Koliva

Boiled wheat — the ritual food used at memorial services; the grain of wheat that dies and rises.

Koliva (boiled wheat, typically sweetened with honey, nuts, and raisins, formed into a mound and decorated) is the ritual food prepared for memorial services (pannychida) and the universal Soul Saturdays. The theological basis: 'Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit' (John 12:24). Eating the koliva is a declaration of faith in the resurrection of the body.