# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/41 "2011-11-29T04:37:10Z")
> [@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. Apropos of nothing but the consecrated wafer is referred to as a host while unconsecrated wafers are usually called altar breads or some such in case anyone was looking to buy some for snacking purposes. (I dunno why, rice cakes are tastier and that’s saying a lot.) As for symbolic significance, they have a plus sign marked on them so unless it’s also sacrilegious to eat your math homework… ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/42 "2011-11-29T05:08:38Z")
> [@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. And of course you can very easily shop for “communion wafers” on Google shopping, and get a variety of vendors, who seem to sell them for about $10 - $20 per 1000: > **[Communion Wafers, 1000 Pieces](https://www.christianbook.com/communion-wafers-1000/9780805470857/pd/30511?kw=30511&en=froogle&p=1013824&cm_mmc=CBDfeeds-_-froogle-_-churchsupply-_-30511#CURR)** > > For churches who prefer to use a round wafer in the Communion service. Made of pure wheat flour and water, these white wafers measure 1 1/8' across (slightly larger than a quarter). 1000 wafers packaged in cellophane tubes. Expiration date on box.... Of course, I wouldn’t doubt that the Catholic church would use some “official” supplier you can’t order from. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/43 "2011-11-29T05:42:02Z")
Don’t you people get to wash the wafer down with a swig of “wine” (I’m United Methodist, we use grape juice) afterwards? Why is it still stuck to your mouth then? We use home baked bread, and have gluten-free bread available, too. And we have gotten away from the cute tiny cups and use intinction (dipping the bread into the juice). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/44 "2011-11-29T06:01:04Z")
Yes, since the early 70s, Latin Rite Catholics have received Communion under both forms. (Orthodox and the majority of the non-Latin Rite Catholics, (Maronites, Chaldeans, Greek Catholics, etc.), have always received under both forms. We use the cup, not intincture. There are a couple of religious orders who have been experimenting with gluten free or extremely low gluten products, but the Catholic requirement for the hosts is wheat flour and water and I am not aware that anyone has reliably produced any wheat flour that is gluten free. If it is an issue, the communicant may receive only from the cup and skip partaking of the host. ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/45 "2011-11-29T07:32:08Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > Don’t you people get to wash the wafer down with a swig of “wine” (I’m United Methodist, we use grape juice) afterwards? (I converted from the United Methodist Church to Roman Catholic and have since lapsed, but that’s another story.) My rather conservative church insisted that one did not wash the body of Christ down with the blood of Christ. You swallow the host (chewing was allowed) and THEN you drank. And yes indeedy we drank wine. Pretty good wine as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/46 "2011-11-29T13:47:34Z")
> [@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. Leftover host gets stored in the Tabernacle and used later. IIRC, most Catholic churches buy from a Christian service that makes them. The suppliers differ, though one can easily handle the needs of a huge area. The needs one one church for an entire week only equal one or two loaves of bread by weight, from my back-of-the-hand guess. I don’t have a wafer handy to measure, of course. > [@Leo Bloom](#): > > 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. Actually, we pretty much all thought of that one. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/47 "2011-11-30T04:24:07Z")
> [@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. And leftovers (already consecrated) are taken back and stored for the next day. As I remember, they were just dumped back in with the supply of un-consecrated wafers. So when used in the next Mass, some of them would be consecrated a second time. Nobody ever mentioned any liturgical concern about this. And way back, when we still had a convent and a dozen or so nuns there, they actually made our communion wafers. Mixed the dough, rolled it out, baked it (as one big sheet), and cut out the wafers. Both the little ones that communicants got, and the big ones that the priest raised up and broke during the Mass. And they didn’t think the part leftover after all the little wafers had been cut out was anything special – they used to feed those scraps to the convent dog! They had tried using it in stuffing, bread pudding, etc. but it wasn’t good – no taste and too thick a texture. But it would have been wasteful to just throw it away. And the dog seemed to like it well enough. All those ‘Communions’ must have done him some good – he lived to a very old age. ---
**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 30, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/48 "2011-11-30T04:56:12Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > Don’t you people get to wash the wafer down with a swig of “wine” (I’m United Methodist, we use grape juice) afterwards? Why is it still stuck to your mouth then? At least in the Catholic churches where I went as a kid (in suburban Chicago, then in Green Bay, in the 1970s and 1980s), wine was rarely, if ever, distributed to the congregation. During the Eucharistic prayer, the priest would talk about the blood of Christ, and he, himself, would partake of it, but the Communion which was given to the congregation was only the bread / hosts. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/49 "2011-11-30T05:19:13Z")
Around 1970, our parish in Nashville switched from the bland paper Necco wafers to whole wheat. I guess every little bit helps? ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/50 "2011-11-30T05:28:52Z")
They don’t melt so much as they absorb spit, get really flimsy, and kind of break apart. As a kid, my brother and I would compete to see who could keep the host in his mouth the longest. IIRC, we went about 2 hours or so. My mother was not very pleased when we had been home for an hour after Mass, we opened our mouths at her, and revealed we still had our mushy hosts. ---
