Are these hosts valid?

[Holly3278]

My parish recently begun using hosts for the Eucharist that feel differently in my mouth than what I am used to. The hosts that I am used to actually have a sort of texture to them. The hosts that my parish has begun using recently have a smooth surface to them, almost as if they have a smooth wax coating on their surface. So, I ask, are these valid hosts? I have no idea where the parish gets them from or what they are made using. As far as I am aware, they are whole wheat hosts just like any other host but I can’t be sure. If these hosts are valid, which I assume they are, why do they feel so smooth in my mouth? Is it the way they were baked or something?

 

[Phemie]

My parish recently begun using hosts for the Eucharist that feel differently in my mouth than what I am used to. The hosts that I am used to actually have a sort of texture to them. The hosts that my parish has begun using recently have a smooth surface to them, almost as if they have a smooth wax coating on their surface. So, I ask, are these valid hosts? I have no idea where the parish gets them from or what they are made using. As far as I am aware, they are whole wheat hosts just like any other host but I can’t be sure. If these hosts are valid, which I assume they are, why do they feel so smooth in my mouth? Is it the way they were baked or something?

Sounds like the thin, white flour ones we use for sick calls. Very different from the thick whole wheat ones we normally use.

 

[Vico]

My parish recently begun using hosts for the Eucharist that feel differently in my mouth than what I am used to. The hosts that I am used to actually have a sort of texture to them. The hosts that my parish has begun using recently have a smooth surface to them, almost as if they have a smooth wax coating on their surface. So, I ask, are these valid hosts? I have no idea where the parish gets them from or what they are made using. As far as I am aware, they are whole wheat hosts just like any other host but I can’t be sure. If these hosts are valid, which I assume they are, why do they feel so smooth in my mouth? Is it the way they were baked or something?

I think they are ok. They are made of water and a mixture of different wheat flours. One wheat flour is rich in gluten, and gives the host its corky texture. The use of white or whole wheat and the amount of gluten can make a difference in texture. Some are made thicker for intinction.

inhisname.com/category.php?cat=ChurchGoods&scat=Supplies&scat2=AltarBread

After making the paste, it is extended and warmed between two baking sheets, to make thin plates of dry bread. Moistened some, the hosts are cut with a special knife and are left to air out during about 6 days, before being packed.

 

[Monica4316]

Yes, I believe they are valid… I actually have the opposite situation, lol, I’m used to the thin white ‘smooth’ hosts, not to the ones with more texture.

 

[Holly3278]

Sounds like the thin, white flour ones we use for sick calls. Very different from the thick whole wheat ones we normally use.

Oh okay. So these are made from refined wheat flour and not whole wheat flour? Isn’t that invalid matter?

I think they are ok. They are made of water and a mixture of different wheat flours. One wheat flour is rich in gluten, and gives the host its corky texture. The use of white or whole wheat and the amount of gluten can make a difference in texture. Some are made thicker for intinction.

inhisname.com/category.php?cat=ChurchGoods&scat=Supplies&scat2=AltarBread

After making the paste, it is extended and warmed between two baking sheets, to make thin plates of dry bread. Moistened some, the hosts are cut with a special knife and are left to air out during about 6 days, before being packed.

Oh okay. Interesting.

Yes, I believe they are valid… I actually have the opposite situation, lol, I’m used to the thin white ‘smooth’ hosts, not to the ones with more texture.

Ah okay. I have only received this type of host a few times in my life. It was rather hard to get used to. They are much more thin and “crisp” than the thicker ones with more texture. I personally prefer the ones that are thicker and with more texture. All well, as long as they are valid, it is the same Jesus!

 

[ConstantineTG]

Oh okay. So these are made from refined wheat flour and not whole wheat flour? Isn’t that invalid matter?

Its still wheat. Refining doesn’t add anything nor change wheat into something else

 

[MarkThompson]

Oh okay. So these are made from refined wheat flour and not whole wheat flour? Isn’t that invalid matter?

Hang around and you’ll be surprised how many times the opposite question gets asked. (“I went to a different parish and the host was brown and chewy!!! Is this valid???”). According to canon law, the host should not contain anything but wheat flour and water. It does not say what kind of wheat flour. Redemptionis Sacramentum further explains:
The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition. It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament. It is a grave abuse to introduce other substances, such as fruit or sugar or honey, into the bread for confecting the Eucharist.
So the requirement of canon law (unleaved bread of wheat flour and water) is more restrictive than the requirement for validity (and with good reason, don’t get me wrong). For instance, many people are shocked to learn that leavened bread, though illicit, is valid matter for the Eucharist.

