MYSTERIUM FIDEI
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PAUL VI
ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST
SEPTEMBER 3, 1965
To His Venerable Brothers the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops
and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See,
and to the Clergy and Faithful of the Entire World.
Venerable Brothers and Dear Sons, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
The Mystery of Faith, that is, the ineffable gift of the Eucharist that
the Catholic Church received from Christ, her Spouse, as a pledge of His
immense love, is something that she has always devoutly guarded as her most
precious treasure, and during the Second Vatican Council she professed her
faith and veneration in a new and solemn declaration. In dealing with the
restoration of the sacred liturgy, the Fathers of the Council were led by
their pastoral concern for the whole Church to regard it as a matter of highest
importance to urge the faithful to participate actively, with undivided faith
and the utmost devotion, in the celebration of this Most Holy Mystery, to
offer it to God along with the priest as a sacrifice for their own salvation
and that of the whole world, and to use it as spiritual nourishment.
2. For if the sacred liturgy holds first place in the life of the Church,
then the Eucharistic Mystery stands at the heart and center of the liturgy,
since it is the font of life that cleanses us and strengthens us to live
not for ourselves but for God and to be united to each other by the closest
ties of love.
Reaffirmation by Vatican II
3. In order to make the indissoluble bond that exists between faith and
devotion perfectly clear, the Fathers of the Council decided, in the course
of reaffirming the doctrine that the Church has always held and taught and
that was solemnly defined by the Council of Trent, to offer the following
compendium of truths as an introduction to their treatment of the Most Holy
Mystery of the Eucharist:
4. "At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Savior
instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in
order to perpetuate the Sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until
He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved Spouse, the Church,
a memorial of His Death and Resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of
unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the
mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.''
Both Sacrifice and Sacrament Highlighted
5. These words highlight both the sacrifice, which pertains to the essence
of the Mass that is celebrated daily, and the sacrament in which those
who participate in it through holy Communion eat the flesh of Christ and
drink the blood of Christ, and thus receive grace, which is the beginning
of eternal life, and the "medicine of immortality" according to Our Lord's
words: "The man who eats my flesh and drinks my blood enjoys eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day." (2)
Restoration of Liturgy Linked to Eucharistic
Devotion
6. And so We earnestly hope that the restoration of the sacred liturgy
will produce abundant fruits in the form of Eucharistic devotion, so that
the Holy Church may, with this salvific sign of piety raised on high, make
daily progress toward the full achievement of unity, (3) inviting all Christians
to a unity of faith and love and drawing them to it gently, through the
action of divine grace.
7. We seem to have a preview of these fruits and a first taste of them
in the outpouring of joy and eagerness that has marked the reception the
sons of the Catholic Church have accorded to the Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy and to the restoration of the liturgy; and we find these fruits
too in the large number of carefully-edited publications that make it their
purpose to go into the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist more profoundly and
to come to a more fruitful understanding of it, especially in terms of its
relationship to the mystery of the Church.
8. All of this brings Us deep consolation and joy. And it gives Us great
pleasure to inform you of this, Venerable Brothers, so that you may join
with Us in giving thanks to God, the bestower of all gifts, who rules the
Church and makes her grow in virtue through His Spirit.
REASONS FOR PASTORAL CONCERN AND ANXIETY
9. There are, however, Venerable Brothers, a number of reasons for serious
pastoral concern and anxiety in this very matter that we are now discussing,
and because of Our consciousness of Our Apostolic office, We cannot remain
silent about them.
False and Disturbing Opinions
10. For We can see that some of those who are dealing with this Most
Holy Mystery in speech and writing are disseminating opinions on Masses
celebrated in private or on the dogma of transubstantiation that are disturbing
the minds of the faithful and causing them no small measure of confusion
about matters of faith, just as if it were all right for someone to take
doctrine that has already been defined by the Church and consign it to oblivion
or else interpret it in such a way as to weaken the genuine meaning of the
words or the recognized force of the concepts involved.
11. To give an example of what We are talking about, it is not permissible
to extol the so-called "community" Mass in such a way as to detract from
Masses that are celebrated privately; or to concentrate on the notion of
sacramental sign as if the symbolism—which no one will deny is certainly
present in the Most Blessed Eucharist—fully expressed and exhausted the manner
of Christ's presence in this Sacrament; or to discuss the mystery of transubstantiation
without mentioning what the Council of Trent had to say about the marvelous
conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body and the whole
substance of the wine into the Blood of Christ, as if they involve nothing
more than "transignification," or "transfinalization" as they call it;
or, finally, to propose and act upon the opinion that Christ Our Lord is
no longer present in the consecrated Hosts that remain after the celebration
of the sacrifice of the Mass has been completed.
12. Everyone can see that the spread of these and similar opinions does
great harm to belief in and devotion to the Eucharist.
Purpose of the Encyclical
13. And so, with the aim of seeing to it that the hope to which the Council
has given rise—that a new wave of Eucharistic devotion will sweep over
the Church—not be reduced to nil through the sowing of the seeds of false
opinions, We have decided to use Our apostolic authority and speak Our
mind to you on this subject, Venerable Brothers.
14. We certainly do not deny that those who are spreading these strange
opinions are making a praiseworthy effort to investigate this lofty Mystery
and to set forth its inexhaustible riches and to make it more understandable
to the men of today; rather, We acknowledge this and We approve of it. But
We cannot approve the opinions that they set forth, and We have an obligation
to warn you about the grave danger that these opinions involve for true
faith.
