in Value of Monastic Diet

Prosforo

The Canons concerning the authentic life of the members of the Church according to Christ, together with the Formula of the Orthodox Patristic Tradition, define the offertory as an essential part of the ritual of the Divine Liturgy. The special seal, in the centre of the offertory, has Jesus Christ wins, the so-called “lamb”, engraved on it. This is the sign which the priest will remove to offer to God for the Eucharist. (audio)

The Canons concerning the authentic, Christ-like life of the members of the Church, together with the Formula of the Orthodox Patristic Tradition, define the offertory as an essential part of the ritual of the Divine Liturgy. The special seal, in the centre of the offertory, has Jesus Christ wins, the so-called “lamb”, engraved on it. This is the sign which the priest will remove to offer to God for the Eucharist.

The offertory symbolizes the bread that Christ distributed to his disciples at the Last Supper, and its preparation is associated with specific ritual and actions of the highest symbolism.

THE PROSCODES

During the Proscenium, the priest prepares the bread and wine for the Mass from the “gifts” offered by the faithful to God, the bread and wine (nammas). An offering of profound symbolism, asking Him to nourish them with His Body and Blood.

THE DIVINE COMMUNION

The first act in this process is the “beating of the Lamb”, i.e. cutting it into four parts. This is the same act that Christ performed at the Last Supper, when He cut the bread and gave it to His disciples. This act is repeated at every Mass and is called the “breaking of the bread”. He then places, in the shape of a cross, the four pieces on the Discalogue and then pours a piece into the Holy Cup, that is, He unites the Body of Christ with His Blood, and the phrase “Fullness of the Cup, of faith, of the Holy Spirit” refers to the Lord filling us with the Holy Spirit. Next, the priest reads some texts in preparation for Holy Communion, which are taken from the Divine Liturgy of the Holy Communion, and he first commits the body and then the Blood of the Lord from the Holy Cup.

