Definition: The Eucharist is another name for Holy Communion.

The term comes from the Greek by way of Latin, and it means "thanksgiving." It is used in three ways: first, to refer to the Real Presence of Christ; second, to refer to Christ's continuing action as High Priest (He "gave thanks" at the Last Supper, which began the consecration of the bread and wine); and third, to refer to the Sacrament of Holy Communion itself. Many people refer to the Mass as "the Eucharist," but such a use is incorrect. The Mass is made up of two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Mass is more than simply the Sacrament of Holy Communion. 343. What is the Holy Eucharist? The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament and a sacrifice. In the Holy Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, the Lord Christ is contained, offered, and received. (a) The whole Christ is really, truly, and substantially present in the Holy Eucharist. We use the words "really, truly, and substantially" to describe Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist in order to distinguish Our Lord's teaching from that of mere men who falsely teach that the Holy Eucharist is only a sign or figure of Christ, or that He is present only by His power. (b) All Christians, with but few minor exceptions, held the true doctrine of the Real Presence from the time of Christ until the Protestant Revolution in the sixteenth century. (c) The word "Eucharist" means "Thanksgiving." II. WHAT IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED? 1328 The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called: Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein141 and eulogein142 recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal - God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. 1329 The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.143 The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meat when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread,144 above all at the Last Supper.145 It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection,146 and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies;147 by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.148 The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church.149 1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used,150 since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Church's whole liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name. 1331 Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body.151 We also call it: the holy things (ta hagia; sancta)152 - the first meaning of the phrase "communion of saints" in the Apostles' Creed - the bread of angels, bread from heaven, medicine of immortality,153 viaticum. . . .

1332 Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives.
Forms:

78. The Form of the Holy Eucharist

1. The form of a sacrament is the authentic,authoritative, and effective set of words which constitute thematter (or sign) as a sacrament. The form of the HolyEucharist is the consecrating formula of words used in Holy Mass:"This is my body . . . This is my blood." 2. The form of the Holy Eucharist is found in HolyScripture (Matt. 26:27, 28). It consists of the words used by ourLord himself when he instituted this great sacrament. 3. The words of institution, reported by three of the fourEvangelists, were words of instruction to the apostles, whoemployed them as the form of the sacrament of Holy Eucharist. 4. The words of consecration at Mass, uttered by a dulyordained priest who is, in this action, the instrument of Christ,actually change the bread and wine into the substance of Christhimself. Christ is the chief priest at every Mass, for he is theprincipal cause of tran-substantiation, and his power flows throughthe priest (the instrumental cause) who utters the consecratingwords (the form of Holy Eucharist) in the name and thePerson of Christ. 5. The words (that is, the form of thissacrament) are not uttered by the consecrating priest as words of anarrative; they are not merely descriptive or historical words. Thewords are uttered with efficacious power to do and to accomplishwhat they say. The power of the words comes from the divine powerof Christ, in whose Person and by whose direction and will they areuttered over bread and wine by the consecrating priest. 6. The priest pronounces the words of consecration overthe bread, and afterwards over the wine. Some have mistakenlythought that the effectiveness of the words of consecration issuspended, so to speak, until all of them are uttered. Thetruth is that the words of consecration are effective the instantthat they are pronounced. When the consecrating priest says,"This is my body," Christ is instantly present under theappearance of bread; and when, a moment afterwards, the priestsays, "This is my blood," Christ is at once present underthe appearance of wine. There are three forms of the Eucharist presently in use in the Orthodox Church: 1. The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which is the most frequently celebrated. 2. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, which is celebrated only ten times a year. 3. The Liturgy of St. James which is celebrated on October 23, the feastday of the Saint. While these saints did not compose the entire liturgy which bears their names, it is probable that they did author many of the prayers. The structure and basic elements of the three liturgies are similar, although there are differences in some hymns and prayers. In addition to these Liturgies, there is also the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts. This is not truly a eucharistic liturgy but rather an evening Vesper Service followed by the distribution of Holy Communion reserved from the previous Sunday. This liturgy is celebrated only on weekday mornings or evenings during Lent, and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week, when the full Eucharist is not permitted because of its Resurrection spirit. The Eucharist expresses the deep joy which is so central to the Gospel. The Divine Liturgy is properly celebrated only once a day. This custom serves to emphasize and maintain the unity of the local congregation. The Eucharist is always the principal Service on Sundays and Holy Days and may be celebrated on other weekdays. However, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated by the priest privately, without a congregation. The Eucharist is usually celebrated in the morning but, with the Bishop's blessing, may be offered in the evening. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has recently encouraged the celebration of the Liturgy in the evening after Vespers, on the vigil of major Feast and Saints Days. ---FORM OF THE EUCHARIST

