<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><mads xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mads/" xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mads/
mads.xsd"><authority><topic authority="http://AATesaurus.cultura.gencat.cat/aat/getty_en">host irons</topic></authority><related type="broader"><topic>baking irons</topic></related><related type="broader"><topic>liturgical objects</topic></related><variant type="other"><topic>communion bread irons</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>host iron</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>host moulds</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>host-iron</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>host-irons</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>irons, host</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>host molds</topic></variant> <note xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[ Iron instruments similar to waffle irons, composed of two palettes that come together with the aid of two handles acting as a lever; designed to create Eucharistic hosts for Christian liturgies. A Christian symbol is typically engraved in the iron bed and stamped onto the hosts. Early examples produced hosts of around one-fourth inch thickness; later examples produced wafer-like hosts. The existence of host irons is established as early as the ninth century, although the earliest surviving example dates to the twelfth century. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century host irons have been preserved in large numbers, and are quite similar to those now in use.  ]]></note></mads>