HOLY EUCHARIST A MYSTERY OF FAITH
15. First of all, We want to recall something that you know very well
but that is absolutely necessary if the virus of every kind of rationalism
is to be repelled; it is something that many illustrious martyrs have witnessed
to with their blood, something that celebrated fathers and Doctors of the
Church have constantly professed and taught. We mean the fact that the
Eucharist is a very great mystery—in fact, properly speaking and in the
words of the Sacred Liturgy, the mystery of faith. "It contains within
it," as Leo XIII, Our predecessor of happy memory, very wisely remarked,
"all supernatural realities in a remarkable richness and variety of miracles."
(4)
Relying on Revelation, Not Reason
16. And so we must approach this mystery in particular with humility
and reverence, not relying on human reasoning, which ought to hold its
peace, but rather adhering firmly to divine Revelation.
17. St. John Chrysostom who, as you know, dealt with the Mystery of the
Eucharist in such eloquent language and with such insight born of devotion,
had these most fitting words to offer on one occasion when he was instructing
his faithful about this mystery: "Let us submit to God in all things and
not contradict Him, even if what He says seems to contradict our reason and
intellect; let His word prevail over our reason and intellect. Let us act
in this way with regard to the Eucharistic mysteries, and not limit our attention
just to what can be perceived by the senses, but instead hold fast to His
words. For His word cannot deceive." (5)
18. The scholastic Doctors made similar statements on more than one occasion.
As St. Thomas says, the fact that the true body and the true blood of Christ
are present in this Sacrament "cannot be apprehended by the senses but
only by faith, which rests upon divine authority. This is why Cyril comments
upon the words, This is my body which is delivered up for you, in Luke 22,
19, in this way: Do not doubt that this is true; instead accept the words
of the Savior in faith; for since He is truth, He cannot tell a lie." (6)
19. Hence the Christian people often follow the lead of St. Thomas and
sing the words: "Sight, touch and taste in Thee are each deceived; The
ear alone most safely is believed. I believe all the Son of God has spoken;
Than truth's own word, there is no truer token."
20. And St. Bonaventure declares: "There is no difficulty over Christ's
being present in the sacrament as in a sign; the great difficulty is in the
fact that He is really in the sacrament, as He is in heaven. And so believing
this is especially meritorious. " (7)
Example of the Apostles
21. Moreover, the Holy Gospel alludes to this when it tells of the many
disciples of Christ who turned away and left Our Lord, after hearing Him
speak of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. "This is strange talk,"
they said. "Who can be expected to listen to it" Peter, on the contrary, replied
to Jesus' question as to whether the twelve wanted to go away too by promptly
and firmly expressing his own faith and that of the other Apostles in these
marvelous words: "Lord, to whom should we go? Thy words are the words of
eternal life." (8)
22. It is only logical, then, for us to follow the magisterium of the
Church as a guiding star in carrying on our investigations into this mystery,
for the Divine Redeemer has entrusted the safeguarding and the explanation
of the written or transmitted word of God to her. And we are convinced that
"whatever has been preached and believed throughout the whole Church with
true Catholic faith since the days of antiquity is true, even if it not
be subject to rational investigation, and even if it not be explained in
words." (9)
Proper Wording of Great Importance
23. But this is not enough. Once the integrity of the faith has been
safeguarded, then it is time to guard the proper way of expressing it,
lest our careless use of words give rise, God forbid, to false opinions
regarding faith in the most sublime things. St. Augustine gives a stern
warning about this when he takes up the matter of the different ways of
speaking that are employed by the philosophers on the one hand and that
ought to be used by Christians on the other. "The philosophers," he says,
"use words freely, and they have no fear of offending religious listeners
in dealing with subjects that are difficult to understand. But we have to
speak in accordance with a fixed rule, so that a lack of restraint in speech
on our part may not give rise to some irreverent opinion about the things
represented by the words.'' (l0)
24. And so the rule of language which the Church has established through
the long labor of centuries, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and which
she has confirmed with the authority of the Councils, and which has more
than once been the watchword and banner of orthodox faith, is to be religiously
preserved, and no one may presume to change it at his own pleasure or under
the pretext of new knowledge. Who would ever tolerate that the dogmatic
formulas used by the ecumenical councils for the mysteries of the Holy Trinity
and the Incarnation be judged as no longer appropriate for men of our times,
and let others be rashly substituted for them? In the same way, it cannot
be tolerated that any individual should on his own authority take something
away from the formulas which were used by the Council of Trent to propose
the Eucharistic Mystery for our belief. These formulas—like the others that
the Church used to propose the dogmas of faith—express concepts that are
not tied to a certain specific form of human culture, or to a certain level
of scientific progress, or to one or another theological school. Instead
they set forth what the human mind grasps of reality through necessary and
universal experience and what it expresses in apt and exact words, whether
it be in ordinary or more refined language. For this reason, these formulas
are adapted to all men of all times and all places.
Greater Clarity of Expression Always Possible
25. They can, it is true, be made clearer and more obvious; and doing
this is of great benefit. But it must always be done in such a way that they
retain the meaning in which they have been used, so that with the advance
of an understanding of the faith, the truth of faith will remain unchanged.
