"The sacrament, which only faith can comprehend, was subjected to a philosophical definition. This second view of the Eucharist (transubstantiation) was unknown to the ancient Church."
Holy Eucharist
"...[the Eucharist]was unknown to the ancient Church." "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord." (St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:27), 1st century AD.
I have already quoted Irenaeus in the early 2nd century, and the 4th c. St. Ambrose of Milan says this in
Sacraments:
"But that bread is bread before the words of the Sacraments; where the consecration has entered in, the bread becomes the flesh of Christ."
So, save for the scholastic bulk that was added by the Catholics and made into dogma in the 16th c., the idea of Eucharist was well known to the early church.
That still does not address the issue of literally eating the flesh and drinking the blood of any man, which to me remains repugnant, and unscriptural. Eating the bread and drinking the wine in His memory is a noursihment for our souls.