# Do communion wafers "melt" in your mouth"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099 "2011-11-26T00:56:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/21 "2011-11-26T12:01:12Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > I’ve also heard that a Consecrated Host can be dissolved in water and then the water must be disposed of on “undisturbed ground” (whatever that is). > > The plumbing of the sink where the Chalice and the Paten are washed, must not flow into the sewer or septic system. It must also drain to “undisturbed ground.” “Undisturbed ground” = soil. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/22 "2011-11-26T12:35:38Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > More like paper, I’d say. (That’s why it kills me when people dismiss them as “crackers”. It’s not a CRACKER. Crackers have flavor) Yanno, I was thinking about making a joke about the Communion wafer being a “cookie” a la Jack Chick’s worldview. Then I thought better of it. This nice Jewish girl has had an unconsecrated wafer. It was at a Protestant service and the minister allowed me to try one before she did whatever she did to consecrate them. It’s actually pretty bland and doesn’t have a very substantial texture, kinda like a wafer ice cream cone. I made a joke to the minister that I’d consider converting if the wafers came in BBQ and tangy ranch flavors, like potato chips. She laughed and said she’d put it in the suggestion box, but not to hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/23 "2011-11-26T13:13:32Z")
If they are consecrated after purchase, then I can tell you that you can buy them at a Christian book store. I’m not sure, since my church uses the [little pellet crackers](http://longhornabroad.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/pro-commuinion-bread-eating/) instead. They have a very large air bubble in the middle, as they are essentially hollow, yet, apparently, they don’t use leavening. The only reason they taste weird is the lack of salt. And, no, those things don’t melt. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/24 "2011-11-26T17:08:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If they are consecrated after purchase, then I can tell you that you can buy them at a Christian book store. > > I’m not sure, since my church uses the [little pellet crackers](http://longhornabroad.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/pro-commuinion-bread-eating/) instead. They have a very large air bubble in the middle, as they are essentially hollow, yet, apparently, they don’t use leavening. The only reason they taste weird is the lack of salt. And, no, those things don’t melt. Those look like bread chiclets. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/25 "2011-11-26T17:43:45Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Nuns teaching Catechism used to tell their students to NEVER chew the Host. Something about defiling The Body of Christ if your teeth touched it. If it stuck to the roof of your mouth, you were supposed to pry it loose with your tongue (NEVER FINGERS!). There was an extended period in history, (_ca._ 1640 - mid-1970s trailing off even to today), where Jansenism warped a lot of church teachings. (Cornelius Jansen actually died in 1638 and his wilder ideas did not take off until a posthumous publication of some of his ideas.) Among the beliefs put forth by the Jansenists was an extreme position regarding Paul’s injunction to not receive the Body and Blood “unworthily.” In the Jansenist views, everyone was unworthy all the time. (This is where the notion that one could not receive Communion unless one had gone to Confession, (preferably in the last few minutes!), arose.) Although it was never accepted as Catholic Doctrine and it got so far out of hand that it was finally condemned, and despite explicit efforts by the church through the 19th and 20th centuries to put a stop to those beliefs, the notion of unworthiness and the need for excessive scrupulosity permeated much of the church until the Second Vatican Council’s documents actually made it into the curricula of most Catholic education in the early 1970s. Folks who grew up under a Jansenist regime of priests and sisters are still suspicious of the less scrupulous attitudes toward the Eucharist, today. > [@VOW](#): > > You can chew now. Students preparing to make their First Communion are just told to NOT walk away from the altar chewing like a cow on her cud. > > It’s made of a very highly refined white flour, so there isn’t much substance to it. It reminds me of a thin wafer of styrofoam. It depends on the parish. The rules are just that the host should be made of wheat flour and water, but it can be either refined or whole wheat. The very thin, very dry wafers I recall from the 1950s and 1960s would immediately adhere to the roof of the mouth. The slightly thicker and moister, (and, typically, whole wheat), hosts I usually encounter, today, will not stick and can either be chewed or broken into crumbs by the tongue and swallowed. The bakery from which group of sisters one’s parish or diocese orders their hosts probably determines the consistency, today. > [@VOW](#): > > It’s my understanding (granted, I’ve never been a Minister of the Eucharist, so forgive any errors) that a Consecrated Host which is dropped onto the floor must be eaten. > > I’ve also heard that a Consecrated Host can be dissolved in water and then the water must be disposed of on “undisturbed ground” (whatever that is). > > The plumbing of the sink where the Chalice and the Paten are washed, must not flow into the sewer or septic system. It must also drain to “undisturbed ground.” There is a special sink in the sacristy, called a sacrarium, in which the drain pipes go straight into the ground, not connected to sewer or septic systems. The vessels used to hold the Body and Blood are washed, there. A host that fell on the floor could also be placed there. (There is a rule that any undistributed parts of Communion must not be flushed down the sacrarium, but that is in reference to the portions not distributed at Mass, not to small spills.) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/26 "2011-11-26T18:19:15Z")