For it is the teaching of the First Vatican Council that "the meaning that
Holy Mother the Church has once declared, is to be retained forever, and
no pretext of deeper understanding ever justifies any deviation from that
meaning." (11)
EUCHARISTIC MYSTERY IN SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
26. For the joy and edification of everyone, We would like to review
with you, Venerable Brothers, the doctrine on the Mystery of the Eucharist
that has been handed down, and that the Catholic Church holds and teaches
with unanimity.
Re-enactment at Heart of Doctrine
27. It is a good idea to recall at the very outset what may be termed
the heart and core of the doctrine, namely that, by means of the Mystery
of the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Cross which was once carried out on
Calvary is re-enacted in wonderful fashion and is constantly recalled, and
its salvific power is applied to the forgiving of the sins we commit each
day." (12)
28. just as Moses made the Old Testament sacred with the blood of calves,
(13) so too Christ the Lord took the New Testament, of which He is the
Mediator, and made it sacred through His own blood, in instituting the
mystery of the Eucharist. For, as the Evangelists narrate, at the Last Supper
"he took bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This
is my body, given for you; do this for a commemoration of me. And so with
the cup, when supper was ended, This cup, he said, is the new testament,
in my Blood which is to be shed for you." (l4) And by bidding the Apostles
to do this in memory of Him, He made clear that He wanted it to be forever
repeated. This intention of Christ was faithfully carried out by the primitive
Church through her adherence to the teaching of the Apostles and through
her gatherings to celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice. As St. Luke is careful
to point out, "They occupied themselves continually with the Apostles' teaching,
their fellowship in the breaking of bread, and the fixed times of prayer."
(l5) The faithful used to derive such spiritual fervor from this practice
that it was said of them that "there was one heart and soul in all the company
of the believers." (16)
New Offering of the New Testament
29. Moreover, the Apostle Paul, who faithfully transmitted to us what
he had received from the Lord, (17) is clearly speaking of the Eucharistic
Sacrifice when he points out that Christians ought not take part in pagan
sacrifices, precisely because they have been made partakers of the table
of the Lord. "Is not this cup we bless," he says, "a participation in Christ's
Blood? Is not the Bread we break a participation in Christ's Body? . . .
To drink the Lord's cup, and yet to drink the cup of evil spirits, to share
the Lord's feast, and to share the feast of evil spirits, is impossible
for you." (18) Foreshadowed by Malachias, (19) this new oblation of the
New Testament has always been offered by the Church, in accordance with
the teaching of Our Lord and the Apostles, "not only to atone for the sins
and punishments and satisfactions of the living faithful and to appeal for
their other needs, but also to help those who have died in Christ but have
not yet been completely purified." (20)
Offered Also for the Dead
30. We will pass over the other citations and rest content with recalling
the testimony offered by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who wrote the following
memorable words for the neophytes whom he was instructing in the Christian
faith: "After the spiritual sacrifice, the un-bloody act of worship, has
been completed, we bend over this propitiatory offering and beg God to grant
peace to all the Churches, to give harmony to the whole world, to bless our
rulers, our soldiers and our companions, to aid the sick and afflicted, and
in general to assist all those who stand in need; we all pray for all these
intentions and we offer this victim for them . . . and last of all for our
deceased holy forefathers and bishops and for all those who have lived among
us. For we have a deep conviction that great help will be afforded those
souls for whom prayers are offered while this holy and awesome victim is
present." In support of this, this holy Doctor offers the example of a crown
made for an emperor in order to win a pardon for some exiles, and he concludes
his talk with these words: "In the same fashion, when we offer our prayers
to God for the dead, even those who are sinners, we are not just making a
crown but instead are offering Christ who was slaughtered for our sins, and
thus begging the merciful God to take pity both on them and on ourselves.''
(21) St. Augustine attests that this custom of offering the "sacrifice which
ransomed us" also for the dead was observed in the Church at Rome, (22) and
he mentions at the same time that the universal Church observed this custom
as something handed down from the Fathers. (23)
The Universal Priesthood
31. But there is something else that We would like to add that is very
helpful in shedding light on the mystery of the Church; We mean the fact
that the whole Church plays the role of priest and victim along with Christ,
offering the Sacrifice of the Mass and itself completely offered in it.
The Fathers of the Church taught this wondrous doctrine. (24) A few years
ago Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius XII, explained it. (25) And only
recently the Second Vatican Council reiterated it in its Constitution on
the Church, in dealing with the people of God. (26) To be sure, the distinction
between the universal priesthood and the hierarchical priesthood is something
essential and not just a matter of degree, and it has to be maintained in
a proper way. (27) Yet We cannot help being filled with an earnest desire
to see this teaching explained over and over until it takes deep root in
the hearts of the faithful. For it is a most effective means of fostering
devotion to the Eucharist, of extolling the dignity of all the faithful,
and of spurring them on to reach the heights of sanctity, which means the
total and generous offering of oneself to the service of the Divine Majesty.
