The Eucharist

This volume, which is illustrated with many clear and colorful images, is a presentation of the Sacrament of the Eucharist for children and young people. Employing a didactic methodology the work begins by examining how the Eucharist was prefigured in the Old Testament and then continues to describe the Gospel accounts in which Jesus announces and institutes the Eucharist. These presentations are followed by a theological explanation of the Eucharist. There is a substantial section dedicated to the illustration of the various parts of the Holy Mass and the liturgical objects used during the Eucharistic celebration. Furthermore, the work includes a section that discusses the importance of the Eucharist for the People of God. The Eucharist forms the heart and the high point of the Church’s life because in the Eucharist Christ associates the entire Church and all his members to his own sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered to the Father once and for all on the Cross: by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation upon his body the Church.

RAFFAELLO MARTINELLI (S.E. Rev. ma Mons Raffaello Martinelli)

The author is a priest of the diocese of Bergamo. Having completed his Doctorate in Sacred Theology with a specialization in pastoral catechesis at the Lateran University in Rome and a Degree in Education at the Catholic University of Milan, he has been employed at the Vatican in the service of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1980. It was in this Dicastery that he worked for over twenty-three years with His Eminence Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. Mons. Martinelli was the co-ordinator of the preparatory work for the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and was charged, as a redactor and co-ordinator of the committee with the preparation of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Since 1987 he has been the Rector of the International Ecclesiastical College of Saint Charles, and Primicerio of the Basilica of Saints Ambrose and Charles on the Via del Corso in Rome.

He is also a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness.

In addition Mons. Martinelli has published several catechetical works which include:

Note di pastorale catechistica (Rome 1985); Missione inculturata (Rome 1987); Incontro al Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica (Rome1998); Frammenti di sintesi teologica-schemi catechistici (Rome 2000); Argomenti di attualità in forma dialogica (2006);

Catechesi in immagini:

• Le lapidi di S. Carlo al Corso, (Rome 2002 and 2007);
• Le virtù in simboli negli affreschi della Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo in Roma, (Rome 2005);
• L’Eucaristia: dono incomparabile di Dio agli uomini (Rome 2006);
• I quadri di S. Carlo al Corso, (Rome 2006);
• Gli Affreschi dell’Oratorio Sant’Ambrogio (Rome 2007);
• Gli Affreschi della Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo, al Corso in Roma (Rome 2007);
• Le Statue di San Carlo al Corso (Rome 2007);
• La Confessione – Il sacramento dell’Amore misericordioso di DioPadre (Rome 2007);
• LaCresima – dono speciale dello Spirito Santo (Rome 2007);
• Il Battesimo – magnifico dono della SS.ma Trinità (Rome, 2008);
• Incontro al Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica e al suo Compendio (Rome, 2008).