharing of faith. Nonetheless, the observations of the Council concerning the
Ecclesial Communities which arose in the West from the sixteenth century
onwards and are separated from the Catholic Church remain fully pertinent:
“The Ecclesial Communities separated from us lack that fullness of unity
with us which should flow from Baptism, and we believe that especially because
of the lack of the sacrament of Orders they have not preserved the genuine and
total reality of the Eucharistic mystery. Nevertheless, when they commemorate
the Lord's death and resurrection in the Holy Supper, they profess that it
signifies life in communion with Christ and they await his coming in glory”.62
The Catholic faithful, therefore, while respecting the
religious convictions of these separated brethren, must refrain from receiving
the communion distributed in their celebrations, so as not to condone an
ambiguity about the nature of the Eucharist and, consequently, to fail in
their duty to bear clear witness to the truth. This would result in slowing
the progress being made towards full visible unity. Similarly, it is
unthinkable to substitute for Sunday Mass ecumenical celebrations of the word
or services of common prayer with Christians from the aforementioned Ecclesial
Communities, or even participation in their own liturgical services. Such
celebrations and services, however praiseworthy in certain situations, prepare
for the goal of full communion, including Eucharistic communion, but they
cannot replace it.
The fact that the power of consecrating the Eucharist has been
entrusted only to Bishops and priests does not represent any kind of
belittlement of the rest of the People of God, for in the communion of the one
body of Christ which is the Church this gift redounds to the benefit of all.
31. If the Eucharist is the centre and summit of the Church's
life, it is likewise the centre and summit of priestly ministry. For this
reason, with a heart filled with gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ, I repeat
that the Eucharist “is the principal and central raison d'être of
the sacrament of priesthood, which effectively came into being at the moment
of the institution of the Eucharist”.63
Priests are engaged in a wide variety of pastoral activities.
If we also consider the social and cultural conditions of the modern world it
is easy to understand how priests face the very real risk of losing their
focus amid such a great number of different tasks. The Second Vatican
Council saw in pastoral charity the bond which gives unity to the priest's
life and work. This, the Council adds, “flows mainly from the Eucharistic
Sacrifice, which is therefore the centre and root of the whole priestly
life”.64 We can understand, then, how important it is for the
spiritual life of the priest, as well as for the good of the Church and the
world, that priests follow the Council's recommendation to celebrate the
Eucharist daily: “for even if the faithful are unable to be present, it is
an act of Christ and the Church”.65 In this way priests will be
able to counteract the daily tensions which lead to a lack of focus and they
will find in the Eucharistic Sacrifice—the true centre of their lives and
ministry—the spiritual strength needed to deal with their different
pastoral responsibilities. Their daily activity will thus become truly
Eucharistic.
The centrality of the Eucharist in the life and ministry of
priests is the basis of its centrality in the pastoral promotion of
priestly vocations. It is in the Eucharist that prayer for vocations is
most closely united to the prayer of Christ the Eternal High Priest. At the
same time the diligence of priests in carrying out their Eucharistic ministry,
together with the conscious, active and fruitful participation of the faithful
in the Eucharist, provides young men with a powerful example and incentive for
responding generously to God's call. Often it is the example of a priest's
fervent pastoral charity which the Lord uses to sow and to bring to fruition
in a young man's heart the seed of a priestly calling.
32. All of this shows how distressing and irregular is the
situation of a Christian community which, despite having sufficient numbers
and variety of faithful to form a parish, does not have a priest to lead it.
Parishes are communities of the baptized who express and affirm their identity
above all through the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. But this
requires the presence of a presbyter, who alone is qualified to offer the
Eucharist in persona Christi. When a community lacks a priest, attempts
are rightly made somehow to remedy the situation so that it can continue its
Sunday celebrations, and those religious and laity who lead their brothers and
sisters in prayer exercise in a praiseworthy way the common priesthood of all
the faithful based on the grace of Baptism. But such solutions must be
considered merely temporary, while the community awaits a priest.
The sacramental incompleteness of these celebrations should
above all inspire the whole community to pray with greater fervour that the
Lord will send labourers into his harvest (cf. Mt 9:38). It should also
be an incentive to mobilize all the resources needed for an adequate pastoral
promotion of vocations, without yielding to the temptation to seek solutions
which lower the moral and formative standards demanded of candidates for the
priesthood.
33. When, due to the scarcity of priests, non-ordained members
of the faithful are entrusted with a share in the pastoral care of a parish,
they should bear in mind that—as the Second Vatican Council teaches—“no Christian community can be built up unless it has its basis and centre
in the celebration of the most Holy Eucharist”.66 They have a
responsibility, therefore, to keep alive in the community a genuine
“hunger” for the Eucharist, so that no opportunity for the celebration of
Mass will ever be missed, also taking advantage of the occasional presence of
a priest who is not impeded by Church law from celebrating Mass.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE EUCHARIST AND ECCLESIAL COMMUNION
34. The Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 1985
saw in the concept of an “ecclesiology of communion” the central and
fundamental idea of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.67
The Church is called during her earthly pilgrimage to maintain and promote
communion with the Triune God and communion among the faithful. For this
purpose she possesses the word and the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist,
by which she “constantly lives and grows”68 and in which she
expresses her very nature. It is not by chance that the term communion
has become one of the names given to this sublime sacrament.
The Eucharist thus appears as the culmination of all the
sacraments in perfecting our communion with God the Father by identification
with his only-begotten Son through the working of the Holy Spirit. With
discerning faith a distinguished writer of the Byzantine tradition voiced this truth: in the Eucharist “unlike any other sacrament, the mystery [of
communion] is so perfect that it brings us to the heights of every good thing:
here is the ultimate goal of every human desire, because here we attain God and
God joins himself to us in the most perfect union”.69 Precisely for this reason it is good to cultivate in our hearts a constant
desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. This was the origin of the
practice of “spiritual communion”, which has happily been established in the
Church for centuries and recommended by saints who were masters of the spiritual
life. Saint Teresa of Jesus wrote: “When you do not receive communion and you
do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion, which is a most
beneficial practice; by it the love of God will be greatly impressed on you”.70
35. The celebration of the Eucharist, however, cannot be the
starting-point for communion; it presupposes that communion already exists, a
communion which it seeks to consolidate and bring to perfection. The sacrament
is an expression of this bond of communion both in its invisible
dimension, which, in Christ and through the working of the Holy Spirit, unites
us to the Father and among ourselves, and in its visible dimension,
which entails communion in the teaching of the Apostles, in the sacraments and
in the Church's hierarchical order. The profound relationship between the invisible and the visible elements of ecclesial
communion is constitutive of the Church as the sacrament of salvation.71 Only in this context can there be a legitimate celebration of the Eucharist and
true participation in it. Consequently it is an intrinsic requirement of the
Eucharist that it should be celebrated in communion, and specifically
maintaining the various bonds of that communion intact.
