"Non manifete, sed quasi in occulto - 'Not publicly, but as if He would keep Himself hidden': thus goes Jesus to the feast of Tabernacles. Thus will He go on the way to Emmaus with Cleophas and his companion. Thus will He be seen after His Resurrection by Mary Magdalene. And thus will He appear [...]
"The Church teaches that priestly ordination is the indispensable condition for the valid celebration of the Eucharist." Source: Pope Benedict XVI, SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS (Sacrament of Charity), 2/22/2007
"Some men accordingly, not paying heed to these things, have contended that Christ's body and blood are not in this sacrament except as in a sign, a thing to be rejected as heretical, since it is contrary to Christ's words." Source: St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
"The priest fulfills his principal mission and is manifested in all his fullness when he celebrates the Eucharist, and this manifestation is more complete when he himself allows the depth of that mystery to become visible, so that it alone shines forth in people's hearts and minds, through his ministry. This is the supreme exercise [...]
"Our Savior, when about to depart from this world to the Father, instituted this sacrament, in which He poured forth, as it were, the riches of His divine love towards men, making a remembrance of his wonderful works, and commanded us in the participation of it to reverence His memory and to show forth his [...]
"Oh I if we could really understand how much Jesus Christ loves to come into our hearts! Once He is there, He would wish never to leave it. He can no longer separate Himself from us during our life nor after our death." Source: St. John Vianney, The Meditations of the Curé D’Ars [...]
"The presence of Christ's true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority. Hence, on Lk. 22:19: 'This is My body which shall be delivered up for you,' Cyril says: 'Doubt not whether this be true; but take rather the Saviour's [...]
"Let us then return from that table like lions breathing fire, having become terrible to the devil; thinking on our Head, and on the love which He has shown for us." Source: St. John Chrysostom, Homily 46
"It was above all on 'the first day of the week,' Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met 'to break bread.' From that time on down to our own day the celebration of the Eucharist has been continued so that today we encounter it everywhere in the Church with the same fundamental [...]
"In reality, the ministerial and hierarchical priesthood, the priesthood of the bishops and the priests, and, at their side, the ministry of the deacons-ministries which normally begin with the proclamation of the Gospel-are in the closest relationship with the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the principal and central raison d'etre of the sacrament of the priesthood, [...]