Catholic Recipe: Whole Wheat Bread I

Of the many men who during the early Christian centuries fled to live in the desert, Saint Paul the Hermit was the earliest. When St. Anthony the Abbott came to visit him, the Golden Legend describes how St. Paul received his daily bread every day from God. A crow would carry the loaf. The author, Blessed Jacobus de Voragine, does not go on to state the nature of the loaf, but we like to think of it as one of the simplest and best of whole wheat loaves. This recipe is very simple and contains no fats, sugars or shortenings.

The simple whole wheat bread would also be appropriate for the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch, as he wrote: "I am the wheat of Christ, ground by the teeth of beasts to become pure bread."

DIRECTIONS

Moisten the yeast with a little tepid water and allow it to stand for ten minutes. Add it to the flour and enough tepid water, together with a pinch of salt, to make a good dough. Let it stand until it doubles in bulk. Then punch it down, knead again, and put it into small bread pans. When it rises again to double its bulk, bake in a moderate oven at 350° F. for a full hour or more. Slice very thinly.