36. Invisible communion, though by its nature always growing,
presupposes the life of grace, by which we become “partakers of the divine
nature” (2 Pet 1:4), and the practice of the virtues of faith, hope
and love. Only in this way do we have true communion with the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit. Nor is faith sufficient; we must persevere in sanctifying
grace and love, remaining within the Church “bodily” as well as “in our
heart”; 72 what is required, in the words of Saint Paul, is “faith working through
love” (Gal 5:6).
Keeping these invisible bonds intact is a specific moral duty
incumbent upon Christians who wish to participate fully in the Eucharist by
receiving the body and blood of Christ. The Apostle Paul appeals to this duty
when he warns: “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor
11:28). Saint John Chrysostom, with his stirring eloquence, exhorted the
faithful: “I too raise my voice, I beseech, beg and implore that no one draw
near to this sacred table with a sullied and corrupt conscience. Such an act, in
fact, can never be called 'communion', not even were we to touch the Lord's body
a thousand times over, but 'condemnation', 'torment' and 'increase of
punishment'”.73
Along these same lines, the Catechism
of the Catholic Church rightly stipulates that “anyone conscious of
a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to
communion”.74 I therefore desire to reaffirm that in the Church
there remains in force, now and in the future, the rule by which the Council
of Trent gave concrete expression to the Apostle Paul's stern warning when it
affirmed that, in order to receive the Eucharist in a worthy manner, “one
must first confess one's sins, when one is aware of mortal sin”.75
37. The two sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance are very
closely connected. Because the Eucharist makes present the redeeming sacrifice
of the Cross, perpetuating it sacramentally, it naturally gives rise to a
continuous need for conversion, for a personal response to the appeal made by
Saint Paul to the Christians of Corinth: “We beseech you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). If a Christian's conscience is
burdened by serious sin, then the path of penance through the sacrament of
Reconciliation becomes necessary for full participation in the Eucharistic
Sacrifice.
The judgment of one's state of grace obviously belongs only to
the person involved, since it is a question of examining one's conscience.
However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and
steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern
for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament,
cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to
this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states
that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” are not to be
admitted to Eucharistic communion.76
38. Ecclesial communion, as I have said, is likewise
visible, and finds expression in the series of “bonds” listed by the
Council when it teaches: “They are fully incorporated into the society of
the Church who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept her whole structure and all the means of salvation established within
her, and within her visible framework are united to Christ, who governs her
through the Supreme Pontiff and the Bishops, by the bonds of profession of
faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government and communion”.77
The Eucharist, as the supreme sacramental manifestation of
communion in the Church, demands to be celebrated in a context where the
outward bonds of communion are also intact. In a special way, since the
Eucharist is “as it were the summit of the spiritual life and the goal of
all the sacraments”,78 it requires that the bonds of communion in
the sacraments, particularly in Baptism and in priestly Orders, be real. It is
not possible to give communion to a person who is not baptized or to one who
rejects the full truth of the faith regarding the Eucharistic mystery. Christ
is the truth and he bears witness to the truth (cf. Jn 14:6; 18:37);
the sacrament of his body and blood does not permit duplicity.
39. Furthermore, given the very nature of ecclesial communion
and its relation to the sacrament of the Eucharist, it must be recalled that
“the Eucharistic Sacrifice, while always offered in a particular community,
is never a celebration of that community alone. In fact, the community, in receiving the Eucharistic presence of the Lord, receives the entire gift of
salvation and shows, even in its lasting visible particular form, that it is the
image and true presence of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church”.79
From this it follows that a truly Eucharistic community cannot be closed in
upon itself, as though it were somehow self-sufficient; rather it must persevere
in harmony with every other Catholic community.
