Article I: On the Notion and Effect of the Eucharist

1509. DEFINITION. The Eucharist, that is, good grace, is the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, under the species of bread and wine, divinely instituted for the spiritual refreshment of the soul.¹⁸

It is said 1. is a Sacrament; "for in it there are external signs and signs subject to the senses; it then has the signification and efficacy of grace; moreover, concerning the institution of Christ neither the Evangelists¹⁹ nor the Apostle²⁰ leave a place for doubting."²¹

It is said 2. of the Body and Blood of Christ, under the species of bread and wine: for the Tridentine Synod teaches that "in the nourishing Sacrament of the holy Eucharist, after the consecration of bread and wine, Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is contained truly, really, and substantially, under the species of those sensible things."²²

It is said 3. divinely instituted for the spiritual refreshment of the soul: by which words the principal effect of this Sacrament is expressed. For "just as earthly bread nourishes the body, so heavenly bread nourishes the soul, and makes it grow in divine love."²³

1510. Since, therefore, the Most Holy EUCHARIST consists both of the body of Christ and of the species under which the body of Christ lies hidden, if it is asked in what precisely the essence of this Sacrament is situated, St. Alphonsus responds: "There are several opinions, but two more received. Some say the essence of the Eucharist consists directly in the species of bread and wine; and that the body of Christ pertains to the Sacrament only obliquely, that is, as something extrinsically connoted. Others say that it consists directly equally in the species and in the body of Christ. Each opinion is probable."²⁴

But if it is asked IN WHAT MANNER the Body of Christ begins to become present, it must be said that it becomes present neither by production from nothing, nor by being brought from heaven, but "by the conversion of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of wine into the substance of His Blood; which conversion has fittingly and properly been called TRANSUBSTANTIATION by the holy Catholic Church."²⁵

1511. Principles. I. The whole CHRIST under each species, and under any part of each species, is REALLY PRESENT. The first part of the proposition is of faith; likewise the second, if it is understood of separated parts of the species.²⁶ But if it is understood of continuous parts, before separation has been made, it is certain, and altogether to be held.²⁷

The COUNCIL OF TRENT speaks thus aptly to the matter: "This faith has always been in the Church of God, that immediately after consecration, the true body of Our Lord and His true blood exist under the species of bread and wine, together with His soul and divinity; but the body indeed under the species of bread, and the blood under the species of wine, by force of the words; but the body itself under the species of wine, and the blood under the species of bread, and the soul under each, by force of that natural connection and concomitance by which the parts of Christ the Lord, who has now risen from the dead, no longer to die, are joined among themselves; moreover the divinity, on account of that admirable hypostatic union of it with the body and soul. Wherefore it is most true that just as much is contained under either species as under both: for whole and entire Christ exists under the species of bread, and under any part of that species; likewise whole under the species of wine, and under its parts."²⁸

Therefore Christ EXISTS in the Sacrament in a singular and altogether ineffable MANNER, which St. Thomas thus expresses: "The Body of Christ is in this Sacrament by way of substance, that is, by the manner in which substance is under dimensions... But it is manifest that the nature of substance is whole under any part of the dimensions under which it is contained, just as under any part of air there is the whole nature of air, and under any part of bread there is the whole nature of bread. And this indifferently, whether the dimensions are actually divided, as when air is divided or bread is cut, or even are actually undivided, but divisible in potency."²⁹

And hence it is why some teach that the whole specific notion of this Sacrament is saved in the species of bread or wine alone, taken separately. This opinion is indeed probable; but the opposite is more probable, since only through each species is signified a BANQUET or refreshment of food and drink, in which the specific notion or essence of this Sacrament consists.³⁰

It is asked: Whence is the NUMERICAL UNITY of this Sacrament taken?

Resp. Some say it is taken from the unity of the body of Christ; others from the physical continuation of the parts themselves of the species; finally others, and more probably, from the moral conjunction which the species have while they are proposed or taken after the manner of one thing. Whence, if diverse consecrated species, or several parts of the same species, are proposed at the same time and on the same altar, or ministered to the same person, there will be one Sacrament; but if the same species are divided, and proposed on diverse altars, or ministered to diverse persons, or to the same person at diverse turns morally distinct, there will be diverse Sacraments.³¹

1512. II. The Eucharist is a PERMANENT Sacrament. "That excellent and singular thing is found in it, that the remaining Sacraments then first have the power of sanctifying when someone uses them; but in the Eucharist the Author Himself of sanctity is before use; for the Apostles had not yet received the Eucharist from the hand of the Lord, when nevertheless He Himself truly affirmed that what He was giving was His Body."³²

Q. When does the body of Christ CEASE to be under the species?

Resp. It ceases when so great a change of the species has been made as would have had to be made in order that the substance of bread and wine in unconsecrated species would be corrupted.³³

Hence: 1. If a little consecrated wine is mixed with other wine, at least of the same species, as happens in the first ablution, Christ does not cease to be there. If the wine is very diverse, it is disputed whether from the mixing of the species such a change arises as would suffice to destroy the substance of consecrated wine. Yet, in this doubt, it must be held that the species are not corrupted. But if to consecrated wine there is mixed a liquid of another species, for example water, in so great a quantity that the accidents of wine are corrupted, namely in such a way that the substance of wine, if it were present, could not be conserved, Christ ceases to be present under those species.¹

2. The species, in one receiving the Sacrament, are consumed sooner or later according to the greater or lesser digestive power. Yet commonly, in a healthy man, the species are judged to be corrupted at least after a quarter hour from Communion, even in a priest.² Otherwise in a sick person, who even after an hour can reject the species plainly incorrupt.

