Bring a loaf of leavened bread you’ve baked to church, along with a list of names you want commemorated during the Liturgy. That’s the short answer. But there’s more you’ll want to know.
Prosphora means “offering.” It’s the liturgical bread used in the Divine Liturgy. Before the service begins, the priest takes your loaf to the altar table and cuts out the center portion, called the Lamb, which will become the Body and Blood of Christ. He also removes small pieces while praying for the Theotokos, the saints, and the living and departed whose names you’ve provided. What’s left over becomes antidoron, the blessed bread distributed after Liturgy.
This isn’t just about bringing bread. You’re participating in the Liturgy itself. Your offering becomes part of the Eucharistic action, and the people you love, living and dead, are remembered by name at the altar.
Check With Your Priest First
Different parishes do this differently. Some use one large Byzantine-style loaf with two layers baked together. Others prefer five smaller loaves in the Slavic style. Your priest will tell you which kind your parish uses and when he needs it. Many parishes want prosphora delivered a day or two before the Liturgy, or at least a couple hours beforehand. Don’t show up ten minutes before the service starts.
You’ll also need to provide a list of names. Write them clearly, first names are usually enough, though some parishes want full names. Separate the living from the departed. Some priests want these lists emailed by Friday for Sunday Liturgy. Others are fine with a handwritten note when you drop off the bread. Ask.
It’s customary to attend the Liturgy when your prosphora is used. This is your offering. Be there.
How to Bake It
The recipe is simple: wheat flour, water, yeast, salt. That’s it. No sugar, no milk, no oil. This bread is meant to be pure and straightforward, like the loaves people would’ve brought to the early Church.
If you’re making the Byzantine double loaf, divide your dough into two equal portions. Shape them into rounds. Stack one on top of the other and let them rise together as a single loaf. Before baking, press a prosphora seal firmly into the top. Flour the seal first or it’ll stick. The seal usually has a cross and the words IC XC NIKA, “Jesus Christ conquers.” That’s where the priest will cut the Lamb.
Some parishes pierce small holes around the seal before baking. Others don’t. Ask your priest about this too, because practices vary even within the Antiochian tradition.
Bake until golden. The loaf should sound hollow when you tap the bottom. Let it cool completely before wrapping it.
The Atmosphere Matters
Baking prosphora isn’t just cooking. Do it prayerfully. Some people say the Jesus Prayer while they knead. Others work in silence. Clean your kitchen first. Be in a good frame of mind. If you’ve had a fight with your spouse or you’re fuming about something, maybe wait until you’ve calmed down.
The Antiochian Village Camp materials emphasize this: bake in “an atmosphere of quiet and peace.” That’s not legalism. It’s recognizing that what you’re making will be offered to God and become part of the Eucharist. Treat it that way.
Why Two Layers?
The double loaf represents Christ’s two natures, fully God and fully man. One nature isn’t enough. We don’t worship a divine spirit who only seemed human, and we don’t follow a good teacher who was just a man. The Lamb cut from this bread is the incarnate Word, the Second Person of the Trinity who took flesh from the Virgin Mary. The bread you bake carries that theology.
The leaven matters too. We use leavened bread because we’re the living Church, risen with Christ. Unleavened bread is for Passover. We’ve passed through Pascha into the new creation.
What Happens to Your Offering
During the Proskomedia, the Liturgy of Preparation, the priest stands at the altar table and cuts the Lamb from your loaf. He places it on the diskos, the liturgical plate. Then he removes particles for the Theotokos, for John the Baptist, for the prophets and apostles and martyrs. He takes out a piece for the bishop, for the living, for the departed. He’s building the whole Church on that plate, heaven and earth together.
When he reads your list of names, he’s not just remembering them. He’s placing them into the Liturgy, into the Eucharistic offering. Your grandmother who died last year, your kid starting college, your coworker going through chemo, they’re all there, mystically present at the altar.
After Communion, the priest distributes what’s left of your loaf as antidoron. People will eat bread you baked and prayed over. That’s not a small thing.
Practical Notes for Southeast Texas
If you work offshore or at the plants on a rotating schedule, plan ahead. You can’t bake prosphora at 2 AM Thursday and expect to make it to church by 8 AM Sunday if you’re on night shift. Ask another family member to deliver it, or coordinate with someone from church.
If your Baptist mother-in-law asks why you’re baking “church bread,” tell her it’s an offering, like bringing firstfruits. She’ll understand that. If your Catholic relatives recognize it from their own tradition of altar bread, explain that ours is leavened and that we still do this at home, not in a convent bakery. Most people are curious, not critical.
During hurricane season, if you’ve evacuated and can’t make your scheduled prosphora, let the priest know as soon as you can. Someone else will cover it. The Liturgy doesn’t stop because of weather.
Start by watching someone else do it if you can. Many parishes have experienced bakers who’ll walk you through it the first time. It’s not complicated, but it helps to see the process once before you try it at home.
