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I've noticed in the Orthodox Church, parishioners taking bread, usually distributed by the priest after receiving Holy Communion. I've also noticed parishioners eating this bread, without receiving the Precious Blood.
Is this bread consecrated ?
What is the symbolism of eating this bread, if you have not taken Communion ?
Also if I attend a Divine Liturgy, As a Latin Catholic, I fast that morning before receiving the Eucharist. (Latin's are only required to fast for 1 hour prior).
Can I still receive Holy Communion at an EC Church ?

Thanks,
Brad

Hi, Intrigued Latin!

The bread you refer to is known as "antidoron." It is the remnants, if you will, of the same bread that is ultimately consecrated as the Eucharist. It is blessed, but not consecrated, therefore it is not the True Presence of Our Lord.

In the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church, this bread is distributed to the faithful in a ceremony at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, along with a blessing by the priest that includes the anointing of one's forehead with blessed oil. This blessing ceremony is known as "Mirovanije." As the faithful come forward, the priest will anoint their forehead with the blessed oil and say, "Christ is amongst us!" They respond with, "He is and will be!" and proceed to a large platter holding the antidoron, where they take and consume a piece.

The anointing with oil is representative of Christ's healing power. The Apostles, we know through Scripture, would often times anoint the sick with oil as they performed works of healing. As to the distribuiton of the bread, I have heard two accounts for it's significance:

1. It is a reminder that Christ is the Bread of Life.

2. It is a reminder that Our Lord will also provide for our temporal needs (bread) in conjunction with our spiritual needs (the blessing with the oil).

Perhaps one of my more learned brothers or sisters can account for the accuracy of one or the other explanation (or an altogether different one!).

a pilgrim

As to your other question...

As a Catholic, you are fully entitled to participate in the Sacraments of our Catholic Church through any of the Churches, Western or Eastern, that are in full communion with Rome. I believe, however, that you are bound by the specifics regarding fasting, etc. as dictated by the Church to which you were initiated into the Catholic Church. Therefore, as a Roman Catholic, your pre-communion fasting rules would still apply to you, even though you receive the Sacrament in an Eastern Church.

Please, folks... step in and correct me if you know this to be untrue!

a pilgrim (again!)

Thought that I'd ressurect this thread from last year.
On Sunday my wife and I took our 20 month old daughter (Ava) to St. Panteleimon Greek Orthodox Church to receive Holy Communion.
The Nouna (Godmother) of our daughter was also there and she took Ava up to the Chalice.
I did not appropach the Cup but noticed that after Ava received Communion, there was a bowl of bread that the Altar servers were giving out.
It was quite a large piece and I knew that Ava would not be able to finish it, I ate some of it too. I understand this bread to be 'antidoron'.
My question is :
Diuring consecration, does the priest take a piece of bread and put it in the cup with sacred wine, so that together they may become the Body and Precious Blood of our Saviour ?
How much bread does he use ?
I remeber attending a Ukrainian Catholic Liturgy and when I received communion, the – the bread and wine were co-mingled in the chalice and distributed by spoon.

Brad - Who originally thought for a second that I had taken Communion in an Orthodox Church, but later realized that it was antidoron

This is not particularly complicated or hard to follow. Watch closely:

The Divine Liturgy has THREE parts: the "Preparation", the Liturgy of the Catechumens, and the Liturgy of the Faithful.

The "Preparation" is done quietly by the priest and deacon, behind the iconostasis, with the doors closed; as its name implies the Preparation is the portion of the service in which the Priest (and to a smaller extend the Deacon) prepare the Gifts (bread and wine) for consecration. The bread is cut and arranged on the discarion (which corresponds to the western paten) according to a complex pattern not immediately relevant to this discussion. The wine, with a small amount of water, are poured into the chalice. Both are blessed and veiled, and the priest offers a short prayer dedicating these Gifts to the work of God.

In cutting and preparing the bread for this purpose, there are invariably some pieces of bread which are not placed on the discos, and therefore will not be consecrated. Because these pieces of bread have been so closely associated with those portions of bread which are to be consecrated and immersed in the Precious Blood, they are not simply discarded or otherwise treated irreverently - instead they are kept on a separate dish or tray, blessed in a simple way AFTER the consecration, and then given to the people to consume at the end of the Liturgy (usually the people take these pieces of bread and consume them when they come to kiss the Cross). The name "antidoron" means literally "instead of the Gift"; sometimes people save these pieces of bread, keep them near the icons in the home, and consume them reverently during the week.
Strictly, the priest himself should give the pieces of Antidoron to each individual (who then kisses the priest's hand) but this is often not observed and, as mentioned, people kiss the Cross and take some of the bread.

Please Note: when referring to the Holy Gifts after the consecration, we no longer speak of "bread" and "wine", we speak of the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Our Lord.

Incognitus

It dates to the time before coffee and doughnuts. (Hard to believe). People would be hungry from fasting. The priest distributed a small dinner roll to keep up their strenght until they returned home. They would also take one for the sick who could not attend.

Some travelers in the mid-nineteenth century remarked that they "received Holy Communion" in the Russian Church but really it was this antideron.

Christ Is RISEN! Indeed He is RISEN!

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Many Blessings,

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

WHOOPS! Double POST! Sorry! :rolleyes:

I guess I'm still "HIGH" from the Orthodox Pascha yesterday.

Christos Anesti!

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

Dear Incognitus, Christ is Risen!
I was taught to use 2 parts wine to 1 part water at the offering of the Gifts, leaving enough room in the chalice to dilute the Holy Blood with the hot water at half and half or, at least, the 2:1 ratio again (and to be sure to obtain the wine sweet enough that it still tastes like wine after both dilutings!). The 2:1 ratio is, I was told, how the Jews of Christ's time tended to mix their wine.
I'm told that the Roman Rite uses only a drop of wine (and that they use white wine!).

Comments?

Christ is Risen,
Photius, Reader

Photius

Not quite Rite here

RC Priests add a small quantity of water to the wine in the Chalice before Consecration - often indeed just a drop depending on the quantity required for Reception. If Communion is given under both kinds [ yes this is the terminology - sorry] then obviously a larger quantity is prepared but if the faithful are communed from the Ciborium only [ as was the older custom and still is in many places ] then Wine was only required for the Priest and therefore only a drop of water was added.

The type of wine used should be strictly controlled and may be either white or red - our Parish uses red but I know others that use white.

Anhelyna

Really?

yes - really

hmmm

I saw a similar question in this month's Adoremus - they confirmed that you may use either red or white wine, in the Latin Rite anyway.