The ecclesial communion of the Eucharistic assembly is a
communion with its own Bishop and with the Roman Pontiff. The
Bishop, in effect, is the visible principle and the foundation of unity
within his particular Church.80 It would therefore be a great contradiction if the sacrament par excellence of
the Church's unity were celebrated without true communion with the Bishop. As
Saint Ignatius of Antioch wrote: “That Eucharist which is celebrated under the
Bishop, or under one to whom the Bishop has given this charge, may be considered
certain”.81 Likewise, since “the Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the
perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of the Bishops and of
the multitude of the faithful”,82 communion with him is intrinsically required for the celebration of the
Eucharistic Sacrifice. Hence the great truth expressed which the Liturgy
expresses in a variety of ways: “Every celebration of the Eucharist is
performed in union not only with the proper Bishop, but also with the Pope, with
the episcopal order, with all the clergy, and with the entire people. Every
valid celebration of the Eucharist expresses this universal communion with Peter
and with the whole Church, or objectively calls for it, as in the case of the
Christian Churches separated from Rome”.83
40. The Eucharist creates communion and fosters
communion. Saint Paul wrote to the faithful of Corinth explaining how
their divisions, reflected in their Eucharistic gatherings, contradicted what
they were celebrating, the Lord's Supper. The Apostle then urged them to
reflect on the true reality of the Eucharist in order to return to the spirit
of fraternal communion (cf. 1 Cor 11:17-34). Saint Augustine
effectively echoed this call when, in recalling the Apostle's words: “You
are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:
27), he went on to say: “If you are his body and members of him, then you
will find set on the Lord's table your own mystery. Yes, you receive your own mystery”.84
And from this observation he concludes: “Christ the Lord... hallowed at his
table the mystery of our peace and unity. Whoever receives the mystery of unity
without preserving the bonds of peace receives not a mystery for his benefit but
evidence against himself”.85
41. The Eucharist's particular effectiveness in promoting
communion is one of the reasons for the importance of Sunday Mass. I have
already dwelt on this and on the other reasons which make Sunday Mass
fundamental for the life of the Church and of individual believers in my
Apostolic Letter on the sanctification of Sunday Dies
Domini.86 There I recalled that the faithful have the
obligation to attend Mass, unless they are seriously impeded, and that Pastors
have the corresponding duty to see that it is practical and possible for all
to fulfil this precept.87 More recently, in my Apostolic Letter
Novo
Millennio Ineunte, in setting forth the pastoral path which the Church
must take at the beginning of the third millennium, I drew particular
attention to the Sunday Eucharist, emphasizing its effectiveness for building
communion. “It is”—I wrote—“the privileged place where communion
is ceaselessly proclaimed and nurtured. Precisely through sharing in the
Eucharist, the Lord's Day also becomes the Day of the Church, when she can effectively exercise her
role as the sacrament of unity”.88
42. The safeguarding and promotion of ecclesial communion is a
task of each member of the faithful, who finds in the Eucharist, as the
sacrament of the Church's unity, an area of special concern. More
specifically, this task is the particular responsibility of the Church's
Pastors, each according to his rank and ecclesiastical office. For this reason
the Church has drawn up norms aimed both at fostering the frequent and
fruitful access of the faithful to the Eucharistic table and at determining
the objective conditions under which communion may not be given. The care
shown in promoting the faithful observance of these norms becomes a practical
means of showing love for the Eucharist and for the Church.
43. In considering the Eucharist as the sacrament of ecclesial
communion, there is one subject which, due to its importance, must not be
overlooked: I am referring to the relationship of the Eucharist to
ecumenical activity. We should all give thanks to the Blessed Trinity for
the many members of the faithful throughout the world who in recent decades
have felt an ardent desire for unity among all Christians. The Second Vatican
Council, at the beginning of its Decree on Ecumenism, sees this as a special
gift of God.89 It was an efficacious grace which inspired us, the sons and daughters of the
Catholic Church and our brothers and sisters from other Churches and Ecclesial
Communities, to set forth on the path of ecumenism.
Our longing for the goal of unity prompts us to turn to the
Eucharist, which is the supreme sacrament of the unity of the People of God,
in as much as it is the apt expression and the unsurpassable source of that
unity.90 In the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice the Church prays that God, the
Father of mercies, will grant his children the fullness of the Holy Spirit so
that they may become one body and one spirit in Christ.91 In raising this prayer to the Father of lights, from whom comes every good
endowment and every perfect gift (cf. Jas 1:17), the Church believes that
she will be heard, for she prays in union with Christ her Head and Spouse, who
takes up this plea of his Bride and joins it to that of his own redemptive
sacrifice.
44. Precisely because the Church's unity, which the Eucharist
brings about through the Lord's sacrifice and by communion in his body and
blood, absolutely requires full communion in the bonds of the profession of
faith, the sacraments and ecclesiastical governance, it is not possible to celebrate together the same Eucharistic liturgy until those bonds are
fully re-established. Any such concelebration would not be a valid means, and
might well prove instead to be an obstacle, to the attainment of full
communion, by weakening the sense of how far we remain from this goal and by
introducing or exacerbating ambiguities with regard to one or another truth of
the faith. The path towards full unity can only be undertaken in truth. In this
area, the prohibitions of Church law leave no room for uncertainty,92 in fidelity to the moral norm laid down by the Second Vatican Council.93
I would like nonetheless to reaffirm what I said in my
Encyclical Letter Ut
Unum Sint after having acknowledged the impossibility of Eucharistic
sharing: “And yet we do have a burning desire to join in celebrating the one
Eucharist of the Lord, and this desire itself is already a common prayer of
praise, a single supplication. Together we speak to the Father and
increasingly we do so 'with one heart'”.94
45. While it is never legitimate to concelebrate in the
absence of full communion, the same is not true with respect to the
administration of the Eucharist under special circumstances, to individual
persons belonging to Churches or Ecclesial Communities not in full
communion with the Catholic Church. In this case, in fact, the intention is to
meet a grave spiritual need for the eternal salvation of an individual
believer, not to bring about an intercommunion which remains impossible
until the visible bonds of ecclesial communion are fully re-established.
This was the approach taken by the Second Vatican Council when
it gave guidelines for responding to Eastern Christians separated in good
faith from the Catholic Church, who spontaneously ask to receive the Eucharist
from a Catholic minister and are properly disposed.95 This approach
was then ratified by both Codes, which also consider—with necessary
modifications—the case of other non-Eastern Christians who are not in full
communion with the Catholic Church.96
46. In my Encyclical Ut
Unum Sint I expressed my own appreciation of these norms, which make
it possible to provide for the salvation of souls with proper discernment:
“It is a source of joy to note that Catholic ministers are able, in certain
particular cases, to administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Penance and
Anointing of the Sick to Christians who are not in full communion with the
Catholic Church but who greatly desire to receive these sacraments, freely
request them and manifest the faith which the Catholic Church professes with
regard to these sacraments. Conversely, in specific cases and in particular
circumstances, Catholics too can request these same sacraments from ministers
of Churches in which these sacraments are valid”.97
These conditions, from which no dispensation can be given,
must be carefully respected, even though they deal with specific individual
cases, because the denial of one or more truths of the faith regarding these
sacraments and, among these, the truth regarding the need of the ministerial
priesthood for their validity, renders the person asking improperly disposed
to legitimately receiving them. And the opposite is also true: Catholics may
not receive communion in those communities which lack a valid sacrament of
Orders.98
The faithful observance of the body of norms established in
this area 99 is a manifestation and, at the same time, a guarantee
of our love for Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, for our brothers and sisters of
different Christian confessions—who have a right to our witness to the
truth—and for the cause itself of the promotion of unity.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE DIGNITY OF THE EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION
47. Reading the account of the institution of the Eucharist in
the Synoptic Gospels, we are struck by the simplicity and the “solemnity”
with which Jesus, on the evening of the Last Supper, instituted this great
sacrament. There is an episode which in some way serves as its prelude: the
anointing at Bethany. A woman, whom John identifies as Mary the sister of
Lazarus, pours a flask of costly ointment over Jesus' head, which
provokes from the disciples—and from Judas in particular (cf. Mt
26:8; Mk 14:4; Jn 12:4)—an indignant response, as if this
act, in light of the needs of the poor, represented an intolerable
“waste”. But Jesus' own reaction is completely different. While in no way
detracting from the duty of charity towards the needy, for whom the disciples
must always show special care—“the poor you will always have with you”
(Mt 26, 11; Mk 14:7; cf. Jn 12:8)—he looks towards
his imminent death and burial, and sees this act of anointing as an
anticipation of the honour which his body will continue to merit even after
his death, indissolubly bound as it is to the mystery of his person.
