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Orban

estavrosestavros
edited December 1969 in Coptic Orthodox Church
Dear All,

I would like to learn as much as possible about the orban as there is to know. I already know these facts:

The Orban is a round piece of bread baked at church. It must be baked by a deacon and the whole book of Psalms must be read when baking Orban as it has many prophesies about Lord Jesus.
The Gospel of John presents Jesus as saying: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you [13]… he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him" (6:53-56), and as then not toning down these sayings, even when many of his disciples thereupon abandoned him (6:66),
Saint Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians of Jesus' words at the Last Supper and concluded from that: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27).
The eucharistic bread is baked in an oven built near the sanctuary (sometimes in a room called BeitLahm, which means in Hebrew "house of bread"). The wafer is a small round loaf of bread stamped with the trisagion and with crosses.
* The eucharistic bread is one of the two visible elements constituting the Eucharistic sacrament, the other element being the Eucharistic wine (which is mixed with water).
* The bread is leavened (referrin to our sins) and baked (referring to the salvation we received by the pains that Lord Jesus had suffered for us), unsalted and made of the finest wheat flour.
The only ingredients in prosphora are white flour, water, and yeast. Simply put, the Holy Traditions mention nothing else! When we begin to add things to the pure bread, what are we saying about it? That it isn't sufficient on it's own? That people won't like it if we don't add something to it? Prosphora becomes the Body of Christ in the Eucharistic celebration. Think about what you are saying about the Bread of Life when you add things "according to taste." Do we add things to our Faith to make it more tasteful? Or, when we partake in the simple bread of prosphora, do we remember that our Lord came as a simple carpenter and endured our poverty out of love for us?
* A round loaf of bread (round as the sun) for it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness.
* The central part is called "Despatikon" meaning "Lordly." Around the "Despatikon" there is twelve crosses referring to the twelve disciples.
* It has five holes referring to the spear and nails.
* The word "Agios" or "Holy" is written on it three times (equal in number to the Holy Trinity).

I found this text on another forum, but I forgot which forum, I did not put the reference on my computer, sorry for that.

If you have something to add, please do.

Many thanks in advance,

Estavros

Comments

  • SafaaSafaa
    Dear estavros,

    Welcome to tasbeha, your first thread is very rich and highly imformative, I am sure you will be a great asset to tasbeha.

    I just have these points as addition to your valuable thread:

    + 1-

    The wafer is a small round loaf of bread stamped with the trisagion and with crosses.


    Wafer means: “ A kind of thin light biscuit, a thin disc of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist in the Catholic Church
    Instead of the word wafer you may replaced by the word Orbana.

    + 2- The Orbana is a round bread, has no begining or end, as it represents the Lord Christ who is the Alpha and Omega, the Eternal and Everlasting.

    + 3-

    It must be baked by a deacon

    Not necessarily

    + 4-

    The central part is called "Despatikon" meaning "Lordly." Around the "Despatikon" there is twelve crosses referring to the twelve disciples.

    There is an additional big cross in the centre of the inner circle, referring to the Christ in the middle of His Church, the twelve Disciples. 
  • kokiiekokiie
    Well I didn't know more than half of that information :D lol.
    Can't help you much but wanted to say thankyou..
  • Unknown
    + Did u know that u can't put salt in Orban because we are the salt of the earth.
    + The place where the deacons bake the Orban is known as Bethlehem.
    [quote author=Safaa link=topic=6003.msg80139#msg80139 date=1197230276]

    It must be baked by a deacon

    Not necessarily

    In the original rites of the church (tokous el kanysa), It had to be baked by deacons only. Nowadays people ignore this rite.
    Pray 4 me

  • PopeKyrillosPopeKyrillos
    I kno it can't be baked by woman, but men who aren't deacons is ok. It should be hot when presented at the offering, to resemble the lord's suffering on the cross. The yeast in it represents the sins of the people that mixed in with the world. It rises for a long time (the yeast), to represent the suffering of our lord upon the cross. It is wrong when some people who make orban leave it to rise for 1 hour because like i said it should represent the suffering of our lord upon the cross (a long time).

