The Eucharist at Mass

[Translated by Google Translator]

Since the origins of the Church the Eucharist has been the central and vital part of Christian life.

The celebration in Latin from the first centuries ended with the words "Ite, missa est", which is translated "Go, it is sent" or "Go [the Church] is sent", so the Mass obtains its name from this phrase in the liturgy at the end of the meeting. This form of conclusion was said at the end of what we call the liturgy of the word (when the catechumens were dismissed) and then at the end of the meeting after the Eucharist. Although this farewell form may have had a cultural origin, theologically it has an evangelistic sense based on the Great Commission (Mt 28:19-20) Go, and make disciples..., but it is not until after Gregory the Great (c. 604) that this word was applied to the whole liturgy.

The Mass then, is the celebration in which the priest represents on the altar the sacrifice of the body and the blood of Christ under the species of bread and wine, this is made as a memorial of thanksgiving through the liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic liturgy, which are delimited by the rites of introduction and conclusion being a single act since all the Mass encapsulates the Eucharistic mystery because just as Christ is present in all his church, in the poor, the sick, the prisoners, in the person of the minister, is also present in the sacraments, in His Word, in prayer, but above all in body, blood, soul and divinity in the sacrament of the altar (CCE 1373).

The first liturgy includes the proclamation, listening-welcoming of the Word of God preparing the faithful to receive Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, while the second includes the presentation of the bread and the wine, the Anaphora or Eucharistic prayer and communion. Thus all the Eucharistic celebration, it is just as important because to receive Christ in the Eucharist is to receive him also in his Word and in all the celebration, therefore, we receive him and show that we love him, that we obey him, when we participate in the whole Mass from its beginning when the priest says "In the name of the Father, of the son and of the Holy Spirit," until its end, when he says "You can go in peace."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes in the paragraphs 1348 to 1355 the celebration of the Eucharistic mystery.

The Movement of Celebration

1348 Everyone gathers. Christians come to the same place for the Eucharistic assembly. At the head is Christ himself, the principal actor of the Eucharist. He is the high priest of the New Covenant; it is he who invisibly presides over any Eucharistic celebration. On behalf of him, the bishop or priest, acting in the person of Christ head (in person Christi capitis), presides over the assembly, takes the word after the readings, receives the offerings and prays the Eucharistic Prayer. Everyone has their own active role in the celebration, each in its own way: the readers, who bring the offerings, who give communion and all the people whose Amen manifests their participation. (1140; 1548)

1349 The Liturgy of the Word includes the writings of the prophets, that is, the Old Testament, and the memories of the apostles (their letters and the Gospels). After the homily, which is an exhortation to accept this Word as what it truly is, the Word of God (1 Thess 2:13), and to put it into practice, the intercessions come for all men, according to the words of the Apostle: I urge prayers, prayers, supplications, and thanksgivings for all men, and for all who are in illustrious posts. (1 Tim 2:1-2). 176 (1184)

1350 The presentation of the offerings (the Offertory). Then, sometimes in procession, bread and wine are taken to the altar; they will be offered by the priest in the name of Christ in the Eucharistic sacrifice, in which they will become his body and blood. It is the very action of Christ at the Last Supper: taking bread and the cup. Only the Church offers this pure oblation to the Creator, when she offers what springs from His creation with thanksgiving. (S. Ireneus, Against Heresies 4, 18:4; Ml 1:1). The presentation of the offerings on the altar takes up the gesture of Melchizedek and puts the gifts of the Creator in the hands of Christ, who, in his sacrifice, perfects all human attempts to offer sacrifices. (1359; 614)

1351 From the beginning, Christians have brought, together with bread and wine for the Eucharist, offerings to share with the needy. This custom of the collection (1 Cor 16:1), always appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ, who became poor to enrich us (2 Cor 8:9): (1397; 2186)

Those who have resources and are willing to give, give according to their desires. The collection is given to the one who presides to help orphans and widows, whom the disease or any other cause has deprived of resources, prisoners, immigrants and, in a word, all those in need (S. Justin, 1st Apology 1.67,6).

1352 The Anaphora: with the Eucharistic Prayer, the prayer of thanksgiving and consecration we reach the heart and the summit of the celebration : (559)

In the preface, the Church gives thanks to the Father, for Christ, in the Holy Spirit, for all his works: creation, redemption and sanctification. The whole community thus joins the incessant praise that the heavenly Church, the angels and all the saints sing to God three times holy.

Nothing in this celebration has been put at random, everything has a reason to be and we confirm that it is not a mere symbol but a real presence, by the words of Christ and by the Role of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist.

