Prosphora for Ill and Departed (Teachings of the Orthodox Church) Christianity. Orthodoxy. Catholicism. Sense of life. Articles for Christians.
“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.                “You shall have no other gods before me.                “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.                “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.                “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.                “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.                “You shall not murder.                “You shall not commit adultery.                “You shall not steal.                “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.                “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
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Prosphora for Ill and Departed (Teachings of the Orthodox Church)
   

QUESTION:

I have run across a problem / question brought up by my 6 1/2 year old daughter. Recently we have known some sick people so I thought it would be a good time to bring up the idea of sending up these people's names for prayers and receiving prosphora. This was a good idea unitl my daughter asked why do we do this? Hhhm, I thought, Why do we do this?

When I was a child there was no Sunday school and the best answer I always got to my questions was this is the way we do things. I hope to do better. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Besides, I thing I should know.

ANSWER:

In some parishes there is the custom of making small prosphori available to the faithful, who send them into the altar with a list of names for prayers for the living and the departed.

When the priest receives the prosphora and the list, he prays for the people indicated and takes a small particle of bread for each name and places it on the diskos, in the center of which is the cube of bread which will become the Body of Christ during the Divine Liturgy. The prosphora is then given back to the person who requested the prayers, and if you look closely at it, you should find that small particles had indeed been taken out.

The origins of this practice go back to the days when the faithful would bring the bread and wine to be used in the Liturgy.

The prosphora you receive back, which of course has not been consecrated into the Body of Christ, is part of the "antidoron", not unlike the bread the faithful receive when coming forth to kiss the cross at the end of the Liturgy.

" Antidoron" means "instead of the gift," and in times past only those who did not receive Communion would take it at the end of Liturgy. The prosphora you receive is also an "antidoron" and it is appropriate to share it with the person or persons in whose name it was offered, especially if they are home bound or too ill to come to the church for the Eucharist.






Published in January 2011.









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