Cross yourself

Flour the pan and make a Cross in it, then say the prayer Our Holy Elder God Jesus Christ have mercy on me.  The Jesus prayer should be said during the preparation.

Dissolve 10gr yeast in 1 cup of warm water; add 4-5 teaspoons of sugar so that the dough is soft and sweet, as it is said in the psalm Come and see how sweet God is.  Add ½ teaspoon of salt, which symbolizes the blessing. Add the yeast in 1 kg flour and knead until smooth with no air holes in it, as they get bigger when dough is baked.  Thus, the priest would not be able to prepare the Amnos  ( the middle part of the Prosphoro Bread that with the power and blessing of the Holy Spirit become Jesus Body ) Flour the table when kneading the dough so it does not stick.

Divide the dough in 4 equal parts or more. If there are not many people getting the Holy Communion, then knead the dough and form it into a ball, avoid any air holes, and then form cylinder.  Half it in shape of number 8, and then join the two peaces.  With your hand press the dough firmly and flatten it in the form of 2 pancakes and place on top of one another.

The dough is not to be completely divided because that is the symbol of Christ Godman’s nature – absolute God and absolute man, undivided and Unmingled.  Place the dough in pan and with the stamp firmly emboss the middle part to leave a clean imprint.  At the end, place a few small holes around the edge of the seal using a needle or a toothpick.  Compress the air of the dough by placing the toothpick until the base of the pan is reached.  Do not place the toothpick in the middle of the prosphoro where the Agnes is, otherwise the prosforo will not be used.  The preparation of prosforo should be done quickly to prevent the dough from rise.

Preheat the oven at 150 – 180 degrees, then bake for approximately 45 minutes or until light brown, as the color of the corn.

Place the baked prosforo in tea towels and leave until cool.

Do not store the prosforo in the deep frizz with other products, it may absorb the smell. Keep it in different section.

There are many different ways of preparing prosforo: Jerusalem’s way, Holy Mountain, from monastery to monastery … Everyone believes that their way of preparing prosforo is the most precise and correct way of doing it, but I would say that the most important thing is to keep the tradition and the core of preparing the prosforo.

Prosfora comes from the word prosforo which means offering.  In the past, when Christians were banished, they were given holy bread to take home so they can have Holy Communion home, then later when the gifts were misused for prophecy… it been establish the holy communion to be given with teaspoon, and the prosforo stamp was establish in 14 century.

The grain and grapes are transformed into bread and wine, and that’s why we are being transformed as well. Just like the grain is collected from various fields (places) and makes one bread, and so we are gathered from everywhere and become one, one body of Christ, the Church.