The form to be used in the consecration of the bread is next to be treated of, not, however, in order that the faithful should be taught these mysteries, unless necessity require it; for this knowledge is not needful for those who have not received Holy Orders. The purpose (of this section) is to guard against most shameful mistakes on the part of priests, at the time of the consecration, due to ignorance of the form. Form to be used in the Consecration of the bread. We are then taught by the holy Evangelists, Matthew and Luke, and also by the Apostle, that the form consists of these words: This is my body; for it is written: Whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said: Take and eat, This is My Body (Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:23; Luke 22:10; 1 Cor. 11:24). This form of consecration having been observed by Christ the Lord has been always used by the Catholic Church. The testimonies of the Fathers, the enumeration of which would be endless, and also the decree of the Council of Florence, which is well known and accessible to all, must here be omitted, especially as the knowledge which they convey may be obtained from these words of the Savior: Do this for a commemoration of Me (Luke 22:19). For what the Lord enjoined was not only what He had done, but also what He had said; and especially is this true, since the words were uttered not only to signify, but also to accomplish. That these words constitute the form is easily proved from reason also. The form is that which signifies what is accomplished in the Sacrament; but as the preceding words signify and declare what takes place in the Eucharist, that is, the conversion of the bread into the true Body of our Lord, it therefore follows that these very words constitute the form. In this sense may be understood the words of the Evangelist: He blessed; for they seem equivalent to this: Taking bread, He blessed it, saying: This is My Body (Matt. 26:26). Not all the words used are essential. Although in the Evangelist the words, Take and eat, precede the words (This is My body), they evidently express the use only, not the consecration, of the matter. Wherefore, while they are not necessary to the consecration of the Sacrament, they are by all means to be pronounced by the priest, as is also the conjunction for in the consecration of the Body and Blood. But they are not necessary to the validity of the Sacrament, otherwise it would follow that if this Sacrament were not administered to anyone, it should not, or indeed could not, be consecrated; whereas, no one can lawfully doubt that the priest, by pronouncing the words of our Lord according to the institution and practice of the Church, truly consecrates the proper matter of the bread, even though it should afterwards never be administered. Form to be used in the Consecration of the wine. With regard to the consecration of the wine, which is the other element of this Sacrament, the priest, for the reason we have already assigned, ought of necessity to be well acquainted with, and well understand its form. We are then firmly to believe that it consists in the following words: This is the chalice of My Blood, of the new and eternal testament, the mystery of faith, which shall be shed for you and for many, to the remission of sins.10 Of these words, the greater part are taken from Scripture; but some have been preserved in the Church from apostolic tradition. Thus the words, this is the chalice, are found in St. Luke and in the Apostle (Luke 12:20; 1 Cor. 11:25); but the words that immediately follow, of My Blood, or my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for you and for many to the remission of sins, are found partly in St. Luke and partly in St. Matthew (Luke 22:20; Matt. 26:28). But the words, eternal, and the mystery of faith, have been taught us by holy tradition, the interpreter and keeper of Catholic truth. Concerning this form no one can doubt, if he here also attend in what has been already said about the form used in the consecration of the bread. The form to be used (in the consecration) of this element evidently consists of those words which signify that the substance of the wine is changed into the Blood of our Lord. Since, therefore, the words already cited clearly declare this, it is plain that no other words constitute the form. They moreover express certain admirable fruits of the Blood shed in the Passion of our Lord, fruits which pertain in a most special manner to this Sacrament. Of these, one is access to the eternal inheritance, which has come to us by right of the new and everlasting testament. Another is access to righteousness by the mystery of faith; for God hath set forth Jesus to be a propitiator through faith in His Blood, that He Himself may be just, and the justifier of him, who is of the faith of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:25). A third effect is the remission of sins.

Explanation of the form used in the Consecration of the wine. Since these very words of consecration are replete with mysteries and most appropriately suitable to the subject, they demand a more minute consideration. The words: This is the chalice of My Blood, are to be understood to mean. This is My Blood, which is contained in this chalice. The mention of the chalice made at the consecration of the Blood is right and appropriate, inasmuch as the Blood is the drink of the faithful, and this would not be sufficiently signified if it were not contained in some drinking vessel. Next follow the words: Of the new testament. These have been added that we might understand the Blood of Christ the Lord to be given not under a figure, as was done in the Old Law, of which we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews (9:18) that without blood a testament is not dedicated; but to be given to men in truth and in reality, as becomes the New Testament.11 Hence the Apostle says: Christ therefore is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of His death, they who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:15). The word eternal refers to the eternal inheritance, the right to which we acquire by the death of Christ the Lord, the eternal testator. The words mystery of faith, which are subjoined, do not exclude the reality, but signify that what lies hidden and concealed and far removed from the perception of the eye, is to be believed with firm faith. In this passage, however, these words bear a meaning different from that which they have when applied also to Baptism. Here the mystery of faith consists in seeing by faith the Blood of Christ veiled under the species of wine; but Baptism is justly called by us the Sacrament of faith, by the Greeks, the mystery of faith, because it embraces the entire profession of the Christian faith. Another reason why we call the Blood of the Lord the mystery of faith is that human reason is particularly beset with difficulty and embarrassment when faith proposes to our belief that Christ the Lord, the true Son of God, at once God and man, suffered death for us, and this death is designated by the Sacrament of His Blood. Here, therefore, rather than at the consecration of His Body, is appropriately commemorated the Passion of our Lord, by the words which shall be shed for the remission of sins. For the Blood, separately consecrated, serves to place before the eyes of all, in a more forcible manner, the Passion of our Lord, His death, and the nature of His sufferings. The additional words for you and for many, are taken, some from Matthew, some from Luke (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20), but were joined together by the Catholic Church under the guidance of the Spirit of God. They serve to declare the fruit and advantage of His Passion. For if we look to its value, we must confess that the Redeemer shed His Blood for the salvation of all; but if we look to the fruit which mankind has received from it, we shall easily find that it pertains not unto all, but to many of the human race. When therefore (our Lord) said: For you, He meant either those who were present, or those chosen from among the Jewish people, such as were, with the exception of Judas, the disciples with whom He was speaking. When He added, And for many, He wished to be understood to mean the remainder of the elect from among the Jews or Gentiles. With reason, therefore, were the words for all not used, as in this place the fruits of the Passion are alone spoken of, and to the elect only did His Passion bring the fruit of salvation. And this is the purport of the Apostle (Heb. 9:28) when he says: Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many; and also of the words of our Lord in John: I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me, because they are thine (John 17:9). Beneath the words of this consecration lie hid many other mysteries, which by frequent mediation and study of sacred things, pastors will find it easy, with the divine assistance, to discover for themselves.