Before we define Transubstantiation, let us look at a few changes that occur in Nature. Can I give you a few analogies or examples of "trans" (change) + "substantio" (substance) in Nature? As a baby, you changed to become an adult. You don't look like your baby picture - not the same size or weight. Did you make a "substantial change" (change form one substance into another) from babyhood to adulthood? No, you are of the very same substance you wre as a baby. What if you now color your hair and become blonde? Is this a substantial change? Not at all; you are only showing or having an "accidental" or "appearance" change. Your hair color does not touch your substance as a person. Only your appearance has changed; but the substance of you has not changed. You are still a human being. If a moth becomes a butterfully, is that a substantial change? No; it still has the nature of an insect. What if paper is burned into ashes? No, that is not a substantial change; carbon is still present. Well, where can you find a substantial change eventhough the accidents (appearances) remain the same? Let us look and look. But no matter how much we look, we willl not be able to find one example in Nature where one substance entirely changes into another substance. Why? Because for one substance to change into another substance, it would wold not be natural; it would take a Miracle. A Miracle is something that occurs that cannot occur in the natural order.
Therefore, TRANSUBSTANTIATION describes the Miracle that takes place at Mass regarding the consecration of bread and wine into the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ: "The Complete change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's Body and Blood by a validly ordained priest during the consecration at Mass, so that only the accidents of bread and wine remain. While the faith behind the term itself was already believed in apostolic times, the term itself was a later development (St. Thomas Aquinas). With the Eastern Fathers before the sixth century, the favored expression was meta-ousiosis, 'change of being'; the Latin tradition coined the word transubstantio, 'change of substance,' which was incorporated into the Creed of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. The Council of Trent, in defining the 'wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the wine into the blood' of Christ, added 'which conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiaion' (Denzinger 1652). After transubstantiation, the accidents of bread and wine do not inhere in any subject or substance whatever. Yet they are no make-believe. They are sustained in existence by divine power. Etymology from the Latin: 'trans'-, so as to change + 'substantia', substance; thus 'transubstantio', change of substance.)"
Therefore, TRANSUBSTANTIATION refers only to one unique event in the Universe. It refers and describes bread and wine changed by the priest by the power of the Holy Spirit that is changed into the very Divine Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. He is the Eucharist. No more bread can co-exist. There is no bread there as all. The substance of bread has become the substance of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Having a degree in Philosophy and 11 years of Latin, I can surely understand this Latin and Aristotelian Philosophical categories that St. Thomas, the Angelic Doctor of the Church, has given to us. But what is really significant is that the Catholic Church incorporated this doctrine into the Creed by the Fourth Lateran Council and difined it in the Council of Trent. These Councils, having the concurrence of all the bishops and the Pope, Bishop of Rome, are making an official proclamation to be believed by all the faithful. The Catholic Church has always, always believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, per John 6: 51-71. But in the thirteenth century the Church explained this truth in philosophical and theological terms to refute all then and future heresies. What are some of these heresies? [Heresy is the obstinate denial or doubt, after baptism, of a truth which must be believed by divine and Catholic faith. The Truth in question of John 6: 51-71 is difined by the Catholic Church under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit and proclaimed by Papal decree and the teaching Magisterium of the Church.]
Heresy 1: Consubstantiation: "The belief,contrary to Catholic doctrine, that in the Eucharist the body and blood of Christ co-exsist with the bread and wine after the Consecration of the Mass. John Whyclif (1324-84) and Martin Luther (1484-1546) professed consubstantiation because they denied transubstantiation. When a person leaves the Church, he/she leaves Christ and His absolute teaching of the Truth without error in Faith and Morals. Leaving the Church puts a soul on the waters adrift without anchor. A recent Lutheran pastor posed this question/proposition to me: "Just as Jesus is both totally God and man, so, too, is the bread totally bread and totally Jesus." Yet I explained that God took on the Nature of humanity; that this was an addition to His Godhead. Taking on two natures is not the same as taking on two substances: bread and Jesus's body. It is a philosophical impossibility that two substances can occupy the same place and at the same time. One substance (bread) cannot ontologically be additionally another substance (body of Christ). But one Being can have two natures because natures are not substances but qualities of Being. Consubstantiation is therefore a confusion and a mental blending of two substances into one substance that cannot be an ontological reality because such a concept is a contradition in philosophical terms and logic. Consubstantiation is a philosophical and theological contradition -- thus a heresy.
