Bread used in the Christian Eucharist ritual
Sacramental bread
, also called
Communion bread
,
Communion wafer
,
Sacred host
,
Eucharistic bread
, the
Lamb
or simply the
host
(
Latin
:
hostia
,
lit.
'sacrificial victim'), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the
Eucharist
. Along with
sacramental wine
, it is one of two elements of the Eucharist. The bread may be either
leavened
or unleavened, depending on tradition.
Catholic
theology generally teaches that at the
Words of Institution
the bread's substance
is changed into
the
Body of Christ
(
transubstantiation
), whereas Eastern Christian theology generally views the
epiclesis
as the point at which the change occurs.
Bread was in the religious rituals of
Mandaeism
,
Mithraism
,
[1]
: 161?162
and other pagan cultures similar to that of
ancient Egypt
.
[2]
: 66?68
Christianity
[
edit
]
Etymology of
host
[
edit
]
The word
host
is derived from the
Latin
hostia
, which means 'sacrificial victim'. The term can be used to describe the bread both before and after
consecration
, although it is more correct to use it after consecration.
Eastern traditions
[
edit
]
With the exception of Churches of the
Armenian Rite
, the
Maronite Church
, and the
Syro-Malabar Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
and
Eastern Catholic Churches
use
leavened
bread for the Eucharist. Thus, the sacramental bread is the
Resurrected Christ
. The host, known as
prosphora
or a
πρ?σφορον
(
prosphoron
, 'offering') may be made out of only four ingredients: fine (white)
wheat flour
, pure water, yeast, and salt. Sometimes
holy water
will be either sprinkled into the dough or on the kneading trough at the beginning of the process.
[
citation needed
]
Armenian rite
[
edit
]
Because leaven is symbolic of sin,
[
citation needed
]
the
Armenian Catholic Church
and the
Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church
traditionally offer unleavened bread (although it is distinctively different from the kind used by the
Catholic Church
) to symbolize the sinlessness of
Christ
.
[
citation needed
]
Eastern Orthodox Churches
[
edit
]
The baking may only be performed by a believing Orthodox
Christian
in good standing, having preferably been recently to
Confession
, and is accompanied by prayer and fasting. Before baking, each loaf is formed by placing two disks of dough, one on top of the other, and stamping it with a special liturgical seal. The prosphora should be fresh and not stale or moldy when presented at the
altar
for use in the
Divine Liturgy
.
Often several prosphora will be baked and offered by the faithful, and the priest chooses the best one for the
Lamb
(Host) that will be
consecrated
.
[
citation needed
]
The remaining loaves are blessed and offered back to the congregation after the end of the
Divine Liturgy
(Eucharist); this bread is called the
antidoron
(
αντ?δωρον
,
antid?ron
), i.e. a 'gift returned', or 'in place of the gifts'.
Eastern Catholic Churches
[
edit
]
The
Byzantine Rite
Eastern Catholic Churches
(like the
Eastern Orthodox Church
) use leavened bread for
prosphora
(the Greek word for Eucharistic altar bread).
[3]
The
Maronite Church
has adopted the use of unleavened bread due to
liturgical Latinisation
. The
Syro-Malabar Church
uses both unleavened bread as well as leavened bread in which
Holy Malka
is added.
[
citation needed
]
Western traditions
[
edit
]
Catholic Church
[
edit
]
A host is a portion of bread used for
Holy Communion
in many
Christian
churches. In
Western Christianity
the host is often thin, round, unleavened hosts.
In the
Roman Rite
,
unleavened bread
is used as in the Jewish
Passover
or Feast of Unleavened Bread. The
Code of Canon Law
[4]
requires that the hosts be made from wheat flour and water only, and recently made so that there is no danger of spoiling.
Hosts are often made by
nuns
as a means of supporting their religious communities. However, in New Zealand, the St Vincent de Paul Society hires individuals with intellectual disabilities to bake, cut out, and sort the bread, thereby offering paid employment to those who would not otherwise have that option.
[5]
The
General Instruction of the Roman Missal
§321 recommends that "the eucharistic bread ... be made in such a way that the priest at Mass with a congregation is able in practice to break it into parts for distribution to at least some of the faithful. ... The action of the
fraction
(breaking of bread), which gave its name to the
Eucharist
in apostolic times, will bring out more clearly the force and importance of the sign of unity of all in the one bread, and of the sign of charity by the fact that the one bread is distributed among the brothers and sisters."
[6]
In 1995 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future
Pope Benedict XVI
), then Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
, wrote a letter to the Episcopal Conferences in which he expanded the Code of Canon Law, stating that low-
gluten
bread would be considered "valid matter" for hosts as long as no additional substances "alter[ed] the nature of the substance of the bread".
[7]
Since the 2000s, hosts with low gluten content have been manufactured in the United States, especially in parts of Missouri and New York.
