Orbana/Holy Bread

im preparing a sunday school lesson about the orbana
but i cant find a picture of it anywhere
does any1 know a site or have a picture they can post i tried to draw 1 but i cant remember everything on it, so tell me if this looks right or not, i will be showing the kids an orbana and explaining it to them, but i also need a picture, so they can have it in there sunday school notebooks
and is there anything else i should add in the explanation besides this, they are children in 1st and 2nd grade

-Deacons make the Orban while psalms are being read from the agbeya

-The orbana is round, it is in a circular shape, because a circle has no beginning and no end, just as Jesus has no beginning and no end, but is from everlasting to everlasting.

-In the middle of the orbana is a big cross, which represents Jesus Christ.

-There are 12 crosses around the big cross, which represent the 12 disciples

-There are 5 holes that symbolize the wounds of Jesus Christ; 3 for the nails in the hands and feet of Jesus, 1 for the crown of thorns, and 1 for the spear in His side.

-God is holy and that is why the Coptic words “Agios Otheos, Agios Esheros, Agios Athanatos” are printed on the Orban, which mean “Holy God, holy Mighty, holy Immortal”.

Comments

  • You can also mention why our orban is leavaned as opposed to unleavened (as it is in the Catholic Church for example).

    H.G. Bishop Angelos states in his article on the Coptic Faith: “The Coptic Church also uses ordinary (that is, leavened) bread, for the offering. The Coptic Church has always taught, what most scholars now acknowledge, that the Last Supper took place one day before the Passover, and thus Christ used leavened bread.”

    You can then tell them how leaven usually represents sin in the Old Testament, and hence you can provide the explanation of the symbolic significance of this as given by Fr Tadros Malaty in his book Christ in the Eucharist, page 103: “The holy bread is leavened…for the yeast refers to our wickedness, which Jesus carried in His Holy Body and entered into the fire of the Cross.”

    Peace.
  • Dear PrincessMary,
    Good luck on your sunday school lesson, hope it goes well, and God bless!

    Forever,
    Coptic Servent
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