Real Presence

REAL PRESENCE

BASIC R.C. BELIEF When the priest in the Mass, says the words of consecration (Hoc est corpus meum: this is my body) the Lord Jesus Christ becomes substantially present in the Host. When the Host is eaten in Communion, although Roman Catholics don’t believe Jesus is subject to digestive juices, as the wafer loses its accidental form the Real Presence of Christ ceases to be present in the person.

In a Roman Catholic Church bulletin (6/30/57) the priest wrote: “The Church tells us that Jesus remains in our bodies 15 minutes after we receive Holy Communion: we should not leave the Church until Our Lord is no longer with us.”