SAINT BASIL YOUTH PROSPHORA ‘BAKE-OFF’
December 18, 2018
SAINT BASIL YOUTH PARTICIPATE IN PROSPHORA-MAKING WORKSHOP
St. Basil's Youth group began meeting in September of this year with 10 members attending. The group meets every second Saturday from 6:00 PM until 9:00 and includes youth from ages 12-16 years old. Members share their experiences or thoughts on spiritual topics by watching videos, discussion or group activities. The most recent get-together was a truly fun and educational event that, hopefully, will also provide some funding for the group. They gathered in the kitchen of the parish hall on Saturday, December 8th and they made.... Prosphora ! Prosphora is the special bread made for the Eucharistic liturgy. It is also traditional in Ukraine to distribute the blessed (but not consecrated) prosphora to the faithful on special feast s and other special occasions. One such time is Christmas. It is a tradition on Christmas Eve at the Sviata Vecherya that the head of the household would distribute pieces of the prosphora (sometimes saturated with a good drop of honey) to all the family members and guests. Parish Priest, Fr. Ihor, leads the youth in all activities with generous assistance (in time and materially) from other parish members. The group offers a much-appreciated opportunity to bring together Catholic youth and to inspire them in their spiritual journey.
So, the youth plan to make their prosphoras available - for a donation - to the parishioners on the Sunday before Christmas (December 23) in order that all families can have the prosphora breads for their Christmas Eve supper. It is customary for the one distributing the bread to make a little personal comment of encouragement and blessing to each of the recipients just before the holy supper begins...
