During the Service of Preparation, the clergy prepare themselves, the sanctuary and the Holy Gifts for the Divine Liturgy.
The Priest and Deacon stand before the Iconostasis and say prayers before entering the altar. They recite Prayers and Psalms as they put on their vestments. Then they will prepare the Prosphora (the bread) for placement into the Communion Chalice. The preparation of the Prosphora beautifully reflects the reality of Christian Communion. Jesus not only said that the Bread is His Body, but we know that the Church is His Body too. So when the Bread is prepared, there are particles prepared to represent the entirety of the Church which makes up Christ’s Body. There are particles of bread representing St. John the Baptist, the Prophets, the Apostles, Sainted Hierarchs, Martyrs, Holy Monks and Nuns, Holy Unmercenaries and Physicians, the Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna, the Saint whose church it is, the Saint of the day, the Saint whose Liturgy it is, the departed faithful and the living.
This is a beatiful representation of the reality of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Body of Christ.