No Mass is "Private"
32. It is also only fitting for us to recall the conclusion that can
be drawn from this about "the public and social nature of each and every
Mass." (28) For each and every Mass is not something private, even if a
priest celebrates it privately; instead, it is an act of Christ and of the
Church. In offering this sacrifice, the Church learns to offer herself as
a sacrifice for all and she applies the unique and infinite redemptive power
of the sacrifice of the Cross to the salvation of the whole world. For every
Mass that is celebrated is being offered not just for the salvation of certain
people, but also for the salvation of the whole world. The conclusion from
this is that even though active participation by many faithful is of its very
nature particularly fitting when Mass is celebrated, still there is no reason
to criticize but rather only to approve a Mass that a priest celebrates privately
for a good reason in accordance with the regulations and legitimate traditions
of the Church, even when only a server to make the responses is present.
For such a Mass brings a rich and abundant treasure of special graces to
help the priest himself, the faithful, the whole Church and the whole world
toward salvation—and this same abundance of graces is not gained through
mere reception of Holy Communion.
33. And so, We recommend from a paternal and solicitous heart that priests,
who constitute Our greatest joy and Our crown in the Lord, be mindful of
the power they have received from the bishop who ordained them—the power
of offering sacrifice to God and of celebrating Mass for the living and for
the dead in the name of the Lord. (79) We recommend that they celebrate Mass
daily in a worthy and devout fashion, so that they themselves and the rest
of the faithful may enjoy the benefits that flow in such abundance from the
Sacrifice of the Cross. In doing so, they will also be making a great contribution
toward the salvation of mankind.
CHRIST SACRAMENTALLY PRESENT IN THE SACRIFICE
OF THE MASS
34. The few things that We have touched upon concerning the Sacrifice
of the Mass encourage Us to say something about the Sacrament of the Eucharist,
since both Sacrifice and Sacrament pertain to the same mystery and cannot
be separated from each other. The Lord is immolated in an unbloody way
in the Sacrifice of the Mass and He re-presents the sacrifice of the Cross
and applies its salvific power at the moment when he becomes sacramentally
present— through the words of consecration—as the spiritual food of the faithful,
under the appearances of bread and wine.
Various Ways in Which Christ is Present
35. All of us realize that there is more than one way in which Christ
is present in His Church. We want to go into this very joyful subject, which
the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy presented briefly, (30) at somewhat
greater length. Christ is present in His Church when she prays, since He
is the one who "prays for us and prays in us and to whom we pray: He prays
for us as our priest, He prays in us as our head, He is prayed to by us
as our God" (31); and He is the one who has promised, "Where two or three
are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." (32)
He is present in the Church as she performs her works of mercy, not just
because whatever good we do to one of His least brethren we do to Christ
Himself, (33)but also because Christ is the one who performs these works
through the Church and who continually helps men with His divine love. He
is present in the Church as she moves along on her pilgrimage with a longing
to reach the portals of eternal life, for He is the one who dwells in our
hearts through faith, (34) and who instills charity in them through the
Holy Spirit whom He gives to us. (35)
36. In still another very genuine way, He is present in the Church as
she preaches, since the Gospel which she proclaims is the word of God, and
it is only in the name of Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, and by His authority
and with His help that it is preached, so that there might be "one flock
resting secure in one shepherd." (36)
37. He is present in His Church as she rules and governs the People of
God, since her sacred power comes from Christ and since Christ, the "Shepherd
of Shepherds," (37) is present in the bishops who exercise that power, in
keeping with the promise He made to the Apostles.
38. Moreover, Christ is present in His Church in a still more sublime
manner as she offers the Sacrifice of the Mass in His name; He is present
in her as she administers the sacraments. On the matter of Christ's presence
in the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass, We would like very much to call
what St. John Chrysostom, overcome with awe, had to say in such accurate
and eloquent words: "I wish to add something that is clearly awe-inspiring,
but do not be surprised or upset. What is this? It is the same offering,
no matter who offers it, be it Peter or Paul. It is the same one that Christ
gave to His disciples and the same one that priests now perform: the latter
is in no way inferior to the former, for it is not men who sanctify the
latter, but He who sanctified the former. For just as the words which God
spoke are the same as those that the priest now pronounces, so too the offering
is the same." (38) No one is unaware that the sacraments are the actions
of Christ who administers them through men. And so the sacraments are holy
in themselves and they pour grace into the soul by the power of Christ, when
they touch the body. The Highest Kind of Presence.
