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The Case · The Eucharist

Did the first Christians believe the Eucharist is really Christ?

Around 155, a Christian explained to a Roman emperor what happens at Sunday worship. He did not soften it.

The short answer

Yes. Two of the earliest Christian writers after the apostles, Ignatius and Justin, call it the flesh of Jesus, and his flesh and blood, in plain words.12

Start reading
The Last Supper, by Juan de Juanes: Christ raises the Host among the apostles.

Juan de Juanes, The Last Supper, c. 1562. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Public domain, source.

Rome, around the year 155

St Justin, a Christian teacher, writes to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius around the year 155, explaining what Christians actually do.3

He describes their Sunday: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place.” The writings of the apostles and the prophets are read, the one presiding preaches, and then bread and wine are brought.4

Then Justin tells the emperor what Christians believe that food is. Before we hear him, go back to where it started.

01The source

Jesus

“For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.”

John 6:565

Next, Paul, writing to a church in Greece about what Jesus did at the Last Supper.

02Around the year 56

Paul

Paul handed on the Lord’s words, “This is my body,” and warned that whoever eats unworthily “shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.”78

You cannot be guilty of the body of someone who is only symbolised.

And the generation after the apostles? One of them wrote about it on the road to his death.

03Around the year 110

Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius warned against people who stayed away from the Eucharist “because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins.”1

“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again.”

St Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 71

Now, back to Justin, and the emperor reading his letter.

04Around the year 155

Justin Martyr

Justin wrote: “not as common bread and common drink do we receive these.” The food blessed by the prayer of his word, he said, “is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.”2

The Catechism says the basic lines of the celebration Justin described have stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families.3

Readings, a homily, bread and wine, on a Sunday. If you have been to Mass, you have seen what Justin described.

05Today

The Church today

The Church teaches that in the Eucharist the whole Christ is “truly, really, and substantially contained.”9

The same words, the same belief, on the day called Sunday. Justin would recognise it.

Careful with the facts

  • The word came later than the belief: the Council of Trent says the Church has “fittingly and properly called” this change transubstantiation.10

Christian to Christian

Catholics share this faith with the ancient Eastern Churches: the Catholic Church teaches that these Churches, though separated, possess true sacraments by apostolic succession, above all the priesthood and the Eucharist. 11

Watch

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the EucharistDr. Brant Pitre · Catholic Productions · 3 minYouTube

Where the Mass is Found in ScriptureDr. Scott Hahn · St. Paul Center · 22 minYouTube

From the official channels of the teachers named. Links checked 4 October 2026; an editor has not yet watched every video in full. Scripture and the Catechism cited on this page are the authority. All videos by topic.

Only one thing to do

Your one next step

If you are able, go to a Sunday Mass this week and simply watch. Notice the readings, the homily, and the bread and wine, the order Justin described. Our In the pew guide tells you when to stand and sit.

Open the In the pew guide

Keep going

Who carries the apostles’ authority today?Next: How far back does the Catholic Church go?

Notes

  1. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 7-8 (c. 107-110). Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 (1885). newadvent.org
  2. St. Justin Martyr, First Apology 66 (c. 155). Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 (1885). newadvent.org
  3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1345. vatican.va
  4. St. Justin Martyr, First Apology 67 (c. 155). Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 (1885). ccel.org
  5. John 6:56, Douay-Rheims. read the chapter
  6. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1328. vatican.va
  7. 1 Corinthians 11:24, Douay-Rheims. read the chapter
  8. 1 Corinthians 11:27, Douay-Rheims. read the chapter
  9. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1374. vatican.va
  10. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1376. vatican.va
  11. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1399. vatican.va

Translations of the Fathers and councils are public-domain 19th-century editions. Catechism links open vatican.va. Scripture: Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching and history in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an error.