Patristic Period · AD 301–400
The 4th-Century Witness to the Real Presence
From AD 301 to 400, 2 voices of the Church — St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and St. Ambrose of Milan — testified that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. These are their primary-source words, with dates and sources.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
c. 350c. 313 – 386 · Bishop of Jerusalem and Doctor of the Church
“Having learned these things, and been fully assured that the seeming bread is not bread, though sensible to taste, but the Body of Christ; and that the seeming wine is not wine, though the taste will have it so, but the Blood of Christ...”
Catechetical Lecture 22 · Read more →
St. Ambrose of Milan
c. 390c. 339 – 397 · Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church
“Before it is consecrated, it is bread, but when the words of Christ have been added, it is the body of Christ. Therefore hear him saying: Take and eat ye all of it; for this is my body. And before the words of Christ it is a cup full of wine and water. When the words of Christ have operated, then and there it is made to be the blood of Christ which redeemed the people.”
On the Sacraments · Read more →