The prosphora
By tradition, before the beginning of the Liturgy Christians buy a prosphora and send it into the sanctuary together with their commemoration lists.
The prosphora is a small loaf of a certain shape, baked of pure leavened dough, in two parts. The two parts of the prosphora correspond symbolically to the two natures of the Saviour, the divine and the human. On the upper part of the prosphora a cross is depicted with the inscription “Jesus Christ conquers.” Its roundness is a symbol of the eternity of mankind in Christ, which means that mankind was created for eternal life.
For the celebration of the Liturgy five large prosphoras are always prepared, each of which has its own meaning. In the first part of the Liturgy, at the time when the prayers of the third and sixth Hours are read, the priest in the sanctuary performs the proskomedia, that is, takes particles out of all five prosphoras. From the first prosphora, which symbolically represents the Saviour — the Lamb of God slain (offered in sacrifice) for us — the particles are taken with which, after the eucharistic canon has been performed, the faithful receive Communion. During the proskomedia the priest reads prayers in which the nativity and the passion of the Saviour are commemorated, and also the prophecies and teachings about the Saviour. From the second prosphora particles are taken in the name of the most holy Mother of God; from the third, particles in the name of the prophets, apostles, hierarchs, martyrs, confessors and all the saints; from the fourth, for the living; and from the fifth, for the departed. At the same time the small prosphoras sent in by the faithful are cut and the names of the baptised Christians written in the commemoration lists are read out (it must be noted that the Church does not commemorate suicides and heretics).
After each name is commemorated, the priest cuts out a particle of the prosphora with the words: “Remember, O Lord (he names the name we have written).” These particles that are taken out are also laid on the diskos together with those particles which were taken from the liturgical prosphoras. The particles of the prosphoras laid out together on the diskos in this order are a symbol of the Church of Christ. “At the proskomedia the whole heavenly and earthly Church is represented, gathered around the Lamb who took upon Himself the sins of the world…” writes St John of Kronstadt about the particles that are taken from the prosphoras and rest on the diskos; “how close to one another are the dwellers of heaven and of earth, the Mother of God and all the saints, and all of us Orthodox Christians, when the divine, universal Liturgy is celebrated! My God! What life-giving unity!”
The tradition of offering a prosphora is most ancient. The first Christians, according to custom, brought bread and wine to the holy Liturgy, which were intended for the service. And since one loaf was enough for the celebration of the holy mysteries (“For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17)), and since everyone wished that the bread they had brought should be chosen as the Lamb, the Church established this: for the holy offering one best loaf was to be chosen, and from the other loaves particles were to be taken with the commemoration of the names of those who brought them. After the end of the Liturgy the cut loaves were given out, together with the wine, at the common meal that was set out for the poor. Thus the offering of bread was at the same time an expression of love in Christ and of good works.
By present-day tradition the prosphora is an offering, and at the end of the Liturgy it is given out to the faithful. At home the prosphora is taken on an empty stomach, after the morning prayer.
The magazine “Sakdari,” No. 1, 2001
The newspaper “Bulletin of the Patriarchate,” No. 51(204), 2002
On commemoration at the Liturgy
Prayer at home, as a rule, does not have such grace-filled power as common, joint prayer, which is performed in church. Of this the Lord Himself said: “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:19–20).
The faithful gather in church for common prayer; in the church the Lord Himself is invisibly present. The church is the house of the Lord, where the clergy offer to God the bloodless sacrifice. Already in the church of the Old Testament prayer was accompanied by the sacrifice of animals, which was performed for the cleansing of sins.
In the Church of the New Testament there is no longer any sacrifice of animals, since “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3). “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). He offered His all-precious blood and flesh as a sacrifice for all, and in remembrance of this, at the Mystical Supper, He established the bloodless sacrifice — the offering of bread and wine, of His all-holy body and blood, for the remission of sins. And this is what is performed at the Liturgy in church.
Just as in the Old Testament a sacrifice was joined to prayer, so now too, in the Christian churches, at the time of prayer the holy bloodless sacrifice is offered, that is, holy Communion is celebrated.
Church prayer has a special power also because it is offered by a priest, who is appointed precisely for this: to perform the services, to offer prayer for every Christian and to offer sacrifice to the Lord.
“I have chosen you…” the Saviour says to His apostles, “that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16). The apostles handed on the rights and duties given them by the Lord to their successors, the bishops and the clergy, that they might make “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks… for all men” (1 Tim. 2:1). Who is commemorated in the commemoration list?
That is why the holy Apostle James says to Christians: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14)…
During the Liturgy the faithful send into the sanctuary of the church a commemoration list, in which only the names of those baptised in the Orthodox Church may be written.
The first list is “for health.” The notion of “health” means not only a person's bodily soundness but includes their spiritual state and their material well-being as well. And if we pray for the health of a person who has done much evil, we ask the Lord to change their inner state and that, with the Lord's help, the person who is hostile toward us may turn to good.
In this list we should write the names of all those people to whom we wish health, well-being and salvation.
The word of God teaches us that a person should pray not only for themselves but for others as well. “Pray one for another” (James 5:16). It is precisely on this prayer for one another that the Christian Church is founded.
When the country was ruled by a king anointed with chrism, every moleben and every commemoration began with his commemoration, for on him rested both the well-being of the country in general and the well-being of every Orthodox family. Today, however, in the commemoration list we should write first the patriarch, and then the hierarch of the diocese, who offers up incense before the Lord and offers sacrifice for the flock entrusted to him.
So Holy Scripture teaches us: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4).
Then in the commemoration list should be written the name of the spiritual father, who guides the Christian life of his flock, cares for the salvation of their souls and prays for them before the Lord: “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God” (Heb. 13:7).
Then the names of one's parents are written, then one's own name, then the names of the members of one's family, of relatives and kinsfolk. Every person should pray for the well-being of their own family: “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8). After this should be written the names of those people who do good to you, so that you may not remain in their debt: “Render therefore to all their dues… Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:7–8). The commemoration list for the departed
Finally, if you have those who hate you, who wrong you, who envy you, or even enemies, write their names in the commemoration list, for the Lord said: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them” (Matt. 5:44). Prayer for an enemy has the greatest power. Many cases are known in which, as a result of writing his name in a church commemoration list, a former enemy turned into a well-wisher.
The second commemoration list which we send into the sanctuary of the church is for the departed. In it are written the names of those who have died and who are close and dear to us: parents, relatives and friends, teachers and so on.
For the departed we should pray just as we pray for the living. We should pray not only for the souls of our close relatives but also for those who at some time did us some good, helped us or taught us. The departed, though they have been parted from us bodily and their bodies are in the earth, reign with their souls before the Lord and continue a spiritual life invisible to us, for the Lord Himself says: “He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him” (Luke 20:38). We believe that our departed forebears, whose names we often do not even know, pray for us, their descendants. We, the living, together with them make up one Church, one body, whose one Head is our Lord Jesus Christ: “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living” (Rom. 14:8–9).
Our bond with the departed is felt especially in fervent prayer for them. On the soul of the one praying it works a special effect and shows plainly the unity that exists between souls, whether they are dwellers of this world or departed.