          If a woman should by chance touch it before the offering, it is not acceptable to be used for the liturgy. Why, I don't know. But anyways, my last piece of info is that it should neither be burnt, nor undercooked to show perfection. It should have like a tan-pale, reddish color when done to almost express how the lord felt on the cross.
    PK
  • estavrosestavros
    Thank you all so much for your input. :)
  • jydeaconjydeacon
    Kirmich is correct in the original rites of the church the deacon was supposed to make the Qorban, but lately its not that people are trying to ignore it, it has become more difficult for the deacons to do it because they don't necessarily have time to, so it is baked by other men in the church(some may do it at their house if the church doesn't have an oven)
  • Marmoura99Marmoura99
    [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=6003.msg80213#msg80213 date=1197405225]
    (some may do it at their house if the church doesn't have an oven)


    Just in addition to that, this only happens if the man is not married and is living on his own or with other men. There are so many things here that I didn't know before! thanks for everyone's input!
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    [quote author=Marmoura99 link=topic=6003.msg80229#msg80229 date=1197423393]
    [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=6003.msg80213#msg80213 date=1197405225]
    (some may do it at their house if the church doesn't have an oven)


    Just in addition to that, this only happens if the man is not married and is living on his own or with other men. There are so many things here that I didn't know before! thanks for everyone's input!


    who said that.....that is not true

    [quote author=Kirmich link=topic=6003.msg80205#msg80205 date=1197390107]
    In the original rites of the church (tokous el kanysa), It had to be baked by deacons only. Nowadays people ignore this rite.


    it's not that they ignore it. in egypt, it still happends. here in the US, it a little diffrent because you have amny churchs that have not setteled in a place yet. so many people just make it. now when a church have a full Bethlehem ready to make orban in, some servants take charge and if they are not deacons, they are than ordained deacons upon that service of makin orban. 

    Also many of you are confusing the normal Orban with the Hammal orban. normal orban is the ones we normally get after liturgy that was not represented for the sacrefice. and that can be done by everyone, men and women.

    the Hammal orban is only done by men, and by much much care than the normal orban.
  • jydeaconjydeacon
    Minagir is correct, the man does not have to be single to make it, most of the men in the church that make it are married
  • Unknown
    Abroad, deacons bake all the Orban as the original rites of the church said. This is because in Egypt u have got people who's job is to make Orban but this is absent abroad. You are all rite when saying that deacons don't bake it no more because they ignore it but because of other reasons.[quote author=minagir link=topic=6003.msg80230#msg80230 date=1197424361]
    Also many of you are confusing the normal Orban with the Hammal orban. normal orban is the ones we normally get after liturgy that was not represented for the sacrefice. and that can be done by everyone, men and women.

    the Hammal orban is only done by men, and by much much care than the normal orban.

    Now that is a good point because they aren't the same. However women still don't make normal Orban. Theoretically the can but it doesn't happen.
    Pray 4 me
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    [quote author=Kirmich link=topic=6003.msg80255#msg80255 date=1197479307]
    Now that is a good point because they aren't the same. However women still don't make normal Orban. Theoretically the can but it doesn't happen.

    No they can't do Hammal at all.
  • Unknown
    [quote author=minagir link=topic=6003.msg80256#msg80256 date=1197481474]
    [quote author=Kirmich link=topic=6003.msg80255#msg80255 date=1197479307]
    Now that is a good point because they aren't the same. However women still don't make normal Orban. Theoretically the can but it doesn't happen.

    No they can't do Hammal at all.

    I meant that they can theoretically make normal Orban not Hammal! But definately they can't make Hammal. Only deacons are 'supposed' to make Hammal.
    Pray 4 me
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