of hospitality, or to bring a few pieces home to a relative who could not attend the liturgy. On Bright Saturday, in place of (or in addition to) the normal antidoron, the Paschal Artos is cut up and distributed at the end of the liturgy. Eastern Catholicism In the Greek Catholic (Byzantine) churches of Austria and Hungary, the antidoron is presently given only on rare occasions during the year, chiefly on the Bright Saturday (Saturday in Easter week); while among the Greek (Roman) Catholics of Italy it is usually given only on Holy Thursday, the Feast of the Assumption, that of Saint Nicolas of Myra, and at certain week-day services in Lent; although according to some local customs it is given on other days. In other Eastern Catholic churches of the Byzantine Rite it is distributed as in the Orthodox churches. History The earliest historical references to this custom are in fact found in the Western Church. It is mentioned in the 118th letter of St. Augustine to Januarius (now known as the 54th letter in the new order), and in the canons of a local council in Gaul in the seventh century. Originally it was a substitute, or solatium, for such of the faithful as were not properly prepared to receive Holy Communion or were unable to get to the eucharistic sacrifice. If they could not partake of the sacrament, for instance because of not having fulfilled the obligatory fast or for being in a state of mortal sin, they had the consolation of partaking of the non-consecrated liturgical bread which had been blessed and from which the portions for the consecration had been taken. In the Eastern Church, mention of the antidoron began to appear in about the ninth and tenth centuries. Germanus of Constantinople mentions it in his treatise "The Explanation of the Liturgy". Subsequent to him, many writers of the Eastern Church (Balsamon, Colina, Pachemeros) have written on the custom of giving the antidoron. While the practice of blessing and distributing antidoron still continues in the Byzantine Rite churches, the practice is rare among Western Christians, and now only survives in the Latin Church as the given in French churches and cathedrals after High Mass, as well as in certain churches of Canada, and occasionally in Italy, on certain feasts (e.g. of Saint Hubert, Saint Anthony of Padua). A similar custom also survives among the Saint