Sacramental bread

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, a process known as transubstantiation. Conversely, Eastern Christian theology generally views the epiclesis as the point at which the change occurs.

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.

With the exception of Churches of the Armenian Rite, the Maronite Church, and the Syro-Malabar Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Lutheran Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches use leavened bread for the Eucharist. Thus, the sacramental bread is the Resurrected Christ. The host, known as prosphorá or a πρόσφορον (prósphoron, '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]}

Because leaven is symbolic of sin, 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.

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'.

The Eastern Lutheran Churches, which employ the Byzantine Rite, use leavened bread for the prosphora (the Greek word for Eucharistic altar bread).