VI. The Paschal Banquet

From The Catechism of the Catholic Church

1383
The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the
Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the
sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the
Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the assembly
of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food
from heaven who is giving himself to us. “For what is the altar of Christ
if not the image of the Body of Christ?”²¹² asks St. Ambrose. He
says elsewhere, “The altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of
Christ is on the altar.”²¹³ The liturgy expresses this unity of
sacrifice and communion in many prayers. Thus the Roman Church prays in its
anaphora:

PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY

SECTION TWO THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
- CHAPTER ONE THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
  - Article 3 THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
    - VI. The Paschal Banquet

From The Catechism of the Catholic Church – rosary.team