The Blessed Sacrament and the Mass

A first for the layman: Aquinas on the Holy Eucharist and the Mass

Clear, concise explanations for the non-specialist

“No one,” says Fr. F. O’Neill, who compiled, edited, and translated this book, “can equal St. Thomas in clearness and simplicity.” But in the Angelic Doctor’s day, most people who read his work were already familiar with the terms and concepts he used. That isn’t the case today—so Fr. O’Neill put together this book in order to “put in a brief compass all that St. Thomas wrote in his Theological Summa on the Sacrament of Love, and to make him more easily understood by those who are reading him for the first time.”

Perfect companion at Adoration Chapels, or in private prayer

In this concise volume are all the sections of the Summa in which St. Thomas explains the Church’s understanding of the Holy Eucharist and the Mass.

Explained:

• Why the Holy Eucharist is necessary for salvation—but not in the same way that Baptism is
• How each of the many names by which the Blessed Sacrament is known expresses an important aspect of its meaning and importance
• Why a bad priest can consecrate the Eucharist
• Three great truths that are established by Our Lord’s words: “This is my body;” “This is my blood”
• Does food or drink taken before this Sacrament prevent its reception?
• Why it is incorrect to say that Christ’s Body is in the Blessed Sacrament as in a place
• Two ways in which the Blessed Sacrament differs from all the other sacraments
• Why reception of the Holy Eucharist does not cause forgiveness in one who is conscious of mortal sin
• Why the Blessed Sacrament does not remit the entire punishment due to sin
• How reception of the Blessed Sacrament preserves you from future sins
• What St. Paul meant when he warned believers not to “eat and drink unworthily”
• The circumstances in which a priest should deny the Body of Christ to a sinner who seeks it
• Why it is so profitable to the soul to receive the Blessed Sacrament daily
• Did Christ receive His own Body and Blood?
• Why the Holy Eucharist is fittingly celebrated only in a church—and three circumstances in which the consecration of a church should be repeated
• The power of the Blood of Christ: its three purposes in this Sacrament
• Why reverence for the Body of Christ demands that no one but the priest touch the Sacrament

Originally published in 1935, this book is a solid, easily understandable, and refreshing dose of clear thinking about what Fr. O’Neill calls the “one and only school of purity and real refinement.”

“Makes readily available the classical teaching of St. Thomas, which will be especially valuable for lay people who wish to deepen their theological understanding.”— Blackfriars

By: St. Thomas Aquinas
Edited and Translated by. Fr. F. O’Neill
Paperback: 178 pages