Priest Andrei Chizhenko explains.
The word "antidor" is of Greek origin. It consists of two words: “anti” and “di oron”. “Anti” is translated into Russian as “instead”, “di oron” - “gift”. That is, the literal translation of the word is “instead of donation.”
What does it mean? We know that five prosphoras are used in proskomedia. So to speak, one of them is the best and most important. It's called lamb. From it in a certain way, with certain prayers, the priest cuts out a lamb - the core of the prosphora with a seal at the top in the form of a cross. This carved prosphora has a trapezoidal shape. Later, at the Liturgy, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, she will be transformed into the Body of Christ.
The trimmings and remnants of this prosphora, which were not included in the lamb, are essentially called antidor. It is also a great shrine. Saint Simeon of Thessalonica wrote about him: “Antidorus is sacred bread, which was offered as an offering and the middle of which was taken out and used for sacred rites; this bread, as sealed with a copy and having received divine words, is taught instead of terrible Gifts, that is, the Mysteries, to those who have not partaken of them.”
In other words, it is a shrine because it participated in one of the main sacred rites of the Orthodox Church - the preparation of the Lamb for the Body of Christ.
He began to be called Antidorus from the following liturgical and historical premises...
In ancient times, during the time of the first Christians, believers received communion at almost every Liturgy. More recent practice indicates that people began to receive communion much less frequently.
The times of the Church of the 1st century are a special period in the history of Christianity - a period of holiness, a period of enormous grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit, a period of holy martyrs.
Later, believers began to receive communion during the four great annual fasts and as internally necessary, but not at every Divine Liturgy. But in order not to deprive them of the shrine and, so to speak, the moment of contact with the Body and Blood of Christ, often in almost every church after the dismissal of the Liturgy, a dish with antidoron cut into pieces is brought out, which is distributed to the believers.
Hence the name - “antidor”, that is, eating instead of the Body and Blood of Christ for those who for some reason did not receive communion during the Holy Eucharist.
You should know that the antidor is not the Body and Blood of Christ. Therefore, apart from the prayer for accepting holy water and prosphora, you do not need to read any specific prayers to partake of it. You just need to consume the antidor, just like prosphora and holy water, on an empty stomach and reverently, remembering that this is a shrine. After all, the antidor participated in the proskomedia and a lamb was prepared from it for the Body of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you take antidor and prosphora home (and this is very good), I speak from experience: try to cut them into small pieces right away, before they have dried, and dry them thoroughly so that they do not bloom. In addition, it will be more convenient for you to consume them in small pieces with holy water. You also need to understand that prosphora is a sacred thing; crumbs should also not be dropped on the floor, eaten carelessly or like simple bread.
Crumbs from prosphora or prosphora that have bloomed should be thrown into running water - a river or sea. Careless handling of shrines also needs to be confessed.
There is a very good and pious tradition among believers - after morning prayers, every day on an empty stomach, eat holy water and prosphora (antidor, artos). It seems to me that in this way we receive the gracious help of the Holy Spirit in the coming day and come into contact with that Paschal joy that permeates every Divine Liturgy. Her gifts are precisely prosphora, artos and antidor.
Priest Andrey Chizhenko
Prosphora, Antidor and Artos - how to use correctly? Bread in the Church is a symbol of Christ. He Himself said about this: “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:48). If earthly bread nourishes human life, then Christ, the heavenly Bread, introduces human life to the fullness of Divine life in eternity. And bread is also a symbol of the Church itself. This is how it is said in the ancient Eucharistic prayer: “Just as this bread was scattered over the hills and, being gathered, became one, so will Your Church be gathered from the ends of the earth into Your Kingdom” (Didache, ch. 9)
The origin of prosphora goes back to ancient times. Its prototype was the showbread in the tabernacle of Moses. In the first centuries of Christianity, believers themselves brought with them bread, wine, oil (that is, olive oil), wax for candles - everything they needed to perform divine services. This offering (in Greek prosphora), or donation, was accepted by the deacons; The names of those who brought them were included in a special list, which was prayerfully proclaimed during the consecration of the gifts. Relatives and friends of the deceased made offerings on their behalf, and the names of the deceased were also remembered in prayer. From these voluntary offerings (prosphora), part of the bread and wine was separated for transfusion into the Body and Blood of Christ, candles were made from wax, and other gifts, over which prayers were also said, were distributed to the believers. Subsequently, only bread used for the liturgy began to be called prosphora. Over time, instead of ordinary bread, they began to specially bake prosphora in the church, accepting money as a donation in addition to ordinary offerings.