1353 In the epiclessis, the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit (or the power of his blessing) upon bread and wine, so that by his power they may become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and that those who participate in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit (some liturgical traditions place the epiclesis after the Anamnesis). (1105; 1375)

In the account of the institution, the strength of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present, under the species of bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ, his sacrifice offered on the cross once and for all.

Ordinary of the Mass: Blessed be the Lord, God of the universe, for this bread, the fruit of the earth and the work of man, which we receive from your generosity and now we present to you; he will be for us the bread of life [blessed forever be Lord] Blessed be you, Lord, God of the universe for this wine, fruit of the vine and the work of man, which we receive from your generosity and now we present to you; he will be for us drink of salvation... Pray, brethren, that this sacrifice of my own may be pleasing to God, the Almighty Father [The Lord receives this sacrifice from your hands, to praise and glory of his name, for our good and that of all his holy Church.]

1354 In the following Anamnesis (from the Greek Annamnesis and the Lat. commemorationem), the Church recalls the Passion, the Resurrection and the glorious return of Christ Jesus; she presents to the Father the offering of his Son who reconciles us to him. (1103; 954)

In intercessions, the Church indicates that the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the whole Church in heaven and on earth, with the living and the deceased, and in communion with the pastors of the Church, the Pope, the diocesan bishop, his presbytery and his deacons, and all the bishops of the whole world together with his Churches.

Ordinary of Mass (Eucharistic Prayer II and III): It is indeed just and necessary, it is our duty and salvation, to give you thanks, Holy Father, always and everywhere, through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son.

For him, who is your Word, you did all things; You sent him to us so that he might be made man by the work of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, to be our Savior and Redeemer.

He, in the fulfillment of your will, to destroy death and manifest the resurrection, extended his arms on the cross, and thus acquired a holy people for you.

Therefore we proclaim your glory with the angels and saints, saying to one voice, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, God of the Universe. The heavens and the earth of his glory are full. Hosanna in heaven. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in heaven.]

You are truly, Lord, the source of all holiness so we ask you to sanctify these gifts with the outpouring of your Spirit, so that they become for us the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Who, when he was to be delivered to his Passion, voluntarily accepted, took bread; giving thanks to You, he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, "TAKE AND EAT ALL OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU".

Likewise, after the supper, he took the chalice, and, giving thanks to You again, passed it to his disciples, saying: TAKE AND DRINK FROM IT ALL OF YOU, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.

This is the mystery of faith: [We announce thy death, we proclaim your resurrection. Come, Lord Jesus.

Thus, Father, by now celebrating the memorial of the death and resurrection of your Son, we offer you the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and we thank you because you make us worthy to serve you in your presence. We humbly ask you that the Holy Spirit should gather in unity all those who participate in the Body and Blood of Christ.

Remember, Lord, your Church spread throughout the earth; and with the Pope..., with our bishop... and all the shepherds who care for your people, bring it to their perfection by charity.

Remember also our brethren who slept in the hope of the resurrection, and of all who have died in your mercy; adhere to contemplate the light of your face.

Have mercy on all of us and so, with Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, her husband, St. Joseph, the apostles and all those who lived in your friendship through the ages, let us deserve, through your Son Jesus Christ, to share eternal life and sing your praises.

By Christ, with him and in him, to you, God the Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and all glory for ever and ever. [Amen.]

CCC 1355 In communion, preceded by the Our Father and the breaking of bread, the faithful receive the bread from heaven, and the cup of salvation, the Body and the Blood of Christ, who offered himself - for the life of the world (Jn 6:51): (1382; 1327)

For this bread and this wine have been made Eucharist (eucharistized, according to an ancient expression), we call this food Eucharist, and no one can participate of it if he does not believe that our teaching is true, he has received the baptism for the forgiveness of sins and of rebirth, and he lives according to the teaching of Christ (S. Justin, apologetics 1, 66,1-2.

Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition (Vatican City: Bookshop Editrice Vaticana, 2019), 340-342.

During the rite of Communion when we say in the Our Father prayer, "give us our daily bread"; we also make a confession of faith that must demonstrate our desire and necessity for that bread that is the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of our sins and for our physical and spiritual sustenance through the Eucharist.

The Institution of the Eucharist and the New Alliance

Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the last supper he had with his apostles, he did it for good and for health (understand salvation) of his entire Church. The Greek word Eucharist translates as " Thanksgiving" but its meaning and benefit is deeper than what the word itself can reveal to us; When we participate in the Eucharist at Mass we have life in us because we are Christified, we remain in him and he in us; Jesus also said that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life, and will raise him in the last day. Moreover, in the Eucharist, Jesus fulfills his promise to be with his Church until he returns again. Both the Gospels and the Apostle Paul narrate this founding event of the Mass in a way in which their words cannot be interpreted as a metaphor or figurative language.

