Holy Chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. New practice of Communion? Church bowl

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Holy Chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. New practice of Communion? Church bowl

Response to the article by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk

«»
...I still believe that this is the most pure

Your Body, and this very thing is Your honest Blood...

(From the liturgical prayer before Holy Communion)

When there are a large number of communicants at the Divine Liturgy, after the completion of the Eucharistic canon, the Blood of Christ is poured from one chalice into several smaller bowls using a special ladle. This is a convenient, well-known and commonly used church practice.

An article was published in the official publication of our Church, Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate No. 9 for 2011. Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) « Eucharistic chalice at the cathedral Liturgy", in which he proposes to make a change in the traditional conduct of the Liturgy. At the end of the article, the author formulates his proposal as “a more practical option: cups of wine are placed on the throne next to main bowl after the great entrance, for example at the beginning of the singing of the Creed."

The meaning of this “more practical option” for holding the Liturgy comes down to the following. All the necessary sacred rites are performed over one “main cup” - prayers at the proskomedia, the great entrance, blessing during the Eucharistic canon. At the same time, other smaller “cups of wine” no way do not participate in liturgical actions - neither in the proskomedia, nor in the Great Entrance, nor in the anaphora. Simply, after the clergy have received communion (from the main chalice), the Body of Christ is added to the wine contained in these smaller cups, and they are used to give communion to the laity. Thus, the laity receive communion not with the Body and Blood of the Lord, but Body of Christ and wine .

A thought previously unheard of. However, this article by Metropolitan Hilarion is devoted to the justification of precisely this radical liturgical innovation. At the same time, his argument raises many objections - both in general and in detail.

1. Failed "ecumenical" synthesis

The following types of communion are found in church practice.

1. Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ. This is how Orthodox clergy receive communion at the altar and lay people in church. The only difference between them is that the Holy Mysteries are taught to the laity from the chalice through liars, and the clergy receive communion separately - first with the Body, then with the Blood.

2. Communion of the Blood of Christ. This is how infants and some sick people who are unable to swallow a piece of the Holy Body receive communion. This method of communion is used as a forced half-measure and is not considered normal and complete.

3. In the Catholic West there was a centuries-old tradition when the laity received communion only with wafers, which did not contain the Blood of Christ.

4. Finally, in the Protestant tradition, when remembering the Last Supper, all believers partake of bread and wine.

Let us note that at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, ordinary wine is poured into the chalice, but at the same time the Holy Lamb contains within itself the true Body of Christ, soaked in the true Blood of the Lord. It is no coincidence that infants who are unable to consciously receive a portion of the Holy Gifts are not given communion at this Liturgy. This is due to the fact that wine in this case is not a Shrine, but only a medium in which the Holy Gifts are placed.

Likewise, when communing the sick with the spare Gifts, the Body and Blood of Christ are immersed in a vessel of wine. If the patient is unable to swallow a particle of the reserve Gifts, communion should be carried out not with the wine in which the Holy Place is placed, but with the Blood of Christ taken from the last Divine Liturgy.

The Orthodox Church has never known communion with wine.

Metropolitan Hilarion proposes just such a principle new way of communion .

This new method, in essence, represents an “ecumenical” synthesis, with all the worst taken from heterodox practice. Like Catholics, the laity are deprived of the sacrament of the Blood of the Lord. Like Protestants, believers are offered wine from a cup instead. Only one thing is missing - the communion of Orthodox people with both the Body and Blood of Christ, pointing to which the Lord said: Drink everything from her(Matt. 26:27).

At the same time, there is no deception among Catholics and Protestants. The first know that the Blood of Christ is not offered to the laity (such is their tradition), others have no doubt that the communion cup contains wine.

The new method of communion is based on forgery. While no work is done on wine in small cups no liturgical rites, their contents, nevertheless, for some reason are offered to believers as the true Blood of Christ.

By the way, if you give communion to a baby from such a small cup, it will be another type of communion - just wine...

During anaphora the words sound: “ Yours from Yours, brought to You about everyone and for all " The deacon accompanies this prayerful exclamation, “ turn your hand into a cross, and raise the holy paten and holy chalice ", but the content this chalice, offered at the Liturgy, are not communicant nobody from the laity. They receive communion from other cups into which no one has poured the Blood of Christ.

There is an obvious substitution and profanation of the Holy Place.

2. Wine - or the Blood of Christ?

There were at least two cups of wine at the Last Supper. One is the cup of praise (Luke 22:17), filled Loznago fruit(that is, grape wine). Other - supper cup(Luke 22:20), about which the Lord said: This cup - New Testament with My Blood, even for you it is spilled.Wine could also be in other vessels, from which it was poured into drinking cups. But all other wine except the one that filled cup of the New Testament, remained just wine, and only this single cup was pointed out by Christ as containing His Holy Blood: This is My Blood of the New Testament(Matt. 26:28).

Any altar also usually contains wine - in bottles, decanters, and canisters. Wine is used for drinking after communion for the clergy and laity. It is necessary for sanctification " wheat, wine and oil"at the all-night vigil before the Liturgy. But wine always remains just wine, with one exception - the Holy Eucharistic Chalice, in which it is converted into the Blood of Christ.

Not all bread is the Body of Christ, and not all wine is the Blood of Christ. But only those offered gifts become the Eucharistic Shrine, which the deacon points out to the primate - the bishop or priest.

« - Bless, Vladyka, the holy bread. - And do it this bread the honorable Body of Thy Christ.

- Amen. Bless, lord, the saint cup .

- And even in this cup- the honest Blood of Thy Christ.

- Amen. Bless, lord, wallpaper » .

In this dialogue, the deacon, of course, points to exactly one “ holy chalice" (and not on "bowls"), but the expression " wallpaper" refers to exactly two objects - one paten and one chalice.

No other bread contained in the altar is offered into the Body of Christ - neither the service prosphora, nor the antidoron on the altar, nor even those grain particles that, together with the Lamb, are on the paten on the throne at the moment of pronouncing the above words.

Likewise, no other wine except that contained in " this cup", is not transmuted into the Blood of Christ and should not be called that.

3. "Relevance of the topic

Metropolitan Hilarion justifies the “relevance” of his proposal by the fact that the previous norm of Russian piety “was considered communion several times a year,” while “in our days, communion once a month... has actually become the norm for churchgoers, and many of them They are given holy communion on every holiday and Sunday.”

The author implies that there used to be much fewer communicants, and therefore they made do with one cup. Now, due to the increase in the number of communicants, it is supposedly necessary to use several chalices during one Liturgy.

But is it?

In fact, in previous centuries there were no fewer communicants on certain holidays than in our time. Indeed, according to the most optimistic estimates, today the number of Orthodox Christians does not exceed 2-5% of the total population of the country. In the Russian Empire, during the first week of Lent and on Holy Thursday, many more believers fasted and received communion.

Therefore, the spacious volume of Eucharistic vessels was no less in demand in the past than it is today - at least on some days.

Another argument to justify the “relevance” of the author’s proposal: “After many years of persecution, the Church gained freedom, and this led to a sharp increase in the number of clergy and, consequently, an increase in the number of communicants in holy orders at cathedral services.”

There is no doubt that today there are much more clergy in our Church than in the years of militant atheism. But - significantly less than a hundred or two hundred years ago, when the clergy constituted an entire class. If we take into account that during a cathedral service, according to the canons, all clergy must receive communion, then the Metropolitan’s argument again turns out to be untenable.

This means there is no reason for liturgical innovations.

4. Rule - or exception?

Metropolitan Hilarion writes: “Nowadays at the hierarchal Liturgy, especially with a large crowd of worshipers, a chalice (bowl) of a very impressive size is often used during the service, almost as high as half a man's height and a volume of three, five, or even nine liters."

It is difficult to imagine such clergy whose height would be the height of two nine-liter chalices - that is, about 1 meter. Nevertheless, Bishop Hilarion develops this idea in his article: “When asked whether it is possible to place on the throne not one huge bowl, but several bowls of regular size, before the consecration of the Holy Gifts, the answer is: it is impossible.”

The subsequent words in the dialogue between the deacon and the primate finally confirm that this is not about cups “in general”, and not about “the Cup of Christ as such” - but about “ this"The cup to which the deacon points with the oracle, and to which the priest extends his blessing hand:

« - Bless, Vladyka, the holy cup.

-...The cup this- the most honest Blood of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Deacon: - Amen. Priest: - Poured out for the belly i ra. Deacon: - Amen.

And again the deacon, showing off with an orar Holy wallpaper, says:

- Bless, lord, the wallpaper » .

Only after the presentation of the Holy Gifts the contents of " this" of the cup at this particular Liturgy becomes identical to the content of the Cup of Christ. Therefore, the Eucharistic celebration refers specifically to that single cup that is blessed during a given Liturgy and the contents of which are transferred into the contents of the Chalice of Christ.

12. On the risk of shedding the Holy Blood

One phrase of Bishop Hilarion causes slight surprise in readers: “The author of these lines has repeatedly had to witness very regrettable scenes: when, pouring the Holy Blood from a huge chalice, the priest spilled significant volumes of it on the antimension, the throne, his own vestments, even on the floor.”

It seems that in this description the colors are somewhat thickened. Personally, it is difficult for me to imagine “significant volumes” that would spill in the altar from a “huge bowl” onto the altar, clothes and “even onto the floor.”

For the laity who have little idea how the Holy Blood is poured from the liturgical chalice into small cups, let us say that this is always done with great reverence and care. The small cup is brought close to the edge of the large chalice, and the Blood of Christ is carefully poured from one vessel to another in a ladle. In this case, a special plate is certainly spread over the antimins, which also covers the base of the large chalice. Personally, I have never had to observe that even one drop of the Blood of Christ, when poured into small cups, would fall on the antimension (much less on the throne or “on the floor”).

Of course, pouring the Holy Blood of Christ from one vessel into several small bowls is a painstaking process and requires the utmost attention and time. But perhaps we should all, as before, spare no effort and not abandon the traditional Orthodox practice of serving at a single liturgical chalice?

Addition of Archpriest Konstantin Bufeev to the article
« Against the new practice of communion - the Body of Christ and wine"

My article « Against the new practice of communion - the Body of Christ and wine" was published on the website "Bogoslov.ru" under the heading " New practice of Communion? and in the Live Journal of Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev under the title: “This cup...”. Much to my surprise, the wide-ranging discussion on the topic of the uniqueness of the Eucharistic cup did not shake a single one of my arguments and did not add essentially a single new argument. However, I managed to find one more argument, which I consider necessary, albeit belatedly, to add to the content of my article:

13. The number of liturgical cups is determined by the rite of the great hierarchical consecration of the temple

We can reliably judge the number of liturgical bowls used in the ancient Byzantine and Russian traditions based on the rite of the great bishop's consecration of the temple. The main moment of the consecration of the temple is the anointing of the throne with holy chrism.

Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica writes about this: “Then he brings what completes the consecration of the altar, the holy myrrh, and proclaims hallelujah... So the bishop creates from the world itself three crosses on the consecrated table, in the middle and on both sides, and anoints it all with three.”

Archpriest Gennady Nefedov describes in more detail how a bishop anoints the holy throne with chrism: “The sacramental seal of chrismation is placed in three places on the surface of the meal, exactly where they should stand during the Liturgy Gospel, paten and chalice » .

Thus, when consecrating the altar, three points are highlighted on it (in honor of the Holy Trinity), one of which indicates the place for the altar Gospel, the other is the place for installing the paten with the liturgical Lamb, and the third is the place for the Eucharistic chalice. The rite of bishop's consecration provides for the installation on the throne of exactly one Gospel, exactly one paten and exactly one chalice. Obviously, increasing the number of sacred vessels would distort the symbolism of the consecration of the throne. It is also obvious that the holy chalice should be placed at the end of the great entrance not on any arbitrary place of the altar, but on the one that, in the rite of consecration, received the grace of the holy world and is intended for the implementation of the liturgical action.

The above is also true for the place where the paten was installed on the throne.

In fact, the question of the number and exact location of the placement of the paten and chalice on the throne during the service of the Eucharistic canon is determined by the rite of the bishop's consecration of the temple. This question does not allow for variations or improvisations.