The account continues, in the Synoptic Gospels, with Jesus'
charge to the disciples to prepare carefully the “large upper room”
needed for the Passover meal (cf. Mk 14:15; Lk 22:12) and with
the narration of the institution of the Eucharist. Reflecting at least in part
the Jewish rites of the Passover meal leading up to the singing of the
Hallel (cf. Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26), the story presents with
sobriety and solemnity, even in the variants of the different traditions, the
words spoken by Christ over the bread and wine, which he made into concrete
expressions of the handing over of his body and the shedding of his blood. All
these details are recorded by the Evangelists in the light of a praxis of the
“breaking of the bread” already well-established in the early Church. But
certainly from the time of Jesus on, the event of Holy Thursday has shown
visible traces of a liturgical “sensibility” shaped by Old Testament
tradition and open to being reshaped in Christian celebrations in a way
consonant with the new content of Easter.
48. Like the woman who anointed Jesus in Bethany, the
Church has feared no “extravagance”, devoting the best of her
resources to expressing her wonder and adoration before the unsurpassable
gift of the Eucharist. No less than the first disciples charged with
preparing the “large upper room”, she has felt the need, down the
centuries and in her encounters with different cultures, to celebrate the
Eucharist in a setting worthy of so great a mystery. In the wake of Jesus' own
words and actions, and building upon the ritual heritage of Judaism, the Christian
liturgy was born. Could there ever be an adequate means of expressing the
acceptance of that self-gift which the divine Bridegroom continually makes to
his Bride, the Church, by bringing the Sacrifice offered once and for all on
the Cross to successive generations of believers and thus becoming nourishment
for all the faithful? Though the idea of a “banquet” naturally suggests
familiarity, the Church has never yielded to the temptation to trivialize this
“intimacy” with her Spouse by forgetting that he is also her Lord and that
the “banquet” always remains a sacrificial banquet marked by the blood
shed on Golgotha. The Eucharistic Banquet is truly a “sacred” banquet,
in which the simplicity of the signs conceals the unfathomable holiness of
God: O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur! The bread which is
broken on our altars, offered to us as wayfarers along the paths of the world,
is panis angelorum, the bread of angels, which cannot be approached
except with the humility of the centurion in the Gospel: “Lord, I am not
worthy to have you come under my roof ” (Mt 8:8; Lk 7:6).
49. With this heightened sense of mystery, we understand how
the faith of the Church in the mystery of the Eucharist has found historical
expression not only in the demand for an interior disposition of devotion, but
also in outward forms meant to evoke and emphasize the grandeur of the
event being celebrated. This led progressively to the development of a
particular form of regulating the Eucharistic liturgy, with due respect
for the various legitimately constituted ecclesial traditions. On this
foundation a rich artistic heritage also developed. Architecture,
sculpture, painting and music, moved by the Christian mystery, have found in
the Eucharist, both directly and indirectly, a source of great inspiration.
Such was the case, for example, with architecture, which
witnessed the transition, once the historical situation made it possible, from
the first places of Eucharistic celebration in the domus or “homes”
of Christian families to the solemn basilicas of the early centuries,
to the imposing cathedrals of the Middle Ages, and to the churches,
large and small, which gradually sprang up throughout the lands touched by
Christianity. The designs of altars and tabernacles within Church interiors
were often not simply motivated by artistic inspiration but also by a clear
understanding of the mystery. The same could be said for sacred music,
if we but think of the inspired Gregorian melodies and the many, often great,
composers who sought to do justice to the liturgical texts of the Mass.
Similarly, can we overlook the enormous quantity of artistic production,
ranging from fine craftsmanship to authentic works of art, in the area of
Church furnishings and vestments used for the celebration of the Eucharist?
It can be said that the Eucharist, while shaping the Church
and her spirituality, has also powerfully affected “culture”, and the arts
in particular.
50. In this effort to adore the mystery grasped in its ritual
and aesthetic dimensions, a certain “competition” has taken place between
Christians of the West and the East. How could we not give particular thanks
to the Lord for the contributions to Christian art made by the great
architectural and artistic works of the Greco-Byzantine tradition and of the
whole geographical area marked by Slav culture? In the East, sacred art has
preserved a remarkably powerful sense of mystery, which leads artists to see
their efforts at creating beauty not simply as an expression of their own
talents, but also as a genuine service to the faith. Passing well
beyond mere technical skill, they have shown themselves docile and open to the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The architectural and mosaic splendours of the Christian East
and West are a patrimony belonging to all believers; they contain a hope, and
even a pledge, of the desired fullness of communion in faith and in
celebration. This would presuppose and demand, as in Rublëv's famous
depiction of the Trinity, a profoundly Eucharistic Church in which the
presence of the mystery of Christ in the broken bread is as it were immersed
in the ineffable unity of the three divine Persons, making of the Church
herself an “icon” of the Trinity.
Within this context of an art aimed at expressing, in all its
elements, the meaning of the Eucharist in accordance with the Church's
teaching, attention needs to be given to the norms regulating the
construction and decor of sacred buildings. As history shows and as I
emphasized in my Letter
to Artists,100 the Church has always left ample room for the creativity of artists. But sacred
art must be outstanding for its ability to express adequately the mystery
grasped in the fullness of the Church's faith and in accordance with the
pastoral guidelines appropriately laid down by competent Authority. This holds
true both for the figurative arts and for sacred music.
