Recipe for Qurban for Holy Eucharist and the Antidoron
Traditional Recipe from A Guide for the Domestic Church 
by Eparchy of Newton, Office of Educational Services, 
Brookline, Massachusetts, United States.


A basic bread dough recipe is used in
preparing the holy bread. The most distinctive sign that this is bread meant for the
Eucharist is that before baking it is marked
with the seal or stamp on which the divine
name is inscribed. This seal consists of a
cross, around which is written the Greek inscription IC KC NlKA (Jesus Christ is
victorious). Some of these seals contain only
one such inscription; others contain several
(meant to be used in larger celebrations) as
well as indications for the other particles cut
during the prothesis or preparation rite.
Usually made of wood (but increasingly of
plastic or ceramic as well), these seals are
available from the liturgical suppliers listed
in the appendix and often from ethnic grocers as well.

There are many variations to the recipe
for prosphora and these are often found in
ethnic cook books. One handy guide is Father
Anthony Coniaris' leaflet Preparing the
Bread Offering (Prosphora)for the Liturgy,
available from Light and Life (see appendix).
One popular recipe used in many of our
churches is the following:

Holy Bread

1 pkg. compressed dry yeast
2 1/2 cups water
2 tsps. salt
6 3/4 to 7 cups unbleached flour (Crutchfield is
a good brand)

Dilute yeast in warm water. Add salt,
then half of the flour and stir. Mix the remainder of the flour by hand until dough is firm.
Knead until dough is smooth. Divide dough
and place in 8", 9" or 10" cake pans that have
beenfloured only: do not grease pan. Keep
in mind that the dough should be smoothed
out to cover the bottom half of the depth of
the pan.

Take the Eucharistic seal and dip into
flour. Shake off the excess flour, then press
firmly and evenly in the center of the dough.
Remove the seal and let dough rise, covered,
until almost doubled in bulk. As the dough
will also rise in the oven, take care that it
does not rise so much that the seal will be
erased.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Before baking, take kitchen scissors and
cut the dough at an angle around the perimeter of the bread midway between the edge
of the pan and the seal, taking care not to cut
through to the bottom. Then take a toothpick
and prick the outer edge of the seal. Do not
pierce the center section of the seal.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes
or until done. Bread should be golden in
color.

Immediately after taking the bread from
the oven, wipe the face of the bread with a
clean, damp cloth which has been soaked in
cold water. Cover the bread with a dry cloth
and allow to cool. Place bread in a plastic bag
when cool.

While mixing, kneading and waiting for
the bread to rise or bake, family members can
pray for the intentions they wish to commemorate during the Liturgy. In some
parishes the priest sings these names aloud
during the Great Entrance, so when you
bring the Bread to church, include a list of
the intentions you wish commemorated.