Sacraments Section:

The Real Presence / Transub-

stantiation

Also See: Holy Eucharist (Topic Page) | Mass (Topic Page)

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"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.'" (Mt. 26:26-28)

"While they were eating, [Jesus] took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, 'Take it; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.'" (Mk. 14:22-24)

"When the hour came, [Jesus] took his place at table with the apostles. He said to them, 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it (again) until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.' Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, 'Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you (that) from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.'" (Lk. 22:14-20)

"Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.'" (Jn. 6:53-58) [Note: As Scripture makes clear, reception of the Holy Eucharist is one essential condition for salvation. To be saved, one must also live according to God's laws.]

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, And giving thanks, broke and said [to the Apostles]: Take ye and eat: This is my body, which shall be delivered for you. This do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you: and many sleep [that is, die]." (St. Paul, 1 Cor. 11:23-30)

"God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar." (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

"He is hidden from our eyes under the humility of his Sacrament, to try our faith" (St. John Vianney)

"It is difficult, impossible to imagine, I grant; - but how is it difficult to believe?" (Cardinal Newman)

"Let faith supply what the senses cannot give." (Hymn of the Blessed Sacrament)

"Is it not foolishness to disbelieve in the Holy Eucharist? What difficulty remains when one considers that Christ is God?"

"God, when He descends upon the altar, does no less than He did when He became man the first time in the womb of the Virgin Mary." (St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church)

"Can. 801 In the most holy Eucharist under the species of bread and wine Christ the Lord himself is contained, offered, and received." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"If any one saith that Christ, given in the Eucharist, is eaten spiritually only, and not also sacramentally and really; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"[In] the sacrament...Christ is contained verily, and not in figure only." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"The Body of Christ remains in this sacrament...so long as the sacramental species remain" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"This change is effected by a power which is infinite, to which it belongs to operate in an instant." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"If any one denieth that in the venerable sacrament of the Eucharist the whole Christ is contained under each species, and under every part of each species, when separated; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

CONDEMNED Error of John Wycliffe: "In the sacrament of the altar the material substance of bread and likewise the material substance of wine remain." (This error was formally condemned by the Council of Constance in 1418 A.D.)

"It is His Body that is there taken, His Flesh that is divided for the salvation of the people, His Blood that is poured, not as before into the hands of unbelievers, but into the mouths of the faithful." (Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"Although the figure of the bread and wine be seen, still, after the Consecration, they are to be believed to be nothing else than the Body and Blood of Christ." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"Let no one be deceived: even the heavenly beings and the angels in their glory, and rulers visible and invisible, - even for these there will be judgement, if they do not believe in the Blood of Christ." (St. Ignatius of Antioch, c. 110 A.D.)

"If, in the presence of this mystery, reason experiences its limits, the heart, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, clearly sees the response that is demanded, and bows low in adoration and unbounded love." (Pope John Paul II, 2003 A.D.)

"That Christ's true Body and Blood are present in this Sacrament can be perceived neither by sense nor by reason, but by faith alone, which rests on God's authority." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"The bread and wine of the Eucharist before the invocation of the holy and adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, while after the invocation the bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the wine the Blood of Christ." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church, c. 350 A.D.)

"That Bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 5th century A.D.)

"He Himself, therefore, having declared and said of the Bread, 'This is My Body,' who will dare any longer to doubt? And when He Himself has affirmed and said, 'This is My Blood,' who can ever hesitate and say it is not His Blood?" (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church, c. 350 A.D.)

"Surely the word of Christ, who could make something that did not exist out of nothing, can change things that do exist into something they were not before. For it is no less extraordinary to give new natures to things than it is to change nature." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"The bread and the wine are not merely figures of the Body and Blood of Christ (God forbid!) but the deified Body of the Lord itself, for the Lord has said: This is My body, not, this is a figure of my body; and My blood, not, a figure of my blood." (St. John of Damascus, Doctor of the Church, 8th century A.D.)

"If any one denieth, that Christ whole and entire - the fountain and author of all graces - is received under the one species of bread; because that - as some falsely assert - He is not received, according to the institution of Christ himself, under both species; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"For other things whose memory we keep, we embrace in spirit and mind; but we do not for this reason hold their real presence. In this sacramental commemoration, however, Jesus Christ is present with us, under another form to be sure, but in His substance." (Pope Urban IV, "Transiturus de hoc mundo", 1264 A.D.)

"Was not Christ immolated only once in His very Person? In the Sacrament, nevertheless, He is immolated for the people not only on every Easter Solemnity but on every day; and a man would not be lying if, when asked, he were to reply that Christ is being immolated." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, c. 408 A.D.)