Heresy 2: Transfinalization: "The view of Christ's presence in the Eucharist that the purpose or finality of the bread and wine is changed by the words of consecration. They are said to serve a new function, as sacred elements that arouse the faith of the people in the mystery of Christ's redemptive love. Like transignification, this theory was condemned by Pope Paul VI in the encyclical Mysterium Fidei (1965) - if transfinalization is taken to deny the substantial change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Etymology: Latin 'trans' - so as to change + 'finis' - end: purpose. Transfinalization: Karl Rhaner , SJ (March 5, 1904-March 30, 1984) was a German Jesuit and thologian who, alongside Bernard Lonergan and Hans Urs von Balthasar, is considered one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century. Rhaner was a critic of substance theory and was concerned about the finality of liturgy. [putting liturgy ahead of what is worshipped is the cause of many errors even in Jesus' time. He said in the story of the Good Samaritan that a Jewish priest came across a man who had been robbed but passed on because he was on his way to a liturgical function and could not become unclean.] Rhaner proposed instead to re-name transubstantiation into transfinalization. His theory was rejected by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Mysterium Fidei." In my personal opinion, some liturgists have often taken to themselves their speudo teaching authority of the Church. Holy Communion in the hand is an idea from liturgists. It has led to many a sacrilege in the Church. You will never see Pope Benedict the XVI EVER give Holy Communion in the hand. He gives Holy Communion on the tongue to a kneeling recipient. Jesus is Lord and God. It is right to receive Him kneeling. Great abuse has come from Communion in the hand. A consecrated Host was sold on Ebay. I found a consecrated Host at my feet at Mass - discarded by someone. I have given Holy Communion to patients in nursing homes and prisoners; always, always, I place Holy Communion on the tongue. Placing the tabernacle off to the side of the church in obsure place so as to give pre-eminince to the altar where Christ is Present at Mass is the work of uncontrolled liturgists who think their theological philosophy outweighs the Church. Of course is Present at Mass; and we worhip Him there; but what of the rest of the 23 hours in the day? Should not Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament be honored and given worship during those hours. Just because Jesus comes down from heaven in the Mass, does not and should not make Him less in the tabernacle. He is fully Present at both times - totally, completely, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. The tabernacle shoud be placed in a conspicuous and honored place. The very center of the Church just behind the altar is the best place. That was the place for Jesus for centuries; but present day liturgists feel they know more than the Church. But the churches in Rome do not have these off-to-side tabernacles. In one church, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was placed in a broom closet. That was corrected. In a church I attend frequently, the tablernacle is so hidden that a woman who came into the pray did not know where Jesus was. She had just heard she had cancer and needed to pour out herself to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I directed her to Jesus and prayed with her too; and she stayed in the little obscure chapel for hours. Liturgy for Rahner came before the dogma of transubstantiation. Of course, he only made a proposal. His proposal was condemned. We have a Catholic Church that has the Authority of Jesus himself when he said to Peter; "You are Peter; and upon this rock, I will build my church.......I give you the keys to the kingdom. What you bind on earth in bound in heaven. What you loose on earth, is loosed in heaven,"