The prosphora consists of two parts, which are made from dough separately from one another and then joined together. On the upper part there is a seal depicting a four-pointed equilateral cross with the inscriptions above the crossbar IC and XC (Jesus Christ), under the crossbar HI KA (victory in Greek). Prosphora, made from flour from the grains of countless ears of ears, means both human nature, consisting of many elements of nature, and humanity as a whole, consisting of many people. Moreover, the lower part of the prosphora corresponds to the earthly (carnal) composition of man and humanity; the upper part with the seal corresponds to the spiritual principle in man and humanity, in which the image of God is imprinted and the Spirit of God is mysteriously present. God's presence and spirituality permeate the entire nature of man and humanity, which, when making prosphoras, is reflected by adding holy water and yeast to the water. Holy water signifies the grace of God, and yeast signifies the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, which gives life to every creature. This corresponds to the words of the Savior about spiritual life striving for the Kingdom of Heaven, which He likens to leaven put into flour, thanks to which the whole dough gradually rises.
The division of the prosphora into two parts visibly signifies this invisible division of human nature into flesh (flour and water) and soul (yeast and holy water), which are in an inseparable, but also unfused unity, which is why the upper and lower parts of the prosphora are made separately from one another , but then connect so that they become one. The seal on the top of the prosphora visibly denotes the invisible seal of the image of God, which penetrates the entire nature of man and is the highest principle in him. This arrangement of the prosphora corresponds to the structure of man before the Fall and the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, who restored in Himself this structure broken by the Fall.
The prosphora can be received at the candle box after the liturgy by submitting a note “On health” or “On repose” before the start of the service. The names indicated in the notes are read at the altar, and for each name a particle is taken out of the prosphora, which is why such a prosphora is also called “taken out.”
At the end of the liturgy, the antidor is distributed to the worshipers - small parts of the prosphora from which the Holy Lamb was taken out at the proskomedia. The Greek word antidor comes from the words anti - instead of and di oron - gift, that is, the exact translation of this word is instead of gift.
“Antidorus,” says Saint Simeon of Thessalonica, “is sacred bread that was offered as an offering and the middle of which was taken out and used for sacred rites; this bread, as sealed with a copy and having received the Divine words, is taught instead of the Terrible Gifts, that is, the Mysteries, to those who have not partaken of them.”
The antidorus should be received reverently, folding your palms crosswise, right over left, and kissing the hand of the priest giving this gift. According to the rules of the Church, the antidoron must be eaten in church, on an empty stomach and with reverence, because this is holy bread, bread from the altar of God, part of the offerings to the altar of Christ, from which it receives heavenly sanctification.
The word artos (in Greek leavened bread) means consecrated bread common to all members of the Church, otherwise it means whole prosphora.
Artos, throughout Bright Week, occupies the most prominent place in the church along with the image of the Resurrection of the Lord and is distributed to believers at the conclusion of Easter celebrations.
The use of artos dates back to the very beginning of Christianity. On the fortieth day after the Resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven. The disciples and followers of Christ found consolation in prayerful memories of the Lord - they recalled His every word, every step and every action. Gathering for common prayer, they remembered the Last Supper and partook of the Body and Blood of Christ. When preparing an ordinary meal, they left the first place at the table to the invisibly present Lord and placed bread in this place. Imitating the apostles, the first shepherds of the Church established that on the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, bread should be placed in the church as a visible expression of the fact that the Savior who suffered for us became for us the true bread of life.
The artos depicts the Resurrection of Christ or a cross on which only the crown of thorns is visible, but not the crucified Christ, as a sign of Christ’s victory over death.
The artos is consecrated with a special prayer, sprinkling with holy water and censing on the first day of Holy Easter at the liturgy after the prayer behind the pulpit. On the sole opposite the royal doors, an artos is placed on a prepared table. After censing around the table with the artos, the priest reads a special prayer, after which he sprinkles the artos three times with holy water with the words “This artos is blessed and sanctified by sprinkling sowing sacred water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".