"It is not man who makes what is put before him the Body and Blood of Christ, but Christ Himself who was crucified for us. The priest standing there in the place of Christ says these words, but their power and grace are from God. This is my Body, he says, and these words transform what lies before him." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"As to the truth of the Flesh and Blood there is no room left for doubt. For both from the declaration of the Lord Himself and from our own faith, it is truly Flesh and truly Blood. And when These are eaten and drunk, it is brought to pass that we are both in Christ and Christ in us." (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"If any one denieth that in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist are contained truly, really, and substantially, the Body and Blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ; but saith that He is only therein as a sign, or in a figure, or virtue; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Nor should it be forgotten that Christ, whole and entire, is contained not only under either species, but also in each particle of either species. Each, says St. Augustine, receives Christ the Lord, and He is entire in each portion. He is not diminished by being given to many, but gives Himself whole and entire to each." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"When the bread is said to be changed into Christ's body solely by the power of the Holy Ghost, the instrumental power which lies in the form of this sacrament is not excluded: just as when we say that the smith alone makes a knife we do not deny the power of the hammer." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"You say perhaps, 'My bread is of the usual kind.' But that bread is before the words of the sacraments; when consecration has been added, from bread it becomes the Flesh of Christ. Let us therefore prove this. How can that which is bread by the Body of Christ? By consecration. But in what words and in whose language is the consecration? Those of the Lord Jesus." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"Before it be consecrated it is bread; but where the words of Christ come in, it is the Body of Christ... And before the words of Christ the chalice is full of wine and water; but where the words of Christ have been operative it is made the Blood of Christ, which redeems the people." (St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church, c. 390 A.D.) 

"He states demonstratively, "This is My Body,' and 'This is My Blood.' Lest you might suppose the things that are seen are a figure. Rather, by some secret of the all-powerful God the things seen are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, truly offered in a sacrifice in which we, as participants, receive the life-giving and sanctifying power of Christ." (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church, c. 429 A.D.)

"Consider therefore the Bread and the Wine not as bare elements, for they are, according to the Lord's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ; for even though sense suggest this to thee, yet let faith establish thee. Judge not the matter from the taste, but from faith be fully assured without misgiving, that the Body and Blood of Christ have been vouchsafed to thee." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"[A]fter the consecration nothing remains under the sacramental species except the Body and the Blood of Christ... the substance of the bread or wine remains until the last instant of the consecration; but in the last instant of the consecration there is already present there the substance of the Body or Blood of Christ" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"There is no deception in this sacrament; for the accidents which are discerned by the senses are truly present. But the intellect, whose proper object is substance as is said in De Anima iii, is preserved by faith from deception...faith is not contrary to the senses, but concerns things to which sense does not reach." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of this mystery, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, must firmly maintain that in objective reality, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the consecration, so that the adorable Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus from that moment on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine." (Pope Paul VI)

"If any one saith that after the consecration is completed the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are not in the admirable sacrament of the Eucharist, but are there only during the use, whilst it is being taken, and not either before or after; and that in the Hosts or consecrated particles, which are reserved or which remain after Communion, the true Body of the Lord remaineth not; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Just as in nature the bread by the eating and the wine and the water by the drinking are changed into the body and blood of the eater and drinker, and do not become a different body from the former one, so the bread of the altar and the wine and water are supernaturally changed by the invocation and presence of the Holy Spirit into the Body and Blood of Christ, and are not two but one and the same." (St. John of Damascus, Doctor of the Church, 8th century A.D.)

"It is clear, therefore, that the Virgin gave birth contrary to the order of nature. And this Body which we consecrate is from the Virgin; why do you seek the natural order here in the case of the Body of Christ, when the Lord Jesus Himself was born of the Virgin contrary to nature? It was certainly the true flesh of Christ which was crucified, which was buried; truly, therefore, the Sacrament is a sacrament of that flesh." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"Perhaps you may be saying: I see something else; how can you assure me that I am receiving the Body of Christ? It but remains for us to prove it. And how many are the examples we might use! Let us prove that this is not what nature has shaped it to be, but what the blessing has consecrated; for the power of the blessing is greater than that of nature, because by the blessing even nature itself is changed." (Attr. St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church, c. 390 A.D.)

"These very elements serve also somewhat to suggest to men the truth of the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Sacrament. Observing, as we do, that bread and wine are every day changed by the power of nature into human flesh and blood, we are led the more easily by this analogy to believe that the substance of the bread and wine is changed, by the heavenly benediction into the real Flesh and real Blood of Christ." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"Truly the Eucharist is a mysterium fidei, a mystery which surpasses our understanding and can only be received in faith, as is often brought out in the catechesis of the Church Fathers regarding this divine sacrament: 'Do not see - Saint Cyril of Jerusalem exhorts - in the bread and wine merely natural elements, because the Lord has expressly said that they are His Body and His Blood: faith assures you of this, though your senses suggest otherwise'." (Pope John Paul II)

"But since Christ, our Redeemer, has said that that is truly His own Body which He offered under the species of bread [cf. Matt. 26:26ff.; Mark 14:22ff.; Luke 22:19 ff.; 1 Cor. 11:23 ff.], it has always been a matter of conviction in the Church of God, and now this holy Synod declares it again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine a conversion takes place of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His Blood. This conversion is appropriately and properly called transubstantiation by the Catholic Church." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"Does any unbeliever profess that the changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord is impossible? Then let him consider God's omnipotence. Admit that nature can transform one thing into another, then with greater reason should you admit that God's almighty power, which brings into existence the whole substance of things, can work, not as nature does, by changing forms in the same matter, but by changing one whole thing into another whole thing." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"The Eucharist is a true banquet, in which Christ offers himself as our nourishment. When for the first time Jesus spoke of this food, his listeners were astonished and bewildered, which forced the Master to emphasize the objective truth of his words: 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you' (Jn 6:53). This is no metaphorical food: 'My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed' (Jn 6:55)." (Pope John Paul II)

"If any one saith that in the sacred and holy sacrament of the Eucharist the substance of the bread and wine remains conjointly with the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and denieth that wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood - the species only of the bread and wine remaining - which conversion indeed the Catholic Church most aptly calls transubstantiation; let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Wherefore with full assurance let us partake as of the Body and Blood of Christ; for in the figure of Bread is given to thee His Body, and in the figure of Wine His Blood; that thou by partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, may be made of the same body and the same blood with Him. For thus we come to bear Christ in us, because His Body and Blood are distributed through our members; thus it is that, according to blessed Peter, we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.)

