Is the Eucharist and Transubstantiation considered a miracle?

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AKLion

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I have been reading through the various threads dealing with the Eucharist and Transubstantiation, and there is an aspect of this that has me curious. Would this transformation that happens during the consecration be considered a miracle?

Since it is the priest that is performing/calling for the change to occur, I then begin to wonder if some priests have the appropriate grace to perform this miracle, and others do not.

Obviously, this could be of great concern to members of a congregation if their priest was not actually able to pull off this miracle.

I am a new Catholic (neophyte), so bear with my lack of knowledge here 🙂
 
AKLion said:
I have been reading through the various threads dealing with the Eucharist and Transubstantiation, and there is an aspect of this that has me curious. Would this transformation that happens during the consecration be considered a miracle?

Since it is the priest that is performing/calling for the change to occur, I then begin to wonder if some priests have the appropriate grace to perform this miracle, and others do not.

Obviously, this could be of great concern to members of a congregation if their priest was not actually able to pull off this miracle.

I am a new Catholic (neophyte), so bear with my lack of knowledge here 🙂
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Yes it is a miracle. All validly ordained Priests have the ability to properly confect the Eucharist. There are several variables, the Priest must intend to do this, the proper matter must be used, IE no corn tortillas or nachos for the Host, unleavened wheat bread only with no additives, and the proper words of Consecration must be used.

I wonder what you mean by the appropriate grace to pull it off. If you mean if the Priest is in a state of mortal sin could he? Yes he could still validly confect the Eucharist BUT he would have committed the sin of sacrilige. It would not affect you though.

If on the other hand the Priest comes out with a female deacon and they concelebrate, using a plate of onion bagels and a pitcher of Bud Light .saying take and eat and drink these holy offerings that God has given us so that we may have eternal life, then no, it was not valid and doesn’t count.

Don’t laugh, I saw that one personally in 1999:thumbsup:
 
Since it is the priest that is performing/calling for the change to occur, I then begin to wonder if some priests have the appropriate grace to perform this miracle, and others do not.

**Yes. This is one of the charismata conferred with ordination.

The personal sin of the Priest doesn’t affect the grace of the Sacraments he celebrates, though he may well celebrate unto his own damnation.**
 
palmas85 said:
Yes it is a miracle. All validly ordained Priests have the ability to properly confect the Eucharist. There are several variables, the Priest must intend to do this, the proper matter must be used, IE no corn tortillas or nachos for the Host, unleavened wheat bread only with no additives, and the proper words of Consecration must be used.

I wonder what you mean by the appropriate grace to pull it off. If you mean if the Priest is in a state of mortal sin could he? Yes he could still validly confect the Eucharist BUT he would have committed the sin of sacrilige. It would not affect you though.

If on the other hand the Priest comes out with a female deacon and they concelebrate, using a plate of onion bagels and a pitcher of Bud Light .saying take and eat and drink these holy offerings that God has given us so that we may have eternal life, then no, it was not valid and doesn’t count.

Don’t laugh, I saw that one personally in 1999:thumbsup:
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laughs Wow, that must have been something.

My concern was for those taking communion. I would have hoped God would know the heart of the person taking communion, separate from the grace or sins of the priest. It seems this is so.
 
AKLion said:
Thank you for the thread link, this does illuminate the issue a little. So, according to the catechism, it is so since there is nothing in the Bible about it that I know of.
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We know that not everything is contained in the Bible.
 
I would prefer to call it a mystery rather than a miracle. Isn’t it referred to as the ‘mystery of faith’? A miracle is when something observable takes place. We cannot observe the change that takes place at the Eucharist, we can only surely know it by faith.
 
I agree with Claire; the Eucharist is not strictly speaking, a miracle. A miracle is something observable which cannot be explained as natural, such as a healing at Lourdes, making the blind see, or a sudden restoration of a diseased organ.

The Eucharist involves a transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, but we cannot see it, because the appearances of bread and wine remain.
 
JimG said:
I agree with Claire; the Eucharist is not strictly speaking, a miracle. A miracle is something observable which cannot be explained as natural, such as a healing at Lourdes, making the blind see, or a sudden restoration of a diseased organ.

The Eucharist involves a transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, but we cannot see it, because the appearances of bread and wine remain.
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I see what you mean. The point I was trying to drive towards, is that it is the priest that performs this action…call it a mystery. It just seemed to me that if someone was not worthy(In proper mind/spirit/faith), they would not be able to perform a miracle, or as we determined here, a mystery. This is what I have been struggling with in my mind.
 
AHapka said:
Though every once in a while we get lucky enough to actually see it:)

therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/lanciano.html
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Yes, there have been Eucharistic miracles.

