Blessed Sacrament

The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, some Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the altar bread and altar wine after it has been consecrated at celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist. In the Byzantine Rite, the terms Holy Gifts and Divine Mysteries are used to refer to the consecrated elements. Christians in these traditions believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the eucharistic elements of the bread and wine and some of them, therefore, practice eucharistic reservation and eucharistic adoration. This belief is based on interpretations of biblical scripture and tradition. The Roman Catholic understanding is defined by numerous church councils, including the Fourth Lateran Council and the Council of Trent and is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which explains the meaning of transubstantiation).