Msg Base:  AREA 3  - ASK FATHER (AMDG)
  Msg No: 80.  Tue  9-22-92 13:11  (NO KILL)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Dave Brown
 Subject: Transubstantiation

DB|Dear Fr. Mateo,
 
DB|When does transubstantiation take place in the Mass?  I have always
  |understood that it occurs when the priest repeats Christ's words during
  |Consecration.  I had a friend tell me that speculative theology (citing
  |Fr. McBrien's book) has removed that certainty and that
  |transubstantiation occurs anytime from the offertory up until the
  |distribution of Communion.  Is the timing of transubstantiation
  |uncertain?
 
DB|Dave Brown
 
 
Dear Dave,
 
Eastern theologians are not interested in specifying the "exact
moment" when Christ becomes really present under the Eucharistic
species.  They view the whole Eucharistic prayer as the locus
of the change.
 
In the West, the precision of the Roman and medieval mind led to
efforts to pinpoint the "exact moment".  Using the principle, "As the
Church prays, so she believes," and our tendency to give bodily
expression to our liturgical acts, it is my opinion that the
repetition of Christ's words, "This is my Body ... this is the
chalice of my Blood" is the very moment of change.  This is reinforced
by the rubric which in the Latin rite requires the celebrant to
genuflect after the consecration both of the host and of the wine.
Genuflection is an attitude of adoration, due to God alone, so
God/Christ must be present to justify the rubric of genuflection.
 
                                Sincerely in Christ,
 
 
                                        Father Mateo