An interesting tradition of our Orthodox brethren is that of distributing the andideron. This is the bread that is left over after Holy Communion has been prepared.

One is really struck by the reverence with which the andideron is received and consumed. And the priest, representing Christ, abundantly gives to the people this blessed bread in order to sustain the flock’s hope that they are really being supported in the life of grace and more able, by Christ’s assistance to defeat every malicious attack of the evil one.

Thus, through the andideron’s ritual, Christ symbolically keeps giving himself to those who are open to his love till the very end.

He gives them the bread in order to remind them of how much he loves them and in what way they can be witness to the world that they are his. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13,35).

The venerable ritual of the andideron re-emphasises Christ’s continual self-donating to us. It is another way of saying to us “if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (Jn 8,31-32).

The symbol of the giving of the andideron makes us realise how an authentic Christian life is lived to the full, precisely when it is incessantly given to Christ to reach out to others.

Fr Mario Attard

OFM Cap