The consecrated artos is placed on the sole in front of the image of the Savior, where it lies throughout Holy Week. On all days of Bright Week, at the end of the liturgy with artos, a procession of the cross around the temple is solemnly performed. On Saturday of Bright Week, at the end of the liturgy, the priest says a special prayer, during the reading of which the artos is crushed, and when kissing the cross, it is distributed to the people as a shrine.
Particles of artos received in the temple are reverently kept by believers as a spiritual cure for illnesses and infirmities. Artos is used in special cases, for example, in illness, and always with the words “Christ is Risen!”
The prosphora and artos are kept in the holy corner near the icons. Spoiled prosphora and artos should be taken to church.
PRAYER FOR ACCEPTING PROSPORA AND HOLY WATER
Lord my God, may Thy holy gift be: prosphora and Thy holy water for the remission of my sins, for the enlightenment of my mind, for the strengthening of my mental and physical strength, for the health of my soul and body, for the subjugation of my passions and infirmities according to Thy infinite mercy through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen.
Artos is a great shrine associated with the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, you need to treat it very reverently and carefully.
Since the time of the ancient Apostolic Church, bread has been given enormous symbolic spiritual and liturgical significance. He symbolized the Body of Christ. This is the establishment of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself. The Gospel of Luke says: “And he took the bread and gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying: “This is My body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). The Eucharist itself or the Divine Liturgy was called in ancient times the “breaking of bread.”
Let us also remember, dear brothers and sisters, how in the old days our grandfathers and grandmothers treated bread in peasant families. Now we treat it as one of a number of ordinary products that can be dropped on the floor, thrown into the trash bin, and so on. But it wasn't like that before. In peasant families, bread was cut carefully and carefully, they also ate it, the crumbs were picked up and poured into the river or given to animals.
Since apostolic times, the tradition has been firmly established during a common meal to leave one piece of bread and put it at the head of the table of the Lord. This was a symbol of the fact that Christ was invisibly present in the Church even after His ascension to heaven. The same thing happened after the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. According to legend, the apostles and disciples began to put aside bread for the Virgin Mary at meals, calling it “panagia,” which is translated from Greek as “all-holy” (one of the epithets of the Mother of God). Later, the prosphora itself began to be called panagia, from which a piece was removed at the proskomedia in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Since ancient times and to this day, the rite of offering the panagia has been served in Orthodox monasteries. After the Divine Liturgy, the abbot carried the panagia from the church in a special vessel to the fraternal meal, where it was crushed and eaten by the brethren with a special prayer before the meal. Thus, the meal, as in ancient times, the supper of agape love, at which the Eucharist was celebrated, became part of the divine service, continuously connected with the Liturgy.
An echo of this ancient tradition and confirmation that we, Orthodox Christians, still exist today in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church (9th member of the Creed), is the Easter tradition of consecration and fragmentation of the artos.
The word "artos" is translated from Greek as "leavened bread." This is a special large cylindrical prosphora, on the top of which an imprint of the icon of the Resurrection of Christ is made with a special baker's seal. In the Typikon (Charter) the artos is called the whole prosphora. On the one hand, this name means that particles were not removed from the Easter prosphora to perform proskomedia. On the other hand, it is a symbol of the Church in which each of us is located, its universality and integrity; The Church redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and sanctified by the Resurrection of Christ.
Artos on a special lectern before the start of the Easter all-night vigil is placed on the sole in front of the icon of the Savior on the iconostasis. According to the prayer behind the pulpit of the Liturgy, it is consecrated by the priest, who says a certain prayer and sprinkles the artos with holy water. The prayer also contains the following words: “For we, Thy servants, in honor and glory, and in remembrance of the glorious Resurrection of the same Son of Thy Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom from the eternal work of the enemy, and from the insoluble bonds of hell, permission, freedom and advancement have been gained. , before Your Majesty now on this all-bright, Glorious and saving day of Easter, we bring this...” That is, we bring artos as a gift to God as a symbol of the Bright Resurrection of Christ. And its consecration at the most important service of the year, when the heavens themselves are open, when the Savior is among us, and the heavenly Church unites with the earthly Church in a single Easter praise to the Lord for the redemption and healing of mankind, tells us that artos is a great shrine associated with the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, you need to treat it very reverently and carefully.
