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The Holy Eucharist

Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord’s Supper, in Christianity, ritual commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, at which (according to tradition) he gave them bread with the words, “This is my body,” and wine with the words, “This is my blood…………”
Once we become members of Christ’s family, He does not let us go hungry, but feeds us with His own Body and Blood through the Holy Eucharist.

This lamb prefigured Jesus. He is the real “Lamb of God,” Who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Through Jesus we enter into a New Covenant with God (Luke 22:20), Who protects us from eternal death. God’s Old Testament people ate the Passover lamb. Now we must eat the lamb that is the Eucharist. Jesus said, “unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood you have no life within you” (John 6:53)
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At the Last Supper He took bread and wine and said, “Take and eat. This is My body…This is My blood which will be shed for you” (Mark 14:22-24). In this way Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrificial meal Catholics consume at each Mass.

Paul reminds us that the bread and the wine really become, by a miracle of God’s grace, the actual Body and Blood of Jesus: “Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1Corinthians 11:27-29).

After the consecration of the bread and wine, no bread or wine remains on the altar. Only Jesus Himself, under the appearance of bread and wine remains.

At Ascension, the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is typically received in the second grade after two years of preparation through the Cathecism Classes.

To receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eurcharist for the first time as an adult and for children, please contact the Parish Secretary on +234 8021115555 for more information..

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.
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.

The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross occurred “once for all;” it cannot be repeated (Hebrews 9;28). Christ does not “die again” during Mass, but the very same sacrifice that occurred on Calvary is made present on the altar. That’s why the Mass is not “another” sacrifice, but a participation in the same, once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

The story of the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus on the night before his Crucifixion is reported in four books of the New Testament (Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:17–20; and I Corinthians 11:23–25). The letters of the Apostle Paul and the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament demonstrate that early Christians believed that this institution included a mandate to continue the celebration as an anticipation in this life of the joys of the banquet that was to come in the Kingdom of God.

The Eucharist has formed a central rite of Christian worship. All Christians would agree that it is a memorial action in which, by eating bread and drinking wine (or, for some Protestants, grape juice or water), the church recalls what Jesus Christ was, said, and did. They would also agree that participation in the Eucharist enhances and deepens the communion of believers not only with Christ but also with one another.