The Eucharist is a common ritual in many Christian churches. It is also called holy communion, the sacrament, or the Lord’s supper.
The Eucharist started at the Last Supper (Jesus’ last meal with his followers). At the supper, Jesus told his followers to eat bread and drink wine as a way to remember him. He called the bread his body and called the wine his blood.
Today, many Christian churchgoers re-enact this moment by eating bread and drinking wine.
According to the Catholic Church, Jesus is present in the Eucharist. This means that during a Catholic Mass, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus.
In most Protestant churches, the sacrament involves eating small wafers and drinking wine or grape juice.
Most Protestants do not believe that the bread and wine become Jesus. Instead, they believe that these are important symbols used to remember Jesus.
Text adapted from Simple English Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0.
Eucharist during Sunday services, Stella Maris Parish, San Juan, Puerto Rico, photo by Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 2.0.