Confirmation that the artos is a great shrine is also the fact that it is worn during the religious procession around the temple throughout Bright Week. After all, it symbolizes the Risen God and the fact that Christ dwells among us. And throughout Bright Week, the artos remains in a place of honor in the temple in the open Royal Doors.
On Saturday of Bright Week, usually, after the prayer behind the pulpit of the Divine Liturgy, the rite of breaking up the artos is performed. The priest reads a certain prayer, and then the artos is crushed, and at the end of the service it is distributed to the believers.
As mentioned above, artos is a great shrine. Why should we store it and eat it? This is evidenced by the words of the prayer for the fragmentation of the artos: “may all who taste from it bodily and mental blessings and health be honored with the grace and generosity of Your philanthropy.” We see that artos is given to us for our physical and mental health. Therefore, it is useful to eat it during illness or special sorrows in life. He will revive us. After all, artos is a symbol - a spiritual component of eternal life, which we receive in the Bright Resurrection of Christ with His victory over hell, the devil, sin and death. And the one who eats artos, or even just keeps it at home, becomes a participant in the eternal Easter joy, which no one will ever take away from us, a joy that heals the soul and body of a person.
Of course, artos should not be confused with the Body and Blood of Christ. These are completely different things. The Holy Gifts are the greatest church shrine. Artos is at the same time a spiritual and physical remedy, similar to antidor, holy water and prosphora, which serves to maintain a person’s spiritual strength in our difficult earthly struggle and journey.
Artos should be kept at home near holy icons. Since this is a great shrine, it is advisable before the service on Saturday of Bright Week to stock up on a bag (preferably linen made from organic fabric), where you should put the piece of crushed artos you received, so as not to drop the crumbs of the shrine. It is advisable to break up the artos into small pieces: this will make it more convenient for you to consume them. Artos can be distributed, but before that you must make sure that it gets to pious believers. Store the bags with the shrine open so that the arthos does not bloom. If this does happen, then it should either be brought to the temple, or put into running water - a river or sea (but not into a lake). The bag in which the artos was stored must be burned in a clean place. It is advisable to confess your careless attitude towards artos later.
This shrine is eaten with the usual prayer for holy water and prosphora with the addition of “Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!”
In conclusion, dear brothers and sisters, I would like to wish everyone that Easter joy does not leave us all year round. Let us remember the Venerable Elder Seraphim of Sarov, who greeted everyone who came to him with the words: “My joy! Christ is Risen!" And the embodied expression of this comprehensive universal amazing joy about the Risen Lord is precisely artos. A piece of bread that we brought as a gift to God and which the Lord returned to us in order to protect and heal us sinners with the greatest power of His Resurrection.
Orthodox bread in church rites is the central part of the Liturgy. In no other denomination is there such worship and veneration of church bread as in Orthodoxy. This is not just a ritual. The veneration of the wheat product dates back more than 2000 years ago and symbolizes Jesus Christ.
The meaning of bread in church rituals
In his message, John (John 6:18) conveys the words of the Savior that He is the Bread of Life. It was not for nothing that the Lord compared himself to bread. This word has a deep meaning.
- The grain dies and is reborn in the ear. So Jesus died to return to earth in the hearts of His children, Orthodox Christians.
- Flour is a symbol of purification and processing, in order to become a prototype of the Savior, believers must pass tests and unite into one whole, one Church, the bride of Christ.
- Baking is purification by fire.
- A bread product contains many pieces, just as Jesus united his followers.
Orthodox sacred bread
Just as bread is a staple food for people, remaining the main dish on the table, so Jesus Christ is the basis and center of the Church. True believing Orthodox people begin their day with prayer and eating holy water and a piece of church bread on an empty stomach:
- prosphora;
- arthos.
More about the shrines of Orthodoxy:
Prosphora, its meaning and history of appearance
Prosphora is an integral part of the Liturgy; it is also called liturgical bread. The sacrament of the Eucharist, the commemoration of the deceased at Proskomedia, occurs during the reception of holy bread by Christians - a piece of prosphora.
