Pretzels

I am sure you are seeing this title and thinking why is this person writing about pretzels on a religious blog. The truth is pretzels have a great meaning in the Christian tradition. Remember that a long time ago Christians kept a very strict fast throughout Lent, not just on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Eggs and butter were not used at all so that meant any bread made was pretty basic using yeast, flour, water and salt. How about that your basic ingredients for a pretzel.

Also, when the earlier Christians prayed they would put their right hand on their left shoulder and their left hand on their right shoulder. Think about that for a few seconds…what image do you see? You guessed it a pretzel like image. They thought by doing this they were forming crosses.

As a result of this some of the Christians began forming the basic bread they made into twisted pieces to look like little arms crossed in prayer “called ‘bracellae’ in Latin and ‘pretzels’ in English.” Sometimes the people would share these pretzels with each other to remind everyone that it was Lent and they needed to be attentive to fasting, prayer and almsgiving. The pretzels were baked on Ash Wednesday for the season and then after Easter disappeared again until the next Lenten Season began.

These days we see pretzels all of the time. They have become a go to snack for a lot of people. So, the next time you pull out a bag of pretzels remember they are not just a snack of the modern day world, but were used as a reminder in the early Christian Church of what Lent is all about.

Copyright ©1991, LTP. Written by Christine Kenny-Sheptous.