"So long as the prayers of supplication and entreaties have not been made, there is only bread and wine. But after the great and wonderful prayers have been completed, then the bread is become the Body, and the wine the Blood, of our Lord Jesus Christ... This bread and this wine, so long as the prayers and supplications have not taken place, remain simply what they are. But after the great prayers and holy supplications have been set forth, the Word comes down into the bread and wine - and thus is His Body confected." (St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, c. 373 A.D.)

"Christ's Flesh is food, and His Blood is drink; yet is He whole under each Species. He is not cut by the receiver, nor broken, nor divided: He is taken whole. He is received by one, He is received by a thousand; the one receives as much as all; nor is He consumed, who is received. And when the Sacrament is broken, waver not, but remember that there is as much under each fragment as is hidden under the whole. Of the substance there is no division; it is but the sign that is broken; and He who is the Signified, is not thereby diminished, either as to state or stature." (Sequence)

"The true Flesh which he took from the Virgin, is what we eat; the true Blood, which he shed for man, is what we drink. In this banquet, the Word made Flesh is truly eaten; it is on him that our worship rests, and by him that we enter heaven. This Bread, which is all full of sweetness and grace, is the King of eternal glory, that was carried in the virgin's womb. Let us feed on the richness of Angels' Bread; that we may find delight in the sweetness of a viaticum so full of mercy. O thou heavenly banquet! O Glory of the redeemed! O repose of the humble! Grant us eternal joys." (Ancient Compline Hymn)

CONDEMNED Error of Wyclif: "Just as Christ is God and man at the same time, so the consecrated host is at the same time the body of Christ and true bread. For it is Christ's body at least in figure and true bread in nature; or, which comes to the same thing, it is true bread naturally and Christ's body figuratively." [Council of Constance, Sentence condemning 260 articles of Wyclif, 'This holy synod, therefore, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, repudiates and condemns, by this perpetual decree, the aforesaid articles and each one of them in particular; and it forbids each and every Catholic henceforth, under pain of anathema, to preach, teach, or hold the said articles or any one of them.']

"The Council of Trent, basing itself on this faith of the Church, 'openly and sincerely professes that after the consecration of the bread and wine, Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is really, truly and substantially contained in the Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist under the outward appearances of sensible things.' And so Our Savior is present in His humanity not only in His natural manner of existence at the right hand of the Father, but also at the same time in the sacrament of the Eucharist 'in a manner of existing that we can hardly express in words but that our minds, illumined by faith, can come to see as possible to God and that we must most firmly believe.'" (Pope Paul VI, 1965 A.D.)

"But that bread is bread before the words of the Sacraments; where the consecration has entered in, the bread becomes the Flesh of Christ. And let us add this: How can what is bread be the Body of Christ? By the consecration. The consecration takes place by certain words; but whose words? Those of the Lord Jesus. Like all the rest of the things said beforehand, they are said by the priest; praises are referred to God, prayer of petition is offered for the people, for kings, for other persons; but when the time comes for the confection of the venerable Sacrament, then the priest uses not his own words but the words of Christ. Therefore it is the word of Christ that confects this Sacrament." (St. Ambrose of Milan, Doctor of the Church, c. 390 A.D.)

"Mysterium fidei! If the Eucharist is a mystery of faith which so greatly transcends our understanding as to call for sheer abandonment to the word of God, then there can be no one like Mary to act as our support and guide in acquiring this disposition. In repeating what Christ did at the Last Supper in obedience to his command: 'Do this in memory of me!', we also accept Mary's invitation to obey him without hesitation: 'Do whatever he tells you' (Jn 2:5). With the same maternal concern which she showed at the wedding feast of Cana, Mary seems to say to us: 'Do not waver; trust in the words of my Son. If he was able to change water into wine, he can also turn bread and wine into His Body and Blood'" (Pope John Paul II, 2003 A.D.)

"The Body is truly united to divinity, the Body which was from that of the Holy Virgin; not that the Body which was taken up comes back down from heaven, but that the bread itself and the wine are made over into the Body and Blood of God. If you inquire into the way in which this happens, let it suffice for you to hear that it is through the Holy Spirit, just as it was through the Holy Spirit that the Lord took on Himself from the Holy Mother of God the flesh that subsisted in Himself. More than this we do not know, except that the word of God is true and effective and all powerful...For those who partake worthily and with faith, it is for the remission of sins and for life everlasting, and a safeguard to soul and body" (St. John Damascene, Doctor of the Church, c. 8th century A.D.)

