the Roman Catholic doctrine that the whole substance of the bread and the wine changes into the substance of the body and blood of Christ when consecrated in the Eucharist
<noun.cognition>
an act that changes the form or character or substance of something
<noun.act>
Transubstantiation \Tran`sub*stan`ti*a"tion\, n. [LL. transubstantiatio: cf. F. transsubstantiation.] 1. A change into another substance.
2. (R. C. Theol.) The doctrine held by Roman Catholics, that the bread and wine in the Mass is converted into the body and blood of Christ; -- distinguished from {consubstantiation}, and {impanation}.
Regarding the eucharist, the approach goes behind the medieval Catholic doctrine of "transubstantiation," upholding instead a broader concept of Christ's "real presence" in celebration of the Lord's Supper.