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" (39) 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." (40)
39. 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. (41) 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." (42)
The Proper Use of Symbolism
40. It is true that the Fathers and Scholastics had a great deal to say
about symbolism in the Eucharist, especially with regard to the unity of
the Church. The Council of Trent, in re-stating their doctrine, taught that
our Saviour bequeathed the Eucharist to His Church "as a symbol . . . of the
unity and charity with which He wished all Christians to be joined among themselves,"
"and hence as a symbol of that one Body of which He is the Head." (43)
41. When Christian literature was still in its infancy, the unknown author
of the work called the "Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" had
this to write on the subject: "As far as the Eucharist is concerned, give
thanks in this manner: . . . just as this bread had been broken and scattered
over the hills and was made one when it was gathered together, so too may
your church be gathered into your kingdom from the ends of the earth." (44)
42. St. Cyprian too, in the course of laying stress on the Church's unity
in opposition to schism, said this: "Finally the Lord's sacrifices proclaim
the unity of Christians who are bound together by a firm and unshakeable
charity. For when the Lord calls the bread that has been made from many
grains of wheat His Body, He is describing our people whose unity He has
sustained; and when He refers to wine pressed from many grapes and berries
as His Blood, once again He is speaking of our flock which has been formed
by fusing many into one." (45)
43. But before all of these, St. Paul had written to the Corinthians:
"The one bread makes us one body, though we are many in number; the same
bread is shared by all." (46)
Symbolism Inadequate to Express Real Presence
44. While Eucharistic symbolism is well suited to helping us understand
the effect that is proper to this Sacrament—the unity of the Mystical Body—still
it does not indicate or explain what it is that makes this Sacrament different
from all the others. For the constant teaching that the Catholic Church
has passed on to her catechumens, the understanding of the Christian people,
the doctrine defined by the Council of Trent, the very words that Christ
used when He instituted the Most Holy Eucharist, all require us to profess
that "the Eucharist is the flesh of Our Savior Jesus Christ which suffered
for our sins and which the Father in His loving kindness raised again." (47)
To these words of St. Ignatius, we may well add those which Theodore of Mopsuestia,
who is a faithful witness to the faith of the Church on this point, addressed
to the people: "The Lord did not say: This is symbol of my body, and this
is a symbol of my blood, but rather: This is my body and my blood. He teaches
us not to look to the nature of what lies before us and is perceived by
the senses, because the giving of thanks and the words spoken over it have
changed it into flesh and blood." (45)
45. 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." (49)
CHRIST PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST THROUGH TRANSUBSTANTIATION
46. To avoid any misunderstanding of this type of presence, which goes
beyond the laws of nature and constitutes the greatest miracle of its kind,
(50) we have to listen with docility to the voice of the teaching and praying
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.
(51) 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.
Writings of the Fathers
47. 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.
48. "Instructed as you are in these matters," says St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
at the end of a sermon on the mysteries of the faith, "and filled with
an unshakeable faith that what seems to be bread is not bread—though it
tastes like it—but rather the Body of Christ; and that what seems to be
wine is not wine—even though it too tastes like it—but rather the Blood
of Christ . . . draw strength from receiving this bread as spiritual food
and your soul will rejoice." (52)
49. St. John Chrysostom insists upon the same point with these words:
"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." (53)
50. Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, is in wonderful harmony with John,
the Bishop of Constantinople, when he writes in his commentary on the Gospel
of St. Matthew: "He said This is my body and this is my blood in a demonstrative
fashion, so that you might not judge that what you see is a mere figure;
instead the offerings are truly changed by the hidden power of God Almighty
into Christ's body and blood, which bring us the life-giving and sanctifying
power of Christ when we share in them." (54)
51. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, in a clear statement on the Eucharistic
conversion, has this to say: "Let us be assured that this is not what nature
formed but what the blessing has consecrated; and there is greater power
in the blessing and in nature, since nature itself is changed through the
blessing." To confirm the truth of this mystery, he recounts many of the
miracles described in the Sacred Scriptures, including Christ's birth of
the Virgin Mary, and then he turns his mind to the work of creation, concluding
this way: "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." (55)
Constant Teaching of the Popes and the
Councils
52. But this is no time for assembling a long list of evidence. Instead,
We would rather recall the firmness of faith and complete unanimity that
the Church displayed in opposing Berengarius who gave in to certain difficulties
raised by human reasoning and first dared to deny the Eucharistic conversion.
More than once she threatened to condemn him unless he retracted. Thus
it was that Our predecessor, St. Gregory VII, commanded him to swear to
the following oath: "I believe in my heart and openly profess that the bread
and wine that are placed on the altar are, through the mystery of the sacred
prayer and the words of the Redeemer, substantially changed into the true
and proper and lifegiving flesh and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, and that
after the consecration they are the true body of Christ—which was born of
the Virgin and which hung on the Cross as an offering for the salvation of
the world—and the true blood of Christ—which flowed from His side—and not
just as a sign and by reason of the power of the sacrament, but in the very
truth and reality of their substance and in what is proper to their nature."
(56)
53. We have a wonderful example of the stability of the Catholic faith
in the way in which these words meet with such complete agreement in the
constant teaching of the Ecumenical Councils of the Lateran, Constance,
Florence and Trent on the mystery of the Eucharistic conversion, whether
it be contained in their explanations of the teaching of the Church or in
their condemnations of error.
54. After the Council of Trent, Our predecessor, Pius VI, issued a serious
warning, on the occasion of the errors of the Synod of Pistoia, that parish
priests not neglect to speak of transubstantiation, which is listed among
the articles of the faith, in the course of carrying out their office of
teaching. (57) Similarly, Our Predecessor of happy memory, Pius XII, recalled
the bounds beyond which those who were carrying on subtle discussion of
the mystery of transubstantiation might not pass; (58) and We Ourself, at
the National Eucharistic Congress that was recently celebrated at Pisa,
bore open and solemn witness to the faith of the Church, in fulfillment of
Our apostolic duty. (59)
55. Moreover, the Catholic Church has held firm to this belief in the
presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Eucharist not only in her teaching
but in her life as well, since she has at all times paid this great Sacrament
the worship known as "latria," which may be given to God alone. As St. Augustine
says: "It was in His flesh that Christ walked among us and it is His flesh
that He has given us to eat for our salvation; but no one eats of this
flesh without having first adored it . . . and not only do we not sin in
thus adoring it, but we would be sinning if we did not do so." (60)
ON THE WORSHIP OF LATRIA
56. The Catholic Church has always displayed and still displays this
latria that ought to be paid to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, both during
Mass and outside of it, by taking the greatest possible care of consecrated
Hosts, by exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and by
carrying them about in processions to the joy of great numbers of the people.
