BREAD, LITURGICAL USE OF

By divine institution, bread is one of the two essential elements of the Eucharist. The Eastern Churches (except the Armenians) make use of leavened bread, while the Western Churches, since the 11th century, have used unleavened bread. Unleavened bread came into use in the West for pragmatic reasons: they kept fresh longer, and clergy were prevented from using scraps of bread from the dining table for the Eucharist. Only bread made of wheat is recognized by the Catholic Church as a valid element of the Eucharist. In the beginning, the faithful took bread from their domestic supply and brought it for divine service; consequently, the Eucharistic bread did not differ from the shape of bread used for domestic purposes. By the Middle Ages, the altar breads assumed a round form of moderate thickness; and, in the Western Church, they took the light, waferlike form now so common.

Another liturgical use of bread is the traditional distribution of blessed bread at the end of the Eucharist, a custom that survives in Eastern liturgies and in parts of France and French Canada. In Eastern liturgies, the blessed bread is called antidoron (ἀντίδωρον), while the French call it pain bénit. At the end of the liturgy, bread that has been specially blessed is distributed to the faithful who are present. Centuries ago, this blessed bread was considered to be a substitute for Holy Communion and was distributed only to noncommunicants. This conception, however, gradually disappeared; the blessed bread is distributed to everyone present.

Bibliography: j. a. jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite, tr. f. brunner, 2 v. (New York 1951–55) 2:31–37, 452–455.

[e. j. gratsch/eds.]