STAMPING BREAD

---

One tradition that sets Christians apart from other religions is the celebration of the Eucharist, also known as the Lord’s Supper, or Communion.

In an earlier post (click here), I talked about how the Eucharist is an offering to God.

Each of us offers to God our lives, our hopes, and our faith. God accepts our gifts and transforms them, and we become the Body of Christ!

In short, it’s about salvation!

What I didn’t talk about was the symbolism of the bread.

• Does the bread used by Christians support this theology?
• Is there anything special about the bread that indicates that it actually represents us?
• How exactly is the bread used?

PROSPHORA MEANS OFFERING

First off, the bread used in Christian services is called prosphora (prosphoron in the singular).

This is an ancient Greek word that means: that which is suitable, fitting, or worthy. It comes from a word that means, “to bring.” Thus, one could say that prosphoron means “the worthy offering that is brought.”

THE BREAD IS STAMPED

I recently had the privilege and honor – yes that’s what it is! – to make the prosphora for St. Elias. You can see mine above.

The recipe is really simple. It’s simply water, salt, wheat, and yeast.

You can see, however, that before baking it, and after letting the bread rise, the bread is stamped with a seal.

This is a very ancient practice. In fact, archaeologists have found examples of seals dating back to the 6^th and 7^th centuries!

Here are some example of ancient seals that have been used by Christians for centuries.

(PLEASE NOTE: every thing on the seal is reversed, like in a mirror. This allows it to come out on the proper side when it’s pressed into the bread.)

Traditional Greek seal:

Ancient Russian seal:

Syriac Seal:

Coptic Seal:

The key is to notice that Christians having been stamping their bread for centuries, and it’s a very engrained and historic practice. Perhaps it was even handed down to us from the apostles themselves!

WHAT ABOUT THE WESTERN CHURCH?

Some of you are from the western Christian tradition (Catholic and Protestant), and you may be thinking: letting bread rise? I thought we were supposed to use those wafers (unleavened bread)?

That’s a great question!

The historical practice – both east and west – was to use leavened bread. The reason was that the yeast represented the presence of the Holy Spirit, which was given to Christians after the resurrection of Christ.

It was only in the 9^th century that the use of unleavened bread became obligatory in the west. This led to what church historians call the azymes controversy.

As the east and west grew apart (becoming the Orthodox and Catholic Churches), the debate of using unleavened bread took center stage and become one of the points of division leading to the Great Schism of 1054.

OK, enough history.

SOMETIMES THERE ARE TWO LEVELS TO THE BREAD

Before get into the specifics of the stamp. I just want to mention that sometimes there are two levels to the bread. This simply is an indication of the two natures of Christ: divine and human.

For us, as Christians, salvation is the union of these two natures. What the Holy Trinity is by nature (divine), we become by grace!

THERE IS A JESUS SECTION

So, the bread is stamped with a seal, and that seal has a lot of meaning!

The square in the very center is what we properly call the lamb, and it represents Christ.

It is stamped with this: ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙΚΑ. This simply means: Jesus Christ conquers (or, is victorious).

What does he conquer? Death of course! He tramples down death through his death on the cross, and leads us to eternal life!

THERE IS A MARY SECTION

The section to the left is a triangle. In the triangle, you will notice two overlapping letters: Μ and Θ. These letters stand for “Mary” and “Θεοτόκος” (the one who bore God), as well as Μήτηρ (του) Θεοῦ (Mother of God).

This, of course, represents the Virgin Mary.

Those of you with a keen eye will see a spear and a sponge (on a spear) to the right and left of the triangle.

This takes us to the crucifixion scene, which Mary witnessed. At one point, Christ was offered wine to drink on a sponge, and, after he died, his side was pierced with a spear.

THERE’S ALSO A SAINTS SECTION

To the right of the center square, you’ll notice another square with nine triangles in it.

These triangles represent all the saints of the church. Here they are:

1. The Forerunner John the Baptist (some priests commemorate the Archangels here instead).
2. All the prophets of the Old Testament
3. All the apostles and equal-to-the-apostles
4. All the hierarchs of the Church
5. All the martyrs of the Church
6. All the venerable ascetic Fathers and Mothers of the Church (a.k.a., monks and nuns)
7. All the un-mercenary saints (saints who healed for free)
8. The ancestors of Christ, and saints of the day, and the saint of the parish
9. The saints who wrote the Divine Liturgy (St. John Chrysostom or St. Basil the Great)

THERE’S ALSO A SECTION FOR YOU!

Finally, you’ll notice that there’s two more squares – one at the top and one at the bottom.

One of these represents all the departed members of the community. The priest will remember them by name when he prepares the bread.

The other one represents all the living members of the community. Every time I serve Divine Liturgy I remember all those in my parish, and all those who have asked me to pray for them.

As you can see, prayer is very important and taken very seriously by the Orthodox!

THE BREAD REPRESENTS THE ENTIRE CHURCH

So, the stamp that is pressed into the dough, has a lot of meaning!

The stamp represents everyone in the Church – both past and present! Not a single person is left out!

So, when the priest is taking the bread forward in the Great Entrance, he’s really offering up the entire Church to God.

Of course, God will accept our gifts and transform them.

These transformed gifts are then offered to us, so that we too can be transformed, have our sins forgiven, and inherit eternal life!

For a small piece of bread that got stamped before baking, that’s a lot of meaning!

P.S. COME, OFFER YOURSELF TO GOD AND BE TRANSFORMED!

Why not come, this Sunday, offer yourself to God and be transformed! (St. Elias: 10:30 am @ 2001 Asbury Rd, Dubuque, IA, here)(Or find your nearest Orthodox Church here).

Image source: http://www.prosphora.org/stamps.html