The first mention of church bread prepared for sacrifice is in the Old Testament (Leviticus 7:13), when God ordered leavened baked goods to be prepared for sacrifice. In the tabernacle, during the campaign of Moses and the Jewish people through the desert, also by command of the Creator, there was always the bread of show, but unleavened. It had two parts - symbols of earthly human life and heavenly Divine life. The showbread is a type of Jesus, who became the Bread of Life, being God and man.
Prosphora breads are baked by specially trained people, prosphora bakers, and at large churches there are prosphora bakeries where holy bread is baked. The recipe for church baked goods is based on holy water, wheat flour, leaven and salt. Hops, raisins or ordinary yeast are used as starter culture.
Antidor - particles taken out at proskomedia
The church custom of distributing pieces of prosphora after the Liturgy and Communion dates back to the seventh century. This rule was established at the Ninth Council of Kamnet, which took place in Gaul. In the first years after the death of Jesus, people took communion every day, then this action began to occur much less frequently.
As a rule, at present, most Orthodox Christians come to the Sacrament of Communion during great Lents. In order not to deprive the rest of the parishioners of the grace to share bread with the Lamb, the priesthood installed an antidor, a dish with the edges of the main prosphora cut into small pieces. Hence the name, antidor - a gift for those who have not participated in the Eucharist for a long time.
When is the artidor distributed in the temple?
According to the Charter of the Church, the priest must distribute the antidor during prayer during the performance of Psalm 33, after taking the sacrament.
1 Psalm of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech and was driven away from him and withdrew.
2 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise is continually in my mouth.
3 My soul will glory in the Lord; The meek will hear and rejoice.
4 Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
5 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my dangers.
6 Those who looked to Him were enlightened, and their faces were not ashamed.
7 This beggar cried, and the Lord heard and saved him from all his troubles.
8 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them.
9 Taste and see how good the Lord is! Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
10 Fear the Lord, all you His saints, for there is no want among those who fear Him.
11 The people of Skim are poor and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
12 Come, children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
13 Does a person want to live and does he love long life in order to see good?
14 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful words.
15 Avoid evil and do good; seek peace and follow it.
16 Eyes of God addressed against the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.
17 But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to destroy the memory of them from the earth.
18 [The righteous] cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles.
19 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and will save those who are humble in spirit.
20 Many are the sorrows of the righteous, and the Lord will deliver him from all of them.
21 He keeps all his bones; not one of them will be crushed.
22 Evil will kill the sinner, and those who hate the righteous will perish.
23 The Lord will redeem the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him will perish.
About other psalms:
It is important to know that antidor is taken on an empty stomach, such a small morning fast.
The Antidoron in no way replaces the Holy Blood and Body of Jesus Christ. When accepting it, one prayer is read - a request for the blessing of drinking holy water and a piece of prosphora.
Prayer for accepting Holy water and prosphora
Lord, my God, may Your holy gift be: prosphora and Your holy water for the remission of my sins, for the enlightenment of my mind, for the strengthening of my mental and physical strength, for the health of my soul and body, for the subjugation of my passions and infirmities by infinite mercy To Your prayers, Your Most Pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen.
Artos - symbol of the risen God
The central place on the salt near the Crucifixion of the Lord on all days of Holy Week is occupied by the consecrated artos, a leavened bread called whole in Orthodoxy, which meant that no pieces were cut off from the artos for proskomedia. Unlike prosphora, artos consists of a whole cylindrical form.
The integral artos is a symbol of the unity of the Orthodox Church, for which the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, paid with His blood. One God, One Church and we are one in the family of Orthodoxy.
The bread shrine appeared during the time of the first apostles, who, in the days of remembrance of the miraculous resurrection of the Lord, displayed bread in churches, symbolizing Jesus Christ, as Bread for all Christianity.
The Gospel of Luke (Luke 22:19) speaks of the first Eucharist given by Jesus himself. At that time, this ritual was called the Breaking of Bread and meant participation in the Body of the Savior. Artos differs from prosphora in its design. It depicts either a crown of thorns or a cross on which there is no crucified Savior.
