Eucharist Denied

The first time in recorded history that we find a denial of the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist is in 1047 AD by Berengarius of Tours, France. St. Thomas Aquinas calls �Berengarius . . . the first deviser of this heresy,� Berengarius taught that the consecrated Bread and Wine are only a �sign� of Christ Body and Blood. He argued with Church authorities until 1079 when he signed the following statement:

I, Berengarius, in my heart believe and with my lips confess that through the mystery of the sacred prayer and words of our Redeemer the bread and wine which are placed on the altar are substantially changed into the true and proper living flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and that after consecration it is the true body of Christ which was born of the Virgin and which, offered for the salvation of the world, was suspended on the Cross, and which sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and the true blood of Christ, which was poured out from His side not only through the sign and power of the sacrament, but in its property of nature and in truth of substance, as here briefly in a few words is contained and I have read and you understand. Thus I believe, nor will I teach contrary to this belief. So help me God and these holy Gospels of God.

Berengarius died in 1088 in the good graces of the Church.

� Evangelization Station, 2010

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