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Antimension
The antimins (from the Greek , ''Antimension'': "instead of the table"), is one of the most important furnishings of the altar in many Eastern Christian liturgical traditions. It is a rectangular piece of cloth of either linen or silk, typically decorated with representations of the Descent of Christ from the Cross, the Four Evangelists, and inscriptions related to the Passion. A small relic of a martyr is sewn into it. In the Western Rite, the altar stone, serves a similar function. It is not permitted to celebrate the Divine Liturgy without an antimins. The antimins is kept folded in the centre of the Holy Table (altar) and is unfolded only during the Divine Liturgy at the dismissal of the catechumens the end of the Liturgy, the antimins is folded in thirds, and then in thirds again, so that when it is unfolded the creases form a cross (see photo, right). When folded, the antimins sits in the centre of another, slightly larger cloth called the ''eileton'' (Greek: {{lang, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups. The origin of the word comes from the Latin stem ''consecrat'', which means dedicated, devoted, and sacred. A synonym for consecration is sanctification; its antonym is desecration. Buddhism Images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas are ceremonially consecrated in a broad range of Buddhist rituals that vary depending on the Buddhist traditions. Buddhābhiseka is a Pali and Sanskrit term referring to these consecration rituals. Christianity In Christianity, consecration means "setting apart" a person, as well as a building or object, for God. Among some Christian denominations there is a complementary service of "deconsecration", to remove a consecrated place of its sacred character in preparation for either demolition or sale for s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altar Stone
An altar stone is a piece of natural stone containing relics in a cavity and intended to serve as the essential part of an altar for the celebration of Mass in the Catholic Church. Consecration by a bishop of the same rite was required. In the Byzantine Rite, the antimension, blessed and signed by the bishop, serves a similar function. History In contrast to the Jewish practice of building altars of several stones, the earliest Christian altars were of wood and shaped like ordinary house tables, a practice that continued until the Middle Ages. However, a preference for more durable materials led to church enactments in the West against wooden altars, but not in the East. The earliest stone altars were the tombs of martyrs, over which Mass was sometimes offered, either on a stone slab enclosing the tomb or on a structure placed above it. When the first custom-built Christian basilicas were built, the altar of the church was placed directly above the tomb of a martyr, as in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diskos
A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Western liturgical denominations, the paten is typically either a simple saucer-like plate or a low bowl. A smaller style paten will often have a depression that allows it to securely sit on top of the chalice, as shown in the illustration on the left here. Roman rite The General Instruction of the Roman Missal lays down rules for patens: "Sacred vessels should be made from precious metal. If they are made from metal that rusts or from a metal less precious than gold, they should generally be gilded on the inside." However, provisions for vessels made from non-precious metals are made as well, provided they are "made from other solid materials which in the common estimation in each region are considered precious or noble." Some call the communion-plate a "paten", but the Eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Descent From The Cross
The Descent from the Cross ( el, Ἀποκαθήλωσις, ''Apokathelosis''), or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion (). In Byzantine art the topic became popular in the 9th century, and in the West from the 10th century. The Descent from the Cross is the 13th Station of the Cross, and is also the sixth of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Other figures not mentioned in the Gospels who are often included in depictions of this subject include John the Evangelist, who is sometimes depicted supporting a fainting Mary (as in the work below by Rogier van der Weyden), and Mary Magdalene. The Gospels mention an undefined number of women as watching the crucifixion, including The Three Marys, ( Mary Salome being mentioned in ), and also that the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene saw the burial (). These and further women and unnamed ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporal (liturgy)
The corporal (arch. ''corporax'', from Latin ''corpus'' "body") is a square white linen cloth, now usually somewhat smaller than the breadth of the altar, upon which the chalice and paten, and also the ciborium containing the smaller hosts for the Communion of the laity, are placed during the celebration of the Catholic Eucharist (Mass). History It may be assumed that something in the nature of a corporal has been in use since the earliest days of Christianity. Naturally it is difficult, based on the extant records from the early church, to distinguish the corporal from the altar-cloth. For instance, a passage of St. Optatus (c. 375), where he asks, "What Christian is unaware that in celebrating the Sacred Mysteries the wood f the altaris covered with a linen cloth?" (''ipsa ligna linteamine cooperiri'') leaves us in doubt to which he is referring. This is probably the earliest direct testimony; for the statement of the '' Liber Pontificalis'', "He ( Pope Sylvester I) dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iconostas
