Diocese of Covington - Messenger at 402 E. 21st Street, Covington, KY 41015 US - Words of Consecration

Priest:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT,

FOR THIS IS MY BODY,

WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU. 

Priest:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM 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 MANY

FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 

DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. 

Words of Consecration

The Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy (<<Sacrosanctum Concilium>>) from the Second Vatican Council reminds us that the liturgy is the source and the summit of the Christian life.  And at the heart of all liturgical prayer is the Church's celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist, for Jesus Christ makes Himself uniquely and substantially present in that celebration. 

In His infinite wisdom, God recognizes that we as human beings must experience reality within the tangible realm, including those realities which belong to the spiritual realm.  Therefore, He has given us sacraments, which at their most basic level are the visible expression of an invisible reality.  In other words, sacraments allow us to experience and participate in spiritual or Heavenly things.   

Our participation in Heavenly things finds their culmination in the Holy Mass when the ordained priest speaks the words of consecration over the bread and the wine.  At that particular moment in the Sacred Liturgy, space and time cease to exist.  In a manner of speaking the entire congregation gathered in prayer is transported to the hill of Calvary and stands at the foot of the cross; and yet simultaneously we are seated in the Upper Room as Jesus gives His Sacred Body and Blood to the Apostles for the first time; and too we find ourselves in Heaven with the saints and the angels participating in the Heavenly wedding banquet of the Lamb of God. 

It is important to understand, as best as we are able, the mystery that unfolds before us when we participate in the celebration of the Holy Mass.  The words of consecration in the 3^rd Edition of the Roman Missal have not changed.  However, the English translation of those words has.  The revised translation seeks to express the mystery of our participation in Heavenly things more clearly by translating more exactly the original Latin text.  Notice that the word "chalice" has replaced the word "cup" in the revised translation.  While most likely Jesus did not use an actual chalice when He instituted the Eucharist, we must remember that we are not giving a historical account of a past event.  We are participating in a present and eternal event in which Jesus Christ is the celebrant, thereby making a simple cup a sacred chalice. 

As with all the Sacraments, Jesus is the primary act-er of the Eucharist. They are His hands (through the ordained minister) which grasp the bread and the chalice filled with wine.  They are His words spoken in the first person through the priest.  He is both the priest and the victim.  The sacrifice of the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the Cross — it culminates in God being glorified and humanity being sanctified.  As Christ gives Himself to us in the Eucharist, let us model our lives after His — one of self-gift and in so doing fall more in love with our Eucharistic Lord.