57. The ancient documents of the Church offer many evidences of this
veneration. The bishops of the Church always urged the faithful to take
the greatest possible care of the Eucharist that they had in their homes.
"The Body of Christ is meant to be eaten by the faithful, not to be treated
with irreverence," is the serious warning of St. Hippolytus. (61)
58. In fact, the faithful regarded themselves as guilty, and rightly
so as Origen recalls, if, after they had received the body of the Lord and
kept it with all reverence and caution, some part of it were to fall to the
ground through negligence. (62)
59. These same bishops were severe in reproving any lack of due reverence
that might occur. We have evidence of this from the words of Novatian,
whose testimony is trustworthy in this matter; He felt that anybody deserved
to be condemned who "came out after Sunday service bringing the Eucharist
with him, as was the custom, . . . and carried the holy body of the Lord
around with him," going off to places of amusement instead of going home.
(63)
60. In fact, St. Cyril of Alexandria denounced as mad the opinion that
the Eucharist was of no use to sanctification if some of it were left over
for another day. "For Christ is not altered," he says, "and His holy body
is not changed; instead the power and force and life-giving grace of the
blessing remain in it forever." (64)
61. Nor should we forget that in ancient times the faithful—whether being
harassed by violent persecutions or living in solitude out of love for
monastic life—nourished themselves even daily on the Eucharist, by receiving
Holy Communion from their own hands when there was no priest or deacon present.
(65)
62. We are not saying this with any thought of effecting a change in
the manner of keeping the Eucharist and of receiving Holy Communion that
has been laid down by subsequent ecclesiastical laws still in force; Our
intention is that we may rejoice over the faith of the Church which is
always one and the same.
Corpus Christi, Another Instance of Latria
63. This faith also gave rise to the feast of Corpus Christi, which was
first celebrated in the diocese of Liege—especially through the efforts of
the servant of God, Blessed Juliana of Mount Cornelius—and Our predecessor,
Urban IV, established for the universal Church. It has also given rise to
many forms of Eucharistic devotion that have, through the inspiration of
God's grace, grown with each passing day. Through them the Catholic Church
is eagerly striving to pay honor to Christ and to thank Him for such a great
gift and to beg His mercy.
EXHORTATION TO FOSTERING EUCHARISTIC DEVOTION
64. And so We beseech you, Venerable Brothers, to take this faith, which
means nothing less than maintaining complete fidelity to the words of Christ
and the Apostles, and preserve it in its purity and integrity among the
people entrusted to your care and vigilance, with all false and pernicious
opinions being completely rejected; and We beseech you to foster devotion
to the Eucharist, which should be the focal point and goal of all other
forms of devotion.
65. May the faithful, thanks to your constant efforts, come to realize
and experience more and more that: "he who wants to live can find here
a place to live in and the means to live on. Let him approach, let him
believe, let him be incorporated so that he may receive life. Let him not
shy away from union with the members, let him not be a rotten member that
deserves to be cut away, nor a distorted member to be ashamed of: let him
be beautiful, let him be fitting, let him be healthy. Let him adhere to
the body; let him live for God on God: let him labor now upon earth, so
that he may afterwards reign in heaven." (66)
Daily Mass and Holy Communion
66. It is desirable to have the faithful in large numbers take an active
part in the sacrifice of the Mass each and every day and receive the nourishment
of Holy Communion with a pure and holy mind and offer fitting thanks to
Christ the Lord for such a great gift. They should remember these words:
"The desire of Jesus Christ and of the Church to see all the faithful approach
the sacred banquet each and every day is based on a wish to have them all
united to God through the Sacrament and to have them draw from it the strength
to master their passions, to wash away the lesser sins that are committed
every day and to prevent the serious sins to which human frailty is subject."
(67) And they should not forget about paying a visit during the day to the
Most Blessed Sacrament in the very special place of honor where it is reserved
in churches in keeping with the liturgical laws, since this is a proof of
gratitude and a pledge of love and a display of the adoration that is owed
to Christ the Lord who is present there.
Dignity Bestowed by Eucharist
67. No one can fail to see that the divine Eucharist bestows an incomparable
dignity upon the Christian people. For it is not just while the Sacrifice
is being offered and the Sacrament is being confected, but also after the
Sacrifice has been offered and the Sacrament confected—while the Eucharist
is reserved in churches or oratories—that Christ is truly Emmanuel, which
means "God with us." For He is in the midst of us day and night; He dwells
in us with the fullness of grace and of truth. (68) He raises the level
of morals, fosters virtue, comforts the sorrowful, strengthens the weak
and stirs up all those who draw near to Him to imitate Him, so that they
may learn from his example to be meek and humble of heart, and to seek not
their own interests but those of God. Anyone who has a special devotion to
the sacred Eucharist and who tries to repay Christ's infinite love for us
with an eager and unselfish love of his own, will experience and fully understand—and
this will bring great delight and benefit to his soul—just how precious
is a life hidden with Christ in God (69) and just how worthwhile it is to
carry on a conversation with Christ, for there is nothing more consoling
here on earth, nothing more efficacious for progress along the paths of
holiness.
