THE MINISTER OF THE

EUCHARIST

PRIEST and BISHOPThey act in persona

Christi, meaning, “in the person of Christ”. In the New Testament there is only one priest, Jesus, and all those called to the priesthood, from the Apostles till the last ordained presbyter, act on his behalf. This means that whenever we look at the celebrant of the Mass, with the eyes of the body we see a man, but with the eyes of faith we see Jesus Christ himself.

THE MATTER OF THE

EUCHARIST

UNLEAVENED BREADFollowing the example of Jesus during the Last Supper, the bread must be made of flour from wheat, without yeast, salt, or any other ingredient. The Unleavened bread was used by the Jews since they left the land of Egypt, and commemorates the haste of the departure. (Exodus 12:17)

GRAPE WINEThe wine must be “the

fruit of the vine”, as specified by the Gospel (Matthew 26:29), and it has to be pure. Without any addition of chemicals, coloring or preservatives.

THE FORM OF THE

EUCHARIST

The form of the Eucharist are the words of the Consecration, namely:“Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you. Take this, all of you, and drink of it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”

EUCHARISTIC SYMBOLS

WHEAT: the symbol of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us through his broken body in death.

CHALICE & GRAPES: symbols of the cup of forgiveness and the new covenant we have in his blood.

ALPHA & OMEGA: They are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, signifying that Christ is “the beginning and the end” of creation. (Revelation 22:13)

CHI-RHO: It is a symbol made by superimposing the first two letters of Christ in Greek, the Chi (X) and the Rho(R). Emperor Constantine saw this symbol in the sky, and heard the words “By this sign, conquer.”