"Some even say that the doctrine of transubstantiation, based on an antiquated philosophic notion of substance, should be so modified that the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist be reduced to a kind of symbolism, whereby the consecrated species would be merely efficacious signs of the spiritual presence of Christ and of His intimate union with the faithful members of His Mystical Body... These and like errors, it is clear, have crept in among certain of Our sons who are deceived by imprudent zeal for souls or by false science. To them We are compelled with grief to repeat once again truths already well known, and to point out with solicitude clear errors and dangers of error." (Pope Pius XII, "Humani Generis", 1950 A.D.)

"It is evident to sense that all the accidents of the bread and wine remain after the consecration. And this is reasonably done by Divine providence. First of all, because it is not customary, but horrible, for men to eat human flesh, and to drink blood. And therefore Christ's flesh and blood are set before us to be partaken of under the species of those things which are the more commonly used by men, namely, bread and wine. Secondly, lest this sacrament might be derided by unbelievers, if we were to eat our Lord under His own species. Thirdly, that while we receive our Lord's Body and Blood invisibly, this may redound to the merit of faith." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Pastors, aware of the warning of the Apostle that those who discern not the Body of the Lord are guilty of a most grave crime, should first of all impress on the minds of the faithful the necessity of detaching, as much as possible, their mind and understanding from the dominion of the senses; for if they believe that his Sacrament contains only what the senses disclose, they will of necessity fall into enormous impiety. Consulting the sight, the touch, the smell, the taste and finding nothing but the appearances of bread and wine, they will naturally judge that this Sacrament contains nothing more than bread and wine. Their minds, therefore, are as much as possible to be withdrawn from subjection to the senses and excited to the contemplation of the stupendous might and power of God." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"Here the pastor should explain that in this Sacrament are contained not only the true body of Christ and all the constituents of a true body, such as bones and sinews, but also Christ whole and entire. He should point out that the word Christ designates the God-man, that is to say, one Person in whom are united the divine and human natures; that the Holy Eucharist, therefore contains both, and whatever is included in the idea of both, the Divinity and humanity whole and entire, consisting of the soul, all the parts of the body and the blood - all of which must be believed to be in this Sacrament. In heaven the whole humanity is united to the Divinity in one hypostasis or Person; hence it would be impious, to suppose that the body of Christ, which is contained in the Sacrament, is separated from His Divinity." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"In the past, some have erred upon this point, saying that Christ's body is not received sacramentally by sinners; but that directly the body is touched by the lips of sinners, it ceases to be under the sacramental species. But this is erroneous; because it detracts from the truth of this sacrament, to which truth it belongs that so long as the species last, Christ's body does not cease to be under them... But the species last so long as the substance of the bread would remain, if it were there...Now it is clear that the substance of bread taken by a sinner does not at once cease to be, but it continues until digested...hence Christ's body remains just as long under the sacramental species when taken by sinners. Hence it must be said that the sinner, and not merely the just, can eat Christ's body." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"I, Berengarius, in my heart believe and with my lips confess that through the mystery of the sacred prayer and the words of our Redeemer the bread and wine which are placed on the altar are substantially changed into the true and proper and living Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and that after consecration it is the true Body of Christ which was born of the Virgin and which, offered for the salvation of the world, was suspended on the Cross, and which sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and the true Blood of Christ, which was poured out from His side not only through the sign and power of the sacrament, but in its property of nature and in truth of substance, as here briefly in a few words is contained and I have read and you understand. Thus I believe, nor will I teach contrary to this belief. So help me God and these holy Gospels of God." (Oath taken by Berengarius, 11th Century A.D.)

"[O]ur Lord is not in the Sacrament as in a place. Place regards things only inasmuch as they have magnitude. Now we do not say that Christ is in the Sacrament inasmuch as He is great or small, terms which belong to quantity, but inasmuch as He is a substance. The substance of the bread is changed into the substance of Christ, not into magnitude or quantity; and substance, it will be acknowledged by all, is contained in a small as well as in a large space. The substance of air, for instance, and its entire nature must be present under a small as well as a large quantity, and likewise the entire nature of water must be present no less in a glass than in a river. Since, then, the Body of our Lord succeeds to the substance of the bread, we must confess it to be in the Sacrament after the same manner as the substance of the bread was before consecration; whether the substance of the bread was present in greater or less quantity is a matter of entire indifference." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"Nothing more becomes the piety of the faithful than, omitting all curious questionings, to revere and adore the majesty of this august Sacrament, and to recognize the wisdom of God in commanding that these holy mysteries should be administered under the species of bread and wine. For since it is most revolting to human nature to eat human flesh or drink human blood, therefore God in His infinite wisdom has established the administration of the Body and Blood of Christ under the forms of bread and wine, which are the ordinary and agreeable food of men. There are two further advantages: first, it prevents the calumnious reproaches of the unbeliever, from which the eating of our Lord under His visible form could not easily be defended; secondly, the receiving Him under a form in which He is impervious to the senses avails much for increasing our faith. For faith, as was the well known saying of St. Gregory declares, hath no merit in those things which fall under the proof of reason." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"The eye is of two kinds, namely, the bodily eye properly so-called, and the intellectual eye, so-called by similitude. But Christ's body as it is in this sacrament cannot be seen by any bodily eye. First of all, because a body which is visible brings about an alteration in the medium, through its accidents. Now the accidents of Christ's body are in this sacrament by means of the substance; so that the accidents of Christ's body have no immediate relationship either to this sacrament or to adjacent bodies; consequently they do not act on the medium so as to be seen by any corporeal eye. Secondly, because... [Christ's] body is substantially present in this sacrament. But substance, as such, is not visible to the bodily eye, nor does it come under any one of the senses, nor under the imagination, but solely under the intellect, whose object is 'what a thing is' (De Anima iii). And therefore, properly speaking, Christ's body, according to the mode of being which it has in this sacrament, is perceptible neither by the sense nor by the imagination, but only by the intellect, which is called the spiritual eye." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Let us therefore in all respects put our faith in God and contradict Him in nothing, even if what is said seems to be contrary to our reasonings and to what we see. Let His word be of superior authority to reason and sight. This too be our practice in respect to the Sacrament, not looking only upon what is laid out before us, but by taking heed also of His words. For His word cannot deceive; but our senses are easily cheated. His word has never failed; our senses err most of the time. When the word says, 'This is my body', be convinced of it and believe it, and look at it with the eyes of the mind. For Christ did not give us something tangible, but even in His tangible things all is intellectual. So too with Baptism: the gifts is bestowed through what is a tangible thing, water; but what is accomplished is intellectually perceived: the rebirth and the renewal. If you were incorporeal He would have given you these incorporeal gifts naked; but since the soul is intertwined with the body, He hands over to you in tangible things that which is perceived intellectually. How many now say, 'I wish I could see His shape, His appearance, His garments, His sandals.' Only look! You see Him! You touch Him! You eat Him!" (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, c. 370 A.D.)

