Marife Dini Araştırmalar Dergisi

Abstract

This study aims to examine the legal texts related to the norms for validity of the Sacrament of the holy Eucharist from the perspective of the Catholic Church. To Catholic belief, The Eucharist is considered one of the seven great sacraments. The sacraments are sanctifying acts of which shape and form are precisely defined by the Church how to be performed. In the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the bread and wine are consecrated into the body and blood of Jesus Christ and shared among all believers. The manner in which this Sacrament is performed is prescribed by law and all priests are commanded to obey these rules, so that it expresses complete dignity, humility, piety, and holiness, and is performed in the same way by all Catholic churches around the world. These rules are discussed under a heading called “De Defectibus in Celebratione Missae Occurrentibus” in the instructions on the introductory pages of official worship books. In addition, there are some rules regarding the Eucharist Sacrament in the Codex Iuris Canonici, which is the legal text of the Catholic Church. In this study, these two legal texts were examined and the rules set for the valid act of this ritual were translated from Latin and comments were made on them. Two important historical events are considered milestones in the historical process of the ritual books. They are the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and Vatican II (1962-1965). The purpose of the Council of Trent was to defend the dogmas of the Catholic Church against the Reformation and to preserve the existing liturgy. For this reason, prayer books and the rules of worship were brought together with the decisions taken at the Council of Trent. A liturgical book was announced under the name of Missale Romanum. This liturgical book, the first copy of which was announced in 1570, was reprinted and corrected in 1604, 1634, 1884 and 1920, and thus remained the sole and only copy in Latin for over three hundred years. In 1955, major changes took place in the Catholic liturgy, and the way the Eucharist Sacrament was performed also took its toll. However, there was no serious change in the validity conditions of the ritual. After the Second Vatican Council, the Novus Ordo Missae was announced and the language of worship began to be translated into vernacular. Thus, the worship books began to change. As a result, worship books written in the Novus Ordo were announced, in Latin in 1969, 1975, 2002, 2008, and in English in 2011. There is no De Defectibus text in these new books. However, the rules are still observed in the celebration of the Eucharist Sacrament in this text. For this reason, Missale Romanum, dated 1962, which is the last copy that includes this text in worship books, is used as a source in our study. De Defectibus is a law text consisting of 46 articles. These laws, which are discussed under 10 main headings, are basically related to the nature, preparation and sanctification of bread and wine. According to the laws, only a priest can perform the Eucharist Sacrament, and it is his duty to check that the bread and wine he has blessed are not corrupted. For example, unleavened bread or vinegared wine is considered defective. The most important moment of the Eucharist Sacrament is when the words of the Consecration on bread and wine are recited. The moment he pronounces the words that begin and continue with the Latin words “hoc est enim corpus meum” and “hic est enim Calix Sanguinis mei…”, the bread is no longer a normal bread, but the body of Jesus, and the wine is not a normal wine, but his blood. The texts of the law detail how the priest can pronounce the texts correctly and solve the various mishaps he may encounter. Before all this, the priest must prepare himself to say these words by fasting, make his intentions pure while saying the words of the Consecration, and ensure that all the environmental elements related to the ritual are prepared while doing all these. These laws and the instructions in the texts determine the priest's actions, words, movements, and even where to turn his eyes so precisely. In the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the priest is only a minister. He cannot add anything from himself to the ritual. According to Christians, even the priest needs the salvation of God Jesus Christ. As long as these laws are followed, a common behavior is achieved through this Sacrament performed in the same way throughout the Catholic Church.