What is the Eucharist?

A dried wafer of unleavened bread, fed to communicants at Mass or Communion, and believed by Christians to represent the body of Christ

The ritual of the Mass harks back to the Last Supper, when Christ was said to have divided bread and wine and served it to the disciples, saying "Do this in memory of me." As a staple of Christian worship, it was accorded the highest status, as one of the "Seven Sacraments", and regular attendance at Mass (or Communion) was obligatory for practising Christians

Catholic and Protestant differ over "transubstantiation". A difficult concept for the modern mind. Put simply, Protestants saw the Eucharist as merely a symbol, while Catholics believed it to be holy in itself. A point well illustrated by a Puritan fanatic, jailed in the 1600s for feeding a Communion wafer to a dog.

Catholics are taught that the body must be cleansed before receiving the Eucharist, and are expected to confess their sins and serve their allotted penance before attending Mass. Anglican/ Episcopalian Protestants, who believe in a more direct and personal relationship with God, are spared Confession, though the congregation usually makes a formal acknowledgement of their sins before receiving Communion. Calvinist, Presbyterian and Lutheran sects place a greater emphasis on faith and preaching, though most retain some formal echo of the Mass.