Page "Council of Trent" Paragraph 25

The greatest weight in the Council's decrees is given to the sacraments.

The seven sacraments were reaffirmed and the Eucharist pronounced to be a true propitiatory sacrifice as well as a sacrament, in which the bread and wine were consecrated into the Eucharist ( thirteenth and twenty-second sessions ).

The term transubstantiation was used by the Council, but the specific Aristotelian explanation given by Scholasticism was not cited as dogmatic.

Instead, the decree states that Christ is " really, truly, substantially present " in the consecrated forms.

The sacrifice of the Mass was to be offered for dead and living alike and in giving to the apostles the command " do this in remembrance of me ," Christ conferred upon them a sacerdotal power.

The practice of withholding the cup from the laity was confirmed ( twenty-first session ) as one which the Church Fathers had commanded for good and sufficient reasons ; yet in certain cases the Pope was made the supreme arbiter as to whether the rule should be strictly maintained.