What kind of wheat becomes the Eucharist in catholic mass?

Father Yoo Jeong-hyun sprinkles holy water during the wheat field blessing ceremony on November 13. / Reporter Park Kyung-eun

During the solemn moments of Mass, even non-Catholics may have seen worshippers carefully receive and consume a small, white, round wafer offered by the priest. This white object is called the host, literally, a sacrificial bread. Made simply by mixing flour and water and baking it into a thin, plain wafer, it becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, through the priest’s consecration. For this reason, it cannot be made arbitrarily or with just any ingredients.

In Buryang-myeon, Gimje, North Jeolla Province, one of Korea’s largest grain-producing regions, a distinctive ceremony took place on November 13. The “Blessing of the Wheat Field,” marking the sowing of wheat that will be used exclusively to make hosts. About a dozen people, including Jang Soo-yong, head of the Hanmaeum Farming Cooperative, which grows the wheat, and Sim Sang-joon, head of the Our Rural Village Network, which handles milling and processing, gathered for the occasion.

Father Yoo Jeong-hyun (Andrea Daegun), who oversees rural pastoral ministry for the Diocese of Jeonju and wore a white vestment called a cappa, presided over the ceremony, calling it “a precious moment when we plant the grains that will become the body of Jesus Christ.” Following prayers and blessings, he walked through the ash-colored field where the wheat had just been sown, sprinkling holy water as he went. After the Lord’s Prayer and the final blessing, the ceremony ended, and a tractor immediately began smoothing the ridges. The brief, 20-minute ritual held in the vast fields under a clear blue sky evoked the feeling of a scene from a surreal film. As the solemn atmosphere lifted, someone joked, “If the crop doesn’t grow well, it’s the priest’s fault, right?” Laughter broke out.

The 30,000-pyeon area in Buryang-myeon is a dedicated farm for wheat exclusively used to make hosts. The first harvest was made this June after the dedicated cultivation site was established last year. The planted variety is Gosomill, a soft wheat typically used for baking cookies. Once harvested next June, the wheat will be milled and processed, then delivered to seven Carmelite monasteries nationwide, where the sisters will bake the hosts. These Carmelite monasteries are enclosed contemplative orders with minimal contact with the outside world, and they are responsible for producing the hosts used in Catholic Masses across Korea.

The hosts used in the Korean Catholic Church are closely tied to the “Korean Wheat Revival Movement.” After the movement launched in 1991, the Church also joined the effort. It was proposed that hosts for Mass be made from domestic wheat, a plan strongly supported by the late Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan.

However, the Korean wheat varieties then available, such as Geumgang and Baekgang, were mostly strong-flour types unsuitable for host making. Their high gluten content caused the dough to stick to the molds, making it difficult to produce proper shapes. Only about 20 percent of the flour used became usable hosts. Imported wheat, which was easier to process and cheaper, would have been far more convenient, but the Church held fast to its principles. Its commitment stemmed from the belief that “using domestic wheat instead of imported wheat reduces carbon emissions, protects the environment, and helps us appreciate and preserve the natural world God created.”

The situation improved in 2010 when the Rural Development Administration developed the Gosomill wheat variety. “Before that, the sisters making the hosts had many difficulties, but once we provided flour milled from Gosomill, the results improved significantly,” Sim explained. This led to calls for a dedicated farm for Gosomill wheat, and a full-scale cultivation site was established last year. The farm produces about 50 tons of wheat annually, though the nationwide annual requirement is around 200 tons, meaning further expansion is likely.

Hosts used in Mass must contain nothing except flour and water. They are closer in texture to a dry, hard cracker. Because no leavening is used, the dough cannot rise and remains flat, a practice rooted in the interpretation that the Last Supper was a Passover meal. In Judaism, Passover customs require eating unleavened bread made without yeast. In contrast, the Eastern Orthodox Church interprets the Last Supper as having included leavened bread and uses leavened bread for the Eucharist. Protestant denominations generally place less theological emphasis on whether the bread is leavened or unleavened.

※This article was translated by an AI tool and edited by a professional translator.