Consecration

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious.

The word "consecration" literally means "setting apart."

Catholic Church

In regard to the Eucharist, the term consecration refers to those words/actions/intentions by which bread and wine are set apart or set aside for their sacred use.

The understanding in the Catholic Church is that the gifts (bread and wine) are consecrated during the Words of Institution amid the Canon of the Mass. In the western or Latin Church, the consecration is emphasized as being the Divine action in and through the Words of Institution, by which verba a priest is said to act "in persona Christi" (in the person of Christ) as the physical and personal instrument through which Christ is present and acting.

Consecration in a Catholic context also refers to the vowed religious life, also called the Consecrated Life.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches, emphasize the consecration as the Divine response to the Epiclesis in which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit.

Various Christian Churches

Church buildings, a chapels and altars are consecrated to the purpose of religious worship, and vessals are consecrated for the purpose of containing the Eucharistic elements, the bread and wine/the body and blood of Christ.

In the Eucharist, among Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and others closely related to these communions which accept some form of Real Presence Theology, the elements are consecrated when the presiding/celebrating minister calls upon the Holy Spirit to "make them be for us the body and blood of Christ." The elements are set apart for Holy Use as Means of Grace.

A person may be consecrated for a specific role within a religious hierarchy, or a person may consecrate his or her life in an act of devotion. In particular, the ordination of a bishop is often called a consecration. In churches which follow the doctrine of Apostolic Succession (the historic episcopate) the bishops who consecrate a new bishop are known as the consecrators and form an unbroken line of succession back to the Apostles. Also, those who take the vows of religious life are said to be living a consecrated life.

Mormons

In the Latter Day Saint tradition, consecration involved the giving of member's worldly possessions to the church in a type of voluntary religious communism, which was practiced off and on during the 19th century, but is now extremely rare among Latter Day Saint denominations. See Law of Consecration.

Other religions

Hinduism, Buddhism, Wicca, and Thelema all use the term.

External links

Roman Catholic view at New Advent "Catholic Encyclopedia

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