✝️ Institution of the Holy Eucharist

Jesus Himself instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper.

The Holy Eucharist is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, made present under the appearance of bread and wine. The Church teaches that Jesus instituted the Eucharist on the night before His Passion — Holy Thursday, during the Last Supper.

This moment is recorded in the Gospels and in 1 Corinthians, making it historically and scripturally undeniable.

📖 1. Biblical Evidence of the Institution

Here are the four primary Scripture passages where Jesus institutes the Eucharist:

Matthew 26:26–28

“Take, eat; this is My body… Drink of it… for this is My blood of the covenant.”

🔗 Source:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A26-28&version=RSVCE

Mark 14:22–24

Very similar to Matthew:

“This is My body… This is My blood of the covenant, poured out for many.”

🔗 Source:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+14%3A22-24&version=RSVCE

Luke 22:19–20

Luke adds the key command “Do this in remembrance of me.”

“This is My body which is given for you… This cup is the new covenant in My blood.”

🔗 Source:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22%3A19-20&version=RSVCE

1 Corinthians 11:23–26

The earliest written record of the Eucharist (around A.D. 55).
Paul confirms that what he teaches comes directly from Jesus.

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you…”

🔗 Source:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+11%3A23-26&version=RSVCE

🍞 2. Jesus’ Eucharistic Teaching Before the Last Supper

Jesus prepares His disciples for the Eucharist in John 6:48–58, the Bread of Life discourse.

“My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.”

“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

🔗 Source:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A48-58&version=RSVCE

This teaching is so literal that many disciples left Him (John 6:60–66), yet Jesus did not correct them — showing He meant the teaching literally, not symbolically.

🕊 3. Catholic Teaching (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

The catechism clearly explains the meaning of the Institution:

CCC 1323

“At the Last Supper… our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood.”

CCC 1324

“The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.”

CCC 1337–1340

These paragraphs describe in detail how Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Passover meal.

Full Catechism reference:
🔗 https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3C.HTM

🕯 4. Early Church Fathers (Historical Evidence)

Not only Scripture — the first Christians also confirm the Real Presence.

St. Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 110)

“They abstain from the Eucharist... because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
(Letter to the Smyrnaeans 7)

Source:
🔗 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0109.htm

St. Justin Martyr (A.D. 155)

“We do not receive these as common bread or drink, but… the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus.”

Source:
🔗 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm

St. Irenaeus (A.D. 180)

“The bread… becomes the Eucharist, the Body of Christ.”

Source:
🔗 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103.htm

These writings are very early — dating back to the Apostles’ students — confirming the belief in the Real Presence and the Eucharistic institution.

🕊 5. Why Jesus Instituted the Eucharist (Meaning & Purpose)

✔ 1. To remain with us forever

(John 14:18, Matthew 28:20)

✔ 2. To give us His Body and Blood as spiritual food

(John 6)

✔ 3. To establish the New Covenant

(Luke 22:20)

✔ 4. To unite us to His sacrifice on the Cross

(1 Corinthians 11:26)

✔ 5. To give the Church the Sacrifice of the Mass

(CCC 1323–1330)

The Eucharist is both:

a sacrifice (re-presenting Calvary), and
a sacrament (feeding us with divine life).

💡 6. Simple Explanation

At the Last Supper, Jesus transformed the Passover meal into the new and eternal covenant.
He took bread and wine, changed them into His Body and Blood, and commanded His apostles to continue this act — which became the Mass.

This is the moment the Church celebrates at every Eucharistic liturgy.

The Catechumen’s Companion