68. You also realize, Venerable Brothers, that the Eucharist is reserved
in churches or oratories to serve as the spiritual center of a religious
community or a parish community, indeed of the whole Church and the whole
of mankind, since it contains, beneath the veil of the species, Christ the
invisible Head of the Church, the Redeemer of the world, the center of all
hearts, "by whom all things are and by whom we exist." (70)
69. Hence it is that devotion to the divine Eucharist exerts a great
influence upon the soul in the direction of fostering a "social" love,
(71) in which we put the common good ahead of private good, take up the
cause of the community, the parish, the universal Church, and extend our
charity to the whole world because we know that there are members of Christ
everywhere.
A Sign and Cause of Unity
70. Because, Venerable Brothers, the Sacrament of the Eucharist is a
sign and cause of the unity of Christ's Mystical Body, and because it stirs
up an active "ecclesial" spirit in those who are more fervent in their
Eucharistic devotion, never stop urging your faithful, as they approach
the Mystery of the Eucharist, to learn to embrace the Church's cause as
their own, to pray to God without slackening, to offer themselves to God
as an acceptable sacrifice for the peace and unity of the Church; so that
all the sons of the Church may be united and feel united and there may be
no divisions among them but rather unity of mind and intention, as the Apostle
commands. (72) May all those who are not yet in perfect communion with the
Catholic Church and who glory in the name of Christian despite their separation
from her, come as soon as possible to share with us, through the help of
God's grace, in that unity of faith and communion that Christ wanted to
be the distinctive mark of His disciples.
A Special Task for Religious
71. This zeal at prayer and at devoting oneself to God for the sake of
the unity of the Church is something that religious, both men and women,
should regard as very specially their own since they are bound in a special
way to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and they have, by virtue of the
vows they have pronounced, become a kind of crown set around it here on
earth.
The Tridentine Decree
72. The Church in the past has felt and still feels that nothing is more
ancient and more pleasing than the desire for the unity of all Christians,
and We want to express this in the very same words that the Council of
Trent used to conclude its decree on the Most Holy Eucharist: "In conclusion,
the Council with paternal love admonishes, exhorts, begs and implores 'through
the merciful kindness of our God (73) that each and every Christian may
come at last to full agreement in this sign of unity, in this bond of charity,
in this symbol of harmony; that they may be mindful of the great dignity
and the profound love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave up His precious
life as the price of our salvation and who gave us His flesh to eat (74);
and that they may believe and adore these sacred mysteries of His body and
blood with such firm and unwavering faith, with such devotion and piety and
veneration that they will be able to receive that supersubstantial (75) bread
often and it will truly be the life of their souls and the unfailing strength
of their minds, so that 'fortified by its vigor,' (76) they may be able to
move on from this wretched earthly pilgrimage to their heavenly home where,
without any veil, they will eat the 'bread of angels' (77) that they now
eat beneath the sacred veils." (78)
73. May the all-merciful Redeemer, who shortly before His death prayed
to the Father that all who were to believe in Him might be one, just as
He and the Father are one, (79) deign to hear this most ardent prayer of
Ours and of the whole Church as quickly as possible, so that we may all
celebrate the Eucharistic Mystery with one voice and one faith, and through
sharing in the Body of Christ become one body, (80) joined together by the
same bonds that Christ wanted it to have.
A Word to the Eastern Churches
74. We also want to address with fraternal affection those who belong
to the venerable Churches of the East, which have had so many glorious Fathers
whose testimony to belief in the Eucharist We have been so glad to cite
in this present letter of Ours. Our soul is filled with great joy as We
contemplate your belief in the Eucharist, which is ours as well, as we listen
to the liturgical prayers you use to celebrate this great mystery, as we
behold your Eucharistic devotion, as we read your theological works explaining
or defending the doctrine of this most sacred Sacrament.
A Final Prayer
75. May the most blessed Virgin Mary, from whom Christ the Lord took
the flesh that "is contained, offered, received" (81) in this Sacrament
under the appearances of bread and wine, and may all the saints of God
and especially those who were more inflamed with ardent devotion toward
the divine Eucharist, intercede with the Father of mercies so that this
common belief in the Eucharist and devotion to it may give rise among all
Christians to a perfect unity of communion that will continue to flourish.
Lingering in Our mind are the words of the holy martyr Ignatius warning
the Philadelphians against the evil of divisions and schisms, the remedy
for which is to be found in the Eucharist. "Strive then," he says, "to make
use of one single thanksgiving. For there is only one flesh of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, and only one chalice unto the union of His blood, only one altar,
only one bishop . . ." (82)
76. Fortified by the most consoling hope of blessings that will accrue
to the whole Church and to the whole world from an increase in devotion
to the Eucharist, as a pledge of heavenly blessings We lovingly impart Our
apostolic blessings to you, Venerable Brothers, and to the priests, religious
and all who are helping you, as well as to all the faithful entrusted to
your care.
Given at St. Peter's, Rome, on the third day of September, the feast
of Pope St. Pius X, in the year 1965, the third of Our Pontificate.
PAUL VI
NOTES
LATIN TEXT: Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 57 (1965), 753-74.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION: The Pope Speaks, 10 (Fall, 1965), 309-28.
REFERENCES:
(1) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, c. 2, n. 47; AAS LVI (1964),
113 [Cf. TPS IX, 325.].
(2) Jn. 6.55.
(3) Cf. Jn 17.23.
(4) Encyclical letter Mirae caritatis: Acta Leonis XIII, XXII (1902-1903)
122.
