What Kind Of Bread Is Used In Orthodox Western Rituals?

Western Rite Orthodoxy, also known as Western Orthodoxy or the Orthodox Western Rite, are congregations within the Eastern Orthodox tradition that perform their liturgy in Western forms. These congregations have altered versions of the Tridentine Mass, used Western liturgical forms such as the Sarum Rite, Mozarabic Rite, and Gallican Rite. The Orthodox version of the Western Rite in its Anglican form requires the priest to petition God the Holy Spirit to act in.

The Western Rite is a rapidly growing dimension of the Church’s Mission in America, representing a restoration of the legitimate Western Liturgy of the Undivided Church of Christ. The Rite used by Christians in Scotland, Ireland, and England was as Orthodox as that used in Constantinople. The host used in Western Rite liturgies resembles the unleavened wafer used by Roman Catholics and Episcopalians, but in fact, it is leavened—although flattened—bread.

The use of leavened bread stems from the connection between leaven and the Kingdom of God, and the understanding of the Eucharist as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. The round loaf of bread used in the preparation of the gifts of Holy Communion is called Prosphora, meaning “offering”, or the “bread of offering”. In 1879, the Convocation of the Church of Russia determined that the Western Liturgy could be used by Orthodox people, with unleavened bread being used, an epiclesis placed after the words of institution, and laity being baptized.

The canon law of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church mandates the use of unleavened bread for the Host and unleavened wafers for the communion of the faithful.

What kind of bread is used in the Orthodox Church?

Prosphora, or “offering”, is a traditional bread used in the Orthodox Church for the Eucharistic offering during the Divine Liturgy. This leavened bread, made with yeast, is made using a simple recipe of water, yeast, flour, and salt. The bread is prepared by the parishioners of St. Demetrios and is brought either on the day of the Liturgy or in the days before and stored in the freezer until needed.

A loaf of prosphora is sealed or stamped before baking, divided into five portions. The central three portions are squares with Greek letters, “ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙΚΑ”, which represent the first and last letters of “Jesus” and “Christ” in Greek. The middle square is commonly used as the “lamb”, or the part of the prosphora loaf consecrated as the Body of Christ. The other two inscribed portions are “spares” in case the central square doesn’t turn out right, often due to an air pocket underneath the seal, making it difficult to use during the Liturgy.

What is the Orthodox Artos bread?

An artos is a leavened bread loaf that is blessed during services in Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine rite Catholic churches. A large Artos is baked with a seal depicting the resurrection for use at Pascha (Easter). Smaller loaves are blessed during great vespers in a ritual called Artoklasia and in other occasions like feast days, weddings, and memorial services.

Artos in Ancient Greek meant “cake” or “loaf of wheat-bread” collectively. In Modern Greek, it is more commonly used in the context of communion bread used in church. Near the end of the Paschal Vigil, after the Prayer Before the Ambo, a single large loaf of bread, the Artos, is brought to the priest. Depicted on the top of the Artos are either Christ’s victory over death (the Cross, surmounted by a crown of thorns) or the Resurrection of Christ. The Artos symbolizes the physical presence of the resurrected Christ among the disciples.

The priest blesses the Artos with a special prayer and sprinkles it with Holy Water. The Artos is placed on a small table before the Iconostasis, where it remains throughout Bright Week. It is customary for the faithful to kiss the Artos as a way of greeting the Risen Christ.

Why don t the Orthodox use unleavened bread?

The Latin Church of the Catholic Church mandates the use of unleavened bread for the Host and communion of the faithful, while most Eastern churches explicitly forbid it for the Eucharist. Eastern Christians associate unleavened bread with the Old Testament and allow only for bread with yeast as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. This usage was one of the three points of contention that traditionally accounted for the Great Schism of 1054 between Eastern and Western churches.

The term “azymes” is an archaic English word for the Jewish matzah, derived from the Ancient Greek word “ázymos” meaning “unleavened (bread)”. The Western Church has always maintained the validity of consecration with either leavened bread or unleavened bread. The central question arising from this issue is whether the bread used by Jesus at the Last Supper was leavened or unleavened. Various arguments exist for which kind was used, but knowledge is scant and testimonies seem contradictory, making the problem incapable of definitive solution.

What bread does Orthodox use for communion?

