Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologiae — Question 81 - OF THE USE WHICH CHRIST MADE OF THIS SACRAMENT AT ITS INSTITUTION…
“ For as sight requires that the body seen be in contact with the adjacent medium of sight, so does passion require contact of the suffering body with the active agents. But Christ's body, according as it is under the sacrament, as stated above (A [1] , ad 2; [4668] Q [76] , A [5] ) , is not compared with its surroundings through the intermediary of its own dimensions, whereby bodies touch each other, but through the dimensions of the bread and wine; consequently, it is those species which are acted upon and are seen, but not Christ's own body. ”