**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 30, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/51 "2011-11-30T06:44:50Z")
> [@](#): > > As I remember, they were just dumped back in with the supply of un-consecrated wafers. So when used in the next Mass, some of them would be consecrated a second time. Nobody ever mentioned any liturgical concern about this. I think that technically, they can’t be consecrated a second time. Of course, the priest can’t tell the difference between the ones that are already consecrated and the ones that aren’t, but presumably God can, and only does the consecration thing for those that haven’t already gotten the treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/52 "2011-11-30T07:03:56Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > They don’t melt so much as they absorb spit, get really flimsy, and kind of break apart. > > As a kid, my brother and I would compete to see who could keep the host in his mouth the longest. IIRC, we went about 2 hours or so. My mother was not very pleased when we had been home for an hour after Mass, we opened our mouths at her, and revealed we still had our mushy hosts. Suckin’ on Jesus! ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/53 "2011-11-30T10:07:04Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > If you want to experience it for yourself, there are non-religous possibilities. > > If you happen to know anyone of Polish, Slovak or Lithuanian ancestry, around Christmas you can ask politely inquire about getting a small sample of [opłatek or kalėdaitis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_wafer). It’s the same recipe as the communion wafer, but unconsecrated, of course. My family shared the opłatek on New Year’s Eve. > > Or you can order this candy UFO, which is made of the same stuff. [http://www.oryans.com/satelitewafers.html](http://www.oryans.com/satelitewafers.html) In fact, you can more directly buy non consecrated hosts. We bought a pack once in a shop selling religious items for both the clergy and the general public. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/54 "2011-11-30T12:39:22Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > At least in the Catholic churches where I went as a kid (in suburban Chicago, then in Green Bay, in the 1970s and 1980s), wine was rarely, if ever, distributed to the congregation. During the Eucharistic prayer, the priest would talk about the blood of Christ, and he, himself, would partake of it, but the Communion which was given to the congregation was only the bread / hosts. By the way, does somebody know why (and when) the Catholic church began to offer communion only with bread, in most circumstanceS, reserving wine for the priest? Is it just a matter of convenience, or is there more to the story? Somehow, it seems to me that since both bread and wine were shared at the last supper, with the same sentences uttered (according to the gospels, obviously), offering both should be required. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/55 "2011-11-30T14:53:35Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > “Melt” is technically something that reaches a high enough temperature whereupon the solid substance transforms to a liquid state. The Communion wafer dissolves in your saliva.~VOW That is not only unnecessarily pedantic, since everyone knows what is meant by “melt in your mouth”, it’s also incorrectly pedantic. “To dissolve” as a sense of the word “melt” is perfectly valid, standard English. See definition 2 [here](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melt). ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/56 "2011-11-30T15:09:56Z")
Former Roman Catholic here… I don’t know what you guys are talking about. I LOVED the communion wafers. No joke. Perhaps it was because I have the appetite of a large horse and I would be half starved by communion time. I would make those little rice wafers last as long as I could. Yum. In fact recently I found these little rice wafers at the grocery store that taste similar but they are little saltier and little crunchier. I will eat a whole box in one sitting. Add communion wafers to the small list of things that would make me go to church again. ---
**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 30, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/57 "2011-11-30T15:29:30Z")
> [@Aeris](#): > > I would make those little rice wafers last as long as I could. Yum. In fact recently I found these little rice wafers at the grocery store that taste similar but they are little saltier and little crunchier. I will eat a whole box in one sitting. By canon law, the host has to be made of wheat flour, not rice. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/58 "2011-11-30T15:32:30Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Another complaint about them sticking to the root of your mouth. They are my least favorite host. I dislike shared cup too. > > Now I am a member of the Friends church, and we have a different understanding of communion. No wafers, no shared cup. No “two girls one cup” in your new church? Pity. ---
**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 30, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/59 "2011-11-30T15:53:13Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > By canon law, the host has to be made of wheat flour, not rice. Except if you are Sephardic, who can eat rice during Passover. Makes meal planning a he’ll of a lot easier. 🙂 But during the Seder, the Matzoh must be wheat. Seriously, one of the laws of matzoh is that the flour and water be rested for a maximum of 18 minutes, after which, it was decided, the mixture would begin to rise. Are there any other Chuch restrictions on the manufacture of hosts? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099/60 "2011-11-30T16:36:08Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 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. IIRC, there was a cult that taught that the Eucharist retained its consecrated nature even after digestion, so they went to elaborate lengths when disposing of their poop. I am at work, so I can’t Google. I believe the official Catholic teaching is that it is part of you once you swallow it. Hence the anecdote mentioned above about cleaning up the barf. Lutherans (which is what I am) believe that the bread and wine are consecrated only in the context of the service. When I was in high school, we used to put peanut butter on the leftover leavened bread after service and eat it. Although now, when I clean up after communion, we are expected to pour out the leftover wine on the ground (there is a prayer I use about pouring out the wine as Jesus poured out His blood for us), as well as the water of the first rinsing of the communion cup. Leftover hosts are kept for the next time - they are the dry little papery ones already described, so they don’t go bad. If you drop one, no big deal - the server picks it up and puts it on one side for later disposal. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-communion-wafers-melt-in-your-mouth/604099.md?page=4)