A prosphora is a small loaf of leavened bread used in Orthodox Christian and Greek Catholic (Byzantine) liturgies. It is made from wheat flour (white), yeast, salt, and water. The term originally meant any offering made to a temple, but in Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine Rite Catholicism, it has come to mean the bread offered at the Eucharist during Divine Liturgy. The classical plural form is prosphorai (προσφοραί). Salt was not used in early times and is still not used in the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem.

Why don’t Orthodox use unleavened bread?

The Eastern tradition compares yeast in bread to the soul in the body, stating that the soul gives life, hence the “living bread” of the Eucharist must have yeast. The West uses unleavened bread, as it was used by Jesus in the Last Supper. The Orthodox Church’s break from Rome in 1054 led to the Patriarch of Constantinople condemning the West for using unleavened bread, but this was a spurious charge. The Council of Florence approved the use of either kind of bread in 1439, making the use of leavened or unleavened bread a question of licitness, not validity.

Can Orthodox eat eggs?

Orthodox Christian fasting (OF) is an ancient ecclesiastical ordinance that involves voluntary abstention from specific foods for 180-200 days per year. The Eastern Orthodox Christian Church’s Holy Tradition advises the avoidance of olive oil, meat, fish, milk, and dairy products every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year. Four principal fasting periods are included: 40 days preceding Christmas, 48 days preceding Easter (Lent), 8 to 42 days known as the Apostles’ Fast or the Fast of Peter and Paul, and 15 days in August (Assumption of the Virgin Mary).

The Orthodox Christian Church diet includes a low dietary intake of animal protein, total fat, saturated fatty acids (SFAs), and trans fatty acids, mainly through limited meat consumption, and a very high dietary intake of plant protein, fiber, vitamins and antioxidant substances, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from wholegrain cereals, fruit, vegetables, legumes, seafood, nuts, tahini, and olive oil.

According to the Orthodox Christian Patristic Tradition, the goal of OF is not a victory over the body but a victory over the passions. Meat consumption during OF would be an obstacle to the body’s self-control, abstinence from passionate desires and pleasures, humility of the flesh, and curbing of inborn sexual appetite. Through fasting, Orthodox Christians also avoid the danger of abdominal “deification” (see Philippians 3:19) and protect their body from passions of the flesh, aroused mainly by gluttony and resulting in overeating (polyphagia or hyperphagia).

Many other Christian Churches and Religions similarly warn against excessive meat consumption, including the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican formularies, Judaism, the Quran, and Eastern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In the Roman Catholic Church, the current rules for fasting and abstinence prescribe abstaining from meat on Fridays and throughout Lent. In Judaism, animals considered tahor (kosher, meaning clean) may be consumed if prepared properly; those considered tame (non-kosher, or unclean) may not be consumed under any circumstance.

In conclusion, Orthodox Christian fasting is an ancient ecclesiastical ordinance that promotes a vegetarian diet and a low dietary intake of animal proteins, fiber, vitamins, antioxidant substances, monounsaturated fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. By adhering to OF, Orthodox Christians can achieve spiritual achievements and maintain a sanctified body.

Does the Western Church use leavened bread?

The Eastern tradition compares yeast in bread to the soul in the body, stating that the “living bread” of the Eucharist must have yeast. The West uses unleavened bread, as it was used by Jesus in the Last Supper. The Orthodox Church’s Patriarch of Constantinople condemned the West for using unleavened bread, but the Council of Florence approved the use of either kind in 1439. The body of Christ is effected in unleavened or leavened wheaten bread, and priests should follow the custom of their Church.

Roman-rite Catholics are not allowed to use leavened bread, but it would be a grave error to disobey the Church and a long-venerable tradition. Eastern-rite churches in communion with Rome can retain their own tradition of using leavened bread.

What kind of bread is used in communion?

Unleavened bread, also referred to as flatbread, represents a traditional form of Holy Communion with roots in the Jewish Passover tradition. The utilization of unleavened bread serves to underscore the themes prevalent in the biblical accounts of the Last Supper as recounted in the Passover narrative.

Does Communion bread have to be wheat?

Catholic doctrine requires that hosts be composed of wheat and water, with no alternative grains permitted. It is a requirement that bread contain at least a trace of gluten, and this is likely to remain unchanged.

What is the Orthodox bread called?

The term “prosphora” is used to refer to the loaves of bread that are offered during the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Church. These loaves are commonly referred to as “prosphoron” or “prosforka” in everyday Russian. The word “prosphora” itself is derived from the Greek word “prosphoros,” which means “an offering.”