What are the Eucharist signs and symbols?

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerThe Catechism lists three "signs" for the Eucharist: the bread and wine, the faith of the person receiving, and the altar, itself. Below is the Catechism's explanation.

.

from

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

1333 At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood. Faithful to the Lord's command the Church continues to do, in his memory and until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: "He took bread . . ." "He took the cup filled with wine . . ." The signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the body and Blood of Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of creation. Thus in the Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine, (Cf. Ps 104:13-15) fruit of the "work of human hands," but above all as "fruit of the earth" and "of the vine" - gifts of the Creator. The Church sees in the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who "brought out bread and wine," a prefiguring of her offering. (Gen 14:18; cf Roman Missal, EP I {Roman Canon} 95)

.

1336 The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" (Jn6:68) The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division. "Will you also go away?": (Jn 6:67) the Lord's question echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover that only he has "the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68) and that to receive in faith the gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord himself.

.

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 hte 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..

Answer 2

The Eucharist symbols are the bread and wine.