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church. The iconostasis evolved from the Byzantine templon, a process complete by the 15th century. A direct comparison for the function of the main iconostasis can be made to the layout of the great Temple in Jerusalem. That Temple was designed with three parts. The holiest and inner-most portion was that where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This portion, the Holy of Holies, was separated from the second larger part of the building's interior by a curtain, the "veil of the temple". Only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. The third part was the entrance court. This architectural tradition for the two main parts can be seen carried forward in Christian churches and is still most demonstrative ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epitrachil
The ''epitrachelion'' ( grc-gre, ἐπιτραχήλιον "around the neck"; Slavic: епитрахиль, ''epitrachil''; often called simply a '' stole'' in casual English-language usage) is the liturgical vestment worn by priests and bishops of the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches as the symbol of their priesthood, corresponding to the Western stole. It is essentially the ''orarion'' adapted for priests and bishops, worn around the neck with two ends of equal length hanging down in front of the clergyman's body (more or less to the ankle) and with the two adjacent sides sewn or buttoned together up the center, leaving enough space through which to place the head. In practice, the ''epitrachelion'' is made to be worn only this way, tailored to lie flat around the neck, and is never actually unfastened. The portion hanging down in front is sometimes even a solid piece of fabric. It is usually made of brocade with seven embroidered or appliquéd crosses, one at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epimanikia
Epimanikia (singular ''epimanikion'') are liturgical vestments of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. They are cuffs (Russian: ''porútchi'') made of thickened fabric, usually brocade, that lace onto the wrists of a bishop, priest, or deacon. There is usually a cross embroidered or appliquéd to the center. Bishops and priests attach the epimanikia to the sleeves of the sticharion. Since the deacon wears a more elaborate sticharion as an outer garment, its large winged sleeves are not bound by epimanikia; rather he wears the epimanikia underneath, tied to his ''endorrason'' ( inner cassock) (Russian: подрясник, ''podryasnik'') Among most ethnic groups, the epimanikia will be worn by bishops and priests only when they vest fully for the Divine Liturgy. However, among stricter Russian Orthodox clergy a bishop or priest will wear the epimanikia any time he wears the epitrachelion. Deacons always wear the epimanikia whenever they vest. In the Armenian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Entrance
In Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, an entrance is a procession during which the clergy enter into the sanctuary through the Holy Doors. The origin of these entrances goes back to the early church, when the liturgical books and sacred vessels were kept in special storage rooms for safe keeping and the procession was necessary to bring these objects into the church when needed. Over the centuries, these processions have grown more elaborate, and nowadays are accompanied by incense, candles and liturgical fans. In the liturgical theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the angels are believed to enter with the clergy into the sanctuary, as evidenced by the prayers which accompany the various entrances. Divine Liturgy During the course of the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist), there are two entrances. Both of the Entrances, as well as the ritual of the Liturgy of Preparation, are viewed by liturgical scholars as later additions to the Liturgy, and may not have been used by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ektenia
An ektenia (from el, ἐκτενής , translit=ektenés; literally, "diligence"), often called by the better known English word litany, consists of a series of petitions occurring in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic liturgies. The prevalent ecclesiastical word for this kind of litany in Greek is συναπτή ''synaptê'', while ''ektenia'' is the word preferred in Church Slavonic (ектенїѧ ''ekteniya''). A litany is normally intoned by a deacon, with the choir or people chanting the responses. As he concludes each petition, the deacon raises the end of his orarion and crosses himself; if there is no deacon serving, the petitions are intoned by a priest. During many litanies the priest says a prayer silently; when no deacon is serving, the response to the last petition is typically prolonged to give the priest time to finish the prayer. after the last petition of the litany, the priest says an ecphonesis which, when a silent prayer is said during the lita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrism
Chrism, also called myrrh, ''myron'', holy anointing oil, and consecrated oil, is a consecrated oil used in the Anglican, Assyrian, Catholic, Nordic Lutheran, Old Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Latter Day Saint churches in the administration of certain sacraments and ecclesiastical functions. Name The English ''chrism'' derives from Koine Greek via Latin and Old French. In Greek, ''khrîsma'' () was originally the verbal noun ("(the act of) anointing", " unction") of (" anoint").''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "chrism, ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1889. By extension, along with ''khrîma'' (), ''khrîstai'' (), and later ''khrísma'' (), it came to be used for the anointing oil or ointment itself. ''Khrísma'' came into Latin as ', which appears in the works of Tertullian. This was adopted directly into Old English as ', which developed into Middle English ' and various related spellings. In Old French, the original Lati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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