But as to AKLion’s point, I would say the following: The Eucharist is a sacrament, and every sacrament works ex opere operato, that is, by the nature of the sacrament itself. It works through the power of Christ mediated through physical things (bread & wine; water, oil, words, etc). It works because of the promise and power of Christ, not through any merits of the human being who performs the action.

Now, it is true that only a priest can confect the Eucharist, but the priestly power comes from Christ; it is not an effect of the merits or the goodness of the priest.

When he acts “in the person of Christ,” the priest is in effect making his own (human) person available to be used by Christ as His own person. Christ is perfect, whether or not the priest is worthy.
And who could actually be worthy enough to confect the Eucharist, or to forgive sins?
 
JimG said:
Yes, there have been Eucharistic miracles.

But as to AKLion’s point, I would say the following: The Eucharist is a sacrament, and every sacrament works ex opere operato, that is, by the nature of the sacrament itself. It works through the power of Christ mediated through physical things (bread & wine; water, oil, words, etc). It works because of the promise and power of Christ, not through any merits of the human being who performs the action.

Now, it is true that only a priest can confect the Eucharist, but the priestly power comes from Christ; it is not an effect of the merits or the goodness of the priest.

When he acts “in the person of Christ,” the priest is in effect making his own (human) person available to be used by Christ as His own person. Christ is perfect, whether or not the priest is worthy.
And who could actually be worthy enough to confect the Eucharist, or to forgive sins?
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If this is the case, could anyone perform the consecration? Perhaps they are not supposed to, according to canon law, but if say someone impersonates a priest…(Ok, I know this is starting to sound odd, but strange things happen)? The celebrants of the sacrement may not know any different.
 
palmas85 said:
All validly ordained Priests have the ability to properly confect the Eucharist. There are several variables, the Priest must intend to do this, the proper matter must be used… unleavened wheat bread only with no additives, and the proper words of Consecration must be used.
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Leavened wheat bread would also constitute valid matter, though illicit.
 
AKLion said:
If this is the case, could anyone perform the consecration? Perhaps they are not supposed to, according to canon law, but if say someone impersonates a priest…(Ok, I know this is starting to sound odd, but strange things happen)? The celebrants of the sacrement may not know any different.
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Only a priest (or bishop) can confect the Eucharist because of the indelible character they received at their ordination. The priest only has the power to do so because he invokes the Holy Spirit to work through him (in the epiclesis of the Eucharistic Prayer) in persona Christi (“in the person of Christ”): apart from God, he can do nothing but talk over bread and wine; with God, he can make sacramentally, substantially, and really present our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
 
japhy said:
Only a priest (or bishop) can confect the Eucharist because of the indelible character they received at their ordination. The priest only has the power to do so because he invokes the Holy Spirit to work through him (in the epiclesis of the Eucharistic Prayer) in persona Christi (“in the person of Christ”): apart from God, he can do nothing but talk over bread and wine; with God, he can make sacramentally, substantially, and really present our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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So there is then the possibility of having your sacraments invalidated. I can see this being of even greater concern in regards to last rites. If it is a Priest you know well, there is likely not as much concern. However, if you are away from home…It is not like one would have the presence of mind to ask the Priest’s ID for Last Rites 🙂

Since I have not found much information on this, it must not be much of a concern. Still it is something that has been nagging at me.

I appreciate you all indulging me here.

God bless
 
AKLion said:
So there is then the possibility of having your sacraments invalidated.
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For just this reason (I suspect), a priest is not allowed to celebrate the sacraments outside his own diocese, without permission of the bishop whose diocese he is visiting.
 
As Japhy noted, only a priest can confect the Eucharist because of the indelible character imprinted on his soul at ordination. His personal sanctity has nothing to do with validity of the sacrament.

As to impersonation, I suppose anyone could impersonate anyone. An invalid minister–i.e., one who is not a priest–could not confect the sacrament.
 
palmas85 said:
Yes it is a miracle. All validly ordained Priests have the ability to properly confect the Eucharist. There are several variables, the Priest must intend to do this, the proper matter must be used, IE no corn tortillas or nachos for the Host, unleavened wheat bread only with no additives, and the proper words of Consecration must be used.
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Our parish recently announced that they have received a donation of some wheat-free wafers for those who are allergic. I’m not allergic, so I wouldn’t accept the non-wheat version of the Host, but I’m curious if it needs to specifically be wheat to be valid? From what I gather it is still unleavened, and might be rice instead (I may have that wrong).
 
DanaReale said:
Our parish recently announced that they have received a donation of some wheat-free wafers for those who are allergic. I’m not allergic, so I wouldn’t accept the non-wheat version of the Host, but I’m curious if it needs to specifically be wheat to be valid? From what I gather it is still unleavened, and might be rice instead (I may have that wrong).
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It must have wheat in it, it cannot be made of rice. Here’s my compendium of information on the matter.
 
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