The Real Presence

Anglicanism has always affirmed that Jesus Christ is truly and really present in the most blessed sacrament of the altar. The Church teaches that a person who receives the Eucharist in faith receives the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, while the person who receives without faith or in a state of grave sin eats and drinks unto their own condemnation (1 Corinthians 11:23-29). 

Article 28 of the 39 Articles states: 

“The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ’s death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.”

The exhortation given by the priest before the distribution of Holy Communion in the traditional prayer book tells the people to prepare carefully before coming to receive Communion because the Sacrament conveys to us the sacrifice of the cross through which our sins are forgiven. “Wherefore it is our duty to render most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God our heavenly Father, for that he hath given his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, not only to die for us, but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that holy Sacrament.” Those who have sins that they need to repent of are encouraged to make a private confession for the sake of their conscience before approaching the altar. The Eucharistic prayer itself repeatedly reminds us that we will indeed receive the true Body and Blood of the Lord in the Sacrament.