Preparation

cookware:
A special (and only for this job) basin, plastic or stainless steel or wooden "fermenting tub" which is the best, for kneading.
A smaller but deep bowl, for catching the leaven.
A good wooden (not plastic) stamp, with a deep carving, having the "Lamb" (i.e. the letters IS-HR-NI-KA), the MP-GOD, and the nine orders of the saints.
2 kg of sifted, good quality, hard, preferably yellow or soft flour mixed with ½ the quantity of fine semolina
Water as long as it takes
Salt as much as it takes
One (and only one for this job) sealed container for storing the special yeast (yeast is forbidden), for the next fermentations.
Especially (and only for this job shallow, preferably) aluminum or stainless steel pans, depending on the quantity you want. For better security, when no experience is available, they can be made in a separate proportional deep pan-form, which can hold a fine each, in the desired size.
One "pycnada" (sieving sieve), of medium size.
A special (and only for this job) flat brush of good quality, not to "rub off", for spreading the pan.
Similar cloths - "scarves" or cotton towels, (and only one for this job), for the inner covering, during the "ginning" of the leeks and the foreshores.
A large woolen blanket, proportional to the quantity and the number of dishes, for "ginning" and covering the fresh hot dishes.
A clean linen towel case for carrying the prosphorus to the temple.
Special space (cupboard-drawer) for the clean storage of all these utensils, without using them for any other purpose, until the next kneading.
Special nylon food bags, as many as the trays, for storing the trays in the freezer or refrigerator.
Special sharp knife for cutting the dough.
A spoon, preferably wooden or metal, for mixing the sourdough.
Special flat clean table-"sofa" for the shaping of the offerings. If not possible, then on an existing clean kitchen bench table.
A special (and only for this job) pot, a pot-caravana-briki, for heating the water.
A few strong clean toothpicks or 1-2 stems of oregano to prick the offerings before baking.
  • Tip:
  • The preparation of offerings is a sacred matter and one should perform it with all care, reverence, awe and purity.
  • It is a purely ecclesiastical service-"ornament"-"offering", because it is the principal and necessary gift to God for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, which is offered and sacrificed as a pair of turtledoves or chicks of doves for all sins". This is why the preparation of offerings is not a mere option but a duty for every Orthodox Christian.
  • The so-called "Lamb" (the central seal with the letters IS-HR-NI-KA) comes out of this bush and is transformed at the time of the T. During the Liturgy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Lord and God and our Saviour Jesus Christ is transformed into this body of the Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
  • A great blessing for the manufacturer and his family.
  • In the Church we take the offering, clean of flour, reverently wrapped in a special clean case or towel, along with a small amount of a special wine called "Nama". A few pots of incense, and necessarily the names of the nearest and dearest, living and dead, to be commemorated by the priest.
  • On Mount Athos they make the so-called "scales", i.e., 2 offerings for each of the two Gospels. For each Mass.
  • One of them has only the "Lamb" seal on the top and the other one has the whole seal with the known letters of "Panagia".
  • The large sizes (around 15 points) are used on Sundays and major holidays, while the small scales (around 7 points) are used on weekdays for practical reasons.
  • When we have a new, unused seal, before the first use we immerse it in olive oil to cover it well for two weeks, putting a weight on it to keep it in the oil. Then we take it off, wipe it well to remove the oils and leave it in a shady, airy place until the excess oils "dry out", for about 15 days. Then wash it lightly, without soap, wipe it very well, let it dry and store it until you need to use it. This is done so that the wood will set well, be sanded, and will come off easily when sealing.
  • If the sourdough is too swollen and we don't understand how to proceed with the kneading, there is a risk that it will "settle", i.e. its volume will drop and consequently it will lose its strength, so that it will be unsuitable for kneading. In this case, it must be caught again (to revive it) with the risk that it will always be completely ruined if it takes too long.
  • With 2 ½ kilos of flour, we usually make about 4 large (2 scales), or 18 small (9 scales), depending on the size you want to give.
  • Always sift the flour before starting the kneading and kneading process.
  • The dough should always be made hard, so that there are no large bubbles inside, so that the letters are not erased during the "rising" and the letters of the stamp are well imprinted. But it should not be too hard either because then you have another problem, it pops when baking and rubs strongly when cutting into crumbs and you get this empirically.
  • Excessive moisture during baking and baking in the oven has negative effects, i.e. the seal is lost, they crack on the surface and do not brown.
  • Excessive moisture during baking and baking in the oven has negative effects, i.e. the seal is lost, they crack on the surface and do not brown.
  • When the baking is finished check if they are dry by tapping the bottom of a baking tray with your finger, if they are dry you will hear a muffled crackling sound and they are light in weight. Otherwise the crackling is heavy and the weight is noticeable. If they need drying, let them bake a little longer, lowering the temperature degrees; when they are ready, remove them from the pans.
  • If we want to polish the buffalo and not have flour on them, which they should not have, then as soon as we take them out of the oven we brush them with a light, short brushing with cold water, just once, or we brush them with a special clean cloth or sponge on their surface or even whole, to remove the long burn, any excess flour and to give them a nice colour and appearance.
  • The piercing is done to release the air that will be trapped inside at the start of the roasting process, so it should not be all the way down to the bottom of the baking tray.
  • Instead of "sprinkling" flour on the pans, you can use the special oven paper or parchment paper.
  • Oiling the pans is not correct, but "sprinkling" flour is the right thing to do, as long as it is not too much and it is not absorbed by the dough at the end and remains on the baking trays.
  • Some people lightly "wax" the pans with pure wax, it is a tradition, but this way also has its disadvantages.
  • Each offering should be made of two small balls (depending on the size we want), because they symbolize the two natures of Christ.
  • If this makes it difficult, then we can make the corresponding ball-ball instead of two one mass, well united, and lightly indent its circumference, below the middle of the general height, to separate two parts, and continue the light pressing with the palm and then with the stamp.
  • If you have a large amount of dough, then seal the prepared balls, from time to time, so that the surface doesn't dry out and make it difficult to seal.
  • A second seal, over the one already pressed, is strictly forbidden. If we fail with the first one, then the balls are pressed again and only then do we seal.
  • Be careful not to overhang the dough around the seal when pressing, because then the seal will not come off and will be destroyed.
  • The pressure should be vertical, so as not to shake the dough left and right.
  • The oven must be preheated, because if you put the puffs in while it's preheating, they will still rise and the seal will break.
  • The older ones baked the prosphora without a baking tray, freely in the base of the oven.
  • When you don't use a baking pan and bake them freely on a baking sheet, you have to make sure that they don't stick together.
  • After baking, their circumference should be beautiful, straight and smooth, with no other dough sticking to them.
  • When we don't have a warm place to cure the sourdough or yeast, we can use the bain-marie method. We place the basin containing the leaven-yeast in a larger one that has hot water (not hot) and if necessary, because it will probably cool down quickly, we reheat the water and refresh it. This way we get a quick bubbling within 2 hours, depending on the environment, maybe sooner. Another way is to use the oven at a very low temperature below 50o.

