In part of a new project I am working on that will explain why I have grown to appreciate the Catholic faith, it is extremely important for one to dive into the topic of the Eucharist, or the Communion bread and wine. Here, I will try to prove this thesis statement: The Bread and Wine that Jesus offers his Disciples as referred to in Matthew Chapter 26, was intended by Jesus to be literally His body and blood. Not a mere representation, but a reality that He intended for people from that point forward to eat in remembrance of Him, the Passover Lamb slain for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26:26-28 KJV “26And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.“
The Early Church
The Epistle Of Ignatius To The Philadelphians
Some date this letter to the late second century, but others much earlier during the reign of Emperor Trajan who ruled from roughly 98 AD-117 AD. If this is the case, this letter would be written around the time where John the Apostle would have died(roughly 99AD).
In context, Ignatius (Who was killed by lions in Rome) is speaking of avoiding Schismatics(Those who separate from the Union of the church). Here is one of the first mentions of the term Eucharist in history, and it is being used to demonstrate a uniting factor for the church. One Flesh, One cup, One Eucharist, One Bishop, One Preaching, One Faith, One Baptism. He says all of this to show a fulfillment of this prayer from Jesus John 17:21:“that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.“
“Keep yourselves from those evil plants which Jesus Christ does not tend, because they are not the planting of the Father…regard them as your enemies, and separate yourselves from them, while yet you admonish them, and exhort them to repentance…Take ye heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to the unity of His blood”
“…one loaf also is broken to all, and one cup is distributed among them all: there is but one altar for the whole Church, and one bishop, with the presbytery and deacons…one preaching, and one faith, and one baptism…“
Ignatius to the Romans – https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0107.htm
“I have no delight in corruptible food, nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became afterwards of the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire the drink of God, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.”
Ignatius of Antioch Epistle to the Smyrnaeans
Written around the same time as the previous – https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0109.htm
A key component of this letter seems to have been used to address the Gnostic heresies that begun to arise after the departure of the Apostles. These claimed many things, but the main being that Christ did not come in the flesh, but was a spirit. Those same people claimed the bread and wine were not actually Jesus, but were mere representations.
In reference to Christ not having a Body: “For I know that after His resurrection also He was still possessed of flesh, and I believe that He is so now…But if they say that He will come at the end of the world without a body, how shall those ‘see Him that pierced Him,’…But I guard you beforehand from these beasts in the shape of men, from whom you must not only turn away, but even flee from them. Only you must pray for them, if by any means they may be brought to repentance…For what does any one profit me, if he commends me, but blasphemes my Lord, not confessing that He was[truly] possessed of a body?…Let no man deceive himself. Unless he believes that Christ Jesus has lived in the flesh, and shall confess His cross and passion, and the blood which He shed for the salvation of the world, he shall not obtain eternal life, whether he be a king, or a priest, or a ruler, or a private person, a master or a servant, a man or a woman.“
Shifting his focus to the topic of the Eucharist: “notice those who preach other doctrines, how they affirm that the Father of Christ cannot be known, and how they exhibit enmity and deceit in their dealings with one another. They have no regard for love; they despise the good things we expect hereafter;…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. But it were better for them to treat it with respect, that they also might rise again. It is fitting, therefore, that ye should keep aloof from such persons, and not to speak of them either in private or in public, but to give heed to the prophets, and above all, to the Gospel, in which the passion[of Christ] has been revealed to us, and the resurrection has been fully proved. But avoid all divisions, as the beginning of evils. They are ashamed of the cross; they mock at the passion; they make a jest of the resurrection. They are the offspring of that spirit who is the author of all evil, who led Adam, by means of his wife, to transgress the commandment, who slew Abel by the hands of Cain, who fought against Job, who was the accuser of Joshua the son of Josedech, who sought to ”sift the faith”(10)of the apostles, who stirred up the multitude of the Jews against the Lord, who also now “worketh in the children of disobedience…flee from all abominable heresies, and those that cause schisms, as the beginning of evils.“
This message condemns outright the doctrine that the Eucharist is “not the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ”, and suggests that the same spirit which denies this reality is the same which killed Abel and tempted Eve in the garden.
The Didache – Written Roughly 90 AD at the latest
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0714.htm
“Now concerning the Thanksgiving (Eucharist), thus give thanks. First, concerning the cup: We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of David Your servant, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory forever. And concerning the broken bread: We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory forever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist), but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, Give not that which is holy to the dogs. Matthew 7:6“
Essentially, I believe the Eucharist really is Jesus…because He says so. It is also very important that the earliest church writers believed this. Ignatius, Clement, and the Council in Nicaea. Seemingly, so did John. 1 John 6:53,55: “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you…For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed“
Those who have great difficulty with this are understandable, as it is easy to be skeptical. It…just looks like a wafer…it just looks like bread. 1 Corinthians 2:14: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Just because you don’t see something, doesn’t mean it isn’t real. You believe in God don’t you?
For more information check out these sources. I do not hold fast to every word they say, but all have some good information
https://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/father/fathers.htm
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/the-early-church-believed-in-the-eucharist
Baqash : To Seek 
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