bread ?

[GBTWC]

I went to an OC the other day and saw what I think is called the Holy Bread I think Its used 4 communion what was Curious to me is that it was risen it had Levin and since the Orthodox are so strong on symbolism this seemed odd becouse yeast or Levin is a type of sin in the scripture

feed back please

 

[Greg the byzantine]

I went to an OC the other day and saw what I think is called the Holy Bread I think Its used 4 communion what was Curious to me is that it was risen it had Levin and since the Orthodox are so strong on symbolism this seemed odd becouse yeast or Levin is a type of sin in the scripture

feed back please

Leaven is not sinful. In fact it was only forbidden to the Jews during the feast of Passover to commemorate the exodus when there was no time to allow the bread to rise in their preparation to leave Egypt. Obviously leaven was used at other times during the year if it was only forbidden during the Pasover.

Now in the New Testament Christ does refer to leavening, but metaphorically. Look at this passage below, especially the parts that I highlight:

Mt 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Indeed Christ says that he speaks not of yeast (leaven of bread), but metaphorically.

Again this is a parable and thus not meant to be taken literally but to teach:

Mt 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

How then is leaven a sin?

 

[Reader Antonius]

The Melkite Greeks explained to me that the symbolism comes from the fact that Christ is Risen (hence the leaven) and so He comes to us in the Mystical Supper Risen and Glorified.

 

[Greg the byzantine]

BTW there is symbolism to the leavened bread which we use in the Orthodox Church. Hopefully someone will come along and give you that information, my goal was just to show you that leavening is not a sin. Someone will explain the symbolism and use of leavened bread in the Orthodox Church

 

[Reader Antonius]

BTW there is symbolism to the leavened bread which we use in the Orthodox Church. Hopefully someone will come along and give you that information, my goal was just to show you that leavening is not a sin. Someone will explain the symbolism and use of leavened bread in the Orthodox Church

Of course it's not a sin.

He who comes to us in the Eucharist, leavened or unleavened, is FAR from sin.

 

[Gwenyfur]

Actually during preparation for passover, we clean our houses thoroughly...
Just as He delivered us from Egypt, He delivered us from sin...but that leaven does indeed represent sin to a jewish mind We weren't "freed" from sin itself until He gave us His Law (Torah) to keep and live righteously ...

Any leaven is cleaned from the house...some wrap it and sell it or give it to gentiles, some burn it...(I'm of the burning mind...why would I pass/sell sin to anyone else?)

But I too was surprised to see leavened bread used, and curious...but the parallel of His resurrection "Risen" and the risen bread makes sense!

Thank you

 

[ikonographics]

Christ is RISEN!

 

[Kristos]

I think everyone hit all the high points already. The leavening of the Pharisees was vainglory, pride, and hypocrisy. If you've ever baked bread, you know that just a little leavening will turn the whole batch - so you have to be "watchful" and vigilant. These same sins are always in waiting, ready to jump into our lives and then spread to others in the community.

The Eucharist bread, or prosphora is leavened so it rises because the DL a celebration of the resurrection. Also, to follow the metaphor above - since the Eucharist is Christ's body, then we are receiving His leavening through it.

More generic info:

Prosphora (Greek for "offering") is bread prepared for use in the Divine Liturgy. A portion of it, known as the lamb (or amnon) is cut out during the proskomedia which is consecrated during the Divine Liturgy to be the Eucharist, while the rest is cut up for the antidoron, the blessed bread distributed at the end of the liturgy.
During its preparation, prosphora is stamped with an image usually including IC XC NIKA ("Jesus Christ conquers"), which is maintained during baking and then serves as a guide for cutting out the lamb during the proskomedia. Prosphora can vary in size and stamp in different traditions. Generally, the Slavic traditions use smaller prosphora with a simpler stamp, while the Byzantine ones use larger ones with a more complex stamp.

 

[katherine2001]

Check out www.prosphora.org

 

[Macarius]

I would add only one thing:

Christ fulfills the symbol of the unleavened passover bread because He is the true passover - the true pascha / pesach. From a Christian perspective, the command not to use levened bread at passover was at least in part prophetic that the true passover had not yet arrived - that the passover (the killing of the firstborn son of the Egyptians in order to save the Jews) was looking forward to the passover of Christ (the killing of the firstborn Son of God in order to save all the world).

As Christ is the fulfillment of this, it would inappropriate for us NOT to use leveaned bread, as that would, in a way, be indicating that some greater passover still awaited us.

It's actually one of the things St. Photius reprimanded the western Christians for when they started evangelizing Bulgaria in the 9th c. AD (they were trying to get the Bulgarian Christians to stop using leavened bread).

In Christ,
Macarius