Literature:

1. Hilarion (Alfeev), Metropolitan . « Eucharistic chalice at the cathedral Liturgy" Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. No. 9. 2011.

2. Missal.

3. Blessed Simeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki. Essays. St. Petersburg: Korolev Printing House. 1856.

4. Nefedov Gennady, prot. Sacraments and rituals of the Orthodox Church. M.: "

Response to the article by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk

"Eucharistic Chalice at the Cathedral Liturgy"

...I still believe that this is the most pure

Your Body, and this very thing is Your honest Blood...

(From the liturgical prayer before Holy Communion)

An article was published in the official publication of our Church, Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate No. 9 for 2011. Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) “The Eucharistic Chalice at the Cathedral Liturgy”, in which he proposes to make a change in the traditional conduct of the Liturgy. At the end of the article, the author formulates his proposal as “more practical option: cups of wine are placed on the throne next to main bowl after the great entrance, for example at the beginning of the singing of the Creed".

The meaning of this “more practical option” for holding the Liturgy comes down to the following. All the necessary sacred rites are performed over one “main cup” - prayers at the proskomedia, the great entrance, blessing during the Eucharistic canon. At the same time, other smaller “cups of wine” no way do not participate in liturgical actions - neither in the proskomedia, nor in the Great Entrance, nor in the anaphora. Simply, after the clergy have received communion (from the main chalice), the Body of Christ is added to the wine contained in these smaller cups, and they are used for communion. iryan. Thus, mi The Christians receive communion not with the Body and Blood of the Lord, but Body of Christ and wine.

1. Failed "ecumenical" synthesis

The following types of communion are found in church practice.

1. Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ. This is how Orthodox clergy receive communion at the altar and m i ryans in the temple. The only difference between them is that m i Ryans are taught the Holy Mysteries from the chalice through liars, and the clergy receive communion separately - first with the Body, then with the Blood.

3. In the Catholic West there was a centuries-old tradition when m i The Christians received communion only in wafers, which do not contain the Blood of Christ.

4. Finally, in the Protestant tradition, when remembering the Last Supper, all believers partake of bread and wine.

The Orthodox Church has never known communion with wine.

Metropolitan Hilarion proposes just such a principle new way of communion.

This new method, in essence, represents an “ecumenical” synthesis, with all the worst taken from heterodox practice. Like Catholics, m i The Christians are deprived of the sacrament of the Blood of the Lord. Like Protestants, believers are offered wine from a cup instead. Only one thing is missing - the communion of Orthodox people with both the Body and Blood of Christ, pointing to which the Lord said: Drink everything from her(Matt. 26:27).

At the same time, there is no deception among Catholics and Protestants. The first ones know that i The blood of Christ is not offered to the Christians (such is their tradition); others do not doubt that the communion cup contains wine.

By the way, if you give communion to a baby from such a small cup, it will be another type of communion - just wine...

During anaphora the words sound: “ Yours from Yours, brought to You about everyone and for all " The deacon accompanies this prayerful exclamation, “ turn your hand into a cross, and raise the holy paten and holy chalice ", but the content this chalice, offered at the Liturgy, are not communicant nobody from m i Ryan They receive communion from other cups into which no one has poured the Blood of Christ.

There is an obvious substitution and profanation of the Holy Place.

2. Wine - or the Blood of Christ?

Any altar also usually contains wine - in bottles, decanters, and canisters. Wine is used for drinking after communion of the clergy and m i Ryan It is necessary for sanctification " wheat, wine and oil"at the all-night vigil before the Liturgy. But wine always remains just wine, with one exception - the Holy Eucharistic Chalice, in which it is converted into the Blood of Christ.

« - Bless, Vladyka, the holy bread.

- And do it this bread the honorable Body of Thy Christ.

- Amen. Bless, lord, the saint cup.

- And even in this cup- the honest Blood of Thy Christ.

- Amen. Bless, lord, wallpaper » .

In this dialogue, the deacon, of course, points to exactly one “ holy chalice" (and not on "bowls"), but the expression " wallpaper" refers to exactly two objects - one paten and one chalice.

Likewise, no other wine except that contained in " this cup", is not transmuted into the Blood of Christ and should not be called that.

3. "Relevance of the topic

Metropolitan Hilarion justifies the “relevance” of his proposal by the fact that the previous norm of Russian piety “Communion was considered several times a year", while " these days, communion once a month... has actually become the norm for churchgoers, and many of them begin holy communion on every holiday and Sunday» .

But is it?

Therefore, the spacious volume of Eucharistic vessels was no less in demand in the past than it is today - at least on some days.

This means there is no reason for liturgical innovations.

4. Rule - or exception?

Metropolitan Hilarion writes: “Nowadays, at the bishop's Liturgy, especially when there is a large crowd of worshipers, a chalice (bowl) of a very impressive size is often used during the service, almost as high as half a man's height and a volume of three, five, or even nine liters» .

It is difficult to imagine such clergy whose height would be the height of two nine-liter chalices - that is, about 1 meter. However, Bishop Hilarion develops this idea in his article: “When asked whether, before the consecration of the Holy Gifts, it is possible to place on the altar not one huge bowl, but several bowls of regular size, the answer is: it is not possible.» .

“No” is the correct answer.

Why is it “not possible”? - Yes, because the Church does not know such a practice. None of the Most Holy Patriarchs from Tikhon to Alexy II ever served like this. No one has served like this at all over the last 1000 years in the Russian Orthodox Church. None of the Saints known to us spoke about serving the Liturgy at many chalices. The living Church Tradition does not teach this, and therefore one cannot serve in this way.

In fact, of course, you can serve it any way you like - either on one bowl or thirty-three. You can use grape wine, or you can also use fermented berry juice. You can celebrate the liturgy on five wheat prosphoras, or you can also say on a loaf of camp bread with chaff and bran. You can serve on the consecrated throne in an Orthodox church, or you can serve on a forest stump or prison bunk. In some cases, distortions of the statutory norm are justified and even inevitable. During persecution or in prison while serving the Liturgy, it is impossible to observe all the subtleties of pious instructions and requirements for the celebration of the Eucharist. You can serve without books, “from memory.”

But all such examples are acceptable in exceptional cases, will be imputed to sin and will be condemned to those clergy who deliberately deviate from Orthodox piety. One cannot theologically justify a deviation from the sacred church tradition. It is impossible to distort the symbolic content of Orthodox worship without any reason.

It is one thing - in the absence of a normal, spacious chalice, to conduct the Liturgy on several cups for the sake of many communicants, recognizing this as a sin that requires correction. It is a completely different matter to provide a “theological basis” for such a violation and advocate for the “revival” of the imaginary “Byzantine” tradition.

At the end of his article, the bishop correctly noted: “If you take it literally Byzantine tradition, then the required number of bowls should have been placed on the altar already at the proskomedia, and then taken all of them to the great entrance". One should, of course, agree with this remark: if one is to serve at several chalices, they should all certainly fully participate in the service. Unfortunately, Metropolitan Hilarion does not at all propose to be “literally guided” by such a “Byzantine” tradition, but simply suggests placing small cups of wine on the throne “after the great entrance.”

What Metropolitan Hilarion calls for can be tolerated as an exception, as a temporary and unfortunate situation, when for technical reasons, poverty or other circumstances it is not possible to serve the Liturgy Fine- that is on one spacious chalice.

5. On the symbolism of a single liturgical cup

Metropolitan Hilarion conveys the thought of his opponents this way: “At the same time, (they) also cite a “theological” argument: after all, we all partake of “one bread and one cup,” so how can you put several cups on the throne? This, they say, violates the Eucharistic symbolism» .

It bears repeating: using multiple bowls is indeed violates Eucharistic symbolism. Undoubtedly, the single Eucharistic cup corresponds to both the literal and symbolic remembrance of the Last Supper. Many small bowls do not reflect the truth of the Gospel testimony and, in fact, violate the spiritual symbolism of the Divine Table.

This argument is theological (without quotes!) in the most original apostolic and patristic sense.

There is only one God, and one God's intercessor through man, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself redemption for all (1 Tim. 2:5-6).

Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica confirms: “And consecrating the sacred cup (and not “cups” - prot. K.B.) in Him, Christ our God, who gave Himself to us, we, as commanded, give in love to drink from her (and not “from them” - prot. K.B.) and to all the brothers, becoming united as He prayed (John 17:11), and, being united with Him and with the Father and the Spirit, as He said (John 17:21).”

6. What confirms the entrance with empty cups?

The author cites several historical facts from the liturgical practice of antiquity and makes the following conclusion. "So, the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on many chalices and many paten-This is not just some kind of incident, but a completely ordinary Byzantine practice, which, moreover, was even normative during the bishop’s service. Why did it disappear in the post-Byzantine era?» .

In fact, the thesis about “normativity” requires more convincing evidence and elaboration. It is more like the author's interpretation and is far from obvious. An unconditional historical fact is that this “ common Byzantine practice "has not been observed anywhere over the last thousand years.

The following curious evidence given by Bishop Hilarion is noteworthy: “For some time the practice of making the Great Entrance, carrying many bowls in procession, continued-but the bowls, except for one main bowl with wine, began to be carried empty » .

There was a similar practice in pre-Nikon Rus': “Not only the paten and the cup with Eucharistic bread and wine were carried to the great entrance, but also other empty vessels » .

Perhaps this is the “Byzantine secret” of serving the Liturgy with many cups?

After all, if the vessels were brought in empty- this means that the consecration of wine was not carried out in them! In other words, both in Byzantium and in pre-Nikon Rus' the principle known to us was observed: the blood of Christ was poured into small cups after the consecration of the Eucharistic wine in one chalice.

Thus, anaphora prayers (like ours today) were conducted over one Eucharistic cup filled with wine during proskomedia. Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica wrote about her like this:“The cup represents the cup in which the Savior performed His sacred blood.”

The introduction of empty cups at the great entrance does not cause embarrassment, since no violation of liturgical symbolism occurs. In fact, although these vessels are used in further worship, they remain empty until the Eucharistic wine in the main chalice is converted into the Blood of Christ. Then the small cups at the end of the Liturgy will be filled with the Blood of Christ and will be needed for communion. i Ryan Therefore, their introduction at the great entrance is quite appropriate and even justified, because it gives the service additional solemnity. The bringing in of the auxiliary bowls can be compared to the bringing in at the great entrance liars And copy.

7. About the liar and the copy

Metropolitan Hilarion asks: “What prevents us from returning to Byzantine practice celebrating the Liturgy with many cups?» .

We answer: a thousand-year tradition.

Many ancient customs are a thing of the past. Ancient Byzantium knew the practice of giving communion to the laity without liars. It does not in any way follow from this that it is permissible for us today to do without this subject, just as Catholics do without it.

At the Last Supper and in the era of the early Church, the breaking of bread was not used as is generally accepted today. copy. One may ask: “What prevents us from returning to the apostolic practice of breaking the Holy Bread with our hands?”

The answer will be the same: a thousand-year tradition.

Usage liars And copy convenient and practical. But the main thing is not this, but the fact that their use organically corresponds to the content of the sacred rites of the Divine Liturgy from proskomedia to communion. Suffice it to remember that during the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice, these two objects symbolically represent the Spear and the Cane, located on the throne next to the Cross of the Savior. Therefore, it is natural to carry them out together with the altar cross, as is customary, at the great entrance.

Unlike liturgical use liars And copy, serving on several chalice with wine does not emphasize the Gospel symbolism of the Eucharist, but destroys his.

Perhaps this is why the Orthodox Church abandoned such “Byzantine practices” (if it ever used it at all).

8. A few words about Orthodox aesthetics

Let us hasten to agree with Metropolitan Hilarion in two of his arguments.

1. “One large cup visually symbolizes the unity of the Church in the Eucharist and, as it were, illustrates the words from the anaphora of St. Basil the Great: “But unite us all, from the one Bread and Chalice who partake of the communion, with each other into one communion of the Holy Spirit.””.

2. “The solemnity and grandeur that can be seen in the celebration of the Liturgy on huge vessels”.