The apostle of St. Paul in his 1st letter to the Corinthians 11:23-26 (BJL) wrote:

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink it, do all this in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Then, the Mass is the memorial of the paschal mystery of Christ (passion, death, resurrection, ascension to heaven and its glorious return), thus, the Annamnesis or Memorial is more than simply a memory of the past events of this mystery, but they become present and current... Therefore, the victim is one and the same; and the sacrifice that was made by Jesus on the cross once and for all, becomes present and updated in every Eucharist without ceasing to be that same unique sacrifice.

The glossary of the catechism of the Catholic Church says the following about the Paschal Mystery:

PASCUAL MYSTERY/SACRIFICE: The redemptive work of Christ, performed mainly by his Passion, death, Resurrection and glorious Ascension, by which dying he destroyed our death, resurrecting restored our life. (1067; cf. 654). The Paschal Mystery is celebrated and made present in the liturgy of the Church, and its saving effects are communicated through the sacraments (1076), especially the Eucharist, which renews the Easter sacrifice of Christ as a sacrifice offered by the Church (571, 1362-1372).

Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2019), 891.

Now, the promise of the Eucharist had been announced by Jesus during his ministry when in the synagogue of Capernaum in front of those who had followed him after having done the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, said, "he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day," and added "my flesh is true food and my blood true drink."

The Gospel according to St.John 6:48-58 (BJL)

48 I am the bread of life.

49 Your fathers ate manna in the desert

and died;

50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven,

so that whoever eats it will not die.

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever* [allusion to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden];

and the bread that I will give him is

my flesh for the life of the world."

52 The Jews then reasoned among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 Jesus said to them,

"Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man

and drink his blood,

you have no life in you.

54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him up on the last day.

55 For my flesh is true food

and my blood is true drink.

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me,

and I in him.

57 Just as the living Father sent me

and I live because of the Father,

so whoever eats me

will live because of me.

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven,

not like the bread your

fathers ate and died.

Whoever eats this bread will live

forever.

Then, as Jesus promised that eating his flesh and drinking his blood makes us live forever, to remain in him and him in us, in addition to having life, promises us eternal life and being raised on the last day, then, the questions to ask us would be, How much importance should we give to the Sacrament of the Eucharist that is also called the sacrament of unity? Should I go to mass every day? Are we really staying in Christ every day? Is the Eucharist really vital to us?

I think some of us may already be able to answer them but as we move forward we will give the right answer to these questions.

In the book of the prophet Malachi 1:11 (BJL) reads:

11 From the rising up to the great west is my name among the nations, and everywhere they offer sacrifices of incense and pure oblations to my name, for my name is great among the nations, says Yahweh Shebaoot.

Saint Irene of Lyon (Disciple of Saint Polycarp who was a disciple of the Apostle John) says the following about the Eucharist and this prophecy in his work Against heresies:

Again, instructing His disciples to offer God the firstfruits of His own created things - not as if He had need them, but that they themselves were neither fruitless nor ungrateful. He took that created thing, the bread, and gave thanks, and said, "This is My body." 6 And the cup, which is part of that creation to which we belong, He confessed that it was His blood, and taught the new oblation of the new covenant; that the Church, receiving from the apostles, offers to God throughout the world, to Him who gives us as a means of subsistence the firstfruits of his own gifts in the New Testament, concerning which Malachi, among the twelve prophets, spoke thus in advance: I do not have pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty, and will not accept sacrifice from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is glorified among the nations, and incense is offered in every place to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for great is my name among the nations, saith the Lord Almighty; indicating in the clearest way, with these words, that the ancient people [the Jews] will surely cease to make offerings to God, but that in every place sacrifice shall be offered to him, and that it shall be pure; and his name is glorified among the Gentiles.8

6. But what other name is there that is glorified among the Gentiles, but that of our Lord, by whom the Father is glorified, and man also? And because it is [the name] of his own Son, who became man for him, he calls him his...

Since the name of the Son belongs to the Father, and since in the omnipotent God the Church offers offerings through Jesus Christ, He rightly says in both cases: And everywhere incense is offered in my name, and a pure sacrifice.

This pure sacrifice is offered at Mass, the Eucharist...

The Eucharist as a sacrifice

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says in:

1365 Being the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of his institution: This is my Body, which will be delivered by you, and This cup, which is poured out for you, is the New Covenant in my blood (Lk 22:19-20). In the Eucharist, Christ gives us the same Body that He gave for us on the cross, the same Blood that he shed for many for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28).