I sing in the choir, and we get served before the rest of the congregation. We have to start singing immediately upon returning to our seats, so we have to very quickly work the wafer out of our mouths, which can be difficult if your mouth is dry. The choir tends to take Communion in both species for this reason - a little wine helps the dry wafer go down! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/27 "2011-11-26T23:27:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **digs** : > One family has started baking big round loaves of bread for the early service… Mmm. Much more like what Jesus would munch on. Not really… The traditions behind the Eucharist stem from the Last Supper, which was a Passover seder. So the bread that Jesus broke would have been unleavened bread. Now, maybe the ordinary bread that Jesus ate every day would be big round loaves, but the hosts aren’t based on everyday bread. And yes, before you ask, matzoh would be perfectly acceptable for use in the Eucharist. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/28 "2011-11-26T23:46:11Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Those look like bread chiclets. That was the word I was trying to think of. And here’s a [closeup](http://www.tustinpresbyterian.org/images/communion_bread_tray.jpg). It’s the same picture–I didn’t realize it was so tiny on the actual page. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/29 "2011-11-26T23:47:16Z")
This morning’s one melted in my mouth pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/30 "2011-11-27T03:05:18Z")
After communion my friend knelt down next to me and asked if I had a toothpick. I tried to stifle a laugh and ended up with wafer in my nose. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/31 "2011-11-27T03:19:40Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Yep. They were about like a little slip of rice paper once they got wet in your mouth. It somehow marred the symbolism to have to pry the “body of christ” off the roof of your mouth with your tongue. The traditional wafer is made out of nothing but wheat flour and water. My ever-progressive childhood Catholic church used whole-wheat wafers. They had a bit more flavor than the others but they stuck well and good to the roof of my mouth. Sometimes, I used my finger to pry them off. Now I’m gluten-intolerant so I have an excuse not to eat the “library paste” as my mother called it. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/32 "2011-11-27T04:01:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not really… The traditions behind the Eucharist stem from the Last Supper, which was a Passover seder. Actually, that seems to depend on which account you subscribe to, e.g., [http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/jesus-last-supper.asp](http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/jesus-last-supper.asp). But a full discussion would be for another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/33 "2011-11-27T04:23:36Z")
Dropping the host on the floor…I can beat that! Don’t know if there’s any official rules on how to handle my situation: I was a bridesmaid in the wedding from hell. My dress was not well fitted and the neckline gaped. As the priest reached out to put the host on my tongue, he dropped it and it landed in my bra. We both sort of stared at it. He mumbled, “Um…can you get that?” Which I did. Fished it out of my bra and ate it. And of course the videographer had it all on tape and the groomsmen were red-faced trying not to laugh. The day went downhill from there…but that’s another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/34 "2011-11-27T17:44:56Z")
Oh, and > [@](#): > > Quoth **BigT** : > If they are consecrated after purchase, then I can tell you that you can buy them at a Christian book store. They’re consecrated during Mass, generally at the same service that they’re distributed at. I can’t imagine any circumstance where they’d be sold pre-consecrated, and the Church would probably frown heavily on it if they were. So if you find them for sale anywhere, they’re just bland crackers, with no particular sacramental significance. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/35 "2011-11-27T22:43:46Z")
\*\*Do communion wafers “melt” in your mouth"? \*\* No more so than any other kind of cookie. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/36 "2011-11-28T16:55:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, and > They’re consecrated during Mass, generally at the same service that they’re distributed at. I can’t imagine any circumstance where they’d be sold pre-consecrated, and the Church would probably frown heavily on it if they were. So if you find them for sale anywhere, they’re just bland crackers, with no particular sacramental significance. That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t entirely sure. I also thought maybe, since they are marked with symbols, that the Church might not like people eating them unconsecrated, even if they can’t do anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/37 "2011-11-29T02:45:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t entirely sure. I also thought maybe, since they are marked with symbols, that the Church might not like people eating them unconsecrated, even if they can’t do anything about it. Parenthetical story about this… I was raised Catholic. I dragged my heels on taking my First Communion, because I was wigged out about how the communion host would taste (that whole “body of Christ” thing was stuck deep in my psyche). My family attended a large church in suburban Chicago, large enough to have a four or five priests on staff (this was the early 1970s), as well as its own convent, with a number of nuns in residence (most of them taught at the parish school). The nuns made the wafers which were used for Communion; my father spoke with one of the nuns, and convinced her to let him take home an unconsecrated wafer for me to try. She was apparently not terribly keen on the idea, but decided that, if it would get me to go to Communion, it was worth it (though she would only give him one, and we weren’t supposed to tell anyone about it). ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/38 "2011-11-29T02:53:25Z")
I usually do one very discreet chew because I don’t want to have to wait the minute or so it would take to dissolve normally. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/39 "2011-11-29T04:27:02Z")
Since there are so many communion takers and Catholic school attendees, I’d like to propose a slight hijack. This topic is discussed at great length in the Patristic Fathers and by the Scholastics: when and how does the Body of Christ become transformed into, simply put, _your_ body? I am sure were I to be taught about Communion as a kid, I would have wondered when the sanctified Communion turns into poop, essentially, and giggled. I assume that you know that I intend no disrespect. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/40 "2011-11-29T04:27:16Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > No more so than any other kind of cookie. In my experience, they “melt” a hell of a lot better than an Oreo or a ginger snap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099.md?page=3)