We would have been completely unanimous with the Bishop if he had stopped there. But…

But, unfortunately, he continued his thought, turning it “in the other direction”: “But the same arguments can be turned V other side. Firstly, to someone unnaturally large paten and cup may seem grotesque And unaesthetic» .

If traditional Orthodox aesthetics seems “grotesque and unaesthetic” to “someone,” this is not yet a reason to abandon it. Some may find icons or crosses on churches, or liturgical vestments, or Orthodox churches themselves, “grotesque and unaesthetic.”

The following can be said in defense of the use of large paten and cup. Of course, in such grandiose cathedrals as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow or St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, where thrones of impressive size are located in huge altars, it is quite decent and aesthetically justified use large liturgical vessels in worship. (Harmony when using large vessels can be destroyed only in house churches, where the altar does not exceed a square arshin.)

9. On the inadmissibility of fragmentation of the Holy Gifts

before they are resolved

Another argument of the author: “Secondly, even when using a huge chalice, the Holy Blood from it still ends up spilling into many bowls, from which believers receive communion: therefore, by the time of communion, one way or another, there is already not one cup on the throne, but many cups.” .

We should not talk about the fact that the Holy Blood before communion is i Ryan “still ends up being poured into many cups” (this is already obvious), but that all believers must partake of the Blood of Christ from a single chalice. After all, before communion the One Lamb is also split into many parts, but this does not mean that at the proskomedia it can be replaced with a pile of pieces of bread (like Catholic wafers).

Metropolitan Hilarion rejects the symbolism of the One Eucharistic Offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, arguing that the Holy Gifts are “still” fragmented.

Of course, the Body of Christ - " broken", and the Blood of Christ - " poured out" But at the same time, the Body and Blood belong to the One Lord, which is symbolically depicted at the Divine Liturgy in the form of a single Lamb on the paten and a single chalice.

The fragmentation of the Body of Christ and the distribution of the Blood of Christ to believers in the sacrament of communion is the goal and result of the Eucharistic prayer, its culmination. It is unacceptable to break bread and pour wine into chalices before the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts.

10. About adding wine to the chalice

Finally, the author presents another argument: “In addition, when serving on one huge bowl liturgical symbolism is also violated, just in a different way. After all, in the chalice Necessarily wine is added after the great entrance, but this added wine, unlike the one already in the cup, was not poured at the proskomedia with the utterance of the prescribed words and did not participate in the procession of the great entrance. And this procession is also loaded with various symbolism".

It should be noted that it is not at all “necessary” to add wine to the chalice after the great entrance. It would be more accurate to say that, according to the Teacher’s News of the Service Book, adding wine is “allowed” if necessary (for example, if a large group of pilgrims unexpectedly arrived for the Liturgy on a weekday...). The clergy sometimes take advantage of this opportunity, adding the required amount of wine to the chalice before it is transmuted into the Blood of Christ. But, we repeat, this is not at all necessary.

Such an addition of wine partly violates the integrity of the liturgical action and its symbolic content. It should be recognized as the norm when the entire volume of Eucharistic wine used is involved in the proskomedia, the Great Entrance and the anaphora prayers. At the same time, we note that it is easier to pour into a large chalice than into a small one the required amount of wine so that there is no need to add it after the Cherubic Song.

However, it should be taken into account that adding wine to the chalice before the start of the service of the Eucharistic canon has a completely pious and justified goal - to fill to the brim The cup of Christ (His Holiness Patriarch Alexy liked to emphasize this II ). “Liturgical symbolism” is not so much “violated” as “corrected” - who would dare deny the symbolic meaning of the Gospel completeness Cups of Christ? For it pleased the Father that she should dwell in Him. every completeness, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself, pacifying through Him the Blood of His Cross, both earthly and heavenly(Col. 1:19-20).

At proskomedia, wine is sometimes not poured into the chalice to the brim solely because of the risk of spilling its contents during the great entrance.

In any case, the actions of pouring wine to the brim into a single Eucharistic cup before the start of the anaphora are incomparable and what is proposed in the article in question is to use other wine V other bowls, not participating in any way in the liturgical anaphora.

11. About the Chalice and the Chalice

Metropolitan Hilarion writes: “C am the argument in favor of the “single cup” as supposedly symbolizing the unity of the Eucharist can be disputed» .

However, in order to “challenge” the symbolism of the single eucharistic cup, arguments more powerful than those offered by the author are required. The bishop’s argument is as follows: “Firstly, the Byzantines knew the words of their own anaphora very well, which did not prevent them from celebrating the Liturgy with many cups.”.

We have already noted above that we are talking about a dubious interpretation of liturgical practice, rejected by the Church more than 1000 years ago (and, moreover, not proven).

The following argument of Bishop Hilarion: “Secondly, and this is the main thing, in the anaphora of Basil the Great we are not talking about more often than not on one or another specific Liturgy, and about Christ's Bowl as such- about the Cup He spilled for the whole year ir of the Most Pure Blood."

Unfortunately, this statement is not true. And in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and in the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great we are talking about that same bowl, which stands on the throne during the ceremony. In particular, in the anaphora of St. Basil the Great says: “ We pray to You, and we call upon You, Holy of Holies, by the grace of Your goodness to bring Your Holy Spirit upon us and on gifts presented this, and bless I, and sanctify, and show... this" of the cup at this particular Liturgy becomes identical to the content of the Cup of Christ. Therefore, the Eucharistic celebration refers specifically to that single cup that is blessed during a given Liturgy and the contents of which are transferred into the contents of the Chalice of Christ.

12. On the risk of shedding the Holy Blood

For mi For those who have little understanding of how the Holy Blood is poured from the liturgical chalice into small cups, let us say that this is always done with great reverence and care. The small cup is brought close to the edge of the large chalice, and the Blood of Christ is carefully poured from one vessel to another in a ladle. In this case, a special plate is certainly spread over the antimins, which also covers the base of the large chalice. Personally, I have never had to observe that even one drop of the Blood of Christ, when poured into small cups, would fall on the antimension (much less on the throne or “on the floor”).

13. The number of liturgical cups is determined by the rite of the great hierarchical consecration of the temple

The above is also true for the place where the paten was installed on the throne.

Literature:

1. Hilarion (Alfeev), Metropolitan. "The Eucharistic Chalice at the Cathedral Liturgy." Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. No. 9. 2011.

2. Missal.

3. Blessed Simeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki. Essays. St. Petersburg: Korolev Printing House. 1856.

4. Nefedov Gennady, prot. Sacraments and rituals of the Orthodox Church. M.: “Pilgrim”. 2008

The readers of the portal are invited to an article by Archpriest Konstantin Bufeev, which is a response to the publication of the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Synodal Biblical Theological Commission, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk - “The Eucharistic Chalice at the Cathedral Liturgy” (JMP No. 9, 2011). The article by Archpriest Konstantin Bufeev is published in the author's edition, preserving the author's spelling and punctuation. Readers of the portal who are interested in liturgical issues and are ready to present their own reasoned opinion on the issue under discussion are invited to discuss the article. We remind you that the opinion of the editors may not coincide with the opinion of the authors of the publications.

...I still believe that this is the most pure

Your Body, and this very thing is Your honest Blood...

(From the liturgical prayer before Holy Communion)

The ZhMP No. 9 of 2011 published an article by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) “The Eucharistic Cup at the Cathedral Liturgy,” in which he proposes to make a change in the traditional conduct of the Liturgy. At the end of the article, the author formulates his proposal as “a more practical option: cups of wine are placed on the throne next to main bowl after the great entrance, for example at the beginning of the singing of the Creed."

1. Failed “ecumenical” synthesis

The following types of communion are found in church practice.

3. In the Catholic West there was a centuries-old tradition when the laity received communion only with wafers, which did not contain the Blood of Christ.

4. Finally, in the Protestant tradition, when remembering the Last Supper, all believers partake of bread and wine.

The Orthodox Church has never known communion with wine.

Metropolitan Hilarion proposes just such a principle new way of communion.

By the way, if you give communion to a baby from such a small cup, it will be another type of communion - just wine...

During anaphora the words sound: “Yours from Yours, brought to You about everyone and everything» . The deacon accompanies this prayer cry, “cross your hand in the shape of a cross, and raise the holy paten and holy chalice» , but content this chalice, offered at the Liturgy, are not communicant nobody from the laity. They receive communion from other cups into which no one has poured the Blood of Christ.

There is an obvious substitution and profanation of the Holy Place.

2. Wine - or the Blood of Christ?

There were at least two cups of wine at the Last Supper. One is the cup of praise (Luke 22:17), filled Loznago fruit(that is, grape wine). Other - supper cup(Luke 22:20), about which the Lord said: This cup - New Testament with My Blood, even for you it is spilled. The wine could also be in other vessels, from which it was poured into drinking cups. But all other wine except the one that filled cup of the New Testament, remained just wine, and only this single cup was pointed out by Christ as containing His Holy Blood: This is My Blood of the New Testament(Matt. 26:28).

Any altar also usually contains wine - in bottles, decanters, and canisters. Wine is used for drinking after communion for the clergy and laity. It is necessary for sanctification "wheat, wine and oil" at the all-night vigil before the Liturgy. But wine always remains just wine, with one exception - the Holy Eucharistic Chalice, in which it is converted into the Blood of Christ.

“- Bless, Vladyka, the holy bread.

- And do it this bread the honorable Body of Thy Christ.

- Amen. Bless, lord, the saint cup.

- And even in this cup- the honest Blood of Thy Christ.

- Amen. Bless, lord, wallpaper» .

In this dialogue, the deacon, of course, points to exactly one "holy cup"(and not on “bowls”), but the expression "wallpaper" refers to exactly two objects - one paten and one chalice.

Likewise, no other wine except that contained in "this cup", is not transmuted into the Blood of Christ and should not be called that.

3. “Relevance” of the topic

But is it?

In fact, in previous centuries there were no fewer communicants on certain holidays than in our time. Indeed, according to the most optimistic estimates, today the number of Orthodox Christians does not exceed 2 - 5% of the total population of the country. In the Russian Empire, during the first week of Lent and on Holy Thursday, many more believers fasted and received communion.

Therefore, the spacious volume of Eucharistic vessels was no less in demand in the past than it is today - at least on some days.

This means there is no reason for liturgical innovations.

4. Rule - or exception?

It is difficult to imagine such clergy whose height would be the height of two nine-liter chalices - that is, about 1 meter. Nevertheless, Bishop Hilarion develops this idea in his article: “When asked whether it is possible to place on the altar not one huge bowl, but several bowls of regular size, before the consecration of the Holy Gifts, the answer is: it is impossible.”

“No” is the correct answer.

But all such examples, permissible in exceptional cases, will be imputed to sin and will be condemned to those clergy who deliberately deviate from Orthodox piety. One cannot theologically justify a deviation from the sacred church tradition. It is impossible to distort the symbolic content of Orthodox worship without any reason.

At the end of his article, the bishop correctly noted: “If we are guided literally Byzantine tradition, then the required number of bowls should be placed on the altar already at the proskomedia, and then take them all to the great entrance." One should, of course, agree with this remark: if one is to serve at several chalices, they should all certainly fully participate in the service. Unfortunately, Metropolitan Hilarion does not at all propose to be “literally guided” by such a “Byzantine” tradition, but simply suggests placing small cups of wine on the throne “after the great entrance.”

5. On the symbolism of the single liturgical cup

Metropolitan Hilarion conveys the thought of his opponents in this way: “At the same time (they) also cite a “theological” argument: after all, we all partake of “one bread and one cup,” how can you put several cups on the throne? This, they say, violates the Eucharistic symbolism."

It must be firmly repeated: the use of multiple cups does violate the Eucharistic symbolism. Undoubtedly, the single Eucharistic cup corresponds to both the literal and symbolic remembrance of the Last Supper. Many small bowls do not reflect the truth of the Gospel testimony and, in fact, violate the spiritual symbolism of the Divine Table.

This argument is theological (without quotes!) in the most original apostolic and patristic sense.

For there is one God, and one Advocate for God by man, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself redemption for all.(1 Tim. 2:5-6).

Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica confirms: “And consecrating the sacred cup (and not “cups” - Archpriest K.B.) in Him, Christ our God, who gave Himself to us, we, as commanded, give in love to drink from it (and not “ from them" - Archpriest K.B.) and to all the brethren, becoming united as He prayed (John 17:11), and, being united with Him and with the Father and the Spirit, as He said (John 17:21).”

6. What does the entrance with empty cups confirm?

The author cites several historical facts from the liturgical practice of antiquity and makes the following conclusion. “So, celebrating the Divine Liturgy with many chalices and many patenes is not just some kind of incident, but a completely ordinary Byzantine practice, which, moreover, was even normative during the bishop’s service. Why did it disappear in the post-Byzantine era? .

In fact, the thesis about “normativity” requires more convincing evidence and elaboration. It is more like the author's interpretation and is far from obvious. It is an undeniable historical fact that this “usual Byzantine practice” has not been observed anywhere for the last thousand years.

The following curious evidence given by Bishop Hilarion is noteworthy: “For some time, the practice of making the great entrance with the transfer of many bowls in the procession was still preserved - but the bowls, except for one main bowl with wine, began to be carried empty» .

A similar practice existed in pre-Nikon Rus': “Not only the paten and the cup with Eucharistic bread and wine were carried to the great entrance, but also other empty vessels» .

Perhaps this is the “Byzantine secret” of serving the Liturgy with many cups?

After all, if the vessels were brought in empty- this means that the consecration of wine was not carried out in them! In other words, both in Byzantium and in pre-Nikon Rus' the principle known to us was observed: the pouring of the Blood of Christ into small cups was carried out after the consecration of the Eucharistic wine in one chalice.

Thus, anaphora prayers (like ours today) were conducted over one Eucharistic cup filled with wine during proskomedia. Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica wrote about it this way: “The cup represents the cup in which the Savior celebrated His blood.”

The introduction of empty cups at the great entrance does not cause embarrassment, since no violation of liturgical symbolism occurs. In fact, although these vessels are used in further worship, they remain empty until the Eucharistic wine in the main chalice is converted into the Blood of Christ. Then the small cups at the end of the Liturgy will be filled with the Blood of Christ and will be needed for the communion of the laity. Therefore, their introduction at the great entrance is quite appropriate and even justified, because it gives the service additional solemnity. The bringing in of auxiliary bowls can be compared to the bringing in of a spoon and a copy at the great entrance.

7. About the liar and the copy

Metropolitan Hilarion asks: “What prevents us from returning to Byzantine practice celebrating the Liturgy with many cups?” .

We answer: a thousand-year tradition.

The answer will be the same: a thousand-year tradition.

Unlike the liturgical use of a spoon and a copy, the service of several chalice with wine does not emphasize the gospel symbolism of the Eucharist, but destroys his.

Perhaps this is why the Orthodox Church abandoned such “Byzantine practices” (if it ever used it at all).

8. A few words about Orthodox aesthetics

Let us hasten to agree with Metropolitan Hilarion in two of his arguments.

1. “One large cup visually symbolizes the unity of the Church in the Eucharist and, as it were, illustrates the words from the anaphora of St. Basil the Great: “But unite us all, from the one Bread and Chalice who partake, with each other into one communion of the Holy Spirit.”

2. “The solemnity and grandeur that can be seen in the celebration of the Liturgy on huge vessels.”

We would have been completely unanimous with the Bishop if he had stopped there. But...

But, unfortunately, he continued his thought, turning it “in the other direction”: “But the same arguments can be turned On the other side. Firstly, to someone unnaturally large paten and cup may seem grotesque and unaesthetic» .

9. On the inadmissibility of fragmentation of the Holy Gifts before their transposition

We should not talk about the fact that the Holy Blood before the communion of the laity “is still ultimately poured into many cups” (this is already obvious) - but about the fact that all believers must partake of the Blood of Christ from a single chalice. After all, before communion the One Lamb is also split into many parts, but this does not mean that at the proskomedia it can be replaced with a pile of pieces of bread (like Catholic wafers).

Metropolitan Hilarion rejects the symbolism of the One Eucharistic Offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, arguing that the Holy Gifts are “still” fragmented.

Of course, the Body of Christ is “broken,” and the Blood of Christ is “poured out.” But at the same time, the Body and Blood belong to the One Lord, which is symbolically depicted at the Divine Liturgy in the form of a single Lamb on the paten and a single chalice.

10. About adding wine to the chalice

Finally, the author presents another argument: “In addition, when serving on one huge bowl liturgical symbolism is also violated, only in a different way. After all, in the chalice Necessarily wine is added after the great entrance, but this added wine, unlike the one already in the cup, was not poured at the proskomedia with the utterance of the prescribed words and did not participate in the procession of the great entrance. And this procession is also loaded with various symbolism.”

It should be noted that it is not at all “necessary” to add wine to the chalice after the great entrance. It would be more accurate to say that, according to the Teacher’s News of the Service Book, adding wine is “allowed” if necessary (for example, if a large group of pilgrims unexpectedly arrived at the Liturgy on a weekday...). The clergy sometimes take advantage of this opportunity, adding the required amount of wine to the chalice before it is transmuted into the Blood of Christ. But, we repeat, this is not at all necessary.

However, it should be taken into account that adding wine to the chalice before the start of the service of the Eucharistic canon has a completely pious and justified goal - to fill to the brim The cup of Christ (His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II liked to emphasize this). “Liturgical symbolism” is not so much “violated” as “corrected” - who would dare deny the symbolic meaning of the Gospel completeness Cups of Christ? For it pleased the Father that she should dwell in Him. every completeness, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself, pacifying through Him the Blood of His Cross, both earthly and heavenly(Col. 1:19-20).

At proskomedia, wine is sometimes not poured into the chalice to the brim solely because of the risk of spilling its contents during the great entrance.

11. About the Cup and the Chalice

Metropolitan Hilarion writes: “The argument itself in favor of the “single cup” as supposedly symbolizing the unity of the Eucharist can be disputed» .

Paten (Greek - round dish) - a liturgical vessel, which is a small round metal dish with a flat wide edge bordering a shallow flat bottom;

the bottom is fixed on a low, usually low, leg, with a small apple, or thickening, in the middle; the leg goes into a wide round stand, usually smaller in size than the paten dish.

The paten serves to place on it the middle part of the prosphora cut out in a special way with a seal on top. This quadrangular cube-shaped core of the prosphora, cut crosswise from the bottom side right up to the seal, is called the lamb - consecrated bread, prepared for its subsequent transformation into the true Body of Christ, which takes place on the same paten. The preparation of the lamb and its placement on the paten takes place during the proskomedia on the altar. At the same time, a particle taken from the second liturgical prosphora is placed on the paten to the left of the lamb, in honor of the Mother of God. To the right of the lamb are nine particles taken from the third prosphora in honor of John the Baptist, the prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, saints, healers, the righteous Joachim and Anna and the saints celebrated on this day; finally, in honor of the liturgists - Saints John Chrysostom or Basil the Great. On the western side of the lamb in the first row are placed particles taken from the fourth service prosphora, about the health of the highest hierarchs of the Church, all those whom the priest should or wants to remember about their health, and all Orthodox Christians, that is, the entire earthly Church. In the second row, to the west, are placed particles from the fifth prosphora, taken out in memory of deceased Orthodox Christians, from the highest hierarchs to all those whom the personally serving priest considers necessary to remember, and all our forefathers, fathers and brothers who have died from time to time, with a request to grant them all Kingdom of heaven. In these same two rows to the west of the lamb, particles taken out of prosphora for health and repose are placed, which are bought by believers and served along with the written names of those for whom they were given at the altar. Thus, near the lamb standing in the center of the paten, particles gather, representing members of all the Church of Christ, Heavenly and earthly, starting from the Old Testament saints and the Mother of God and ending with the parishioners of a given temple. Mysteriously, this means that every time at the paten, the entire Ecumenical Apostolic Church is gathered near Christ the Savior.

Thus, the paten, firstly, is an image of the dish from which Jesus Christ took bread at the Last Supper and transformed it into His Most Pure Body, distributing it to the disciples. Although nothing is said about this dish in the Gospel, it goes without saying that it existed, since bread, especially at festive meals in ancient times, was served only on dishes; secondly, the round dish of the paten means a circle, the totality of the entire Church and the eternity of the Church of Christ: a circle that has neither beginning nor end is a symbol of eternity. Particles from the service and other prosphoras on the paten are not transformed into the Body of Christ; only the lamb is transformed. As the service progresses, the paten acquires some particular meanings. At the proskomedia, it is mainly a sign of the Bethlehem manger, where the born Christ was laid. Therefore, sometimes at the bottom of the paten there is a carving depicting the Infant of God lying in a manger. At the proskomedia, the suffering of Christ is also remembered. They are also remembered at the liturgy, after the transfer of the Holy Gifts from the altar to the altar. The paten in this case signifies the Tomb in which the Body of Christ rested and from which the Resurrection of the Lord took place. The double symbolic meaning of the paten during worship determines that they try to create an image on it that is suitable in meaning to both meanings. So, often at the bottom of this vessel two kneeling angels are carved, as if serving the Lamb, which is placed between them. Along the flat edge of the paten are usually inscribed the words of John the Baptist about Christ: “Behold, Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world.” At the bottom of the paten, under the words “Behold, the Lamb of God,” a small cross is placed to indicate the side of the vessel that should be facing east.

In ancient times, patens did not have legs or stands, and were simply round dishes. It is unknown when they first started making stands for paten. However, the stand not only created certain conveniences when carrying the paten, but also revealed its spiritual and symbolic meaning more deeply. The paten with a wide stand represented two circles connected to each other, which corresponds to the two natures in the Lord Jesus Christ, remaining eternally in unfused, but also indivisible unity. This also corresponds to the two circles of the prosphora, of which the lower one signifies the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the upper one with the seal - His Divine nature. This also corresponds to the two parts (heavenly and earthly) of the one Church of Christ and the two areas of creation - Heavenly and earthly existence, closely connected, but not merging with each other. In addition, the stand elevates the paten, denoting its spiritual and mysterious height and distinguishing it from the number of worldly vessels that have everyday use.

Particles of bread, signifying the Mother of God, saints and all believers, living and dead, are present near the lamb both when the Nativity of Christ is remembered and the paten marks the manger, and when His procession to free passion for the salvation of mankind is depicted (at the great entrance), and when His death is remembered and the paten marks the Sepulcher, and when His Resurrection from the dead is then remembered and depicted. Finally, after people have communed with particles of the Body of Christ, the particles signifying members of the Heavenly and Earthly Church are immersed in the chalice, in the Blood of Christ, as if completely dissolving with it. This is clear evidence of the inseparability of the Church from Christ, evidence that the Church goes through the same stages of exploits and suffering that the Lord Jesus Christ went through in His earthly life, completely uniting with the Resurrection of Christ into the existence of the Kingdom of Heaven.

A chalice (Greek - drinking vessel) is a round bowl on a high stand with a round base. The leg connecting the bowl to the base of the stand, as a rule, has a thickening in the middle, an apple. The base of the bowl is usually made large in diameter. The chalice, like the paten, contains two circles (upper and lower), which have the same meanings as the circles of the paten. But the chalice also has its spiritual meaning. The chalice is used to transform wine into the true Blood of Christ. At the proskomedia, wine is poured into the cup. At the liturgy, its transubstantiation into the Blood of Christ takes place. One of the four parts of the broken Lamb, which became the Body of Christ, is then lowered into the chalice, in the image of the Resurrection of the Lord. Priests and deacons receive communion directly from the chalice. After the communion of the clergy, particles of His Body, designated for the communion of the laity, are lowered into the chalice with the Blood of the Lord. The chalice is then solemnly carried through the royal doors to the people, and from it Communion is taught to the laity. After this, particles are poured into the bowl from the paten, representing members of the Heavenly and Earthly Church, taken from service and other prosphoras. Then the cup is solemnly transferred from the throne to the altar, in the image of the Ascension of Christ, and in the royal doors it makes a cross over the people. The cup is truly a container for the Incontainable, and therefore in itself symbolizes the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, in whose womb the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ was formed, whose Body and Blood He then deigned to give as food and drink to those who believe in Him. Just as in the Old Testament, a special vessel (stamna), at the command of God, kept in itself in the Mosaic tabernacle manna, Divine food sent down from Heaven to feed Israel in the desert, so the Mother of God carried within Her true food and true drink - the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 6, 32-33; 48-50; 51, 55). Therefore, in church hymns, the Mother of God is often called the stamna, bearing manna, the Divine stamna of manna, the cup that draws joy. If the Old Testament stamna was a mysterious prototype of the Virgin Mary, then the New Testament cup (chalice) is even more a sign of the Ever-Virgin.

