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Saturday, April 3, 2010

The Blessing of the Bread

The Blessing of the Bread
It is Holy week.  My brother Robert and I are to take the basket of blessed bread to every home in the village.  We do it this year because it is our mother's turn to bake the bread.  She baked it in a large flat loaf in a mold in the shape of a lamb and one representing Jesus as a shepherd.  The top is golden brown.  It is full of anise seed and smells good.  Before distributing the bread we took it to the priest who blessed it.  Then in each home, each person takes a piece, makes the sign of the cross and eats it in silence.  This is our village communion and happens each year on good Friday.  One piece is kept in each home from one year to the next.  For luck some say, for protection from lightening, say others.  Our mother doesn't believe that it is for any of those things.  She says, “It is a symbol of God's goodness in giving us bread.’’

Rebecca Goethe DeVries
Translation: Rebecca Goethe DeVries
Copyright: Lucy DeVries Duffy, June 22, 2009, Brewster, MA 02631, USA

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