 

[ConstantineTG]

For instance, many people are shocked to learn that leavened bread, though illicit, is valid matter for the Eucharist.

Or many people think that validty is Rite-dependent. That leavened bread is not valid in the Roman Rite even though it is valid in Eastern Rites.

And for all the folks out there who are confused, the right answer is validity is universal. What is valid in one part of the Church is valid throughout the Church. Then it just becomes a subject of whether it is licit or not according to disciplines and traditions of each particular Church and the Rite it adheres to.

 

[Aramis]

Leavened bread is valid, provided it is wheat, water, and yeast. It’s merely illicit in the Roman Church.

Unleavened bread of water and wheat is valid in all the Catholic churches, but illicit in the Byzantine Rite churches.

Even wheat bread with other things is valid; it’s just highly illicit throughout the 23 Churches in Union with Rome. Tho’ several priests and bishops used whatever wheat bread they could sneak out of the cafeteria while in prison in order to celebrate the Eucharist at all.

Enriched flour is not licit, as it has things added to the wheat besides gluten, but refined flours without additives are licit.

 

[Holly3278]

Its still wheat. Refining doesn’t add anything nor change wheat into something else

Ah okay. So it doesn’t matter if it is white flour or whole wheat flour so long as it was made from wheat? I was honestly always under the impression that it had to be whole wheat flour.

Hang around and you’ll be surprised how many times the opposite question gets asked. (“I went to a different parish and the host was brown and chewy!!! Is this valid???”). According to canon law, the host should not contain anything but wheat flour and water. It does not say what kind of wheat flour. Redemptionis Sacramentum further explains:The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition. It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament. It is a grave abuse to introduce other substances, such as fruit or sugar or honey, into the bread for confecting the Eucharist.So the requirement of canon law (unleaved bread of wheat flour and water) is more restrictive than the requirement for validity (and with good reason, don’t get me wrong). For instance, many people are shocked to learn that leavened bread, though illicit, is valid matter for the Eucharist.

Interesting! Thanks!

Or many people think that validty is Rite-dependent. That leavened bread is not valid in the Roman Rite even though it is valid in Eastern Rites.

And for all the folks out there who are confused, the right answer is validity is universal. What is valid in one part of the Church is valid throughout the Church. Then it just becomes a subject of whether it is licit or not according to disciplines and traditions of each particular Church and the Rite it adheres to.

Leavened bread is valid, provided it is wheat, water, and yeast. It’s merely illicit in the Roman Church.

Unleavened bread of water and wheat is valid in all the Catholic churches, but illicit in the Byzantine Rite churches.

Even wheat bread with other things is valid; it’s just highly illicit throughout the 23 Churches in Union with Rome. Tho’ several priests and bishops used whatever wheat bread they could sneak out of the cafeteria while in prison in order to celebrate the Eucharist at all.

Enriched flour is not licit, as it has things added to the wheat besides gluten, but refined flours without additives are licit.

Ah okay. That is certainly interesting. I had no idea.

 

[Holly3278]

Does anyone have any idea what gives these hosts their smooth texture? Is it the way they were baked or is it simply because they were made from white wheat flour?

 

[MarkThompson]

Does anyone have any idea what gives these hosts their smooth texture? Is it the way they were baked or is it simply because they were made from white wheat flour?

I’m no baker, but I would think it’s a combination of using highly refined flour and baking in a very smooth-surfaced mold.

 

[Aramis]

Does anyone have any idea what gives these hosts their smooth texture? Is it the way they were baked or is it simply because they were made from white wheat flour?

Extremely fine ground flour, coupled with extremely smooth surfaced molding, usually by a cutting press which compresses the not quite dry sheet.

 

[Aramis]

Ah okay. That is certainly interesting. I had no idea.

The history of the Church under oppression is quite an eye opener.

I’ll go ahead and recommend Rev. Fr. Chris Zugger’s A Hidden Church as one of the best documentations of the Oppression of the Catholics of the Ukraine by the Soviets…

The more one looks at the 20th Century Martyrs, the more astonishing it gets how easy we’ve had it in the West. (Europe, US, Canada, parts of South America.)

 

[Vico]

Extremely fine ground flour, coupled with extremely smooth surfaced molding, usually by a cutting press which compresses the not quite dry sheet.

Many years ago I toured the area at the convent where the hosts were made, and saw so many racks of those thin sheets of wheat.