“In contrast to this, your own people were given angels’ bread. You sent to them from heaven, without labour on their part, bread ready to eat, rich in every kind of delight and suited to every taste. The sustenance you supplied showed the sweetness of your disposition towards your children, and the bread, serving the appetite of every person who ate it, was transformed into what each wished.”
(Wisdom 16: 20-21)

The bread of angels in the Old Testament is the manna that fed the people of Israel in the desert. In the New Testament it becomes the figure of the Eucharist that nourishes our soul day by day from heaven while we are on earth. Then, in my humble imagination, it is every meal I eat with relish, for my body’s strength and my soul’s cheer if I take it together with the angels sharing my bread with them as they share their bread with me.

With this company at table every food tastes glorious and the tradition of the Hebrews comes alive again as this manna suits every taste and we enjoy in each simple dish the exquisite flavour of a gourmet cuisine. The bread of angels comes from their kitchen and it is as varied as they themselves are. The painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo painted his famous painting, “The Angels’ Kitchen” to be seen in the Louvre Museum. Heavenly gastronomy.

The secret to turn every meal into a banquet is to sit down to it with my angel. To remember him, to feel him by my side, to sit him at the head of the table, to place before him each dish for him to help himself, to savour every taste, to eat slowly, to enjoy each morsel, to feel the texture, the mellowness, the variety, the richness of each food, to sense gratitude in my whole body, to relax the mind, to honour the table. With my angel by my side every meal becomes a liturgy, every dish a prayer, every morsel a sacrament. Thus eaten, the bread nourishes the body and strengthens the soul. Thus enjoyed, the meal enlivens the day and enriches the mind. My angel is my best table fellow. He’s coming today for dinner. On the table, the usual menu. Bread of angels.