Execution

1. «Catching»-preparation of new leaven:
2. We make sure to have a basil branch from the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, (the one distributed by the priest after the Exaltation ceremony) or from the Sunday of the Pilgrimage of the Cross, which takes place during Lent or in case of need, blessed on the Holy Cross by a priest.
3. Traditionally we "catch" the leaven on the same day of the feast, but in case of need it can be done on any day.
4. In the afternoon, pour some lukewarm water into the basin where you " pump up " the sourdough, but not hot water, because you will not achieve anything.
5. In this water we dip the basil branch (green or dry), crosswise three times, chanting the troparion at the same time: "Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thy inheritance, victorious over the kings against barbarians, and keepers of Thy cross, Thy civil government.".
6. Remove the basil, being careful not to leave any parts of it in the water at the end, and add coarse flour a little at a time, stirring with a spoon or by hand, until it becomes a thick paste.
7. Pour enough flour over the porridge so that it does not stick to the towel when it rises, but also acts as an insulator, keeping the temperature constant.
8. Pour enough flour over the porridge so that it does not stick to the towel when it rises, but also acts as an insulator, keeping the temperature constant.
9. The next day, very early in the morning, "resuspend" the sourdough with some lukewarm water and a little flour and roll it up again in the same warm place.
10. In the late afternoon-evening we do the same "breathing" again, for the third time, adding a little more flour and placing it again in the same warm place, until the morning.
11. Until the third "breathing" we leave the basil on the leaven and then we place it in the iconostasis of the house, where we keep it for other uses, for the blessing of the house.
12. As long as we have "pitched" it three times, the next morning, we transfer the new sourdough (if we have pitched it in the small basin) to the large kneading basin and start the kneading as described below.
13. That is, if we create with these three "grips" the new leaven, we must finally the next day, proceed to knead the leaven, so that after kneading to keep leaven for the next time we will want to knead leaven.
14. This is the "catching"-creation of the original, new leaven.
15. Keeping the leaven for the next fermentation:
16. On the day we knead the dough along with the creation of the dough, we make sure that we separate and keep a small part of the same dough (as much as a medium orange is enough for a lot of dough and this should be done every time we knead), so that we can keep it for the next kneading, whenever it happens. This will be the sourdough.
17. After leaving it for a few hours, 6 hours is enough, covered so that it can "rise-bloat-ripen" well, then place it in the special bowl and store it in the freezer or the freezer for months.
18. In the old days, when there were no refrigerators, it was kept in the stored flour, on one side. In case one ran out of sourdough then borrowed from another faithful and returned it after kneading with new one.
19. "Breathing" prozyme:
20. When we are going to knead, early the day before, we take the reserved sourdough out of the fridge-freezer so that it can defrost and effortlessly reach room temperature, i.e. to "come alive".
21. When it reaches this state and starts to "move", we start "breathing" in the late afternoon, about 8 hours before kneading. We sift and have the clean flour we need ready.
22. The night before we are going to knead, we take flour, almost ¼ of the amount we are going to knead, and we "leaven" the sourdough. That is, if we knead 2 pounds of flour, we take half a pound.
23. Pour some warm water into the special mixing bowl of the sourdough starter, be careful not to burn it, and dissolve the thawed sourdough in it until it dissolves well and has no lumps.
24. Make sure that the bowl has enough room for the bubbling, at least twice the amount of the mixture. If, despite hope, we cannot melt the pellets, we drain it in a sieve and throw the pellets in a clean place such as near a tree root or in a pot, so that they are not stepped on and despised.
25. Then, slowly add ¼ of the flour and mix well, until it becomes a thick paste. Cover the bowl very well with the towel and then with the woolen blanket and place it in a warm place, no higher than 45-50o , overnight.
26. Kneading of buffalo:
27. Early in the morning the next day, (about 8 hours after breathing), we check the sourdough to see if it is inflated as it should be, i.e. if it has bubbles and has doubled in volume.
28. We light the candle and the censer of the house, and make the sign of the cross on our bodies, whispering the Sunday prayer "Our Father....", and then the monolithic prayer "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner", until we complete the kneading and shaping of the offerings.
