By Jaqueline Kelly –
First the seed and then the grain,
Then the flour and then the bread,
Thank You God for all Your care,
Help us all to spare and to share!
For decades now, bread has been an important part of the diet of people around the world. Bread is made of flour, water, and yeast, or another leavening agent, mixed together and baked. It is one of the oldest prepared foods. The word “Bread” is derived from the older root having to do with brewing, the rising action of the yeast, but it is more likely to do with breaking things into little pieces. Breaking bread together as a family, clan or community is a great tradition kept alive, especially in homes where the older generation is part of the household. A feast, a wedding, or even a farewell to a loved one calls for a collective family meal prepared by loving hands and bread as a preparation has to escort the table.
A study says humans started making and consuming a type of bread at least 30,000 years ago. This makes Aboriginal people the world’s first bakers. It is a staple food in the Middle East, Western Eurasia, South Asia, North Africa, Europe, America, and Australia since 8000 B.C. Cereals and bread became a staple food around 10,000 B.C. with the dawn of the Neolithic age, when wheat and barley were some of the first plants to be domesticated in the so-called “Fertile Crescent” region of Mesopotamia and near the Nile. Leavened bread also appeared in pre-historic times. By the 5th century B.C. in Athens, bread was made in bakeries and at home. Greek bakers appeared in Rome in the 2nd century B.C. In Medieval Europe, bread was always a staple food.
Bread was so important to Egyptians a long time ago that it was used as currency. Egyptians first discovered baking and they are the first recorded civilization that used wild yeast in making leavened bread. According to research, they started baking in 2,600 B.C. The quern was the first known grinding tool. The oldest evidence of scraps of flat bread around a fireplace at an Natufian hunter-gatherer site called Shubayqa, were located in the north-eastern desert in Jordan believed to be around 14,400 years old.
Bread appeared in all corners of the Earth when people domesticated their plants. It was made from different ingredients in different ways but became the staple food of all cultures. With industrialization, bread-making has also progressed. Mills that made flour, wind and water started working on steam and gas and stones that ground the wheat were replaced with ceramic and steel rolls.
Bread is a universal sign of peace in many cultures. Bread is also a gift from God. When Moses fed his people in the desert with food which fell from heaven [Manna] and during the Last Supper, when Bread became the Body of Christ. When Jesus multiplied the bread to feed the crowd, bread became the sign of sharing. It also symbolized the Word of God which nourished the crowds.
Saint Anthony’s Bread means “charity” in its various forms. Saint Anthony’s bread for the poor is given as alms to seek his intercession. Saint Anthony’s Bread is a term used for offerings made in thanksgiving to God for blessings received through the intercession of Saint Anthony. Saint Anthony is one of the most popular saints. He is called the “Saint of the whole world” because the faithful of the whole world love and venerate him as an “Apostle of Charity”.
There is perhaps no more loved and admired Saint in the Catholic Church than Saint Anthony of Padua, a Doctor of the Church. Saint Anthony died on Friday, June 13, 1231, and was buried on Tuesday and that is the reason for the Tuesday devotion.
In the 17th century, the practice began of holding weekly devotions and novenas to Saint Anthony on Tuesdays. Tuesday thus abides in the memory of the people and so Tuesday has come to be called “Saint Anthony’s Day”. The number “13” is associated with the Saint and 13 is a lucky number by Italian standards. The Saint was from Portugal but is associated with Italy.
In Portugal, the epithet “of Padua” is never used, for to the Portuguese he remains “Anthony of Lisbon” or “of Alfama”, the district of Lisbon where he was born. On June 13, every house displays a shrine with a statue of the saint.
One legend dates back to the year 1263, when a child drowned in Regaldina, near the Basilica of Saint Anthony during its construction. The child’s mother prayed to the Saint to bring her boy back to life. In return, she promised to give to the poor an amount of corn equal to the child’s weight. While the mother was still praying, the child arose as if from sleep. This miracle gave rise to the pious practice of giving alms to the poor.
Centuries later, in 1888, a woman named Louise Bouffier managed a small bakery store in the seaside village of Toulon, France. One morning, she couldn’t open the shop’s door with her key. Neither could a locksmith, who advised her that he would have to break the door open. While he went to get his tools, Louise prayed to Saint Anthony that she would give some of her bakery’s bread to the poor if the door could be opened without force. When the locksmith returned, he tried the lock again and was easily able to let Louise in. The baker made sure that the poor of Toulon received their due.
It wasn’t long before Louise’s friends began to follow her example of promising a gift of bread or alms to the poor in return for prayers answered by Saint Anthony. In the 1890’s, they formalized this practice by founding a charity called “Saint Anthony’s Bread”. Some parishes bless and distribute loaves of bread on June 13.
Saint Anthony expressed extraordinary love for the poor by feeding the hungry. This practice became so well-known that Saint Anthony’s Bread for the poor became a popular way for people to emulate the spirit of the Saint by feeding the hungry. Many had lost God and Saint Anthony helped them find God again.
In Italy, Saint Anthony is celebrated on the day of his death, the most heartfelt celebrations in rural communities, connected with the ancient rituals of purification of the fields, blessing of animals and offerings of food. In the area of Assisi in Umbria, 24,000 sausages are consumed during the course of one day to celebrate the saint and one of his miracles. Saint Anthony is the patron of all domestic animals and also of butchers. For centuries, farmers in Italy have prayed to Saint Anthony to protect them from human and animal diseases.
According to Letizia Mattiacci, Saint Anthony’s Meatballs are the centerpiece of the Saint’s Feast in Santa Maria degli Angeli, a village near Assisi in Umbria. It is enriched with raisins, pine nuts and pecorino cheese.
Throughout the city of Padua, cakes are known as “Dolce del Santo”, Cake of Saint Anthony. These cakes are generally made of filo or puff pastry, sponge, fruit peel, almonds and apricot jam. The cake originated with the tradition of bread distribution to pilgrims and the community by the Friars of the Basilica. The dome shape of the pastry is said to recall the Basilica, the halo of the Saint, ora monk’s tonsure [or all three]. There are two parts to the cake: the pastry base and the sponge-like filling in the middle. The sponge is wrapped in the pastry.
All over Italy, various styles of Pane or Panini [Italian word for small bread or rolls] are prepared. Some are light, a brioche flavored with sugar and rum, others are slightly sweet with anisette, some are simply a plain crusty loaf and some have fennel seeds and black pepper in them.
In Guyana, the bread made in honor of Saint Anthony’s Day is anise/aniseed bread. It is a regular white loaf flavored and peppered throughout with aniseed.
In Staten Island, New York a special bread is baked and if you are an Anthony, Antoinette, Antonio, Antonello, Tony, Toni or some derivation thereof, it is your special day. The name Anthony is of Latin origin derived from the Roman family name Antonius. It means “Priceless One”.
The Blessing for Saint Anthony’s Bread:
We praise you and give you glory for the gift of bread, fruit of the earth, work of human hands and source of our daily nourishment.
Bless+ this bread in honor of Saint Anthony
Another tradition of Saint Anthony is the loss of an object or if something goes missing, a person should say the following prayer:
“Saint Anthony! Saint Anthony! Please come around. For something is lost and must be found”.