Text and Rubrics of The Roman Canon - Consecration of The Bread

Consecration of The Bread

Next comes the first part of the account of the Last Supper: "Qui, pridie quam pateretur, accepit panem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas, et elevatis oculis in caelum ad te Deum Patrem suum omnipotentem, tibi gratias agens benedixit, fregit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes: hoc est enim Corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur" (On the day before he was to suffer, he took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, giving you thanks, he said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take this, all of you, and eat of it: for this is my Body, which will be given up for you).

The actions and words attributed to Jesus in this account are not exactly the same as in the account of the Last Supper in any one of the Gospels. The raising of Jesus' eyes to heaven is not mentioned in the account of the Last Supper in any of the Gospels, though this action (of course, without "to you, God, his almighty Father") is mentioned in the accounts of the first of the two multiplications of the loaves. The word "enim" (for) has also been added to the words of consecration, apparently through analogy with the consecration of the chalice.

This prayer admits of one addition in the year: on Holy Thursday the prayer begins: "On the day before he was to suffer for our salvation and the salvation of all, that is today, ...", etc.

The rubrics direct the priest to accompany the words about taking and looking up with similar actions, but the bread is not broken or distributed at this point. The priest also bows slightly while speaking the words of Jesus. He then shows the consecrated host to the people, replaces it on the paten (1970 form) or on the corporal (Tridentine form), and genuflects in adoration.

The Tridentine Missal requires the priest also to bow his head at the words "giving you thanks", to make the sign of the cross at the words "he blessed it", and to genuflect before as well as after showing the host to the people.

Before as well as after 1970, the rubric in the Missal has the phrase "shows it (the consecrated host) to the people" (in Latin, "ostendit populo") not, as some imagine, "elevates it". If the people are behind the priest, the traditional way of showing the consecrated host is by raising it above the level of the priest's head. This showing of the host was introduced in France in the twelfth century and became general in the Roman Rite in the thirteenth. However, earlier texts speak of a gesture of adoration ("the bishops, deacons, subdeacons, and priests stay in the presbytery bowing down") at the consecration itself. The genuflection, in place of the previous bow of the head, was introduced only in the fourteenth century.

The General Instruction, 150 directs: "A little before the consecration, when appropriate, a server rings a bell as a signal to the faithful. According to local custom, the server also rings the bell as the priest shows the host and then the chalice." The Tridentine Missal does not mention the first ringing, but, since 1604, states that the bell should be rung either three times or continuously while the host and the chalice are being shown (Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae, VIII, 6).