Apostolic & Early Church · AD 201–300
The 3rd-Century Witness to the Real Presence
From AD 201 to 300, 2 voices of the Church — St. Hippolytus, and St. Cyprian of Carthage — testified that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. These are their primary-source words, with dates and sources.
St. Hippolytus
c. 215c. 170 – c. 235 · Theologian of the early Roman church
“All shall be careful so that no unbeliever tastes of the eucharist, nor a mouse or other animal, nor that any of it falls and is lost. For it is the Body of Christ, to be eaten by those who believe, and not to be scorned. ”
Apostolic Tradition 4 · Read more →
St. Cyprian of Carthage
c. 252c. 210 – 258 · Bishop of Carthage and martyr
“As the prayer goes forward, we ask and say, Give us this day our daily bread. And this may be understood both spiritually and literally, because either way of understanding it is rich in divine usefulness to our salvation. (…) And therefore we ask that our bread — that is, Christ — may be given to us daily, that we who abide and live in Christ may not depart from His sanctification and body.”
Treatise 4.18 · Read more →