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Lity (Orthodox Vespers)
The Lity or Litiyá (Greek: (Liti), from ''litomai'', "a fervent prayer") is a festive religious procession, followed by intercessions, which augments great vespers (or, a few times a year, great compline) in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches on important feast days (and, at least according to the written rubrics, any time there is an all-night vigil). Following a lity is another liturgical action, an artoklasia, and either of these terms may be used to describe both liturgical actions collectively. Procession At vespers, after the ''Prayer at the Bowing of Heads'', the procession commences: the clergy, including a deacon with a censer and, when logistically possible, the chanters, process to the narthex of the church during which are sung stichera of the feast and/or of the patron of the church. Once the procession reaches the narthex and the stichera have been sung, the deacon begins a series of lengthy petitions (these are the "lity" proper), asking for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memorial Service In The Eastern Orthodox Church
A memorial service (Greek: μνημόσυνον, mnemósynon, "memorial"; Slavonic: панихида, panikhída, from Greek παννυχίς, ''pannychis'', "vigil"; Romanian: parastas and Serbian парастос, parastos, from Greek παράστασις, ''parástasis'') is a liturgical solemn service for the repose of the departed in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. Service In the Eastern Church, the various prayers for the departed have as their purpose praying for the repose of the departed, comforting the living, and reminding the living of their own mortality and the brevity of this earthly life. For this reason, memorial services have an air of penitence about them. They tend to be served more frequently during the four fasting seasons. Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast If the service is for an individual, it is often held at the deceased's graveside. If it is a general commemoration of all the departed, or if the ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Litany Of The Saint Nicolas Icon In Piraeus Greece
Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Judaic worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''litania'' from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (''litaneía''), which in turn comes from λιτή (''litḗ''), meaning "supplication". Christianity Western Christianity This form of prayer finds its model in Psalm 136: "Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever. Praise ye the God of gods . . . the Lord of lords . . . Who alone doth great wonders . . . Who made the heavens", etc., with the concluding words in each verse, "for his mercy endures for ever." The Litany originated in Antioch in the fourth century and from there was taken to Constantinople and through it to the rest of the East...From Constantinople the Litany was taken to Rome and the West. Josef Andreas Jungmann explains how the ''Kyrie'' in the Roman Mass is best seen as a vestige of a litany at the beginn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosphora
A prosphoron ( el, πρόσφορον, ''offering'') is a small loaf of leavened bread used in Orthodox Christian and Greek Catholic (Byzantine) liturgies. The plural form is ''prosphora'' (). The term originally meant any offering made to a temple, but in Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine Rite Catholicism it has come to mean specifically the bread offered at the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist). Baking A prosphoron is made from only four ingredients, wheat flour (white), yeast, salt, and water. Salt was not used in early times and is still not used in the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. Any member of the church who is in good standing, has sufficient baking knowledge, and whose conscience is clean may bake prosphora. Often in a parish church the women will take turns baking the prosphora; in monasteries, the task is often assigned by the Hegumen (abbot or abbess) to one or several monastics of virtuous life. It is common but not necessary to go to confession before baki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most common subjects include Christ, Mary, saints and angels. Although especially associated with portrait-style images concentrating on one or two main figures, the term also covers most religious images in a variety of artistic media produced by Eastern Christianity, including narrative scenes, usually from the Bible or the lives of saints. Icons are most commonly painted on wood panels with egg tempera, but they may also be cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, done in mosaic or fresco work, printed on paper or metal, etc. Comparable images from Western Christianity can be classified as "icons", although "iconic" may also be used to describe a static style of devotional image. In the Greek language, the term for icon paintin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gospel Book
A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the roots of the Christian faith. The term is also used for a liturgical book, also called the Evangeliary, from which are read the portions of the Gospels used in the Mass and other services, arranged according to the order of the liturgical calendar. Liturgical use in churches of a distinct Gospel book remains normal, often compulsory, in Eastern Christianity, and very common in Roman Catholicism and some parts of Anglicanism and Lutheranism. Other Protestant churches normally just use a complete Bible. History In the Middle Ages, the production of copies of the Bible in its entirety was rare because of the huge expense of the parchment required. Individual books or collections of books were produced for specific purposes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matins
Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated by monks from about two hours after midnight to, at latest, the dawn, the time for the canonical hour of lauds (a practice still followed in certain orders). It was divided into two or (on Sundays) three nocturns. Outside of monasteries, it was generally recited at other times of the day, often in conjunction with lauds. In the Byzantine Rite these vigils correspond to the aggregate comprising the midnight office, orthros, and the first hour. Lutherans preserve recognizably traditional matins distinct from morning prayer, but "matins" is sometimes used in other Protestant denominations to describe any morning service. In the Anglican daily office, the hour of matins (also spelled mattins) is a simplification of matins and lauds from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the peninsula have been governed as the monastic community of Mount Athos, an autonomous region within the Hellenic Republic, ecclesiastically under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, while the remainder of the peninsula forms part of the Aristotelis municipality. Mount Athos has been inhabited since ancient times and is known for its long Christian presence and historical monastic traditions, which date back to at least AD 800 and the Byzantine era. Because of its long history of religious importance, the well-preserved agrarian architecture within the monasteries, and the preservation of the flora and fauna around the mountain, Mount Athos was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988. In modern Greek, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Typicon
A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite office and variable hymns of the Divine Liturgy. Historical development Cathedral Typikon The ancient and medieval cathedral rite of Constantinople, called the "asmatikē akolouthia" ("sung services"), is not well preserved and the earliest surviving manuscript dates from the middle of the eighth century.As quoted in Taft, "Mount Athos...", Description in A. Strittmatter, "The 'Barberinum S. Marci'of Jacques Goar," EphL 47 (1933), 329-67 This rite reached its climax in the Typikon of the Great Church (Hagia Sophia) which was used in only two places, its eponymous cathedral and in the Basilica of Saint Demetrios in Thessalonica; in the latter it survived until the Ottoman conquest and most of what is known of it comes from descriptions in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sign Of The Cross
Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with the right hand, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of the Trinitarian formula: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The use of the sign of the cross traces back to early Christianity, with the second century ''Apostolic Tradition'' directing that it be used during the Minor exorcism in Christianity, minor exorcism of baptism, during ablution in Christianity, ablutions before praying at fixed prayer times, and in times of temptation. The movement is the tracing of the shape of a cross in the air or on one's own body, echoing Instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, the traditional shape of the Christian cross, cross of the Christianity, Christian crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion narrative. Wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apolytikion
The Apolytikion () or Dismissal Hymn is a troparion (a short hymn of one stanza) said or sung at Orthodox Christian worship services. The apolytikion summarizes the feast being celebrated that day. It is chanted at Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy; and it is read at each of the Little Hours. The name derives from the fact that it is chanted for the first time before the dismissal (Greek: ''apolysis'') of the first service of the liturgical day, Vespers, the liturgical day beginning at sunset in the Orthodox Church. Although the term apolytikion is used in the Greek language, there is no equivalent word in Church Slavonic where variously are used such terms as "отпустительный тропарь" (dismissal troparion), "тропарь праздника" (troparion of the feast), "тропарь святого" (troparion of the saint), and so on. The apolytikion could be compared in the Western liturgy to the collect or post-communion, inasmuch as it changes fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artos
An artos ( grc, Ἄρτος, "leavened loaf", "bread") is a loaf of leavened bread that is blessed during services in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine rite catholic churches. A large Artos is baked with a seal depicting the resurrection for use at Pascha (Easter). Smaller loaves are blessed during great vespers in a ritual called Artoklasia and in other occasions like feast days, weddings, memorial services etc. Etymology Artos in Ancient Greek meant "cake", "loaf of wheat-bread", collectively "bread",. but in Modern Greek it is now more commonly used in the context of communion bread used in church, having been replaced in the broader context by the word , ''psomi''. This word is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek as the first stem of the compound word , ''a-to-po-qo'', "bakers", written in the Linear b syllabary. Paschal Artos Ritual Near the end of the Paschal Vigil, after the Prayer Before the Ambo, a single large loaf of bread, the Artos, is brought to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
