Dear Catholic Exchange:
I have a question which I am having a hard time answering. I am hoping you can point me in the right direction. My question is: Why does the Host need to be made of wheat? Why can't it be made of corn or rice?
Rebecca Feldpausch
Dear Ms. Feldpausch,
Greetings in Christ! I hope this response will adequately address your question.
The magisterial teaching regarding the proper matter for the Eucharist, repeated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1412, was defined solemnly at the Ecumenical Council of Florence in 1439: “we define…that the body of Christ is truly effected in unleavened or leavened wheat bread.”
It has the immemorial custom of the Church to use wheat bread as matter for the consecration of the Blessed Sacrament because Christ likely used wheat bread at the Last Supper. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:
[I]n Scripture bread [artos], without any qualifying addition, always signifies wheaten bread. No doubt, too, Christ adhered unconditionally to the Jewish custom of using only wheaten bread in the Passover Supper, and by the words, “Do this for a commemoration of me,” commanded its use for all succeeding times. (See Lk. 22:15; Catechism, nos. 1340, 1362 ff.)
The Church, however, has never taught definitively why wheat bread alone must be used. But the Church has conferred upon St. Thomas Aquinas the title “Doctor of the Eucharist,” and it is helpful to consult his writings on the Holy Eucharist in the Summa Theologiae. He asks himself the same question that you have asked, and answers:
Christ is contained in this sacrament, and He compares Himself to a grain of wheat, saying (John 12:24): “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone.” Therefore bread from [grain], i.e. wheaten bread, is the matter of this sacrament… [F]or the use of the sacraments such matter is adopted as is commonly made use of among men. Now among other breads wheaten bread is more commonly used by men; since other breads seem to be employed when this fails. And consequently Christ is believed to have instituted this sacrament under this species [i.e., kind] of bread. Moreover this bread strengthens man, and so it denotes more suitably the effect of this sacrament. Consequently, the proper matter for this sacrament is wheaten bread.(Summa Theologica, Part 3, Section 74, Article 3)
For further reference, please see a copy of our FAITH FACT on the proper matter of the Eucharist.
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Editor's note:
Recently there has been controversy with regards to Catholics who suffer from celiac disease, a disorder which renders the sufferer unable to digest any product made from wheat. A young girl in New Jersey was apparently denied a valid communion because she suffers from the disease.
There is important catechesis needed on this matter. As Catholics we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity in the tiniest morsel of the Eucharistic bread. Therefore, a person could receive a morsel of the tiniest size and still receive Our Lord, whole and complete.
Further under Canon Law, a communicant can receive the Eucharist under the species of wine alone. According to Canon 925, “Holy communion is to be given under the form of bread alone, or under both species according to the norm of the liturgical laws, or even under the form of wine alone in a case of necessity.”
Catholics who suffer from celiac disease or any malady which prohibits the ingestion of a wheat based product may receive communion whole and complete by reception of the Precious Blood alone, or if comfortable in a tiny crumb of Our Lord.
