Blessed Sacrament

The Blessed Sacrament is a devotional name used by Roman Catholics to refer to a consecrated host, that is, a communion wafer which Catholics believe has become the body and blood of Jesus Christ during the Consecration in the Liturgy of the Eucharist at Mass.

The Blessed Sacrament may be received by Catholics (ie., given by a priest or a Minister of the Eucharist to a Catholic and swallowed by the communicant) as part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist during Mass.

It can also be exposed (displayed) on an altar in a Monstrance. Rites involving the exposure of the Blessed Sacrament include Benediction and Perpetual Adoration. The adoration does not involve the adoration of the host but of Christ, who in Catholic theology, is believed to be in it.