"These various ways in which Christ is present fill the mind with astonishment and offer the Church a mystery for her contemplation. But there is another way in which Christ is present in His Church, a way that surpasses all the others. It is His presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is, for this reason, 'a more consoling source of devotion, a lovelier object of contemplation and holier in what it contains' than all the other sacraments; for it contains Christ Himself and it is 'a kind of consummation of the spiritual life, and in a sense the goal of all the sacraments.' This presence is called 'real' not to exclude the idea that the others are 'real' too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man. And so it would be wrong for anyone to try to explain this manner of presence by dreaming up a so-called 'pneumatic' nature of the glorious body of Christ that would be present everywhere; or for anyone to limit it to symbolism, as if this most sacred Sacrament were to consist in nothing more than an efficacious sign 'of the spiritual presence of Christ and of His intimate union with the faithful, the members of His Mystical Body.'" (Pope Paul VI, 1965 A.D.)

"This, indeed, the most Holy Eucharist has in common with the other sacraments, that it is a 'symbol of a sacred thing and a visible form of an invisible grace'; but this excellent and peculiar thing is found in it, that the other sacraments first have the power of sanctifying, when one uses them, but in the Eucharist there is the Author of sanctity Himself before it is used. For the apostles had not yet received the Eucharist from the hand of the Lord when He Himself truly said that what He was offering was His body; and this belief has always been in the Church of God, that immediately after the consecration the true Body of our Lord and His true Blood together with His Soul and Divinity exist under the species of bread and wine; but the Body indeed under the species of bread, and the Blood under the species of wine by the force of the words, but the Body itself under both by force of that natural connection and concomitance by which the parts of Christ the Lord, 'who hath now risen from the dead to die no more' [Rom. 6:9], are mutually united, the divinity also because of that admirable hypostatic union with His body and soul. Therefore, it is very true that as much is contained under either species as under both. For Christ whole and entire exists under the species of bread and under any part whatsoever of that species, likewise the whole (Christ) is present under the species of wine and under its parts." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"Since it has been shown that it is not possible for our body to become immortal except it be made participant in incorruption through communion with the Immortal, it is necessary to consider how it is possible for that One Body, though distributed always to so many myriads of the faithful throughout the world, to be whole in itself... This Body by the indwelling of God the Word, has been made over to divine dignity. Rightly then, do we believe that the bread consecrated by the word of God has been made over into the Body of God the Word. For that Body was, as to its potency, bread; but it has been consecrated by the lodging there of the Word, who pitched His tent in the flesh...not through its being eaten does it advance to become the Body of the Word, but it is made over immediately into the Body by means of the word, just as was stated by the Word, 'This is My Body!'... In the plan of His grace He spreads Himself to every believer by means of that flesh, that substance of which is from bread and wine, blending Himself with the bodies of believers, so that by this union with the Immortal, man, too, may become a participant in incorruption." (St. Gregory of Nyssa, c. 384 A.D.)

