The Symbolism of Eucharistic Bread

Abstract

The liturgy wants to teach us in three different ways. Through the Word of God, which is a constitutive element of the liturgy. We can discern the doctrine of the Church in the prayers (euchology), because "lex orandi lex credendi". Sacramental signs and symbols and the rites of the liturgy are also important in sacramental catechesis. For this reason, Sacrosanctum Concilium recommends that we understand the sacraments "by means of the rites and prayers" (SC 48). This means that the understanding of the words and gestures of the liturgy is linked to a catechesis which, starting from the anthropological sense, makes us understand the symbolic-salvific value they have in relation to events and words from the history of Israel and the life of Christ. In this essay we will see that the symbolism of the Eucharistic bread has a theological meaning. The Eucharistic Bread as "broken bread" is food and a sign of Christian unity.