Why does the Mass sometimes refer to the Eucharist as "Bread"?

[burket1]

I have a dear friend who is a quasi, radical Traditionalist. She very frequently attends the Latin Mass that is 50 miles from her home. The Church of the Latin Mass would be her parish if it were not so far from her home. She understands that the Novus Ordo is a legitimate Mass; but, she has many complaints concerning it. She has made a comment on the prayer “When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup we proclaim Your Death O Lord, until You come again.”

She said, “We say that right after the Concentration. The Sacred Host is no longer bread.”
Please explain.

 

[Fr.Eric_Filmer]

After the consecration during Mass, the Eucharist is no longer ordinary bread, but is the Bread of Life. Naturally, we call the Eucharist by other names as well (i.e., the Blessed Sacrament, Body of Christ, etc.) but by referring to it as the Bread of Life, we are expressing a term that Jesus himself used:

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35, RSV)

Jesus also speaks of the Eucharist as being the “Bread of God” (John 6:33) and the “Bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:41).

Even though the quote you provided from the Roman Missal simply states, “Bread” rather than, “Bread of Life”, this is what it is referencing. Note the fact that in the Roman Missal, prior to the words of consecration, the word bread is not capitalized (for example, “For on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread…”) but afterwards it is (for example, “When we eat this Bread…”). The capitalization indicates that we are no longer speaking of ordinary bread, but rather the Bread of Life.

In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with someone simply having a preference for the Latin Mass. However, your friend’s criticism of the English Mass making use of the term “Bread” is without merit, as I have now explained. Moreover, she is not actually avoiding this sort of thing by attending a Latin Mass. For example, after the words of consecration, the Traditional Latin Mass refers to the Eucharist as Panem sanctum vitae aeternae (“Holy Bread of life everlasting”).