By: Bernadette Parrott
Welcome to our Faith Renewal Series that is exploring The ABCs of Being Catholic. We are invited on a journey through the alphabet to explore Catholic terms, beliefs, and traditions. In this post we focus on the letter “R”.
If you missed our Introduction to this series <click here>. To go back to the letter “Q” post <click here>. To go to the letter “S” post <click here>.
Relic
July 22, 2021
Ever wonder why Father kisses the altar before Mass begins and again at the end of Mass? As with all rituals contained within the Mass, this action too is rooted with a deeply symbolic and reverent meaning.
Every time Father kisses or reverences the Altar he does so for two reasons. The first is to honor the Altar of Sacrifice where the miracle of the Eucharist takes place, where Christ Himself is present. The second is also deeply rooted in our Christian tradition. Contained in the altar stone is a relic of a martyred saint.
In the first centuries, when being a Christian was illegal throughout the Roman Empire, Masses were often celebrated in catacombs on stone slabs that covered the tomb of a martyr in recognition and reverence for their heroics and sacrifice. When emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, the celebration of Mass moved from the darkness and depths of the catacombs to above ground and the reverence of the martyrs became an important part of our Mass as it is today. Churches were often built over the tombs or remains of martyrs and where that was not possible, a stone slab with a first-class relic was often placed on top of the altar.
With the Second Council of Nicaea came the decree that churches were to have altars with relics of saints placed within them.
So, what is a relic? It is an object that is connected with a saint. There are three classes of relics. The first class is a part of the saint’s body, which is the common type that is placed in an altar stone. The second class is a part of the clothing, or anything used during the saint’s life and the third is any other object that the saint touched.
Why is this an important part of our faith life? The answer lies in our proclamation of faith – I believe in the Communion of Saints. We are united to the saints, to their lives and to their influence on our lives. We are the pilgrim Church; the Church militant and they are members of the Church triumphant. They are our example to follow.
Relics invite us to appreciate the sacrifice of the saints who served the Lord with an unselfish heart, who gave generously and endless with love at the center of their lives.
Next time you enter the Church, I invite you to bow with reverence to the Altar for contained therein is a relic of our saint, and on that Altar the sacrifice of the Eucharist will take place, for Jesus is present. Will you allow yourself to give thanks to God for the saint’s holy witness for our sake? Will you allow Jesus to be the center and focus of your life, as He was for the saints? Will your prayer ascend to Heaven?
Lord, bring me to your dwelling place.
Real Presence
July 7, 2021
At the Council of Trent in 1551, the manner of Christ’s presence in the Holy Eucharist was defined. It declared that “in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is contained truly, really, and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ” (Denzinger 1636, 1640). In this declaration of our faith, we affirm that Christ is present truly, not symbolically. The one who is present is the whole Christ and with all the attributes of his divinity and all the physical part and properties of his humanity.
At the Last Supper, our Savior instituted the sacrament of His Body and Blood. He did this so His sacrifice of the Cross would continue through the ages and to entrust to the Church a memorial of his death and resurrection. In Matthew 26:26-28, we find this truth:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.
We profess that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit and the action of the priest. In John 6:51-55, Jesus says to us, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; ad the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world….For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink”. The whole Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearance of bread and wine. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.
How and when does this change happen? It is an inexhaustible mystery that the Church can never fully explain in words. We know that “with God, nothing is impossible.” It is a matter of faith for us, for it cannot be seen. But I can attest to it being as real to me, as the words I am writing to you. I have experienced, without any doubt, the indescribable peace in the coming of Holy Spirit at the moment of Consecration. I have witnessed firsthand the miraculous miracle of the Eucharist at Santarem, I have melted into the arms of Jesus at the reception of the Holy Eucharist and have rested there with Him.
We find in the Real Presence our spiritual nourishment needed for our salvation. Our journey begins with our Baptism. By eating the Body and Christ and drinking the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, we become united to the person of Christ through his humanity. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him”. (John 6:56).
In the celebration of the Eucharist, the glorified Christ becomes present under the appearance of bread and wine in a way that is unique. In the act of consecration, the “substance” of the bread and wine is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the “substance” of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the “accidents” or appearances remain the same.
This change in substance into the Body of Blood of Christ is called “transubstantiation”. In transubstantiation, the bread is no longer bread and the wine is no longer wine. Christ is present. The bread and wine must give way for the Body and Blood of Christ. Christ is wholly present under the appearance of bread and fully present under the appearance of wine. He is also fully present in just a fragment of the consecrated Host and in any drop of the Precious Blood.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,
who, by the will of the Father, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit,
have by Your death given life to the world,
deliver me by this Your Most Sacred Body and Blood
from all my sins and from every evil.
Make me always cling to Your commandments,
and never permit me to be separated from You.
Who with the same God the Father and the Holy Spirit,
live and reign, God, world without end. Amen.
Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof,
but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed (3 times)
If you missed our Introduction to this series <click here>. To go back to the letter “Q” post <click here>. To go to the letter “S” post <click here>.