3: Transignification: "The view of Christ's presence in the Eucharist which holds that the meaning of significance of the bread and wine is changed by the words of consecration. The consecrated elements are said to signify all that Christians associate with the Last Supper; they have a higher value than merely food for the body. The theory of transignification was condemned by Pope Paul VI in the encyclical Mysterium Fidei (1965), if understood as denying transubstantiation. Etimology: Latin 'trans' - so as to change + 'significatio', meaning, sense: transignificatio ) Thansignification is an idea originating from the attempts of modernist Roman Catholic theologians, especially Edward Schillebeechkx, to better understand the mystery of the Real Presence of Christ at Mass in light of a new philosophy of the nature of reality that is more in line with contemporary physics. The concept of transignification was ultimately rejected by the Catholic hierarchy, and is now more prominent in some Anglican and Protestant circles. Transignification suggest that athough Christ's body and blood are not prysically present in the Eucharist, they are really and objectively so, as the elements take on, at the consecration, the real significance of Christ's body and blood which thus become sacramentally present. It is thus contrasted not only to belief in physical or chemical change in the elements, but also the doctirne of the Romann Catholic Chruch that there is a change only of the underlying reality, but not of anything that concerns physics or chemitry. The concept of transignification is based on the thought that there are two kinds of presence, local and personal. Jesus is personally but not locally present at the Mass. One can be locally present, as when riding on a bus; but one's thoughts can be far away, making one personally not present." All of the above regarding the theory was rejecty by the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Chruch, in particular in Pope Paul VI's 1965 encyclical Mysterium fidei. However, it is considered to be similar to the Anglican position set forth by Thomas Cranmer in the Book of Common Prayer, Article of Religion, Number 28: 'Heretics are seldom identified as such in modern times. Instead they, and their fellow heretics, call themselves dissenters."
But we Catholics need to explain and witness and clearly teach the truth - espcially about the Holy Eucharist. The Vatican Council II makes it clear that we as Chatholics have a grave responsibility to spread our faith or not only will we not be saved, we will be judged more severely," says the Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon S.J. who spent his entire life tirelessly spreading the true doctrines of the Holy Catholic Church. He never took a vacation. He never watched movies. He spent every waking hour in prayer or in teaching or writing. His pamphlets on the Holy Eucharist are inspired, deep and devotional. He will be canonized in our life time.
Personally, although is good to understand transubstantiation so that the Real Presence of Christ is not denied by past or by modern heresies, I have a very simple faith. I KNOW JESUS IS THERE IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST. I believe in all the doctrines of the Holy Catholic Faith. But, when I read John 6: 51-71, I have no trouble in simply believing what Jesus is saying; "This IS my Body; this IS my Blood." When Jesus changed water into wine by His word, I believe it. When Jesus multiplied loaves and fishes by His word, I believe it. When the Father created the world and mankind by His word, I believe it. I do not need philosophy to understand that what Jesus says IS!!!What the Father says IS!! How can anyone deny that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ when Jesus plainly and clearly said so. St. Paul believed it when he said that anyone receiving the Body and Blood of Christ unworthily eats and drinks damnation unto himself and is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. St. Paul would never say this if Jesus were not totally PRESENT in the Eucharist. A symbolic reception of bread and wine would not cause anyone to be condemned. St. Paul was referring to the actual and real Presence of Jesus in the consecrated Eucharist. I know Jesus is present. I have experienced His Presence in the Holy Eucharist. I do not need any scholarly explanation. I only need HIM!!
Lord Jesus, come to all of us in Your Word, in Your Holy Spirit, in Your Sacraments especially in the sourch and summet of our faith - You in the Blessed Sacrament. Help us to know that the Holy Eucharist give life to all the other Sacraments because You are physically and totally Present in the Holy Eucharist. Gently lead our Prostestant brothers and sisters to see that Holy Communion is not a symbolic event but an actual event.
Let Your Presence in the Holy Eucharist radiate out into the community where we live and to the entire world. Let Your Sacred Heart in the Holy Eucharist radiate Your Love to all of us.....be we Muslim or Jew or Christian or atheist. Let Your Love bring Peace on the earth, in our homes and in our hearts. In Jesus' Name we pray. Much love, Pio
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