51. The development of sacred art and liturgical discipline
which took place in lands of ancient Christian heritage is also taking place
on continents where Christianity is younger. This was precisely the
approach supported by the Second Vatican Council on the need for sound and
proper “inculturation”. In my numerous Pastoral Visits I have seen,
throughout the world, the great vitality which the celebration of the
Eucharist can have when marked by the forms, styles and sensibilities of
different cultures. By adaptation to the changing conditions of time and
place, the Eucharist offers sustenance not only to individuals but to entire
peoples, and it shapes cultures inspired by Christianity.
It is necessary, however, that this important work of
adaptation be carried out with a constant awareness of the ineffable mystery
against which every generation is called to measure itself. The “treasure” is too
important and precious to risk impoverishment or compromise through forms of
experimentation or practices introduced without a careful review on the part of
the competent ecclesiastical authorities. Furthermore, the centrality of the
Eucharistic mystery demands that any such review must be undertaken in close
association with the Holy See. As I wrote in my Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Ecclesia in
Asia, “such cooperation is essential because
the Sacred Liturgy expresses and celebrates the one faith professed by all and,
being the heritage of the whole Church, cannot be determined by local Churches
in isolation from the universal Church”.101
52. All of this makes clear the great responsibility which
belongs to priests in particular for the celebration of the Eucharist. It is
their responsibility to preside at the Eucharist in persona Christi and
to provide a witness to and a service of communion not only for the community
directly taking part in the celebration, but also for the universal Church,
which is a part of every Eucharist. It must be lamented that, especially in
the years following the post-conciliar liturgical reform, as a result of a
misguided sense of creativity and adaptation there have been a number of
abuses which have been a source of suffering for many. A certain reaction
against “formalism” has led some, especially in certain regions, to consider the “forms” chosen
by the Church's great liturgical tradition and her Magisterium as non-binding
and to introduce unauthorized innovations which are often completely
inappropriate.
I consider it my duty, therefore to appeal urgently that the
liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great
fidelity. These norms are a concrete expression of the authentically ecclesial
nature of the Eucharist; this is their deepest meaning. Liturgy is never
anyone's private property, be it of the celebrant or of the community in which
the mysteries are celebrated. The Apostle Paul had to address fiery words to
the community of Corinth because of grave shortcomings in their celebration of
the Eucharist resulting in divisions (schismata) and the emergence of
factions (haireseis) (cf. 1 Cor 11:17-34). Our time, too, calls
for a renewed awareness and appreciation of liturgical norms as a reflection
of, and a witness to, the one universal Church made present in every
celebration of the Eucharist. Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according
to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to those norms, quietly
but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church. Precisely to bring out
more clearly this deeper meaning of liturgical norms, I have asked the
competent offices of the Roman Curia to prepare a more specific document,
including prescriptions of a juridical nature, on this very important subject.
No one is permitted to undervalue the mystery entrusted to our hands: it is
too great for anyone to feel free to treat it lightly and with disregard for
its sacredness and its universality.
CHAPTER SIX
AT THE SCHOOL OF MARY, “WOMAN OF THE EUCHARIST”
53. If we wish to rediscover in all its richness the profound
relationship between the Church and the Eucharist, we cannot neglect Mary,
Mother and model of the Church. In my Apostolic Letter Rosarium
Virginis Mariae, I pointed to the Blessed Virgin Mary as our teacher
in contemplating Christ's face, and among the mysteries of light I included
the institution of the Eucharist.102 Mary can guide us towards this most holy sacrament, because she herself has a
profound relationship with it.
At first glance, the Gospel is silent on this subject. The
account of the institution of the Eucharist on the night of Holy Thursday
makes no mention of Mary. Yet we know that she was present among the Apostles
who prayed “with one accord” (cf. Acts 1:14) in the first
community which gathered after the Ascension in expectation of Pentecost.
Certainly Mary must have been present at the Eucharistic celebrations of the
first generation of Christians, who were devoted to “the breaking of
bread” (Acts 2:42).
But in addition to her sharing in the Eucharistic banquet, an
indirect picture of Mary's relationship with the Eucharist can be had,
beginning with her interior disposition. Mary is a “woman of the
Eucharist” in her whole life. The Church, which looks to Mary as a
model, is also called to imitate her in her relationship with this most holy
mystery.
54. Mysterium fidei! If the Eucharist is a mystery of
faith which so greatly transcends our understanding as to call for sheer
abandonment to the word of God, then there can be no one like Mary to act as
our support and guide in acquiring this disposition. In repeating what Christ
did at the Last Supper in obedience to his command: “Do this in memory of
me!”, we also accept Mary's invitation to obey him without hesitation: “Do
whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). With the same maternal concern which
she showed at the wedding feast of Cana, Mary seems to say to us: “Do not
waver; trust in the words of my Son. If he was able to change water into wine,
he can also turn bread and wine into his body and blood, and through this
mystery bestow on believers the living memorial of his passover, thus becoming
the 'bread of life'”.
55. In a certain sense Mary lived her Eucharistic faith even
before the institution of the Eucharist, by the very fact that she offered
her virginal womb for the Incarnation of God's Word. The Eucharist, while
commemorating the passion and resurrection, is also in continuity with the
incarnation. At the Annunciation Mary conceived the Son of God in the physical
reality of his body and blood, thus anticipating within herself what to some
degree happens sacramentally in every believer who receives, under the signs
of bread and wine, the Lord's body and blood.
As a result, there is a profound analogy between the Fiat which
Mary said in reply to the angel, and the Amen which every believer says
when receiving the body of the Lord. Mary was asked to believe that the One
whom she conceived “through the Holy Spirit” was “the Son of God” (Lk
1:30-35). In continuity with the Virgin's faith, in the Eucharistic mystery we
are asked to believe that the same Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary,
becomes present in his full humanity and divinity under the signs of bread and
wine.