The church chalice is an image of the cup that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to His disciples at the Last Supper with the words “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26, 27, 28). In the broadest sense, the chalice is an image of that mysterious cup in which the Wisdom of God dissolved wine and offered it at her meal (Proverbs 9: 1, 3). The ancient prophecy embraces in this image both the sacrament of Communion, first of all, and the mystery of the Nativity of Christ from the Ever-Virgin Mary, and that cup of suffering for the sins of the whole world, about which Christ, praying, said: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; however, not as I want, but as You want" (Matthew 26:39).

By partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, believers themselves become particles of the nature of the Son of God, participants in His feat, death and Resurrection, partakers of His Divine life and through this heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the cup, like the paten, also symbolizes the Heavenly and Earthly Church, which feeds people with spiritual food into eternal life. The cup as a symbol of the Church is close in its meaning to the cup as a symbol of the Mother of God, for the Ever-Virgin is the Mother of the Church.

The paten and chalice originate from the Last Supper. Since ancient times, they tried to make these vessels in accordance with the greatness of the sacrament performed on them - from gold or silver. Even during times of persecution, Christians had gold and silver vessels. Vessels made of glass, tin, copper, iron, and even wood were also used. This kind of vessels came into use especially during the period of widespread dissemination of faith and the Church, when many remote and poor parishes could not purchase or make expensive patenes and chalices, which was also the case in the Russian Church, where in ancient times in remote churches and monasteries vessels were used during divine services from simple metals and wood. The wooden paten and chalice of St. Sergius of Radonezh are famous. Vessels of this kind were blessed only due to extreme circumstances, since a wooden cup inevitably absorbs part of the Blood of Christ and cannot be wiped clean; in addition, wood is a very brittle and fragile material; glass is even more fragile, although it is smooth and clean; iron and copper oxidize. Eucharistic vessels were made of jasper and agate, framed in silver and gold, and decorated with precious stones. When church life in Russia reached a high level of development, in the middle of the 17th century, church orders established that paten and chalices should be made of gold or silver, or, in extreme cases, of tin, but not of wood or copper.

In ancient times there was no unity in the images and inscriptions on sacred vessels. The diskos depicted the Infant of God in a manger, a cross, and the Virgin Mary; on the chalices - the Good Shepherd with a lost sheep on his shoulder, a Lamb bearing the Cross. Later, increasing uniformity was achieved in the images on the vessels, so that now angels or the Cross are usually depicted on paten;

on the chalice on the western side, facing the priest, is the image of Christ the Savior, on the northern side - the image of the Mother of God, on the southern side - John the Baptist, that is, the deisis, on the eastern side - the Cross.

The love of Orthodox people for the Eucharist and reverence for the holiness of liturgical vessels inspired many ancient masters to create such patenes and chalices, which are rightfully considered the pinnacle of jewelry art and have long become the property of universal human culture. It should be noted that the creation of gold or silver-gilded decorated Eucharistic vessels is not dictated by the desire for luxury and stunning splendor in a worldly sense. The heavenly glory and greatness of the sacrament of the Eucharist should, as far as possible, correspond to the very materials from which the vessels for this sacrament are made, for rare precious metals and stones are the earthly reflection of the heavenly, Divine virtues, qualities, various virtues and spiritual gifts of the Holy Church of Christ. With the correct attitude towards beauty, as one of the phenomena of Sophia - the Wisdom of God, expensive sacred vessels can teach a person’s consciousness many deep spiritual lessons.

An asterisk is a liturgical object made of two metal steep arcs connected at the center of the intersection with a bolt or cog with a nut so that the arcs can be connected together, covering one another, and moved apart crosswise. The star received its name because at the end of the proskomedia, having spread it crosswise and covered it with incense, it is placed on the paten with the words from the Gospel: “And a star came and stood above where the Child was” (Matthew 2:9). The star is placed so that under the intersection of its arcs there is a lamb located in the center of the paten. This signifies the Nativity of Christ, during which the mysterious star, showing the Magi the way to the place of the Nativity of the King of the World, stopped over the Bethlehem cave. The introduction of the star into liturgical use is unanimously attributed to St. John Chrysostom.

The prayer for the consecration of the star says that it should serve the Holy Mysteries, and in particular the remembrance of the “Divine Nativity of the Virgin” (Trebnik, part II). Most closely denoting the Star of Bethlehem, the star in a folded position means two natures in the One Lord Jesus Christ, existing together, in an indivisible, but also unfused unity. When unfolded, it clearly marks the Cross. All the meanings of this object, reminiscent of the Nativity in the flesh of the Son of God, that is, the combination of two natures in one Person of the Born Savior, and the Cross as an instrument of His feat for the salvation of the world are in close spiritual unity. Indeed, the very union of the Divine with humanity (human nature) spiritually contains the concept of the Cross as the extreme humiliation of the Son of God through crucifixion for the sins of the whole world. At His very Nativity, the Lord Jesus Christ was destined for suffering on the cross. Since the proskomedia service simultaneously contains memories of the birth and death of Jesus Christ, therefore, the star also depicts the union of two natures in Christ (Christmas) and the Cross (the suffering of the Savior). Both in their indissoluble spiritual unity are truly a New Light for the world, the Sun of Truth, shining from the heights of the Heavenly East, guiding humanity to the knowledge of the truth, to truth and salvation in God. The dogmatic precision of the star excludes the idea that it was created only for practical purposes: to protect the lamb and particles lying in a certain order on the paten from movement and mixing when covering the paten with covers. The star actually fulfills this practical task, but only as an accompaniment to the main spiritual and symbolic goal. Even when historically an object was introduced into church use primarily for practical reasons, it, according to God’s vision, already turns out to have great symbolic meaning, which can only be revealed to the consciousness of a wide circle of people later. If the only concern was to protect the particles on the paten from displacement and mixing, it would be possible to use a solid cover or an asterisk of several stripes, which would be more like a radiant star, or, finally, a star of two stripes could be made tightly connected. During the Eucharistic canon, the four ends of the unfolded star crosswise shade the paten with exclamations of the priest “singing, crying, crying and speaking,” which, according to the Apocalypse, means serving God with the highest Heavenly powers, in particular the four mysterious animals that were in the middle of the throne and around the throne ( throne) of God Almighty: eagle, calf, lion, creature in the form of a man (Rev. 4, 6-9).

To cut out a lamb from the first liturgical prosphora, as well as to cut out particles from other prosphora, a copy is used - a flat iron knife in the form of a spear tip, sharpened on both sides, inserted into a wooden or bone handle. He is an image of the spear with which the soldier, wanting to make sure of the death of Christ on the Cross, pierced Him in the ribs. When remembering the suffering of the Savior at the service of the proskomedia, the lamb is lightly pierced with a copy on the right side with the words: “One of the warriors is pierced with a copy of His rib.” As an image of one of the instruments of execution of the Savior and as a weapon of war and death in general, a sharp iron spear cutting soft prosphora bread is a symbol of the cruelty of this world. The forces of cruelty and death strive to strike and kill everything Divine and heavenly in the earthly. But, according to God’s vision, they turn out to be instruments that highlight, extract from the environment of the human world everything that is not of this world, that, being in the world, needs to be tested, so that it becomes clear or visible to everyone that it belongs to another world, God’s chosenness of the tested one. In other words, the instruments of the cruelty of this world providentially, against the will of the devil and his angels, serve for the glory of God, turn into instruments of God's Providence for the salvation of the human race, into instruments that make it possible to discover and demonstrate the depth of God's love for His creatures and their reciprocal love for God. Therefore, the church copy, on the other hand, means precisely the instrument of God’s Providence, distinguishing His chosen ones from among humanity. In this sense, the copy is similar to the sword, the image of which Jesus Christ uses in His sermon, saying that He brought not peace, but a sword to earth, a sword that spiritually, as it were, cuts humanity into those who accept and those who do not accept Christ (Matthew 10, 34-38; Luke 12, 51-53).

In its spiritual meaning, the copy is to some extent similar to the Cross of Christ, for just as the Cross was formerly an instrument of shameful execution, and in Christ it became an instrument of salvation and the glory of God, so the copy, being an instrument of death, becomes in Christ an instrument of salvation for the faithful for eternal life in the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. The latter circumstance imparts to the consecrated church copy the power of grace, capable of exerting a healing effect. The Trebnik contains a brief “Following the passion of an illness... with a holy copy,” which the priest performs over a sick person, making the sign of a cross over him with a copy.

The spiritual meaning of the copy becomes especially clear when considering the symbolic meaning of the prosphoras from which the particles are extracted by the copy. Prosphora (Greek - offering) is round bread made from wheat flour, without impurities, fermented with yeast. Prosphora consists of two parts, which are made from dough separately from one another and then joined together, sticking to one another. On the upper part there is a seal depicting a four-pointed equilateral cross with the inscriptions above the crossbar 1C and XC (Jesus Christ), under the crossbar HI KA (Greek - victory). Prosphora, made from flour from the grains of countless ears of ears, means both human nature, consisting of many elements of nature, and humanity as a whole, consisting of many people. Moreover, the lower part of the prosphora corresponds to the earthly (carnal) composition of man and humanity; the upper part with the seal corresponds to the spiritual principle in man and humanity, in which the image of God is imprinted and the Spirit of God is mysteriously present. God's presence and spirituality permeate the entire nature of man and humanity, which, when making prosphoras, is reflected by adding holy water and yeast to the water. Holy water signifies the grace of God, and yeast signifies the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, which gives life to every creature. This corresponds to the words of the Savior about spiritual life striving for the Kingdom of Heaven, which He likens to leaven put into flour, thanks to which the whole dough gradually rises.

The division of the prosphora into two parts visibly signifies this invisible division of human nature into flesh (flour and water) and soul (yeast and holy water), which are in an inseparable, but also unfused unity, which is why the upper and lower parts of the prosphora are made separately from one another , but then connect so that they become one.

The seal on the top of the prosphora visibly denotes the invisible seal of the image of God, which penetrates the entire nature of man and is the highest principle in him. This arrangement of the prosphora corresponds to the structure of humanity before the Fall and the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, who restored in Himself this structure disrupted by the Fall. The prosphora is therefore also a sign of the Lord Jesus Christ, who united in Himself the Divine and human nature.

The prosphora is made round as a sign of the eternity of Christ and humanity in Christ, in general as a sign that man was created for eternal life. It is not difficult to see that the prosphora also marks the creation of God in the unity of the heavenly and earthly realms of existence and the heavenly and earthly Fullness of the Church of Christ.

The prosphora, being a symbol of the deified creature, can acquire different meanings depending on the course of the service, signifying both an individual person and all of humanity as a whole. When a four-part lamb is cut out of the first service prosphora, it simultaneously symbolizes the birth of Jesus Christ from the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary, and the separation of the sinless and divinely purified human nature of Jesus Christ from the environment of sinful humanity, from the environment of this world, from earthly life. This separation was carried out through the malice of the people themselves, which persecuted Christ from birth and led Him to death on the cross. In connection with this it is found that the lamb is carved with a copy.

The wisdom of the design of the prosphora allows it to be both a symbol of the Church and the human nature restored in it through the communion of Christ with God. Prosphoras are basically a sign of a deified creature, a sign of the Church as the eternal Kingdom of God, of which the person bringing the prosphora strives to become a particle, and what he wishes for those for whom the particles were taken out of it. The sharp iron spear cutting out these particles correspondingly means the trials of life that are allowed by God on the part of demonic forces hostile to man, so that these trials themselves turn out, despite the hostile will, to be a necessary instrument in the conditions of earthly life for saving a person, cutting off his sinful attachments and union with the Church of God's chosen ones. The copy was not created only for the convenience of cutting out particles from prosphoras. If the release of the lamb and particles had a different spiritual meaning, it could be done either by the hands of the priest by breaking it off, or by an object that meant anything but an instrument of cruelty and bodily death.

