"For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [die]."
--St. Paul
"They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. "
--St. Ignatius (110 A.D.)
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FWIW, the golden rays which radiate from the Body and Blood of Christ, reserved in the monstrance, symbolize the "Light of the World."
You can learn about the historical development of monstrances here.
The question really is where did Rome come up with these pagan emblems they incorporated into their worship???
Of course catholics are instructed on what the Ministerium says they are, that does not mean that is what they are.
I do not believe Jesus intended the wine and bread to “be” his actual body and blood. That is catholic doctrine not Christian. For this was done at the last supper and HE was not yet crucified...
Catholics worship the “emblems” established by the church...and this in order to give the people a “feeling” and “sence that they are doing an act of worship...when in fact it is very self centered...and is certainly not the blood now the actual body mysteriously changed by a catholic representative, and certainly not of the biblical Christ we serve and worship.
Funny, don't recall any mention of these "montrances" in the early church.
Okay...you DO know that who Ignatius was referring to as "they" was the Gnostics who denied Jesus HAD a flesh and blood body, right? Seeing as the RC dogma of "transubstantiation" didn't even become "official" RC dogma until the Fourth Council of the Lateran, which convened beginning November 11, 1215, you can hardly claim honestly that the "Protestants" were who Ignatius was talking about!