“Blessed is she who believed” (Lk 1:45). Mary also
anticipated, in the mystery of the incarnation, the Church's Eucharistic
faith. When, at the Visitation, she bore in her womb the Word made flesh, she
became in some way a “tabernacle”—the first “tabernacle” in
history—in which the Son of God, still invisible to our human gaze,
allowed himself to be adored by Elizabeth, radiating his light as it were
through the eyes and the voice of Mary. And is not the enraptured gaze of Mary
as she contemplated the face of the newborn Christ and cradled him in her arms
that unparalleled model of love which should inspire us every time we receive
Eucharistic communion?
56. Mary, throughout her life at Christ's side and not only on
Calvary, made her own the sacrificial dimension of the Eucharist. When
she brought the child Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem “to present him to
the Lord” (Lk 2:22), she heard the aged Simeon announce that the
child would be a “sign of contradiction” and that a sword would also
pierce her own heart (cf. Lk 2:34-35). The tragedy of her Son's
crucifixion was thus foretold, and in some sense Mary's Stabat Mater at
the foot of the Cross was foreshadowed. In her daily preparation for Calvary,
Mary experienced a kind of “anticipated Eucharist”—one might say a
“spiritual communion”—of desire and of oblation, which would culminate
in her union with her Son in his passion, and then find expression after
Easter by her partaking in the Eucharist which the Apostles celebrated as the
memorial of that passion.
What must Mary have felt as she heard from the mouth of Peter,
John, James and the other Apostles the words spoken at the Last Supper:
“This is my body which is given for you” (Lk 22:19)? The body given
up for us and made present under sacramental signs was the same body which she
had conceived in her womb! For Mary, receiving the Eucharist must have somehow
meant welcoming once more into her womb that heart which had beat in unison
with hers and reliving what she had experienced at the foot of the Cross.
57. “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). In
the “memorial” of Calvary all that Christ accomplished by his passion and
his death is present. Consequently all that Christ did with regard to his
Mother for our sake is also present. To her he gave the beloved disciple
and, in him, each of us: “Behold, your Son!”. To each of us he also says:
“Behold your mother!” (cf. Jn 19: 26-27).
Experiencing the memorial of Christ's death in the Eucharist
also means continually receiving this gift. It means accepting—like John—the one who is given to us anew as our Mother. It also means taking on a
commitment to be conformed to Christ, putting ourselves at the school of his
Mother and allowing her to accompany us. Mary is present, with the Church and
as the Mother of the Church, at each of our celebrations of the Eucharist. If
the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said
of Mary and the Eucharist. This is one reason why, since ancient times, the
commemoration of Mary has always been part of the Eucharistic celebrations of
the Churches of East and West.
58. In the Eucharist the Church is completely united to Christ
and his sacrifice, and makes her own the spirit of Mary. This truth can be
understood more deeply by re-reading the Magnificat in a Eucharistic
key. The Eucharist, like the Canticle of Mary, is first and foremost praise
and thanksgiving. When Mary exclaims: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my
spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”, she already bears Jesus in her womb. She
praises God “through” Jesus, but she also praises him “in” Jesus and
“with” Jesus. This is itself the true “Eucharistic attitude”.
At the same time Mary recalls the wonders worked by God in
salvation history in fulfilment of the promise once made to the fathers (cf. Lk
1:55), and proclaims the wonder that surpasses them all, the redemptive
incarnation. Lastly, the Magnificat reflects the eschatological tension
of the Eucharist. Every time the Son of God comes again to us in the
“poverty” of the sacramental signs of bread and wine, the seeds of that
new history wherein the mighty are “put down from their thrones” and
“those of low degree are exalted” (cf. Lk 1:52), take root in the
world. Mary sings of the “new heavens” and the “new earth” which find
in the Eucharist their anticipation and in some sense their programme and
plan. The Magnificat expresses Mary's spirituality, and there is
nothing greater than this spirituality for helping us to experience the
mystery of the Eucharist. The Eucharist has been given to us so that our life,
like that of Mary, may become completely a Magnificat!
CONCLUSION
59. Ave, verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine! Several
years ago I celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of my priesthood. Today I have
the grace of offering the Church this Encyclical on the Eucharist on the Holy
Thursday which falls during the twenty-fifth year of my Petrine ministry.
As I do so, my heart is filled with gratitude. For over a half century, every
day, beginning on 2 November 1946, when I celebrated my first Mass in the
Crypt of Saint Leonard in Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, my eyes have gazed in
recollection upon the host and the chalice, where time and space in some way
“merge” and the drama of Golgotha is re-presented in a living way, thus
revealing its mysterious “contemporaneity”. Each day my faith has been
able to recognize in the consecrated bread and wine the divine Wayfarer who
joined the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and opened their eyes to the
light and their hearts to new hope (cf. Lk 24:13-35).
Allow me, dear brothers and sisters, to share with deep
emotion, as a means of accompanying and strengthening your faith, my own
testimony of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist. Ave verum corpus natum de
Maria Virgine, vere passum, immolatum, in cruce pro homine! Here is the
Church's treasure, the heart of the world, the pledge of the fulfilment for
which each man and woman, even unconsciously, yearns. A great and transcendent
mystery, indeed, and one that taxes our mind's ability to pass beyond
appearances. Here our senses fail us: visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
in the words of the hymn Adoro Te Devote; yet faith alone, rooted in
the word of Christ handed down to us by the Apostles, is sufficient for us.
Allow me, like Peter at the end of the Eucharistic discourse in John's Gospel,
to say once more to Christ, in the name of the whole Church and in the name of
each of you: “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life” (Jn 6:68).
60. At the dawn of this third millennium, we, the children of
the Church, are called to undertake with renewed enthusiasm the journey of
Christian living. As I wrote in my Apostolic Letter Novo
Millennio Ineunte, “it is not a matter of inventing a 'new programme'.
The programme already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the
living Tradition; it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its centre in
Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may
live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its
fulfilment in the heavenly Jerusalem”.103 The implementation of this programme of a renewed impetus in Christian living
passes through the Eucharist.