3. "Species rejected by vomiting, if they are such that under them bread or wine can exist, are truly to be adored; and if they are again taken, they again confer grace, as Cardinal de Lugo teaches."³

1513. III. The EFFECT of the Eucharist is the NOURISHMENT of souls through the perfection of charity. The Most Holy Eucharist indeed has this in common with the other Sacraments of the living, that it confers an INCREASE OF GRACE, but not first grace except per accidens, as was said above, n. 1395. But its proper effect is that this increase of grace imports the refreshment of the soul, namely for fostering charity and perfecting UNION with Christ, as He Himself promised in John 6:57, saying: "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."

But since this nourishing Sacrament has the notion of FOOD, "therefore, every effect which material food and drink makes with respect to bodily life, namely that it sustains, increases, repairs, and delights, this whole thing this Sacrament does with respect to spiritual life." Thus St. Thomas.⁴

Therefore the principal EFFECTS of the Eucharist in the SOUL, besides the increase of grace, are the following:⁵

1. REMISSION OF VENIAL SINS (it repairs); for this Sacrament, according to Trent,⁶ "is an antidote by which we are freed from venial faults and preserved from mortal sins." "But the Salmanticenses think with others that Communion of itself destroys venial sins from the work worked, through the very infusion of grace by which the soul is refreshed. But Tournely says better that the Sacrament destroys venial sins not immediately of itself, but by means of an act of charity which it excites in the soul."⁷ And in the same way it remits temporal punishment due for sins.

2. PRESERVATION FROM MORTAL SINS (it sustains); as is established from the praised words of Trent. But the Eucharist preserves us from death of the soul through the help of sacramental grace, by which devotion is excited, temptations are more strongly resisted, demons are put to flight, etc. Indeed, grave authors assert that from the reception of the Eucharist the soul is fortified by such external protection that God does not permit it to be living in occasions in which it would fall into sin.⁸

3. INCREASE OF VIRTUES (it increases); for just as the body through natural food is not only conserved, but also grows, so similarly the soul through supernatural food, that is, the Eucharist, is not only sustained, but also strengthened and enriched with a supply of graces, by which the exercise of all virtues, especially charity, is promoted more and more.

4. SPIRITUAL SWEETNESS (it delights); and this effect indeed is infallible, unless it is impeded on account of the fault of the recipient. But this sweetness consists in a certain cheerfulness of the will for accomplishing all things which are known to be pleasing and acceptable to God (cf. n. 536).

5. ATTAINMENT OF GLORY, according to that of Christ (John 6:59): "He who eats this bread will live forever." "By the grace of this Sacrament, namely, the faithful, while they pass this life, enjoy the highest peace and tranquillity of conscience; then, recreated by its power, not otherwise than Elias, who by the strength of the hearth-baked bread walked even to the mountain of God Horeb, when the time of departing from life has come, ascend to eternal glory and beatitude."⁹

1514. Nor do the effects of the Eucharist extend to the soul alone, but also to the BODY itself, as the Fathers teach. But they are the following:

1. THE QUIETING OF CONCUPISCENCE and of the tinder of sin. But the Eucharist works this quieting partly by putting demons to flight, lest they excite species of a shameful object, partly by repressing the powers of the humors, mitigating ardor, etc.¹⁰

2. The future RESURRECTION AND GLORY of the body, on account of a special title, namely because of the union of our bodies with the life-giving flesh of Christ, which is the cause of our resurrection, as Christ promised, saying in John 6:55: "I will raise him up on the last day."

It is asked: Whether the Eucharist, insofar as it is a Sacrament, can profit OTHERS than those receiving?

Resp. 1. It cannot profit DIRECTLY and from the work worked; because it was instituted by way of food; but food does not profit except the one taking it. 2. It can profit INDIRECTLY and from the work of the worker, both the living by way of impetration, and the departed by way of satisfaction and suffrage, if namely the one communicating offers this act of religion to God in their favor. Add that the prayers which accompany or follow Communion are more acceptable to God than those which are poured forth at another time. Whence the Congregation of the INDEX, under Innocent X, condemned the book of Theophilus Raynaud, who attacked the custom of communicating for the departed.¹¹ See the dogmatic authors.