"[B]ecause the substance of Christ's body is in this sacrament by the power of the sacrament, while dimensive quantity is there by reason of real concomitance, consequently Christ's body is in this sacrament substantively, that is, in the way in which substance is under dimensions, but not after the manner of dimensions, which means, not in the way in which the dimensive quantity of a body is under the dimensive quantity of place. Now it is evident that the whole nature of a substance is under every part of the dimensions under which it is contained; just as the entire nature of air is under every part of air, and the entire nature of bread under every part of bread; and this indifferently, whether the dimensions be actually divided (as when the air is divided or the bread cut), or whether they be actually undivided, but potentially divisible. And therefore it is manifest that the entire Christ is under every part of the species of the bread, even while the host remains entire, and not merely when it is broken, as some say, giving the example of an image which appears in a mirror, which appears as one in the unbroken mirror, whereas when the mirror is broken, there is an image in each part of the broken mirror: for the comparison is not perfect, because the multiplying of such images results in the broken mirror on account of the various reflections in the various parts of the mirror; but here there is only one consecration, whereby Christ's body is in this sacrament." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"[I]t must be held most certainly that the whole Christ is under each sacramental species yet not alike in each. For the Body of Christ is indeed present under the species of bread by the power of the sacrament, while the Blood is there from real concomitance... in regard to the soul and Godhead of Christ; and under the species of wine the Blood is present by the power of the sacrament, and His body by real concomitance, as is also His soul and Godhead: because now Christ's blood is not separated from His body, as it was at the time of His Passion and death. Hence if this sacrament had been celebrated then, the Body of Christ would have been under the species of the bread, but without the Blood; and, under the species of the wine, the Blood would have been present without the Body, as it was then, in fact... Although the whole Christ is under each species, yet it is so not without purpose. For in the first place this serves to represent Christ's Passion, in which the Blood was separated from the Body; hence in the form for the consecration of the Blood mention is made of its shedding. Secondly, it is in keeping with the use of this sacrament, that Christ's Body be shown apart to the faithful as food, and the Blood as drink. Thirdly, it is in keeping with its effect, in which sense it was stated above (Q74,A1) that 'the body is offered for the salvation of the body, and the blood for the salvation of the soul.'...the Body of Christ is not under the species of wine by the power of the sacrament, but by real concomitance: and therefore by the consecration of the wine the Body of Christ is not there of itself, but concomitantly." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Therefore all those who saw the Lord Jesus according to [His] humanity and did not see and believe according to the Spirit and the Godhead that He is the true Son of God were condemned. And now in the same way, all those who see the sacrament [of the Holy Eucharist], which is sanctified by the words of the Lord upon the altar at the hands of the priest in the form of bread and wine, and who do not see and believe according to the Spirit and the Godhead that is truly the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, are condemned. [Such] is attested by the Most High Himself Who says: 'This is my Body and the Blood of my new testament...' and 'He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life' (cf. Jn. 6:55). Therefore it is the Spirit of the Lord, Who lives in His faithful, Who receives the most holy Body and Blood of the Lord. All others who do not share in this same Spirit and who presume to receive Him eat and drink judgment to themselves (Cf. 1 Cor. 11:29). Therefore, O sons of men, how long will you be hard of heart? Why do you not recognize the truth and believe in the Son of God? See, daily He humbles Himself as when He came from the royal throne into the womb of the Virgin; daily He comes to us in a humble form; daily He comes down from the bosom of the Father upon the altar in the hands of the priest. And as He appeared to the holy apostles in true flesh, so now He reveals Himself to us in the sacred bread. As they saw only his flesh by means of their bodily slight, yet believed Him to be God as they contemplated Him with the eyes of faith, so, as we see bread and wine with [our] bodily eyes, we too are to see and firmly believe them to be His most holy Body and Blood living and true. And in this way the Lord is always with His faithful, as He Himself says: Behold I am with you even to the end of the world (cf. Mt. 28:30)." (St. Francis of Assisi)

"First of all the holy Synod teaches and openly and simply professes that in the nourishing sacrament of the Holy Eucharist after the consecration of the bread and wine our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially contained under the species of those sensible things. For these things are not mutually contradictory, that our Savior Himself is always seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven according to the natural mode of existing, and yet that in many other places sacramentally He is present to us in His own substance by that manner of existence which, although we can scarcely express it in words, yet we can, however, by our understanding illuminated by faith, conceive to be possible to God, and which we ought most steadfastly to believe. For thus all our forefathers, as many as were in the true Church of Christ, who have discussed this most holy sacrament, have most openly professed that our Redeemer instituted this so wonderful a sacrament at the Last Supper, when after the blessing of the bread and wine He testified in clear and definite words that He gave them His own body and His own blood; and those words which are recorded [Matt. 26:26ff.; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19 ff.] by the holy Evangelists, and afterwards repeated by St. Paul [1 Cor. 11:23 ff.], since they contain within themselves that proper and very clear meaning in which they were understood by the Fathers, it is a most disgraceful thing for some contentious and wicked men to distort into fictitious and imaginary figures of speech, by which the real nature of the Flesh and Blood of Christ is denied, contrary to the universal sense of the Church, which, recognizing with an ever grateful and recollecting mind this most excellent benefit of Christ, as the pillar and ground of truth [1 Tim. 3:15], has detested these falsehoods, devised by impious men, as satanical." (Council of Trent, 1551 A.D.)

