www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Is salt usually added to the unconsecrated bread?

Does the bread consecrated at Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgies usually contain salt? I was just wondering because I found out that the bread consecrated at the Divine Liturgy that I often attend does have salt added to it, which is strange since I thought that anything other than wheaten flour and water added to the altar bread invalidated the Sacrament.

Thanks.

You thought wrong.

From the CCEO:

"Canon 706
In the Divine Liturgy the sacred gifts which are offered are bread made of wheat alone and recently made so that there is no danger of corruption and natural wine of the grape and not corrupt."

From the Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the CCEO:

"68. The liturgical vestments and bread from the particular rite are to be used

Regarding the preparation of the bread and the liturgical vestments, can. 707 � 2 states that "for a just cause and having removed any astonishment on the part of the Christian faithful, it is permissible to use the liturgical vestments and bread of another Church <sui iuris.>" Two limits to this permission must be noted. The concession is granted so that the impossibility of procuring the bread or vestments should not impede the eucharistic celebration for the good of the faithful, which surpasses the necessary norms under normal circumstances. This permission should only be used in exceptional situations which cannot be generalized, such as the case of persecution and thus of clandestine celebration. It certainly does not dispense the obligation to do all that is possible so that such irregularity be avoided, and bread and vestments be according to the proper liturgical usage. It is meant even more for the case of the bread, in as much as the preparation of the bread for Eucharist is an integral part of the celebration and cannot be omitted without truly serious reasons. Therefore, excluding the Armenian liturgy, when prosphora is lacking, normal fermented bread is to be used in the exceptional cases mentioned.

The second constraint is for any astonishment to be removed on the part of the Christian faithful. It is necessary to avoid innovation which risks being misunderstood because of its contrast with the traditional use known by the faithful. Such attention extends also to the sensitivity of the non-Catholic faithful, in particular of those belonging to the same Tradition."




You will notice the canon does not specifiy leavened or unleavened or any recipe. This is because the CCEO covers all the Eastern Catholic Churches all of which use leavened bread (or at least are supposed to) except the Armenians who use unleavened bread.

I have seen many prosphora recipes, from Byzantine sources both Orthodox and Catholic, that call for a small amount of salt and others that call for none. Many of the Orientals, Orthodox and Catholic, also add a small amount of olive oil. The point being as long as the matter is identifiable as wheat bread, leavened or unleavened, it is valid matter.

In the Latin Church it is illicit to add anything but wheat flour and water, but as long as the other ingredients do not make it unrecognizable as bread it is valid but illicit matter. In the Eastern Churches, the traditional recipes may call for salt or olive oil, and as you see normal fermented bread which often contains both is considered valid and licit matter although prosphora is to be prefered.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Father Deacon, thank you for the explanation. Are the Maronites not covered by the CCEO? I thought it was normative for them to use unleavened bread. Am I mistaken?

Dear Trent,

Christos voskrese! Voistinu voskrese!

The bread baked by our parishoners contain no salt. It is made with true love as a most pure offering to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Michael

A website dedicated to making prosphora:
http://www.prosphora.org/index.html

XB!

Michael, I also make prosphora and I use three ingredients (water, flour, yeast) as I was taught by Archpriest Roman Galadza. I have used his recipe exclusively over the 15 years or so I have been making prosphora. I use stamps made of carved wood. One should also use unbleached (or preferrably organic) flour for additional purity.

Wondering I would probably suspect that since it is a long standing tradition in the Maronite Church, that it has the prescription of law even though it goes against the general law of the Church that is the CCEO.
Stephanos I

Unbleached, yes and organic yes but for those who might not know not whole wheat.

No Whole Wheat Flour [prosphora.org]

Thanks, Ray. Indeed white flour always should be used.

I prefer prosphora made with white flour, and baked without oil myself, and that is what we use in my parish.

However, the yeast available these days does require some stimulating if the dough is to rise, and a small bit of sugar accomplishes this nicely. I've never encountered the phenomenon of "overexcited" yeast - sounds like something out of a science fiction novel.

It is not beside the mark to respect the traditions of others, About four decades ago, a nice lady from the Middle East was baking the prosphora for me and used a spice or two - she had obtained the recipe for prosphora from her grandmother and the family had a long tradition of baking prosphora. I was not about to throw it back in the good lady's face, or suggest that for at least a century or longer they had been providing "invalid" bread for the Divine Liturgy.

Somewhat less respectable, though, is a pseudo-tradition that one finds among some Greeks - they will simply order prophora from the local bakery. In practice this means that there is no telling what may be in the bread, and it is not likely that the prosphora was prepared in the proper prayerful fashion. I'm not alone in my aversion to this; I've run across several Greek clergy who have denounced the practice in their publications.

Christ is Risen! [and since today is Saturday, I hope the prosphora is rising]

Fr. Serge

Christos voskrese! Voistinu voskrese!

Now when a layman precuts the particles from the prosphora for the Divine Liturgy, what prayer(s) should he/she use?

Whether this is wrong or not has already been discussed and we know that answer.

So, what prayers can that person say, to help preserve the spirit of the offering while precutting the prosphora?

In Christ,

Michael

One lesson I've learned, thankfully before I made a batch of prosphora with it, is that some of the flours on the shelf now are being marketed as natural/organic "artisan bread flour" but aren't 100% wheat. It's not labeled that it's a blend unless you look at the small print of ingredients on the back. One brand that comes to mind is the Harvest King flour from I think Gold Medal.

It's right in the middle of the wheat flours at our store and not in the specialty/non-wheat section so one might not even think about checking an ingredient list before buying.

Actually most flours sold in grocery stores have malted barley flour added as food for yeast. I don't know the amount added but it can't be that significant an amount or I don't think they could sell it and call it wheat flour. Since the amount is small I don't think prosphora made with it would be invalid matter, but it is certainly better to check the label and make sure what you are buying is 100% wheat flour.

Yes, that is correct, good point. Several of the "all natural" or "organic" flours do contain mixtures.

The flour I use to make prosphora is milled at a small family mill in central Kansas, and is indeed 100% wheat (I have even visited the mill).

It is because of this habit of blending commercial flour with this and that that some Local Councils require the priest himself to grow the wheat (this includes, would you believe, the Synod of Zamost').

Christ is Risen!

Fr. Serge