Patristic Period · AD 401–500
The 5th-Century Witness to the Real Presence
From AD 401 to 500, 2 voices of the Church — St. Augustine of Hippo, and St. Leo the Great — testified that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. These are their primary-source words, with dates and sources.
St. Augustine of Hippo
c. 414354 – 430 · Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church
“You ought to know what you have received, what you are about to receive, what you ought to receive every day. That bread which you can see on the altar, sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That cup, or rather what the cup contains, sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ.”
Sermon 227 · Read more →
St. Leo the Great
c. 450 ADc. 400 – 461 · Pope and Doctor of the Church
“You ought so to be partakers at the Holy Table, as to have no doubt whatever concerning the reality of Christ's Body and Blood. For that is taken in the mouth which is believed in Faith, and it is vain for them to respond Amen who dispute that which is taken.”
Sermon 91: On the Fast of the Seventh Month, VI · Read more →