Role of Food in Religious Practices.

CHRISTIAN

A host is a small, thin, round bread used for Holy Communion in many Christian churches. The word, from Latin "hostia", which means "victim" or "sacrificial animal", is often used to refer to the bread both before and after consecration, although it is more correctly used only after consecration, "altar breads" being preferred before consecration.

In the Catholic Church, hosts are often made by nuns, as a means of supporting themselves. It is required that the hosts be made from wheat flour and water only. (Code of Canon Law, Canon 924.) The Church teaches that at the words of consecration, the bread is changed into the Body of Christ, through transubstantiation. While in the Latin Rite unleavened bread is used, the Eastern Rites and the Eastern Orthodox Churches use leavened bread. Both however insist that the bread must be made from wheat for a valid consecration to take place.

HINDU

Prasāda (Sanskrit), prasād (Hindi) or prasādam (Tamil) is both a mental condition of generosity, as well as a material substance that is first offered to a deity and then consumed with the faith that the deity's blessing resides within it. In contemporary Hindu religious practice in India, the desire to get prasada and have darshan (cross referenced) are the two major motivations of pilgrimage and temple visits.

As a mental condition, prasāda has a rich history of meanings in the Sanskrit tradition from Vedic literature onwards. In this textual tradition, prasada is a mental state experienced by gods, sages, and other powerful beings which is marked by spontaneous generosity and the bestowing of boons. Prasāda is understood in this sense of a mental state from the earliest literature (Rig Veda) onwards -- not as an aspect of ritual practice. In later texts such as the Shiva Purāna, references to prasada as a material substance begins to appear alongside this older meaning.

In its material sense, prasada is created by a process of giving and receiving between a human devotee and the divine god. For example, a devotee makes an offering of a material substance such as flowers, fruits, or sweets -- which is called 'naivedya'. The deity then 'enjoys' or tastes a bit of the offering, which is then temporarily known as 'bhogya'. This now-divinely invested substance is called 'prasāda", and is received by the devotee to be ingested, worn, etc. It may be the same material that was originally offered, or material offered by others and then re-distributed to other devotees.

As a 'leftover substance', prasada is special because it is understood as being invested with divine grace or blessing. This is in stark contrast to the status of any leftover portions of ordinary foods as they are considered ritually impure (jūṭhā). According to orthodox Hindu religious practice, a wife might eat the food tasted by her husband, but in contrast to other South Asian religious practices, Hindus do not take food communally (as among Sikhs) or share from the same plate (as among Muslims). Therefore, in contrast to the restrictions on food sharing between people in Hinduism, when a material substance is leftover by a god, it is not thought of as being 'impure' (jūṭhā), but as full of divine blessing (prasãda) and karmically beneficial to its recipient. The offering and distribution of prasãda is particularly central to the (Vaishnava) sectarian tradition, but is also central for members of other Hindu sectarian communities, such as the Shaktas.