"[S]ince Christ's true body is in this sacrament, and since it does not begin to be there by local motion, nor is it contained therein as in a place, as is evident from what was stated above (A1,r 2), it must be said then that it begins to be there by conversion of the substance of bread into itself. Yet this change is not like natural changes, but is entirely supernatural, and effected by God's power alone. Hence Ambrose says (De Sacramentis iv): 'See how Christ's word changes nature's laws, as He wills: a man is not wont to be born save of man and woman: see therefore that against the established law and order a man is born of a Virgin': and (De Mysteriis iv): 'It is clear that a Virgin begot beyond the order of nature: and what we make is the body from the Virgin. Why, then, do you look for nature's order in Christ's body, since the Lord Jesus was Himself brought forth of a Virgin beyond nature? Chrysostom likewise (Hom. 47), commenting on John 6:64: 'The words which I have spoken to you,' namely, of this sacrament, 'are spirit and life,' says: i.e. 'spiritual, having nothing carnal, nor natural consequence; but they are rent from all such necessity which exists upon earth, and from the laws here established.'... His action extends to the whole nature of being. Therefore He can work not only formal conversion, so that diverse forms succeed each other in the same subject; but also the change of all being, so that, to wit, the whole substance of one thing be changed into the whole substance of another. And this is done by Divine power in this sacrament; for the whole substance of the bread is changed into the whole substance of Christ's body, and the whole substance of the wine into the whole substance of Christ's blood. Hence this is not a formal, but a substantial conversion; nor is it a kind of natural movement: but, with a name of its own, it can be called 'transubstantiation.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"To avoid any misunderstanding of this type of presence, which goes beyond the laws of nature and constitutes the greatest miracle of its kind, we have to listen with docility to the voice of [the Church]. Her voice, which constantly echoes the voice of Christ, assures us that the way in which Christ becomes present in this Sacrament is through the conversion of the whole substance of the bread into His body and of the whole substance of the wine into His blood, a unique and truly wonderful conversion that the Catholic Church fittingly and properly calls transubstantiation. As a result of transubstantiation, the species of bread and wine undoubtedly take on a new signification and a new finality, for they are no longer ordinary bread and wine but instead a sign of something sacred and a sign of spiritual food; but they take on this new signification, this new finality, precisely because they contain a new 'reality' which we can rightly call ontological. For what now lies beneath the aforementioned species is not what was there before, but something completely different; and not just in the estimation of Church belief but in reality, since once the substance or nature of the bread and wine has been changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, nothing remains of the bread and the wine except for the species - beneath which Christ is present whole and entire in His physical reality, corporeally present, although not in the manner in which bodies are in a place. This is why the Fathers felt they had a solemn duty to warn the faithful that, in reflecting upon this most sacred Sacrament, they should not pay attention to the senses, which report only the properties of bread and wine, but rather to the words of Christ, which have power great enough to change, transform, 'transelementize' the bread and wine into His body and blood. As a matter of fact, as the same Fathers point out on more than one occasion, the power that does this is the same power of Almighty God that created the whole universe out of nothing at the beginning of time." (Pope Paul VI, 1965 A.D.)

