Transubstantiation

A solitary man standing on the hilltop turned slowly from mountain to valley, from sky to field, seeming to eat and drink and breathe—to make a part of him by some paganish transubstantiation—the very day itself.

I was openly dismissive about transubstantiation, by which the host is consecrated, and according to Catholic doctrine, literally turns from mere bread into the body of Christ. “But all the atoms stay the same!” I would insist. “That makes no sense!”