1366 The Eucharist is therefore a sacrifice because it represents (makes it present) the sacrifice of the cross, for it is its memorial and because it bears its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, once and for all offered himself to God the Father, dying as an intercessor on the altar of the cross, to perform there eternal redemption. But as his priesthood was not to end in his death (Heb 7:24,27), at the Last Supper, the night on which he was delivered. (1 Cor 11:23), [he wanted] to leave to his beloved wife, the Church, a visible sacrifice (as human nature demands) for which the bloody sacrifice that he was to make once and for all on the cross, will perpetuate his memory until the end of the world (1 Cor 11:23) and his saving power applied to the forgiveness of the sins we commit daily (Cc. From Trent: DS 1740).

1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one sacrifice: The victim is one and the same one that is now offered by the ministry of the priests, and the same one that was then offered on the cross; only the form of offering differs. And since in this divine sacrifice that is celebrated at the Mass, the same Christ who once offered himself bloodlessly is contained and immolated (without bloodshed) that once offered himself bloodily on the altar of the cross (Ck. From Trent 1743.. [Then] this sacrifice is truly propitiatory. (1545)

The 1st Epistle of St. John 2:2 (BJL) reads:

2 He is the victim of propitiation for our sins,

not just for ours,

but also for those of the whole world.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also says:

1368 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church, the Body of Christ, participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she offers herself whole and complete. He joins his intercession before the Father for all men. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ also becomes the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, their sufferings, their prayer and their work, are united with those of Christ and his total offering, thus acquiring a new value. The sacrifice of Christ present on the altar allows all generations of Christians to join in their offering. (618; 2031; 1109)

Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition (City of the Vatican: Bookshop Editrice Vaticana, 2019), 344.

The First Christians and the Eucharist

For the early Christians the center of the Mass, that is, the Eucharist was never symbolic, optional or minor. Even under persecution, Christians sought a way to gather in discreet or hidden places including the catacombs to celebrate the Eucharist and other sacraments, as well as to intercede for men, just as we can confirm today, there are places where Christians are in danger of being kidnapped or killed for going to Mass, they know that without the Eucharist they cannot live, so they risk their lives to receive Christ through this sacrament rather than hide without the physical and spiritual food we get from the Eucharist that nourishes our lives.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, disciple of the Apostle John, said in his epistle to the church of Smyrna [c. 110 AD]:

Be sure to follow the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the apostles; and reverence the deacons, because they are an institution of God. Let no one do anything related to the Church without the bishop. Let the Eucharist be considered proper when it is administered by the bishop or by whomever he has entrusted to him… It is not lawful to baptize or celebrate a love feast without the bishop; but whatever he approves also pleases God, so that everything done may be safe and valid.

Clearly Saint Ignatius exposes the importance of the Eucharist in Mass as well as the need for bishops and priests because without them there is no one to give us the Eucharist, there is no one to make our sacraments available. On the other hand, he also expressed to the Romans the desire that Christians like him should have for this sacrament.

3 I am not pleased with the corruptible foods or delights of this life. I desire the bread of God, who is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the lineage of David, and as a drink I desire his blood, which is incorruptible love.

St. Justine Martyr in his first apology [151-157 AD]:

And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of which only those who believe in the truth of what we teach, who has been washed with washing for the remission of sins and for regeneration, and who lives according to the command of Christ can participate. For we did not receive them as common bread and drink; but, as Jesus Christ, our Savior, made flesh by the Word of God, had flesh and blood for our salvation, so we have been taught that the food blessed by the prayer of his word, and of which our blood and flesh are nourished by transmutation, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus made flesh.

Origins vs. Celso, speaks of sanctification through the participation of the Eucharist [170-249 AD]:

But we give thanks to the Creator of everything, and, together with the thanksgiving and prayer for the blessings we have received, we also eat the bread that is presented to us; and this bread becomes by prayer a sacred body, which sanctifies those who sincerely participate in it.

S. Irenaeus of Lyon against the heresies [c. 180 AD]:

But our opinion is consistent with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist, in turn, underpins it. Because we offer Him his own, constantly announcing the communion and union of the flesh and the Spirit. For just as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when receiving the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, composed of two realities: earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, receiving the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, harbouring the hope of the resurrection to eternity.

Just as the sacred body of Christ sanctifies us, just as when we participate of it we are Christified, eating from it in an unworthy manner condemns us, as the Apostle Paul warns in his 1st Letter to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (BJL)

27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the LORD unworthyly, he shall be a prisoner of the body and of the Lord's blood.