Artos - blessed bread
The consecration of the bread shrine takes place on the first Easter day after the prayer behind the pulpit is read. During each religious procession around the church, one of the priests carries an artos, which is returned to the salt. After the Liturgy, celebrated on Saturday of Holy Week, the artos is divided into pieces and distributed to each Christian who is suitable to kiss the cross.
Consecrated pieces of artos are considered a great shrine, possessing the spiritual power to heal the most terrible diseases. A piece of Easter bread is filled with life-giving power given by the Savior. They use artos when they are sick, while saying “Christ is Risen!”
Both the prosphora and the artos should be stored near the icons or behind them, so that even crumbs of the holy artos do not fall on the floor; it must be saved in specially sewn bags made of linen. Artos can be shared with your neighbors. At the same time, you must be sure that it will fall into the hands of a person who has received Orthodox baptism.
Advice! If for some reason mold has attacked the bread shrines, they should be set on fire or released through the clean waters of a river or stream.
Video about making sacred bread
On November 13, the Church honors the day of remembrance of the holy prosphora bearers of Pechersk - the Venerables Spyridon and Nicodemus. In this regard, let's talk about prosphora.
This word means “offering” in translation from Greek. In the proper logical sense of the ancient Church, this is every liturgical offering: bread, wine, water, oil, candles. The deacons wrote down the names of the donors of the prosphora-offering in a special commemoration book and commemorated them at the Liturgy. Later, the word “prosphora” began to refer specifically to the bread intended for the Eucharist.
Why bread? Because the Lord Himself called Himself Bread. “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:48). And during the Last Supper, it was the Lord who broke the bread, saying: “This is my body, which is given for you: do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
Prosphora is a round small bread consisting of two parts (a symbol of the dual nature of Christ - Divine and human). The bread must be yeast or leavened - “live”. Let us remember the Gospel parable about leaven (Matthew 13:33). Prosphora is always baked from pure wheat flour. It also consists of water (possibly Epiphany water) and salt. There is a seal at the top of the prosphora. Most often it is a cross and the letters “Is.”, “Xs.” – Jesus Christ and the Greek “Nike” - “victory”. Images of the Blessed Virgin Mary and saints are also possible on seals.
From the prosphora with the seal of Christ, a Lamb is cut out, which at the Liturgy will become the Body of Christ, from the rest pieces are taken out with the commemoration of the names of living and deceased Orthodox Christians. At the end of the Liturgy, the prosphora is taken out of the altar and distributed to the faithful. This is often done in a candle shop.
The prosphora should be treated as a shrine. This is not ordinary bread. He participated in the divine service (the Holy of Holies of the Orthodox Church) - the Liturgy.
At home it should be kept in a special place, you can near icons, consumed with holy water only on an empty stomach with a special prayer: “Lord my God, may Your holy gift be: prosphora and Your holy water for the remission of my sins, for the enlightenment of my mind, for strengthening my spiritual and bodily strength, for the health of my soul and body, for the subjugation of my passions and infirmities according to Your infinite mercy through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen". You should be careful about the crumbs, try not to litter or scatter them. Moldy prosphora is traditionally disposed of: thrown into the river - into running water.
From my own experience, I will say that it is most convenient to store prosphora in the following way. While it is fresh, cut it into small pieces, put them in a linen bag to dry (you can also put it in a plastic bag, just do not close it so that there is air access). When the particles dry out, they can be stored for at least several years. Small pieces are more convenient to eat. In addition, whole prosphora will mold much faster because moisture is retained inside it, which can become a breeding ground for mold spores.
The meaning of the prosphora is similar to the meaning of the antidor. It is also pieces of the prosphora from which the Lamb was carved. The word "antidor" translated from Greek means "instead of communion." That is, we cannot receive communion every day, but we have the opportunity to eat prosphora and drink holy water reverently as a kind of symbol of communion. Not a substitute. These are not equivalent things. The Body and Blood of Christ are immeasurably higher. But as a symbol of the Liturgy, a symbol of the Holy Eucharist, the embodied memory of which is the prosphora, and, of course, with proper faith, reverence and fear of God, the prosphora revives and supports our spiritual and bodily strength.