The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that
The Eucharist has been a key theme in the depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art, as in this 16th-century Juan de Juanes painting, after Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.
A Kremikovtsi Monastery fresco (15th century) depicting the Last Supper celebrated by Jesus and his disciples. The early Christians would also have celebrated this meal to commemorate Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection.
Eucharistic window (1898–1900) by Józef Mehoffer
Christ with the Eucharist, Vicente Juan Masip, 16th century
Transubstantiation is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of the whole substance of wine into th
Eucharist
…and wine. It maintains that by the consecration, the substances of the bread and wine actually become the substances of the body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation) while the form and appearances of the bread and wine remain unaltered (e.g. colour, taste, feel, and smell). The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox…
The Eucharist, which the Catholic Church teaches to be the real presence of Christ, exposed for adoration at Saint Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno, Nevada
A 3rd-century fresco in the Catacomb of Callixtus, which Joseph Wilpert interprets as depicting Christ's multiplication of the loaves and fishes (a symbol of Eucharistic consecration) and the deceased attaining eternal happiness through participation in the Eucharist.
The Last Supper (upper image) and preparatory washing of feet (lower image) in a 1220 manuscript in the Baden State Library, Karlsruhe, Germany
Title page of Martin Luther's De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae