In the early centuries of the Christian church, leavened bread was used. This practice is verified through paintings, mosaics, texts, and sculptures from that time period. In the Middle Ages in the West, Christians began to use unleavened precut wafers. At first these wafers were made by the monks, and then the responsibility was given to the nuns. The liturgical movement of the twentieth century has generally expressed a preference for the use of a whole loaf of bread.
Bread is a staple food for daily life.
For this reason, a whole loaf of bread can be used to suggest that the food is for all those gathered for this sacramental meal who are hungry. First, the size of the loaf of bread visually communicates that there is enough to feed the assembly gathered for the meal. The bread should also be carefully made of the finest ingredients. Where once the preparation of the bread to be used for communion was the responsibility of the monks and later the nuns, one way that lay members of the community may participate today in the preparation for the meal is by baking the bread to be served for communion. This gesture expresses the symbolic value of one loaf.