28Let a man examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks condemnation to himself. 30Therefore many among you are sickly and infirm, and not a few die.

To avoid eating and drinking our own condemnation, to avoid sickness and die, we must practice the commandments of the Church, as it is to confess before taking communion in case of being in sin because in the Eucharist Jesus Christ is present in body, blood, soul and divinity.

The mystery of the Eucharist, Jesus Christ present in body, blood, soul and divinity

Jesus' words regarding the warnings given by him in the Gospel according to St.John chapter 6 must be taken literally, as Christians we should receive Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar daily because Jesus said that in this way we remain in him and he in us, that if we do not do it we have no life in us and just as he asks his Church to take his cross daily and follow him, in the same way he invites us to remain and live in him daily through this Sacrament.

St. Cyprian of Carthage in his work on the Our Father said: [c. 252 AD]

Just as it is clear that those who participate in His Body and receive the Eucharist for the right of communion are alive, so, on the other hand, we must fear and pray that no one who, being deprived of communion, is separated from the Body of Christ, remains far from salvation; as He himself threatens and says: If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. And therefore we ask that our bread, that is, Christ, be given to us daily, that those of us who abide and live in Christ may not depart from our sanctification and Body.

Cyril of Jerusalem in its five catechetical lectures to the newly baptized said:

Since then... He himself declared and said of the Bread, "This is my Body." Who will dare hesitate now? And since He himself said and said, "This is my Blood," who will ever hesitate, saying that it is not His blood?

Therefore, with full certainty, let us participate in the Body and Blood of Christ: for in the form of bread is given his Body, and in the form of wine his Blood; that, when you may participate in the Body and Blood of Christ, you may become of the same body and the blood as him. For so we come to bring Christ in us, for his Body and Blood are distributed through our members; this is how... we become partakers of the divine nature.

Conclusion:

Jesus is present and available to us in body, blood, soul and divinity through the Eucharist.

Just as the early Christians and those who are persecuted in other parts of the world die for going to Mass and receive Christ in the Sacrament of Unity, so it is necessary that we recognize our need to be one with Christ and with the rest of his body, so we must desire that we be given Christ daily for our good. Jesus before ascending to heaven promised that he would be with his Church and through the Eucharist we have his real presence.

CEC 1374 The way of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. Raise the Eucharist above all the sacraments as the perfection of spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend. In the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood, along with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore Christ whole, are true, real and substantially contained. This presence is called "real," that is, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, becomes totally and fully present. (1211)

Thus, the Fathers of the Church firmly affirmed that this conversion apart from being real is divine and miraculous.

John Chrysostom said:

It is not man who makes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified by us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, utters these words, but his power and grace are of God. "This is my body," he says. This word transforms the things offered.

Saint Ambrose:

Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because of the blessing nature itself is transformed... Could the word of Christ, which can create from nothing that did not exist, could not transform existing things into what they were not before? It is no less feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.

Tertullian, on the resurrection of the flesh.

The flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ so that the soul may also enrich itself with its God.

Just as our mortal body needs to eat daily to be nourished and not die, in the same way we do need the Eucharist in our daily lives. To do otherwise would demonstrate that we do not love Him. Thus, to partake of His Body and Blood is to partake of His Word. Therefore, it is to partake of the Mass from beginning to end daily…

Sacrilege of the Eucharist

In extreme cases, disparaging or committing sacrilege against the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, is a grave offense against the first commandment:

CEC 2120 - Sacrilege is a grave sin, especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ becomes substantially present for us.

Eucharistic Miracles

God sometimes allows miracles for those laity or priests who have lost faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist or even in the true Church. Among these miracles are those that are historical such as:

Tolosa 1225: San Antonio de Padua consecrated a host that was worshiped by a donkey converting the whole town.

Saint Clare of Assisi, being ill and in the midst of despair, used a custody to defend herself and her convent from Muslim invaders. The story says that blinding lights came out of the custody and they beat the attackers.

There are also the apologetic miracles confirmed by science, of which we can mention:

Consecrated hosts that have not been corrupted, these hosts are still exhibited in different parts of the world where the miracle has happened, the oldest being the miracle of Zamora that was consecrated in 1159.

Hosts stolen in Siena Italy on August 15, 1730, having been found, realized that they were still intact and remain like that so far to this day.

All the hosts that have been verified that miraculously transformed into ventricular tissue of the heart, all with the same type of blood (AB) as found in the holy shroud of Turin.

Leo Ramirez - BTh.