Liar - a small spoon with a cross at the end of the handle, used for teaching Communion from a chalice (chalice) to the laity. Just like the paten, chalice and star, the spoon is made of gold, silver, tin or metal alloys that do not produce oxide.

In the Ancient Church (before the 5th century), the laity received communion differently. The bishop or priest taught the particles of the Body of Christ to men in their hands, to women in clean handkerchiefs, and the deacon then gave them all to partake of the Blood of Christ directly from the chalice. At the same time, the hand of the clergyman, teaching the Body of Christ, symbolically meant the tongs with which Seraphim took coal from the Heavenly altar and touched it to the lips of the prophet Isaiah, cleansing them (Isa. 6:6). This coal prophetically represented the Body of Christ, which was to be taught and is now taught in the New Testament Church. The edge of the cup, which the communicant touched, meant the rib of the Savior, from which blood and water flowed when the soldier pierced Him on the Cross. So, the one who partook of the Blood of Christ, as it were, pressed his lips to the pierced ribs of the Lord Jesus Christ. This order of communion still exists today for clergy during the bishop’s service, when the bishop teaches the priests and deacons serving with him with his hand into their hands parts of the Body of Christ, and then gives them to partake of the Blood of Christ from the cup that he holds in his hands. When a priest and a deacon serve, the first teaches the second the Body and Blood of the Savior in the same way.

During the holy service of John Chrysostom, a woman took a piece of the Body of the Lord in a scarf home and tried to use it for witchcraft. Having learned about this, Saint John Chrysostom gave orders to all churches to give communion to the laity using a spoon (liar), with which particles of the Body of Christ, previously immersed in His Blood and soaked with It, are removed from the chalice. At the same time, it became a custom to immediately wash down Communion with warm water and wine for clear evidence that every layman had actually received the Holy Mysteries. Thus, it would seem, the case contributed to the appearance of the spoon in the canon of liturgical objects. However, this was a providential accident, thanks to which the communion of the laity acquired the proper symbolic correspondence to spiritual truths. Ancient interpreters drew attention to the fact that the Lord, Himself performing the transformation of bread and wine into His Body and Blood at the Last Supper, gave His disciples first the Body and then His Blood from the cup. Communion of the Holy Mysteries to other believing people began after the Resurrection of Christ, after the suffering of the Lord on the Cross, where the Blood-stained Body of the crucified Savior was revealed to all people, the world. In accordance with this, the entire order of communion has now come, at the behest of St. John Chrysostom. On the right in the altar, as in the upper room of Zion, the clergy, who in this case represent the disciples closest to Christ, the apostles, partake of the Holy Mysteries separately, as they were taught by Christ at the Last Supper and which is fully consistent with other church and liturgical differences that distinguish the consecrated clergy from the general environment of believers. Then, through the open royal doors, the cup, in which particles of the Body of Christ are already stained with His Blood, is solemnly brought out to the laity, which generally marks the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The laity thus partake of the Body and Blood united together. In addition, the communion of the laity through the spoon spiritually means that believers in Christ are united with God through the Church, which feeds them with spiritual food. Therefore, the lie means the mediation of the Church in the spiritual care of people in the broadest sense.

During worship, small plates are also used, without stands, usually silver. One of them depicts the Cross at the bottom, the other shows the image of the Mother of God with the Eternal Child in her womb. The first plate is intended for cutting out a lamb from the first service prosphora. The second serves to remove particles from other prosphoras in honor of the Mother of God, saints, health and repose of members of the Church. On the plate with the Cross along the edge is the inscription “We bow to Your Cross, Master.” On the plate with the image of the Mother of God, along the edge there is the inscription “It is worthy to eat, for truly to bless Thee, the Mother of God.” The plate with the Cross is also used in the liturgy to divide on it a part of the Body of Christ into smaller particles intended for the communion of the laity. These vessels have an auxiliary, service meaning and symbolically signify the dual service of the Church: to God and people.

In addition to them, for the placement of several prosphoras and other needs, usually several more shallow plates are used, larger in diameter than those described, with the same images and inscriptions. Their symbolic meaning is the same as that of the small silver plates. In ancient times, all these round dishes without a stand were called paten, which shows that the paten itself was once without a stand. Since such a dish is served with parts of the prosphora after cutting out the lamb (antidor), it is called anaphoric, that is, antidorn.

During liturgical activities, ladles with specially shaped handles are used. At proskomedia, wine and a small amount of clean cold water are poured into such a vessel in remembrance of the blood and water that flowed from the Savior’s ribs, for this wine and water are transformed into Blood and water from the Body of Christ only at the liturgy. Then, after the lamb is pierced with a spear, wine and water are poured from the ladle into the chalice (cup) with the words from the Gospel:

"And Abiye came forth Blood and Water." Here, too, the suffering of the Savior is only remembered. During the liturgy, heat is then supplied in a ladle - hot water, which is poured into the Blood of Christ after the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts and the union of part of the Body of Christ with the Blood. This warmth signifies the grace of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out on the Church after the ascension of Christ into heaven and is now constantly pouring out, as well as the warmth of the faith of the church people themselves, who are united with Christ through Communion as inseparably as warm water with the Blood of Christ in a chalice. In the latter circumstance, the action of the Holy Spirit is also manifested, since faith is His gift. The Holy Spirit appears and is called in prayer the King of Heaven. For this reason, the handle of the church ladle is made in the form of a royal crown with a cross in the middle. Along the circumference of the ladle there is often the inscription “Fill the warmth of faith with the Holy Spirit.” These are the words that accompany the priest as he pours warmth into the chalice. The ladle is further used to wash the cup after consuming the Holy Gifts at the end of the liturgy. Water and wine are poured into the ladle and poured from it into the cup to wash it from the remnants of the Blood of Christ and particles of His Body. All cases of using the ladle reveal its symbolic meaning as a vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit, producing various grace-filled actions.

To wipe the bowl after washing it, a lip (sponge) is used, which is called in the books an abrasive lip, in contrast to an antiminsal lip. The antimension lip serves to pour particles of the Body of Christ into the chalice from a plate on which part of it was cut into small particles for the communion of the laity. After the laity has received communion, the antimension lip is used to clean off from the paten into the bowl all those particles from the prosphora that have been on it since the beginning of the service. This lip is left in the antimind and is constantly present in it. The rubbing lip is on the altar and after wiping the cup it is left on it. The lip represents a sponge, which, having been soaked in vinegar, was brought on a reed to the lips of the Savior crucified on the Cross. Nowadays, instead of the abrasive lip, scarves made of red cloth are more often used. The sponges and handkerchiefs with which the sacred vessels and lips of the clergy and laity who receive communion are wiped generally reflect the special actions of God's grace, protecting people from involuntary desecration of holy things due to the weakness of human nature. By these actions, it is as if everything that could be subject to desecration is completely freed from the presence of the Divine. For external objects and people, although blessed by God, for the reflection of Divine and heavenly things and for the greatest sacred rites, still remain external, earthly.

The paten and chalice, after performing the proskomedia and placing the star unfolded crosswise on the paten, are covered sequentially, first with small covers, each vessel separately, and then both together are covered with a common cover. These veils have a common name in liturgical books - veil, air, and individual names: for small ones - veil (small veil, small air), for large - bolshoi vozduh (large veil).

In the prayer for the consecration of the air it is read: “Lord God Almighty, clothe yourself with light like a robe, overlay the sky with clouds and cover with Your most exalted waters... send down Your heavenly blessing on these covers... so that they may be worthy of the protection of the holy and Divine Mysteries Body and Blood of Thy Christ" (Trebnik, part II). The prayer contains a clear idea of the mysterious robes of incomprehensible Divine greatness, of the Divine Light, which, like a robe, envelops the Divine, and that the reflection of these robes of Divine glory in the material world are the clouds and waters that are above the firmament of the visible world (Gen. 1, 7), that is, they separate the realm of earthly existence from the realm of heavenly existence. At the proskomedia, when covering the paten, the first small cover reads verses from the psalm: “The Lord enthroned, clothed with beauty, the Lord clothed with strength and girded...” When covering the chalice, it is said: “The heavens have covered Your virtue, O Christ, and the earth is full of Your praise.” When covering the vessels with common air, the priest prays: “Cover us with the shelter of Thy wing, drive away from us every enemy and adversary...” The symbolic meaning of these actions, according to the interpretation of the holy fathers, depicts the circumstances of the Nativity of Christ, when the Infant of God was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and the coverings mean in this in the sense of the Savior’s baby swaddling clothes. But the prayers accompanying these actions speak of the heavenly robes of Christ the Pantocrator, as the King of Glory, and contain a request to cover people with the cover of the immaterial wings of God’s protection and mercy, for the very flesh of man, which the Son of God took upon Himself at His Nativity, was the garment of His splendor and royal power, since through it the redemption of the world was accomplished. In this regard, the infant swaddling clothes of God, who deigned to come into the world in the flesh, are in themselves the garments of the ineffable glory of God, revealed in the height of His humility and humiliation.

When the vessels are transferred from the altar to the throne at the great entrance during the liturgy, the procession of Christ to his free execution, His death and burial of the Savior's body in the tomb are depicted. At this time, the cover on the paten means the sir, with which they tied the head of Christ when he was placed in the tomb, the cover over the chalice means the shroud that wrapped around His body. When the vessels are placed on the throne, the small shrouds are removed from them, and they are covered with one common air, which in this case means first of all the shroud brought by Joseph, in which the body of the Savior was wrapped, and all the burial shrouds in general, as well as the stone rolled to the door coffin This prompted sometimes in the old days to place in the open air the image of Christ’s position in the tomb. However, this does not contain all the meanings of air, so now, as a rule, large air does not have this image.

When the Creed is chanted, the curtain of the royal doors is opened and a large amount of air is removed from the vessels. The priest, reading the Creed itself, slowly shakes this air over the paten and the chalice. These actions mark the Resurrection of Christ, when an angel rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and an earthquake occurred, depicted by air vibrations. At the same time, this hesitation during the reading and singing of the Creed means a winnowing, that is, participation and influx of the gracious power of the Holy Spirit and all angelic heavenly powers in the mysteries of God’s Economy for the salvation of the world, in the spread of faith in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. After this, a large amount of air is added and the vessels remain open until the clergy receive communion inclusive. When the cup is taken out for the communion of the laity, it is covered with a small shroud, which is removed just before communion, thereby meaning that the death and Resurrection of Christ opened up the opportunity for all people to communicate with God as an inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.

When the cup is transferred from the throne to the altar, which depicts the Ascension of Christ into heaven, it is again covered with a cover, signifying the cloud that hid the ascending Lord from the eyes of the apostles, and in a broad sense, the general end of Christ’s deeds on earth in His first coming and His concealment in heavenly spheres.

All these symbolic actions, including the remembrance of the death and burial of the Lord, contain the concept of the greatness of the glory of Christ the Pantocrator, who redeemed the sins of the world with His feat. Therefore, the airs, even when they represent the shrouds of death, remain especially decorated in accordance with the concept of the Divine vestments of Christ as the King of glory.Small covers are cloth crosses, the square middle of which, usually with a hard lining, covers the top of the paten and chalice, and the four ends of the crosses go down, covering all the sides of the vessels. Large air has the appearance of a soft rectangle of fabric. The covers are made of brocade, silk or other expensive materials, decorated at the edges with gold, silver or other beautiful borders. At the ends of the crosses on the covers, images of cherubs are embroidered or sewn on. The same images are placed in the corners of the large air. A cross is depicted in the middle of all covers. Covers can be decorated with ornamental embroidery.

