'For this is my body'
Latin. In the Roman Catholic Tridentine mass, these are the words of institution - that is to say, the part of the service at which the bread (in this case) actually becomes consecrated. In the Catholic interpretation, there is a real change, described by the doctrine of transubstantiation. The equivalent English version is usually some variation on:
In the same night that he was betrayed, he took bread, and brake it, and gave it to them, saying 'Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this, in remembrance of me.'
The bold section indicates the source (in translation) of the original quote. This expression is often wrongly said to be the origin of the 'magic words' hocus pocus. The equivalent words for the chalice are hic est enim calix sanguinis mei.
For comparison, here's how Jesus' words are reported at the appropriate places in the Vulgate Bible. (St John's account of the Last Supper does not include the institution of communion):
- Accipite et comedite hoc est corpus meum - Matthew 26:26 - 'Take, eat, this is my body'
- Hoc est corpus meum - Mark 14:22 - 'This is my body'
- Hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis datur; hoc facite in meam commemorationem - Luke 22:19 - 'This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me'
- Hoc est corpus meum pro vobis; hoc facite in meam commemorationem - 1 Corinthians 11:24 - 'This is my body for you; do this in remembrance of me'