Martin Luther believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He became indignant when groups, who had followed him out of the Catholic Church, rejected the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He deplored the fact that every milkmaid and farmhand thought they could interpret scripture correctly. Here are his own words. “Who, but the devil, has granted such license of wresting the words of the holy Scripture? Who ever read in the Scriptures, that my body is the same as the sign of my body? What language in the world ever spoke so? It is only then the devil, that imposes upon us by these fanatical men. Not one of the Fathers of the Church, though so numerous, ever said, It is only bread and wine; or, the body and blood of Christ is not there present.

Martin Luther held Christ was truly present in the Eucharist by consubstantiation, which means the substance of the bread and wine is not changed, whereas, the Church teaches transubstantiation, that is the very substance of the bread and wine is changed into Christ’s Body and Blood.

Henry VIII strongly disapproved of Martin Luther. He supported transubstantiation, the Roman Catholic view of the nature of the bread and wine in the Eucharist. In happier years, before he and the pope developed political differences, he had written an essay opposing Luther’s views on the Eucharist. The pope was so delighted with the essay that he awarded Henry the title Defender of the Faith. Henry never changed his mind about that essay and kept the title, even after the split with Rome.

John Knox  was an ordained priest of the Catholic Church, and while studying at St. Andrew’s came under the influence of early Church reformers, one in particular, George Wishart, who was later burned for heresy, an event that deeply affected Knox. He joined the movement to  reform the Church in Scotland, and was caught up in the political events of the day that involved the murder of Cardinal Beaton.  While in exile, he met John Calvin and was influenced by his austere interpretation of the scriptures.

On his return to Scotland, and after the death of Mary Queen of Scots, he created the newly reformed church, banning the practice of Catholicism. The mass was proclaimed a form of idolatry. He no longer believed in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and  like Zwingli, an indifferent priest, would only admit to a form of spiritual presence—and so the “sacrament” conferred no grace and was simply a memorial service. This was sufficient to prevent any union with Lutheranism. He abandoned celibacy and married.

As the reformation gathered strength in England, the mass was forbidden and priests outlawed. Some of the old houses had a priest hole where the priest could hide in secrecy when the house was searched, These searches were particularly vehement during Cromwell’s time.  Every reference to the mass as a sacrifice was obliterated from missals and the liturgy of ordination for clergy, and this was adhered to strictly for over a hundred years. The text of the ordinal in the Catholic Church has as its very basis the sacrificing nature of the priesthood. The priest is ordained first and foremost to offer the sacrifice of the mass. Since this is the essential matter of the sacrament of ordination, to omit it makes the ordination invalid according to the teaching of the Church. In 1896, Pope Leo XIII decided that during the period of a hundred years, the link had been deliberately broken by the Anglican bishops of omitting  the sacrificing priesthood from their ordinal, and so declared all subsequent ordinations as invalid.  

Despite the schism between the Orthodox Church and Rome in 1095, the Orthodox Church retained the essential sacrificing nature of the priesthood, and so the Catholic Church recognises the validity of its orders.

However, by 1845, under the influence of the Oxford Movement, and Dr Newman, later Cardinal Newman, there was a revival of liturgy in the Anglican Church, and a communion  service similar to the mass was introduced. .

The very sacrament Christ gave to us all at the last supper to be a source of unity...may they all be one, Father, as you and I are one...has become a source of disunity over the centuries. Today, there is a wonderful spirit of love and searching among the  Christian Churches, and a great desire for unity to fulfil the prayer of Christ that all may be one . May our sincere love for one another, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,  finally lead us to that  unity for which Christ prayed so earnestly on the eve of his death—a unity that will only be found in the Eucharist.