The Words of Institution (also called the Words of Consecration) are words echoing those of Jesus himself at his Last Supper that, when consecrating bread and wine, Christian Eucharistic liturgies include in a narrative of that event. Eucharistic scholars sometimes refer to them simply as the verba (Latin for "words").
Almost all existing ancient Christian Churches (such as the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Coptic, Mar Thoma and other churches of Oriental Orthodoxy) explicitly include the Words of Institution in their Eucharistic celebrations, and consider them necessary for the validity of the sacrament (as well as a valid sacramental priesthood). The Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari is the only ancient Mass ritual still in use that does not explicitly contain Words of Institution. This Anaphora is used for part of the year by the Assyrian Church of the East and (often in adapted form) by the Chaldean Catholic Church (which is one of the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church), and (with the Words of Institution added) by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (another of the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church). The Catholic Church has explicitly recognized the validity of this Mass ritual in its original form, without explicit mention of the Words of Institution, saying that "the words of Eucharistic Institution are indeed present in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, not in a coherent narrative way and ad litteram, but rather in a dispersed euchological way, that is, integrated in successive prayers of thanksgiving, praise and intercession."
No formula of Words of Institution in any liturgy is claimed to be an exact reproduction of words that Jesus used, presumably in the Aramaic language, at his Last Supper. The formulas generally combine words from the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke and the Pauline account in 1 Corinthians 11:24-25. They may even insert other words, such as the phrase "Mysterium fidei" which for many centuries was found within the Roman Rite Words of Institution, until removed in 1970.
Read more about Words Of Institution: Early Liturgies
Famous quotes containing the words words of, words and/or institution:
“The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
—Bible: Hebrew Psalm LV (l. LV, 21–22)
“Let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 1:5-6.
“La la la, Oh music swims back to me
and I can feel the tune they played
the night they left me
in this private institution on a hill.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)