The earliest Christians adopted the hot crossed bun, which was well known and loved in ancient times. Full of meaning and symbolic significance, it remains a useful way of introducing teaching about the crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The word 'boun' once meant 'sacred animal', with the vertical and horizontal axes representing the head and horns of an ox. This stylised representation, dividing the small, spiced loaf into four quarters, was additionally representative of the four quarters (or legs) of the yearly cycle. Given that it was once usual to impale sheep and cattle upon two crossed poles before rooasting them over an open fire to eat, the appropriateness of their adoption for Good Friday is obvious.

In early Christian England, a monk of St Albans (Fr Thomas Rockliffe) decided to distribute crossed spiced buns to the hungry poor on Good Friday. This idea was so well received that it eventually became compulsory for everyone in Christian England to keep a Good Friday fast of crossed spiced buns and water only. But the tradition degenerated into it becoming a highly misunderstood panacea (or placebo) for all ills. Crossed buns were even nailed above doors to ward off evil spirits.

When Elizabeth I became Queen of England, she banned the hot crossed bun. It so clearly represented everything that she felt justified in attacking about the Universal Church. A harmless morsel, yet it encapsulated a mystery which questioned her authority to demand flesh to serve at her table. The much-loved bun survived though, and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II has been commercially revived on a grand scale (even if not doctrinally). Healthy, vegan recipes for the ancient crossed spiced bun are still quite rare, but can make a nutritious and enjoyable substitute for bread on this day of obligatory fasting and abstinence.