Do Christian people “worship” bread in your country?

11 comments

1. Not bread _as such_; but in the national/state/government church, the Evangelical-Lutheran Church, the theology, as in all Lutheran churches, there is an insistence on, not transubstantiation (which is rejected by Luther,) but rather, the sacramental union, i.e. that in the Eucharistic celebration, the bread is simultaneously bread _and_ the body of Christ, and the wine is simultaneously wine _and_ the blood of Christ, or said in another way, that the bread and wine is simultaneously material bread and material wine while also being truly the body and blood of Christ. So only the sacramental bread, not everyday bread, which isn’t the body of Christ (though it can become, if used in the Eucharistic celebration.)

2. Not in that way, no. It’s considered the single most basic form of food so it might be considered wasteful to throw it out if it’s still edible, but it’s not actually considered *sacred*.

   Stale bread is actually something older people often feed to ducks, even though you’re not supposed to as it’s really bad for them.

3. No. For starters most Christians here are Protestants and in protestantism the equivalent of communion bread isn’t considered as sacred as it is in Catholicism. If I remember my religious classes correctly Catholics generally believe that the host actually transforms into the body of Christ (transsubstantiation) when it’s blessed by the priest whereas for Protestants it’s still bread and merely a symbol for the body of Christ. So you don’t have to treat it as anything other than just regular food. So that definitely goes for bread in daily life as well.

4. My grandma says that you shouldn’t put the bread upside down on the table because it’s bad luck, I guess it’s one of those situations when religion and folklore meet.. but nothing more than that (I’m Italian)

5. It’s considered bad luck to put it upside down on the table, and you are not supposed to cut it with a knife, but that’s all I can think of… Nothing like what you describe.

6. A lot of Irish people are from Catholic backgrounds and I’ve never heard of that here. Holy Communion waifer is obviously considered sacred.

7. I grew up in a Catholic area and I’ve seen people making a cross on a loaf bread before cutting it for the first time.

   And the elderly generation is in general very much against throwing away food because they remember the times when food was scarse.

8. >In Poland religious Catholics (especially if they are elderly or live in a rural area) treat bread as sacred – NEVER throw it out, kiss it when it falls on the ground, sometimes even make the sign of the cross with their fingers on it before slicing it. AFAIK they do that because bread is considered body of Jesus Christ.

   I am Polish, my in-laws are elderly, very religious and live in the rural area and I have never seen them kiss a bread or make a sign of the cross before slicing it.

9. I don’t know anyone that are religious. I had a guy in my class when I was 7 that had parents that attended church on Christmas, he got bullied by all the other kids for it. But I never saw him do anything to the bread. He was a Jehovs witnesses so it might not apply to them.

10. Bread is bread. If it falls down, use the 5 seconds rule. If the 5 seconds passed, throw it in the trash. No rituals about bread here. Also the bread in churches is industrial bread from shops but dipped in wine.

11. >In Poland religious Catholics (especially if they are elderly or live in a rural area) treat bread as sacred – NEVER throw it out, kiss it when it falls on the ground, sometimes even make the sign of the cross with their fingers on it before slicing it. AFAIK they do that because bread is considered body of Jesus Christ

    Almost the sane as in Croatia. Except the cross thing, I’ve never seen that. Even the kiss thing, I’ve seen maybe twice in my life. Everything else, same.