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Dear catholic.com visitors: This website from Catholic Answers, with all its many resources, is the world's largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. A fully independent, lay-run, 501(c)(3) ministry that receives no funding from the institutional Church, we rely entirely on the generosity of everyday people like you to keep this website going with trustworthy , fresh, and relevant content. If everyone visiting this month gave just $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. Do you find catholic.com helpful? Please make a gift today. SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR NEW MONTHLY DONATIONS! Thank you and God bless.

At what point do the bread and wine become the true body and blood of Christ?

Question:

At what point do the bread and wine become the true body and blood of Christ?

Answer:

The bread becomes the body of Christ when the words of consecration complete the sentence, i.e., when the object “body” (modified by the adjective “my”) completes the subject “This” and the verb or predicate, “is.” Once the thought is articulated: “This is my body,” the change takes place. The same goes for the wine becoming his blood. Sister told us that knowing the parts of speech would help us in the future—Sister scores again!

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