followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
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V. The Sacramental Sacrifice Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence
The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit 1374 The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend."199 In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained."200 "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."201 199 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 73, 3c. 200 Council of Trent (1551): DS 1651. 201 Paul VI, MF 39. VI. The Paschal Banquet The fruits of Holy Communion 1392 What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh "given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,"226 preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum. 226 PO 5. 
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