"Some have held that the substance of the bread and wine remains in this sacrament after the consecration. But this opinion cannot stand: first of all, because by such an opinion the truth of this sacrament is destroyed, to which it belongs that Christ's true body exists in this sacrament; which indeed was not there before the consecration. Now a thing cannot be in any place, where it was not previously, except by change of place, or by the conversion of another thing into itself; just as fire begins anew to be in some house, either because it is carried thither, or because it is generated there. Now it is evident that Christ's body does not begin to be present in this sacrament by local motion. First of all, because it would follow that it would cease to be in heaven: for what is moved locally does not come anew to some place unless it quit the former one. Secondly, because every body moved locally passes through all intermediary spaces, which cannot be said here. Thirdly, because it is not possible for one movement of the same body moved locally to be terminated in different places at the one time, whereas the body of Christ under this sacrament begins at the one time to be in several places. And consequently it remains that Christ's body cannot begin to be anew in this sacrament except by change of the substance of bread into itself. But what is changed into another thing, no longer remains after such change. Hence the conclusion is that, saving the truth of this sacrament, the substance of the bread cannot remain after the consecration. Secondly, because this position is contrary to the form of this sacrament, in which it is said: 'This is My body,' which would not be true if the substance of the bread were to remain there; for the substance of bread never is the body of Christ. Rather should one say in that case: 'Here is My body.' Thirdly, because it would be opposed to the veneration of this sacrament, if any substance were there, which could not be adored with adoration of latria. Fourthly, because it is contrary to the rite of the Church, according to which it is not lawful to take the body of Christ after bodily food, while it is nevertheless lawful to take one consecrated host after another. Hence this opinion is to be avoided as heretical." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Hilary says (De Trinitate viii): 'There is no room for doubt regarding the truth of Christ's body and blood; for now by our Lord's own declaring and by our faith His flesh is truly food, and His blood is truly drink. And Ambrose says (De Sacramentis vi): 'As the Lord Jesus Christ is God's true Son so is it Christ's true flesh which we take, and His true blood which we drink.' I answer that, The presence of Christ's true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority. Hence, on Luke 22:19: 'This is My body which shall be delivered up for you,' Cyril says: 'Doubt not whether this be true; but take rather the Savior's words with faith; for since He is the Truth, He lieth not.' Now this is suitable, first for the perfection of the New Law. For, the sacrifices of the Old Law contained only in figure that true sacrifice of Christ's Passion, according to Hebrews 10:1: 'For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things.' And therefore it was necessary that the sacrifice of the New Law instituted by Christ should have something more, namely, that it should contain Christ Himself crucified, not merely in signification or figure, but also in very truth. And therefore this sacrament which contains Christ Himself, as Dionysius says (De Ecclesiastica Hierarchia iii), is perfective of all the other sacraments, in which Christ's virtue is participated. Secondly, this belongs to Christ's love, out of which for our salvation He assumed a true body of our nature. And because it is the special feature of friendship to live together with friends, as the Philosopher says (Ethica Nicomachea ix), He promises us His bodily presence as a reward, saying (Matthew 24:28): 'Where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered together.' Yet meanwhile in our pilgrimage He does not deprive us of His bodily presence; but unites us with Himself in this sacrament through the truth of His body and blood. Hence (John 6:57) he says: 'He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.' Hence this sacrament is the sign of supreme charity, and the uplifter of our hope, from such familiar union of Christ with us. Thirdly, it belongs to the perfection of faith, which concerns His humanity just as it does His Godhead, according to John 14:1: 'You believe in God, believe also in Me.' And since faith is of things unseen, as Christ shows us His Godhead invisibly, so also in this sacrament He shows us His flesh in an invisible manner. Some men accordingly, not paying heed to these things, have contended that Christ's body and blood are not in this sacrament except as in a sign, a thing to be rejected as heretical, since it is contrary to Christ's words. Hence Berengarius, who had been the first deviser of this heresy, was afterwards forced to withdraw his error, and to acknowledge the truth of the faith." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"It is absolutely necessary to confess according to Catholic faith that the entire Christ is in this sacrament. Yet we must know that there is something of Christ in this sacrament in a twofold manner: first, as it were, by the power of the sacrament; secondly, from natural concomitance. By the power of the sacrament, there is under the species of this sacrament that into which the pre-existing substance of the bread and wine is changed, as expressed by the words of the form, which are effective in this as in the other sacraments; for instance, by the words: 'This is My body,' or, 'This is My blood.' But from natural concomitance there is also in this sacrament that which is really united with that thing wherein the aforesaid conversion is terminated. For if any two things be really united, then wherever the one is really, there must the other also be: since things really united together are only distinguished by an operation of the mind... Because the change of the bread and wine is not terminated at the Godhead or the soul of Christ, it follows as a consequence that the Godhead or the soul of Christ is in this sacrament not by the power of the sacrament, but from real concomitance. For since the Godhead never set aside the assumed body, wherever the body of Christ is, there, of necessity, must the Godhead be; and therefore it is necessary for the Godhead to be in this sacrament concomitantly with His body. Hence we read in the profession of faith at Ephesus (Part 1, cap. 26): 'We are made partakers of the body and blood of Christ, not as taking common flesh, nor as of a holy man united to the Word in dignity, but the truly life-giving flesh of the Word Himself.' On the other hand, His soul was truly separated from His body, as stated above (Q50,A5). And therefore had this sacrament been celebrated during those three days when He was dead, the soul of Christ would not have been there, neither by the power of the sacrament, nor from real concomitance. But since 'Christ rising from the dead dieth now no more' (Romans 6:9), His soul is always really united with His body. And therefore in this sacrament the body indeed of Christ is present by the power of the sacrament, but His soul from real concomitance... By the power of the sacrament there is contained under it, as to the species of the bread, not only the flesh, but the entire body of Christ, that is, the bones the nerves, and the like. And this is apparent from the form of this sacrament, wherein it is not said: 'This is My flesh,' but 'This is My body.'... As has been already stated (Q75,A5), after the consecration of the bread into the body of Christ, or of the wine into His blood, the accidents of both remain. From which it is evident that the dimensions of the bread or wine are not changed into the dimensions of the body of Christ, but substance into substance. And so the substance of Christ's body or blood is under this sacrament by the power of the sacrament, but not the dimensions of Christ's body or blood. Hence it is clear that the body of Christ is in this sacrament by way of substance, and not by way of quantity. But the proper totality of substance is contained indifferently in a small or large quantity; as the whole nature of air in a great or small amount of air, and the whole nature of a man in a big or small individual. Wherefore, after the consecration, the whole substance of Christ's body and blood is contained in this sacrament, just as the whole substance of the bread and wine was contained there before the consecration." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: The Holy Eucharist (Gen'l. Info.) | Holy Eucharist (Catechism of the Council of Trent) | Holy Eucharist / Mass (Basics / Misc.) | Eucharistic Adoration / The Eucharist Reserved in the Tabernacle | Praise / Benefits of the Holy Eucharist & Mass | The Holy Eucharist & The Goodness and Love of God | Mass is a Sacrifice / The Mass & Calvary | Holy Communion [Pg.] | Necessity of Receiving the Holy Eucharist | Holy Eucharist / Mass & Priests | The Holy Eucharist Should Be Handled Only By Priests | Reverence / Proper Behavior (Mass / Holy Eucharist) | Communion in the Hand: Why Not? | Communion Under Both Species: Is it Required? | Church Talk: 'Favorite Roman Catholic Churches' | Church Talk Reflections | Latin Mass / Catholic Tradition | Latin Mass / Catholic Tradition (Reflections) | Proper Behavior in Church | Free Resources (Incl. Printable Fliers) | Mass / Holy Eucharist Prayers | Holy Eucharist (Topical Scripture) | Reverence / Honor to God (Topical Scripture)

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