About a year ago, I attended Mass at a parish I had never
been to before. During Communion, I noticed that the host was
made of leavened bread. I thought Communion hosts were only
supposed to be made from unleavened bread. Could you explain
the Churchs teaching on this matter?
A reader from Falls Church As Catholics,
we firmly believe that Our Lord instituted the seven
sacraments and entrusted them to the Church. Therefore, the
sacraments are the actions of Our Lord and the Church.
Through the celebration of these sacraments, the faithful
express their faith in genuine acts of worship to God. In
turn, the grace received through the sacraments strengthens
and sanctifies the faith of the recipients. Moreover, the
sacraments "contribute to the highest degree to the
establishment, strengthening and manifestation of ecclesial
communion; therefore, both the sacred ministers and the rest
of the Christian faithful must employ the greatest reverence
and the necessary diligence in their celebration" (Code of
Canon Law, No. 840). The "supreme authority" of the
Church alone possesses the authority to approve and to define
the elements of matter and form which are required for a
sacraments valid celebration. (c.f. Canon No. 841)
Remember that the matter of a sacrament would be the material
elements and action involved in performing the sacrament,
e.g. the pouring of water over a persons head or the
immersing of him in water when baptizing; the form of a
sacrament is the necessary prayer offered, e.g. in baptism,
the priest prays, "I baptize you in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." To tamper with the
matter or the form of the sacrament invalidates the
sacrament, i.e. the sacrament does not occur. With this
understanding, we can now turn to the question regarding the
use of leavened bread at Mass. Following Pope John Paul
IIs "On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist"
(1980), the Sacred Congregation for Sacraments and Divine
Worship issued its "Instruction on Certain Norms Concerning
the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery" (1980) with the
intention of repeating and clarifying norms regarding the
celebration of the Mass and the holy Eucharist. Sadly, after
the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council,
abuses arose which had to be addressed. For instance, I heard
from friends of their experience during a college campus Mass
in the early 1970s when beer and pretzels were used by a
"with it" campus chaplain to make the Mass relevant for
college students; too bad the priest made the Mass irrelevant
by being without Christ. Regarding the matter of the holy
Eucharist, the Sacred Congregation specifically stated,
"Faithful to Christs example, the Church has constantly
used bread and wine mixed with water to celebrate the
Lords Supper. The bread for the celebration of the
Eucharist, in accordance with the tradition of the whole
Church, must be made solely of wheat, and, in accordance with
the tradition proper to the Latin Church, it must be
unleavened. ... No other ingredients are to be added to the
wheaten flour and water. ... The wine for the Eucharistic
celebration must be of the fruit of the
vine and be natural and genuine, that is to say not
mixed with other substances"(No. 8). (These norms are
repeated in Code of Canon Law. Nos. 924 and 926.)
Therefore, if a congregation decided to use leavened bread or
add salt, honey, sugar, molasses or any over additive to the
bread to be offered at Mass in the Latin Rite, the sacrament
would be invalidated, meaning the Eucharist is not confected.
To insure the validity of the sacrament as well as to
alleviate the burden for a parish to provide its own
unleavened hosts, over the years communities of religious
sisters, especially cloistered ones, or commercial companies
supply the unleavened hosts for parishes for use at Mass.
Since the sacraments are precious gifts from Our Lord to the
Church, they must be carefully guarded. To tamper with the
matter and the form or the ritual for the celebration of the
sacrament not only invalidates the sacrament but breaks the
unity of the Church which the proper celebration is to
strengthen. Fr. Saunders is dean of the Notre Dame
Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Queen of
Apostles, both in Alexandria. Copyright ?1997
Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.