[7]
People with
celiac disease
must follow a strict
gluten-free diet
[8]
and maintain it for life to allow the recovery of the intestinal mucosa and reduce the risk of developing severe health complications.
[9]
Protestantism
[
edit
]
In the varying
Protestant
denominations, there is a wide variety of practices concerning the sacramental bread used.
Lutherans
and
Anglicans
vary by congregational tradition where some will use leavened breads while others?much like Roman Catholics?use unleavened bread.
Reformed
Christians use rolls which are
broken
and distributed to the faithful.
[10]
The
Christian Congregation
, a Pentecostal denomination, uses leavened loaves of bread. Among those who use the unleavened hosts, there is a great deal of variation: some are square or triangular rather than round, and may even be made out of
whole wheat flour
.
Some, such as the
Churches of Christ
, use
matzo
.
[11]
Latter-day Saints
[
edit
]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
has no strict rules on the type of bread used for sacramental purposes. Latter-day Saint scriptures state: "For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory?remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins." (
Doctrine and Covenants
27:2) Different congregations may use either commercial bread or homemade bread prepared by members of the congregation. It is permissible to substitute rice cakes or other gluten-free breads for members who suffer from food allergies.
[12]
The bread is broken into fragments just prior to being blessed by one of the officiating
priests
.
Mandaeism
[
edit
]
In
Mandaeism
, priests perform rituals with sacramental bread called
pihta
(
Classical Mandaic
:
?????
). Every Sunday, Mandaeans participate in a baptismal mass (
ma?buta
) involving immersion in flowing water (
yardena
) by ordained priests. The baptized then consume pieces of
pihta
blessed by a priest in order to restore their connections (
laufa
) with the
World of Light
(see
Mandaean cosmology
).
[13]
Some Mandaean ritual ceremonies also require the use of a small, round, saltless, half-baked biscuit called the
fa?ira
(
Classical Mandaic
:
??????
).
Fa?iras
are used in rituals such as the
?abahata Masiqta
, or the "
masiqta
of the Parents."
[13]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Willoughby, H. R. (2008) [1929].
Pagan Regeneration: A Study of Mystery Initiations in the Graeco-Roman World
. United Kingdom: Wipf and Stock Publishers.
- ^
Carpenter, E. (1920).
Pagan & Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning
. Harcourt, Brace.
- ^
Waters, Ian; McGuckin, Robert (2016-01-01).
"Eastern Catholic Churches in Australia: Canonical Issues for Catholic Clergy and Pastoral Workers"
.
Australasian Catholic Record
.
93
(1): 85 – via
EBSCOhost
.
- ^
Code of Canon Law - Book IV - Function of the Church Liber (Cann. 879-958)
- ^
"Altar Breads"
. Wellington, New Zealand: Society of St Vincent de Paul.
Archived
from the original on 21 March 2018
. Retrieved
18 March
2018
.
- ^
Roman Missal §321
- ^
a
b
"Low-Gluten Diet Alternatives Have Reached A New Frontier: The Catholic Church"
.
ThinkProgress
.
Archived
from the original on 2015-01-03
. Retrieved
2015-01-03
.
- ^
Ciacci C, Ciclitira P, Hadjivassiliou M, Kaukinen K, Ludvigsson JF, McGough N, et al. (2015).
"The gluten-free diet and its current application in coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis"
.
United European Gastroenterology Journal
(review).
3
(2): 121?135.
doi
:
10.1177/2050640614559263
.
PMC
4406897
.
PMID
25922672
.
- ^
See JA, Kaukinen K, Makharia GK, Gibson PR, Murray JA (October 2015). "Practical insights into gluten-free diets".
Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology
(Review).
12
(10): 580?91.
doi
:
10.1038/nrgastro.2015.156
.
PMID
26392070
.
S2CID
20270743
.
A lack of symptoms and/or negative serological markers are not reliable indicators of mucosal response to the diet. Furthermore, up to 30% of patients continue to have gastrointestinal symptoms despite a strict GFD. If adherence is questioned, a structured interview by a qualified dietitian can help to identify both intentional and inadvertent sources of gluten.
- ^
Benedict, Philip
(2002).
Christ's Churches Purely Reformed
. New Haven:
Yale University Press
. p. 205.
ISBN
978-0300105070
.
- ^
Wecker, Menachem.
"Matzah Communion"
.
American Jewish Life Magazine
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-03-14
. Retrieved
16 April
2017
.
- ^
Christianson, Thira.
"Accepting Allergies"
.
Friend
. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
. Retrieved
10 November
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002).
The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people
. New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
0-19-515385-5
.
OCLC
65198443
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Tony Begonja,
Eucharistic Bread-Baking As Ministry
, San Jose: Resource Publications, 1991,
ISBN
0-89390-200-4
.
External links
[
edit
]
Baked goods depicting religious iconography
|
---|
|