Before he died, Albert Einstein asked the Catholic chaplain at Princeton University to give him all the books in German he could find on transubstantiation. He was looking for a philosophical explanation of the miracle that makes the Risen Lord present under the forms of bread and wine in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. St. Thomas Aquinas says this unique miracle is the greatest in the history of the world.
Transubstantiation actually includes two miracles: the annihilation of the substance of bread and wine; and the subsequent entry of Jesus Christ into what was bread and wine before their annihilation. Jesus comes with His Body and Blood, Soul, and Divine Nature, but still under the appearance of bread and wine. The death of the Lord is shown by the separate consecration of the bread and the separate consecration of the cup: "This is my Body". . . . "This is my Blood."
"The finite is capable of holding the infinite." A similar reality happened when God was enfleshed in the person of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. If I can believe the Incarnation, why should it be so hard to believe in the Holy Eucharist? We do not put limits to the power of God. "With God all things are possible." We believe Jesus could and did give this power to His priests: "Do this in remembrance of me!"Pope Paul VI says we keep the word "transubstantiation" until we find a better one. The entire substance of the bread is changed into the Body of Christ and the entire substance of the wine is changed into the Blood of Christ.
Bread is a substance. A substance is an essence (a being, a thing) that has existence. The essence of bread is that which makes it bread: its bread-iness. When that bread-iness has existence, it is the substance of bread. The substance "stands under" all the externals of the bread. The externals are the accidents of the bread (ad cadere = to fall to). They can come and go. They can change, but the substance remains, unless some power strikes the substance to bring about a substantial change, as when Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana.
The accidents (the species) of the bread are its: color, taste, size, shape, smell, feel, texture, looks, weight, density. In the miracle of transubstantiation, the accidents of the bread remain the same. It is only the substance that this miracle affects. God alone could possibly work this miracle; and it is God, who brings this about through Jesus, the Son of God, and by the action of the Holy Spirit. The priest does his part "in persona Christi" - - assuming the very personality of Jesus Christ Himself . . . .
Jesus promised He would be with His Church all days until the end of time. Do you think He could have left His Church in error for 1600 years until the reformers came along 450 years ago to throw out the Altar of Sacrifice and with it the Priesthood to substitute their ambos? If that is the kind of God He is, making such promises and not keeping them, I really would not want to have anything to do with Him. But He keeps His promises and He will be with us in this most special way until the last priest is able to shuffle his way behind the altar to confect the Sacrament.
I do believe, Lord! Help my unbelief!
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