Every commitment to holiness, every activity aimed at carrying
out the Church's mission, every work of pastoral planning, must draw the
strength it needs from the Eucharistic mystery and in turn be directed to that
mystery as its culmination. In the Eucharist we have Jesus, we have his
redemptive sacrifice, we have his resurrection, we have the gift of the Holy
Spirit, we have adoration, obedience and love of the Father. Were we to
disregard the Eucharist, how could we overcome our own deficiency?
61. The mystery of the Eucharist—sacrifice, presence,
banquet—does not allow for reduction or exploitation; it must be
experienced and lived in its integrity, both in its celebration and in the
intimate converse with Jesus which takes place after receiving communion or in
a prayerful moment of Eucharistic adoration apart from Mass. These are times
when the Church is firmly built up and it becomes clear what she truly is:
one, holy, catholic and apostolic; the people, temple and family of God; the
body and bride of Christ, enlivened by the Holy Spirit; the universal
sacrament of salvation and a hierarchically structured communion.
The path taken by the Church in these first years of the third
millennium is also a path of renewed ecumenical commitment. The final
decades of the second millennium, culminating in the Great Jubilee, have
spurred us along this path and called for all the baptized to respond to the
prayer of Jesus “ut unum sint ” (Jn 17:11). The path itself
is long and strewn with obstacles greater than our human resources alone can
overcome, yet we have the Eucharist, and in its presence we can hear in the
depths of our hearts, as if they were addressed to us, the same words heard by
the Prophet Elijah: “Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for
you” (1 Kg 19:7). The treasure of the Eucharist, which the Lord
places before us, impels us towards the goal of full sharing with all our
brothers and sisters to whom we are joined by our common Baptism. But if this
treasure is not to be squandered, we need to respect the demands which derive
from its being the sacrament of communion in faith and in apostolic
succession.
By giving the Eucharist the prominence it deserves, and by
being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that
we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift. We are urged to do so by
an uninterrupted tradition, which from the first centuries on has found the
Christian community ever vigilant in guarding this “treasure”. Inspired by
love, the Church is anxious to hand on to future generations of Christians,
without loss, her faith and teaching with regard to the mystery of the
Eucharist. There can be no danger of excess in our care for this mystery, for
“in this sacrament is recapitulated the whole mystery of our salvation”.104
62. Let us take our place, dear brothers and sisters, at
the school of the saints, who are the great interpreters of true
Eucharistic piety. In them the theology of the Eucharist takes on all the
splendour of a lived reality; it becomes “contagious” and, in a manner of
speaking, it “warms our hearts”. Above all, let us listen to Mary Most
Holy, in whom the mystery of the Eucharist appears, more than in anyone
else, as a mystery of light. Gazing upon Mary, we come to know the
transforming power present in the Eucharist. In her we see the world
renewed in love. Contemplating her, assumed body and soul into heaven, we see
opening up before us those “new heavens” and that “new earth” which
will appear at the second coming of Christ. Here below, the Eucharist
represents their pledge, and in a certain way, their anticipation: “Veni,
Domine Iesu!” (Rev 22:20).
In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body
and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the
journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope. If, in
the presence of this mystery, reason experiences its limits, the heart,
enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, clearly sees the response that is
demanded, and bows low in adoration and unbounded love.
Let us make our own the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas, an
eminent theologian and an impassioned poet of Christ in the Eucharist, and
turn in hope to the contemplation of that goal to which our hearts aspire in
their thirst for joy and peace:
Bone pastor, panis vere,
Iesu, nostri miserere...
Come then, good Shepherd, bread divine,
Still show to us
thy mercy sign;
Oh, feed us, still keep us thine;
So we may see thy
glories shine
in fields of immortality.
O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,
Our present food,
our future rest,
Come, make us each thy chosen guest,
Co-heirs of thine,
and comrades blest
With saints whose dwelling is with thee.
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 17 April, Holy
Thursday, in the year 2003, the Twenty-fifth of my Pontificate, the Year of
the Rosary.
NOTES
1Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 11.
2Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests
Presbyterorum Ordinis, 5.
3Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (16 October
2002), 21: AAS 95 (2003), 19.
4This is the title which I gave to an autobiographical testimony issued for my
fiftieth anniversary of priestly ordination.
5Leonis XIII P.M. Acta, XXII (1903), 115-136.
6AAS 39 (1947), 521-595.
7AAS 57 (1965), 753-774.
8AAS 72 (1980), 113-148.
9Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium,
47: “... our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his body and
blood, in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout time, until
he should return”.
10Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1085.
11Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 3.
12Cf. Paul VI, Solemn Profession of Faith, 30 June 1968, 24: AAS 60 (1968),
442; John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980),
12: AAS 72 (1980), 142.
13Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1382.
14Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1367.
15In Epistolam ad Hebraeos Homiliae, Hom. 17,3: PG 63, 131.
16Cf. Ecumenical Council of Trent, Session XXII, Doctrina de ss. Missae
Sacrificio, Chapter 2: DS 1743: “It is one and the same victim here
offering himself by the ministry of his priests, who then offered himself on the
Cross; it is only the manner of offering that is different”.
17Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Mediator Dei (20 November 1947): AAS 39
(1947), 548.
18John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis (15 March 1979), 20:
AAS 71 (1979), 310.
19Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 11.
20De Sacramentis, V, 4, 26: CSEL 73, 70.
21In Ioannis Evangelium, XII, 20: PG 74, 726.
22Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei (3 September 1965): AAS 57 (1965), 764.
23Session XIII, Decretum de ss. Eucharistia, Chapter 4: DS 1642.
24Mystagogical Catecheses, IV, 6: SCh 126, 138.
25Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei
Verbum, 8.
26Solemn Profession of Faith, 30 June 1968, 25: AAS 60 (1968), 442-443.
27Sermo IV in Hebdomadam Sanctam: CSCO 413/Syr. 182, 55.
28Anaphora.
29Eucharistic Prayer III.
30Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Second Vespers, Antiphon to the Magnificat.
31Missale Romanum, Embolism following the Lord's Prayer.
32Ad Ephesios, 20: PG 5, 661.
33Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in
the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 39.
34“Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Do not ignore him when he is naked.