The origin of the covers is ancient. The earliest that came into use were small veils, which, along with their symbolic meaning, also served a practical purpose - protecting the Holy Gifts in vessels from flies and dust, which is especially abundant in the hot countries of the East. The big air was introduced into church use later, in the 5th century, mainly for symbolic reasons. Its invention is attributed to the Monk Sava the Sanctified.

A special place in the worship of the Orthodox Church is occupied by incense, performed since apostolic times at Vespers, Matins Liturgy and other services and services by deacons, priests and bishops. The censing is carried out with the help of a censer (censer) - a special vessel suspended on chains by which the clergy hold it. The vessel contains hot charcoals, on which incense is used, releasing fragrant incense when burned. This incense is used to incense the throne, the High Place, the altar, icons in the altar, icons in the iconostasis, in the temple, other shrines and people: both clergy and laity.

In ancient times, the censer was somewhat different from the modern one; it did not have chains, being a vessel with a handle for carrying, and sometimes without it. Only by the X-XI centuries. Censers on chains became widespread and are still used today. A censer without chains, with a handle, katsiya, or katsea (Greek), in ancient times was used along with a censer on chains, and on Mount Athos and in some Russian monasteries, until recently, in certain cases, censing was performed with katsiyas.

After the Fall, in a life alienated from God, people began to make sacrifices to God from the fruit of their labors and burn these offerings with prayer. The sacrifice of Abel, pleasing to God, is known. Burning a sacrifice for the aroma of smoke rising to heaven is incense. These sacrifices were intended to represent the future true sacrifice - Jesus Christ. This determines the symbolic meaning of incense. The chopping, however, soon became separated from other sacrifices and began to consist of the burning of aromatic substances.

The fragrant smoking of incense has been known to the deity since ancient times. In the Old Testament, the Lord commands Israel, among other offerings to the true God, to bring aromas for incense (Exodus 25:6), commands Moses to make censers for the table with showbread (Exodus 25:29), and a special altar for offering incense (Exodus 25:29). 30, 1), also indicates the special composition of the sacred incense from aromatic substances, which includes pure Lebanon (Ex. 30, 34) - a fragrant tree resin collected from trees and shrubs in eastern countries, including Lebanon, which is probably , gave the name to one of the fragrances - Lebanon, which in Russian became the word incense (palm).

The Magi, who came to worship the born Christ, brought Him gifts of gold (as a King), incense (as a God), and myrrh (as a sufferer). John the Theologian saw in Revelation in the Heavenly Temple golden vials in the hands of the elders seated before God, whose incense is the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8), then he saw an angel receiving a golden censer, to whom a lot of incense was given (Rev. 8:3) , so that fragrant incense is of heavenly origin, blessed from ancient times by God for serving Him.

The censer consists of two spherical halves. The upper half rests on the lower half in the form of a lid, which is raised and lowered onto the lower half by a chain. The lower half has the image of a bowl (vial). Hot coals are placed in it. The upper half represents the roof of a temple with one or five domes, which are crowned with crosses. If there are several domes, there is a ring on the central cross or on the cross of the single dome, to which a chain is attached that raises and lowers the upper part of the censer. This chain passes freely into the hole of a round or spherical plaque with a wide fixed ring in the middle, by which the censer is held and suspended. On three sides, the plaque has the ends of three chains going down to the censer itself. The chains pass freely into the rings, respectively, made on the sides of the upper movable half of the censer, so that this half, rising and falling, slides its rings along the chains. These three chains are reinforced with their lower ends on the lower half of the censer. Under the base of the lower half, that is, under the stand of the bowl, three balls with metal cores embedded in them are sometimes fixed - bells. During censing they ring melodiously. Bells, especially on bishop's censers, are often suspended in other places - in the rings connecting the chains with the lower half, on the chains themselves.

Censers are made of gold, silver, bronze.

Censing and censer have a mysterious meaning and meaning. The Body and Blood of Christ are likened in prayers to a burning coal and in ancient visions they were represented by coal from the heavenly altar. According to the interpretation of the Holy Fathers, fire, as a substance that burns (purifies), sanctifies and warms, represents the Divinity, for it is said: “Our God is a consuming fire” and “God is light.” Therefore, the very fire of the incense coals signifies the Divine nature of Jesus Christ, the substance of the coals signifies his earthly, human nature, and the incense signifies the prayers of people offered to God. Human prayers accepted by Christ turn into fragrant incense, signifying the most intimate essence of prayers: their sincerity, purity, stemming from good deeds performed according to the will of God and out of pure love for Him. For “we are Christ’s aroma to God” (2 Cor. 2:15).

In the prayer with which the priest (or bishop) blesses the censer, it is said: “We offer the censer to Thee, O Christ our God, into the stench of the spiritual fragrance, as we are received into Thy heavenly altar, bestow upon us the grace of Thy Most Holy Spirit. Asking us to accept the aroma of the censer as a spiritual sign fragrance of people and their prayers before God, the priest asks to send down in response the grace of the Holy Spirit on people.Therefore, the fragrant smoke of the incense is also a visible image, containing the invisible presence of this grace of the Holy Spirit, filling the temple, spiritually pleasing the believers.

Burning, as a prefiguration of the fragrance of Christ's feat, is so pleasing to God that in the Old Testament, Moses stopped God's wrath against Israel for disobedience by burning incense (Num. 16:46-48; Wisdom 18:21).

Together with incense smoke, which delights the external feelings of people, the grace of the Holy Spirit delights the spiritual feelings of those praying. According to the interpretation of the holy Patriarch of Constantinople Herman (8th century), the censer means the most fragrant oath. Spiritual joy, joy, consolation deeply correspond to the Gospel teaching about the Holy Spirit, the idea of the entire Church about Him as the Comforter, the treasure of good things and the giver of life. At the same time, the gracious power of the Holy Spirit cleanses and sanctifies believers and the entire temple. Therefore, according to the interpretation of the holy fathers, censing has the goal of cleansing the gathered people from the impurities of the world for worthy listening and contemplation of divine services; drive away the spirits of darkness who try to disrupt the prayers of believers with vain thoughts.

When incense is performed on sacred objects - icons, temples - it relates to God, giving Him due honor and glory, and testifies to the fragrance of human souls who believe in Christ. When incense is performed on people, it serves to cleanse and sanctify them, testifying to the fact that the grace of the Holy Spirit of God is poured out thanks to the feat of Christ on all the faithful, as those who bear the image of God. In this case, people are like animated icons.

The main thing in censing is the symbolic meaning of hot coals as the dual nature of Jesus Christ, through whom the prayers of people ascend with spiritual fragrance to the Heavenly Father, and the grace of the Holy Spirit is descended on people, in turn. The spiritual fragrance here is, first of all, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as the sacrifice of propitiation for the sins of mankind, and therefore in Him and through Him flows the fragrance of the Spirit of God to people and the fragrance of people in Christ to God.

The censer, like the chalice, also symbolizes the container of the Incontainable, that is, the Mother of God and the Ever-Virgin Mary, from Whom the fragrance of Christ ascended to the world. In many prayers, the Mother of God is therefore called a fragrant censer, which produced the true fragrance - Christ. The tireless movement of the censer is an image of the tireless prayers of the Mother of God for the whole world and people.

During the service, incense can acquire additional, private meanings. So, in proskomedia it means the aromas brought to the Infant by the Magi. At the great entrance during the liturgy, incense marks the aromas with which the Body of Christ was anointed when placed in the tomb. Each day at the beginning of Great Vespers at the All-Night Vigil recalls how, at the creation of the world, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters (Gen. 1, 2). The repetition of “Lord, I have cried” corresponds to the sacrifices that people began to make to God after the Fall, burning their offerings on the altars. Every time on the polyeleos, before reading the Gospel, means the grace of the Holy Spirit poured out on the whole world through the preaching of the Gospel. Every song on the 8th song of the canon, while singing “The Most Honest Cherub,” gives glory to the Mother of God and means that spiritual fragrance to God, which She Herself is and which is spread by Her prayers and participation in the salvation of the world.

Censing is performed by moving the censer in front of the icon, object or person to whom the censing is directed. The censing is full, when the entire church is censed, and small, when the altar, iconostasis and those standing by are censed. Special incense is performed around the table with bread, wine, wheat and oil at litiya and on other occasions. Various types of incense have their own rules, specified in the Charter and other liturgical books.

Sacred vessels- objects of worship used during the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist. Sacred vessels include: chalice, paten, star, spoon, spear, air, tabernacle, monstrance.
Chalice(Greek chalice) - a sacred vessel in the form of a bowl, in which, during the Eucharistic canon, wine and water are consecrated and transformed into the blood of Christ. The chalice represents the cup of the Last Supper (see Luke 22:17). Communion is administered to clergy and laity from the chalice.
Liar- a special spoon with a long handle, which is used to administer communion to laity and priests.
Paten(Greek sacred vessel) - a dish on the base with an image of the baby Jesus. During proskomedia, a lamb and particles from the prosphora are placed on the paten. During the Eucharistic canon, the consecration and transubstantiation of the lamb takes place on the paten. According to liturgical interpretations, the paten symbolically depicts the Bethlehem manger, as well as the tomb in which the body of Jesus Christ was buried.
- two metal cross-shaped arcs. At the end of the proskomedia, the star is placed on the paten to protect it from mixing particles when covered with covers. Symbolically depicts the star of Bethlehem.
- a double-edged knife with a short triangular blade, which is used at the proskomedia for removing particles from the prosphora and for cutting and crushing the lamb. Symbolically depicts the spear with which the ribs of Jesus Christ were pierced on the Cross (see John 18:34).

When reading our modern missal, one can hardly skim through without thinking one of its articles with a somewhat unusual title - “Announcement on certain corrections in the service of the presanctified liturgy”: this article sets out the order of the two most important actions in the Liturgy of the presanctified Gifts - the great entrance and communion of the clergy - and for some reason it is printed separately from the regulations and instructions for the said service that stand next to it; the title of the article seems to hint that it did not belong to the original basis of the missal and introduced changes in the administration of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts; finally, there is no such article at all in the Greek service books. The starting point for the instructions of the “Declaration” is the idea that in St. More often than not, at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts there is only “wine” consecrated by the “investment of a particle” of the Holy Mysteries, but not at all St. Blood: the wine here “is not essential to the Divine Blood, since there are no sacred words over it, as happens in the liturgies of St. John Chrysostom.” In accordance with this basic view, the “Proclamation” prescribes, in contrast to the usual order of the full liturgy, during the service of the Presanctified Gifts at the Great Entrance, then during the service of the priest and the deacon, to carry the paten and chalice only to the priest, the paten on the head, and the chalice with wine - in his left hand, “the deacon with the censer, as he walks forward, burns incense often”; before communion, the “Declaration” omits the words when placing a particle of St. into the chalice. Bread and to infuse warmth into it; for acceptance by the clergy of St. Bread it connects the words of communion and St. Tela, and St. Blood: finally, the partaking of the chalice by the clergy, according to the “Expression,” must be done in silence, and the deacon, while receiving communion, does not even drink from the chalice at all; he can do this only when consuming the holy blood. Mystery according to the prayer behind the pulpit - the priest should do the same, serving alone without a deacon. The idea that the chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts contains only consecrated wine, in addition to the instructions set forth, which are intended mainly for clergy, entails an important restriction for the laity: based on the “Declaration”, our clergy refuse to administer communion to small children at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