29. If we know the Greetings of the Virgin Mary then we say them too or have a child recite them or read the request of the Virgin Mary. With our three fingers together as when we make the sign of the cross, we cross the basin we are going to knead three times and we are ready to begin.
30. If the sourdough is ready then pour most of the flour left over from the "breathing", (keep some for safety and better management, in case more water falls out), into the special kneading bowl.
31. Make a small well in this flour, so that it can hold the sourdough starter that you have risen and has now risen. Pour the "fermented" sourdough into the pit. Add the appropriate amount of fine salt to the lukewarm water (so that it melts immediately), which will be needed for all the flour, and dissolve it. Add a little of the lukewarm water, being careful not to drop too much, and knead with your hands until the dough becomes a stiff dough and "shiny".
32. Be careful, because the water depends on the quality of the flour, some "pull" more and others less, either from hard or soft qualities.
33. When it is well kneaded (kneading takes about 40´), cross the dough with three fingers and leave it covered for 10´ in the bowl to "rest".
34. While the dough is resting, we prepare the pans in which we will place the prosphora to bake them. Flour, with very little flour, the entire surface and the sides of the pans evenly, so that the pans do not stick to each other, to the walls or to the base of the pan.
35. After 10´ cut a piece of dough, about the size of an orange for sourdough, which you will store in the refrigerator for 6 hours, for the next kneading. Re-make the dough, briefly, to "liven it up", and make a cylinder-stick on a clean surface (table, counter, marble, etc.), flattening the edges with the palms of your hands.
36. Cut this stick into equal pieces as the number of ramekins you want to make, large or small, and cover them to prevent them from getting cold and drying out. Take one piece and work it in your hands in a circular motion so that the dough is consolidated without wrinkles, lumps or gaps, creating a shiny ball-ball.
37. Do the same with another and just before they dry, join them together, always with the joints at the bottom, without putting flour between them to make them stick. Place this double ball-ball in the baking pan, press them together lightly with the palm of your hand, so that they open up, stick together, and the surface takes the right shape, (careful not too much, just so that it sits well on the base) and cover.
38. Make sure that the pastry and the dough are always covered, so that they don't dry out on the surface. Care should be taken to place the dough pieces at a suitable distance from each other, so that they do not come together during sealing and rising.
39. Repeat the same with the remaining pieces. When you are done make the sign of the Holy Cross on the dough, take the seal and press it on clean flour. Shake it so that no flour is left on it and press it vertically into the center of each ball-ball, pressing lightly so that it fits snugly into the dough.
40. Hold the seal for 2 seconds and then remove it by lifting it carefully. Be careful not to press more than half the volume of the ball-balls, because then it will not come off and the shape and letters of the stamp will be spoiled.
41. After sealing all the trays, place the baking pans in a warm place and cover with the "mesali". Then cover with the woolen blanket, being careful not to weigh it down on them and spoil the imprint of the seal as it swells.
42. After at least two hours, maybe even earlier, depending on the temperature, the foreshores start to swell. This can be seen by the fact that they tear a little on their lips, the seal has been lifted, the letters lose their strong imprint and then they are ready for baking.
43. If during the puffing process we find that the surface of the offerings has a hard crust, then spray with a little cold water, evenly. Uncover and with a toothpick or the stem of oregano, pierce each adforo around the seal and outside the main "Lamb", i.e. at the corners of the letters IS-HR-NI-KA, the Virgin and the orders, (i.e. in places where the representations of the seal are not altered).
44. After piercing, bake in a hot oven at 180o for one hour. Be careful not to burn and darken on top, but only to brown.
45. In case they brown prematurely, cover them with wax paper or special oven paper.
46. The prosphora are not baked like bread for long enough, but when browned, lower the temperature to slow bake until the liquid inside is dry.
47. When you take them out of the oven, wrap them with the "halal" and the woolen blanket until they cool down.
48. This is necessary to prevent them from drying out and to make a soft crust, so that the priest can extract the "Lamb", the Theotokos, and the other orders with ease.
49. When they are well cooled, we store them and they are ready to be offered to the Temple for the benefit of the ministers and all the ignorant people."
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