Do not pay him homage in the temple clad in silk, only then to neglect him
outside where he is cold and ill-clad. He who said: 'This is my body' is the
same who said: 'You saw me hungry and you gave me no food', and 'Whatever you
did to the least of my brothers you did also to me' ... What good is it if the
Eucharistic table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying
of hunger. Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may
adorn the altar as well”: Saint John Chrysostom, In Evangelium S. Matthaei,
hom. 50:3-4: PG 58, 508-509; cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 31: AAS 80 (1988), 553-556.
35Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 3.
36Ibid.
37Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the
Church Ad Gentes, 5.
38“Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said: 'Behold the
blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all
these words'” (Ex 24:8).
39Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 1.
40Cf. ibid., 9.
41Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Life and Ministry of
Priests Presbyterorum Ordinis, 5. The same Decree, in No. 6, says: “No
Christian community can be built up which does not grow from and hinge on the
celebration of the most holy Eucharist”.
42In Epistolam I ad Corinthios Homiliae, 24, 2: PG 61, 200; Cf. Didache, IX, 4: F.X. Funk, I, 22; Saint Cyprian,
Ep. LXIII, 13: PL 4, 384.
43PO 26, 206.
44Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 1.
45Cf. Ecumenical Council of Trent, Session XIII, Decretum de ss. Eucharistia,
Canon 4: DS 1654.
46Cf. Rituale Romanum: De sacra communione et de cultu mysterii eucharistici
extra Missam, 36 (No. 80).
47Cf. ibid., 38-39 (Nos. 86-90).
48John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001),
32: AAS 93 (2001), 288.
49“In the course of the day the faithful should not omit visiting the Blessed
Sacrament, which in accordance with liturgical law must be reserved in churches
with great reverence in a prominent place. Such visits are a sign of gratitude,
an expression of love and an acknowledgment of the Lord's presence”: Paul VI,
Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei (3 September 1965): AAS 57 (1965), 771.
50Visite al SS. Sacramento e a Maria Santissima, Introduction: Opere Ascetiche, Avellino, 2000, 295.
51No. 857.
52Ibid.
53Ibid.
54Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Sacerdotium
Ministeriale (6 August 1983), III.2: AAS 75 (1983), 1005.
55Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 10.
56Ibid.
57Cf. Institutio Generalis: Editio typica tertia, No. 147.
58Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 10 and 28; Decree
on the Ministry and Life of Priests Presbyterorum Ordinis, 2.
59“The minister of the altar acts in the person of Christ inasmuch as he is
head, making an offering in the name of all the members”: Pius XII, Encyclical
Letter Mediator Dei (20 November 1947): AAS 39 (1947), 556; cf. Pius X,
Apostolic Exhortation Haerent Animo (4 August 1908): Acta Pii X,
IV, 16; Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Ad Catholici Sacerdotii (20 December
1935): AAS 28 (1936), 20.
60Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), 8: AAS 72 (1980),
128-129.
61Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Sacerdotium Ministeriale (6
August 1983), III.4: AAS 75 (1983), 1006; cf. Fourth Lateran Ecumenical Council,
Chapter 1, Constitution on the Catholic Faith Firmiter Credimus: DS 802.
62Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio,
22.
63Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), 2: AAS 72 (1980),
115.
64Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priests Presbyterorum Ordinis, 14.
65Ibid., 13; cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 904; Code of Canons of the Eastern
Churches, Canon 378.
66Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests Presbyterorum Ordinis, 6.
67Cf. Final Report, II.C.1: L'Osservatore Romano, 10 December 1985, 7.
68Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 26.
69Nicolas Cabasilas, Life in Christ, IV, 10: SCh 355, 270.
70Camino de Perfección, Chapter 35.
71Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the
Catholic Church on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion Communionis
Notio (28 May 1992), 4: AAS 85 (1993), 839-840.
72Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 14.
73Homiliae in Isaiam,6, 3: PG 56, 139.
74No. 1385; cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 916; Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches, Canon 711.
75Address to the Members of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary and the
Penitentiaries of the Patriarchal Basilicas of Rome (30 January 1981): AAS 73
(1981), 203. Cf. Ecumenical Council of Trent, Sess. XIII, Decretum de ss.
Eucharistia, Chapter 7 and Canon 11: DS 1647, 1661.
76Canon 915; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Canon 712.
77Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 14.
78Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 73, a. 3c.
79Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the
Catholic Church on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion
Communionis Notio (28 May 1992), 11: AAS 85 (1993), 844.
80Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 23.
81Ad Smyrnaeos, 8: PG 5, 713.
82Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 23.
83Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the
Catholic Church on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion
Communionis Notio (28 May 1992), 14: AAS 85 (1993), 847.
84Sermo272: PL 38, 1247.
85Ibid., 1248.
86Cf. Nos. 31-51: AAS 90 (1998), 731-746.
87Cf. ibid., Nos. 48-49: AAS 90 (1998), 744.
88No. 36: AAS 93 (2001), 291-292.
89Cf. Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 1.
90Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 11.
91“Join all of us, who share the one bread and the one cup, to one another in
the communion of the one Holy Spirit”: Anaphora of the Liturgy of Saint
Basil.
92Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 908; Code of Canons of the Eastern
Churches, Canon 702; Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian
Unity, Ecumenical Directory, 25 March 1993, 122-125, 129-131: AAS 85
(1993), 1086-1089; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Ad
Exsequendam, 18 May 2001: AAS 93 (2001), 786.
93“Divine law forbids any common worship which would damage the unity of the
Church, or involve formal acceptance of falsehood or the danger of deviation in
the faith, of scandal, or of indifferentism”: Decree on the Eastern Catholic
Churches Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 26.
94No. 45: AAS 87 (1995), 948.
95Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 27.
96Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 844 §§ 3-4; Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches, Canon 671 §§ 3-4.
97No. 46: AAS 87 (1995), 948.
98Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis
Redintegratio, 22.
99Code of Canon Law, Canon 844; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Canon 671.
100Cf. AAS 91 (1999), 1155-1172.
101No. 22: AAS 92 (2000), 485.
102Cf. No. 21: AAS 95 (2003), 20.
103No. 29: AAS 93 (2001), 285.
104Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q. 83, a. 4c.
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