(5) Homily on Matthew, 82.4; PG 58.743.
(6) Summa Theol. III,(a) q. 75, a. 1, c.
(7) In IV Sent., dist. X, P. I, art. un., qu. I; Opera omnia, tome IV,
Ad Claras Aquas (1889), 217.
(8) Jn. 6.61-69.
(9) St. Augustine, Against Julian, VI, 5.11; PL 44.829.
(10) City of God, X, 23; PL 41.300.
(11) Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, c. 4.
(12) Cf. Council of Trent, Teaching on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
c. I.
(13) Cf. Ex 24.8.
(14) Lk 22.19-20; cf. Mt 26.26-28; Mk 14.22-24.
(15) Acts 2.42.
(16) Acts 4.32.
(17) 1 Cor 11.23 ff.
(18) 1 Cor 10.16.
(19) Cf. Mal 1.11.
(20) Council of Trent, Doctrine on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, c.
2.
(21) Catecheses, 23 [myst. 5]. 8-18; PG 33.1115-1118.
(22) Cf. Confessions IX, 12.32; PL 32.777; cf. ibid. IX 11, 27; PL 32.775.
(23) Cf. Serm 172.2.; PL 38.936; cf. On the care to be taken of the dead,
13, PL 40.593.
(24) Cf. St. Augustine, City ot God, X, 6; PL 42.284.
(25) Cf. Encyclical letter Mediator Dei; AAS XXXIX (1947), 552.
(26) Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, c. 2, 11; AAS LVII (1965),
15 [Cf. TPS v. 10, p. 366.].
(27) Cf. ibid., c. 2, n. 10; AAS LVII (1965), 14 [Cf. TPS v. 10, p. 365-366.].
(28) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, c. 1, n. 27; AAS LVI (1964),
107 [Cf. TPS IX, 322.].
(29) Cf. Roman Pontifical.
(30) Cf. c. 1, n. 7; AAS LVI (1964), 100-101.
(31) St. Augustine, On Psalm 85.1: PL 37.1081.
(32) Mt 18.20.
(33) Cf. Mt 25.40.
(34) Cf. Eph 3.17.
(35) Cf. Rom 5.5.
(36) St. Augustine, Against the Letter ot Petiliani, III, 10.11; PL 43.353.
(37) St. Augustine, On Psalm 86.3; PL 37.1102.
(38) Homily on the Second Epistle to Timothy 2.4; PG 62.612.
(39) Aegidius Romanus, Theorems on the Body of Christ, theor. 50 (Venice,
1521), p. 127.
(40) St. Thomas, Summa Theol., IIIa, p. 73, a. 3, c.
(41) Cf. Council of Trent, Decree on the Holy Eucharist, c. 3.
(42) Pius XII, Encyclical letter Humani generis; AAS XLII (1950), 578.
(43) Decree on the Holy Eucharist, Introduction and c. 2.
(44) Didachè, 9.1; F.X. Funk, Patres Apostolici, 1.20.
(45) Epistle to Magnus, 6; PL 3.1139.
(46) 1 Cor 10.17.
(47) St. Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnians, 7.1; PG 5.714.
(48) Commentary on Matthew, c. 26; PG 66.714.
(49) Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist, c. 1.
(50) Cf. Encyclical letter Mirae caritatis; Acta Leonis XIII, XXII (1902-1903),
123.
(51) Cf. Council of Trent, Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist, c. 4 and
canon 2.
(52) Catecheses, 22.9 [myst. 4] PG 33.1103.
(53) Homily on Judas' betrayal, 1.6; PG 49.380; cf. Homily on Matthew
82.5; PG 58.744.
(54) On Matthew 26.27; PG 72.451.
(55) On Mysteries 9.50-52; PL 16.422-424.
(56) Mansi, Collectio amplissima Conciliorum, XX, 524D.
(57) Const. Auctorem fidei, August 28, 1794.
(58) Allocution of September 22, 1956, AAS XLVIII (1956), 720 [Cf. TPS
III, 281-282.].
(59) AAS LVII (1965), 588-592.
(60) On Psalm 98.9; PL 37.1264.
(61) Apostolic Tradition; ed. Botte, La Tradition Apostolique de St.
Hippolyte, Muenster (1963), p. 84.
(62) Fragment on Exodus; PG 12.391.
(63) On Shows; CSEL III,(3) 8.
(64) Epistle to Calosyrius; PG 76.1075.
(65) Cf. Basil, Epistle 93; PG 32.483-486.
(66) St. Augustine, Treatise on John 26.13; PL 35.1613.
(67) Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, December 20, 1905,
approved by St. Pius X; AAS XXXVIII (1905), 401.
(68) Cf. Jn 1.14.
(69) Cf. Col 3.3.
(70) 1 Cor 8.6.
(71) Cf. St. Augustine, On the literal interpretation of Genesis XI,
15.20; PL 34.437.
(72) Cf. 1 Cor 1.10.
(73) Lk 1.78.
(74) .Jn 6.48 ff.
(75) Mt 6.11.
(76) 3 Kgs 19.8.
(77) Ps 77.25.
(78) Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist, c. 8.
(79) Cf.Jn 17.20-21.
(80) Cf. 1 Cor 10.17.
(81) C.I.C., canon 801.
(82) Epistle to the Philadelphians 4; PG 5.700.
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