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.
The word host is derived from the Latinhostia, 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.
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 (αντίδωρον, antídōron), i.e. a 'gift returned', or 'in place of the gifts'.
In the Roman Rite, unleavened bread is used as in the Jewish Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Code of Canon Law[2] 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.[3]
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."[4]
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".[5] Since the 2000s, hosts with low gluten content have been manufactured in the United States, especially in parts of Missouri and New York.[5] People with celiac disease must follow a strict gluten-free diet[6] and maintain it for life to allow the recovery of the intestinal mucosa and reduce the risk of developing severe health complications.[7]
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.[9]
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.
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.[11] The bread is broken into fragments just prior to being blessed by one of the officiating priests.
^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. PMID26392070. S2CID20270743. 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.
^Schmitz, Fr. Mike. “Day 359: John's Apocalypse — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)” Ascension Press. 24 Dec. 2021. YouTube. https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=cLKNkdyrb94
