ABSTRACT
This chapter concludes the volume, showing how the Catholic Church has emphasised and preserved certain elements of the Eucharist over time. On the one hand, its materiality remains fundamental, engaging the senses and helping the faithful to perceive the meanings of the sacrament (the Eucharist as food, medicine, etc.). On the other hand, the Eucharist retains an irrational element: that is, it remains the inscrutable mystery of the transformation of the material substances of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. This union is the basis of the sacrament’s strength and ability to profoundly shape and influence the faithful, even in the present day. Throughout its long history, the Eucharist has proven to be a fundamental element of Catholic identity, which the Church has no wish to renounce.