The “Declaration” was included in our service book relatively not very long ago, under Patriarch Joachim: the first time it was printed at the end of the service book published in 1676. In the editions of the correct service book until 1676, following the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts about the Great Entrance and Communion The clergy said simply: “and they present the Holy Gifts according to custom, and the priest administers the Holy Communion of the Divine Gifts according to custom.” In the absence of deliberate explanations for these marks, they obviously need to be understood in the sense that the order of both the Great Entry and Communion at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts should not differ from their performance at the full Liturgy, i.e., reasoning sequentially, one must accept contents of St. cups not just for blessed wine, but for St. Blood. The Moscow pre-Nikon printed service books command that the Great Entrance be performed at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the same way as at the full Liturgy, not excluding commemorations - “Let him remember you all,” and so on. . These service books speak quite expressively about the communion of the presanctified Gifts at the Liturgy: “and (the clergy) partake of the most pure Mysteries after the service of John.” In many handwritten Russian service books, communion “following the service of John” is described more clearly and more specifically: many manuscripts of the 15th-16th centuries. indicate to speak at the presanctified service with the insertion of a particle of St. Bread into the chalice with the words: “Filling of the Holy Spirit”; Occasionally, handwritten service books are found with detailed regulations for the communion of clergy at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and with all the prayers related here, where the Holy Chalice is directly and decisively confessed to the divine Blood. This practice existed until the half of the 17th century. in the Russian Church everywhere, i.e. within both the Moscow state and Poland. In the Kiev editions of the service book of Peter Mogila of 1629 and 1639, corrected according to the Greek printed euchologies, the rules for the communion of clergy at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts are set out with all the usual formulas and prayers exactly as it is based on the liturgies of Chrysostom and Basil V.: the only The difference between the presanctified service is that in it one is supposed to eat from the chalice at the Tomb only once. The renegade Cassian Sakovich, who published an essay on heresies and errors of the Russian Church in 1642 (Archimandrite of Dubensky before converting to Catholicism), among other things, reports that in response to the questions he proposed to the Orthodox and some bad Uniates about St. Chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, they answered him that its contents are the true Blood of Christ, since it is sanctified by putting into the chalice a particle of the divine Blood of St. Of bread . In their regulations on the cup at the service of the Presanctified Gifts, Russian handwritten and early printed service books strictly follow the tradition of the Greek Church. The existence in the latter of the belief that at the said liturgy the wine contained in the chalice through the insertion of part of the Holy Spirit into it. The body is transformed into St. Blood, according to indisputable, clear and authoritative evidence, can be traced back almost to the 10th century. From the 11th century, for example, there is an interesting letter from an unknown Patriarch of Constantinople to a certain Paul, elected bishop of the city of Kallipolis (according to the publisher of the letter - I. Cozza-Luzi, in Southern Italy), about the rite of proskomedia and the liturgy of the presanctified Gifts. About the celebration of the latter, the patriarch writes the following: “On the last Sunday of Cheese Week, during the celebration of the full liturgy of Sts. The bread is prepared not in the usual quantity, but in larger quantity. After communion, they are kept up to the heel in a special ark, and St. Blood is not poured into them, for on fast days, every day during the celebration of the presanctified liturgy, a cup is prepared and consecrated, into which the previously consecrated Bread is placed, raised and broken. And what need is there to mix St. Blood for the divine Bread? For the presanctified liturgy is performed only for the sake of consecrating the chalice.” The Patriarch further explains that the divine Bread is fed to St. Blood only for home communion for hermits who do not want to break their silence, and, then, for admonishing the sick: for the latter purpose, reserve saints. The gifts, according to the patriarch, are left after each full liturgy and are stored only until the next morning - unused, they are consumed on an empty stomach by a pure youth; in the 40s, due to the comparative rarity of the complete liturgy, the stock of Sts. Gifts are made for a longer period. The epistle in question is very important because the practice recommended in it undoubtedly belongs to the cathedral church of the city of Constantinople - St. Sophia: this is confirmed partly by the rank of the author of the letter, and mainly by the custom he defends - not to solder the presanctified saints. Bread St. Blood, - as we will see further, from the testimonies of other, later Byzantine writers, such a custom was considered a characteristic feature of the liturgical practice of the Constantinople cathedral church and persisted there for a long time. In the same XI century. studio monk Nikita Stifat, defending against the Latins the Greek custom of performing the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on weekdays on the 40th day, in a brief description of its order he says: “According to our tradition, we serve the full liturgy (on the 40th day) on Saturdays and Sundays on the third hour, in which the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles; then, making an offering, we consecrate the Gifts, of which we save a sufficient amount for the whole week: at the ninth hour, having completed all (daily) services, at the end of Vespers, we priests and deacons perform the entrance with only one censer, and after reading the prophets, having completed those established by Basil V. prayers, having transferred the Gifts from the offering, having prayed over them, adding to this the prayer given to us by the Lord, we exalt the Bread, saying - “The Holy One, presanctified to the saints,” and then, having completed the union [of the Gifts], we partake.” The expression “having completed the connection” (ένώσαντες) was used by Stiphatus almost because in his time, when inserting a particle of St. While placing bread into the chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the words “Union of the Holy Spirit” were pronounced, which were then used on this occasion in the great Church of Constantinople. Patriarch of Constantinople of the 12th century. Michael of Oxia (1143–46) in his “Notice to the Tsar” about the liturgy of the presanctified Gifts writes: “on every Sunday of the honorable days dedicated to us for fasting, according to sacredly devoted adherence and teaching, the presanctified Bread is consecrated. Of those consecrated in this way, St. Part of their bread, perfect bread, life-giving and full of divine gifts, is preserved as long as it is needed and as long as circumstances require. To these Breads, which are recognized and truly are the most life-giving Body of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, not a single drop of divine Blood is added, and they are thus deposited without the sprinkling of St. Blood. On each of the fast days, when the full liturgy is not celebrated, they are transferred from the place of offering to St. the meal in the altar and over them, not a single one of the mysterious and consecrating prayers is said, but the priest says only a single prayer with a petition that he be a worthy communicant of the holy things that are presented. During St. Communion, a little before it is celebrated, the deacons touch the saints standing (on the throne). cups and invite not as at the full liturgy - “Fulfill, master,” but - “Bless, master,” and after the priest answers, “Blessed are we always,” the presanctified and previously perfect saint is inserted. The bread is placed in the mystical cup and the wine contained in the latter is poured into the holy cup. Blood of the Lord and. is recognized as being offered." An interesting opinion can be attributed to the 12th century, cited as a scholia by K. Armenopoulus in the “Abridgement of Divine and Sacred Rules” and assimilated by the author to a certain “Blessed John”, perhaps of Kitras (died in the early 13th century). , who writes: “it is more correct not to solder the presanctified Gifts with a spoon using the Blood of the Lord.” Undoubtedly, such an opinion presupposes the consecration of the chalice through the insertion of a particle of the Holy Spirit into it. Bodies.

The negative attitude of the unknown author of the letter to Paul of Kallipolis towards the custom of soldering the pre-sanctified Bread of St. Blood, apparently, shows that such a custom in the 11th century. It was hardly very ancient and, perhaps, had just begun to spread in the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The opposite custom of storing pre-sanctified Bread, which was also followed by the cathedral church of Constantinople, without connection with St. Blood, was more archaic in the liturgical practice not only of the named temple, but also of some other churches that knew the use of the service of the presanctified Gifts: for example, in Western churches that celebrated communion with the presanctified Gifts on Great Friday, St. Bread not irrigated with St. Blood. The Greek custom is to solder the presanctified St. Bread of the Divine Blood, perhaps, arose by analogy with the method of preparing spare saints. The gifts for the communion of the sick and for other needs, perhaps, came from the practice of the Eastern churches, for example, Jerusalem or others, where during the full liturgy, in parallel with the investment of particles of St. The bodies were placed in chalices, and St. Bread of St. Blood. The first assumption seems more likely.

Spare St. Gifts in the proper sense, i.e. left over from the liturgy, initially in both forms separately, and later in combination, in ancient times they were used for communion outside the liturgy very widely: thus, they were taught to persons who observed fasting, which in ancient times lasted until the evening, or who did not have the opportunity for any reason ( for example, due to everyday needs) to receive communion during the liturgy; further, those who joined the Orthodox Church from heresies, as well as married emperors at coronation and even persons promoted to court ranks, received the spare Gifts. With such a varied use of spare Gifts, the method of storing them could have influenced the method of preparing Bread for presanctified services: already Greek euchologies of the 9th-10th centuries. and the presanctified Bread and the reserved Gifts in the proper sense, are given the name presanctified indifferently. The opinions of Byzantine church writers that have reached us before the 15th century concerning the question of the method of preparing and storing Sts. Gifts for the presanctified service are given preference to the practice of the great Church of Constantinople: John of Kitras seems to think so, as we have already seen, and his opinion is repeated in his “Abridgement of the Canons” by K. Armenopoulus. On the other hand, drinking the pre-sanctified Bread with divine Blood, in the opinion of Byzantine church writers, did not at all deprive St. the cup at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of the meaning it had under St. Bread not connected with St. Blood, that is, and under this condition, the contents of the chalice were recognized as the true Blood of the Lord, and not just consecrated wine. Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica, referring to the presanctified service with St. Bread given to St. Blood, writes about the consecration of the chalice in this case: “we do not perform (at the presanctified service) a second time (the usual proskomedia prayer) when combining (wine and water). Why? Because the Bread is perfect, sacred, consecrated, exalted and united with the divine Blood: wine and water are poured into the sacred chalice without any prayer, so that, after the divine Bread is crushed and after the mountain lying in it is put into it in the usual manner (on the paten) particle, the contents of the chalice were thereby sanctified and so that, then, the priest, in the usual liturgical order, received communion from the Bread and from the cup himself and gave it to those who needed communion, either to the clergy at the altar according to their usual rite, or to the laity through a spoon. We also administer communion in the case when we want to commune the Mysteries to someone outside the liturgy, taking for this a particle from the preserved Bread and mixing it with wine dissolved in water, or often using dry life-giving Bread alone, as if combined with Blood. Here, at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, as it is said, in order to maintain the (usual) order of communion, and since there is a need to give communion to a larger number of people, (putting a particle of Holy Bread into the chalice) is performed. So, the contents of the chalice are sanctified at the presanctified liturgy, not by invoking the Holy Spirit and not by blessing, but by communion and union with the life-giving Bread, the true Body of Christ and united with the Blood.” Blessed Simeon, as we see, does not directly name the contents of the cup as St. Blood, but its sanctification through union with St. He places the body at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on a par with the consecration of the chalice through the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of the clergyman at the full liturgy.

Almost all the features in the commission. the entry and communion of clergy at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, indicated by Slavic handwritten and early printed service books, are equally found in Greek sources until very late times. Thus, some Greek manuscripts of the 16th century. and even printed euchologies of the 16th-17th centuries. they order to perform the great entrance during the liturgy in question in the usual manner with the proclamation - “May the Lord God remember you all,” etc. When inserting a particle of St. Greek manuscripts suggest saying bread into the chalice either: “Filling of the Holy Spirit,” or, as Patriarch Michael points out: “Blessed are we always,” etc. The ancient charter of the great Church of Constantinople, based, undoubtedly, on the view of the Holy Spirit adopted by this church. cup during the presanctified service, also indicates the special procedure for preparing chalices in this case. According to it, to the century. entrance (?) “one of the presbyters, going to the repository, puts particles (of the Holy Bread) into the chalices, and after him the chief subdeacon, with the words “Bless, Vladyka,” pours wine with warmth into the cups, the priest says: “ Union of the Holy Spirit." An exception is made for the first and second chalices, which are performed by the patriarch himself, and in his absence by the (primary) priest. This order of consecrating the chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was used not only in the great Church of Constantinople: a Georgian translation of a similar order of the presanctified service has been preserved, which prescribes placing a particle of the Holy Spirit into the chalice. Bodies on proskomedia.

The Epistle to Paul of Kallipoli states that “the presanctified liturgy occurs only for the sake of the celebration of the Holy Spirit. bowls." According to the meaning of this statement, this service is not just the continuation of the communion of the presanctified Gifts with the liturgical order, but is truly a unique liturgy, during which the presanctified St. The bread is consecrated in a special manner, different from the usual one, the Holy Chalice. In the absence of indisputable data, it cannot be argued that this was precisely the generally accepted rite of the presanctified service from the very beginning of its existence. Some researchers suggest that initially at this service, together with the presanctified St. The body was also used separately in the presanctified St. Blood . This assumption is partly confirmed by the ancient practice of the Roman Church: according to its sacramentaries of the so-called Gelasian edition (their basis dates back to the 6th century), communion on Great Friday is performed by Sts. Body and Blood left over from the previous day: such an order was quite possible in the eastern churches, and, in particular, in ancient Constantinople, where previously the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was served, apparently, not only on the 40th, but also on the rest time of year, and according to some, albeit unverified, reports, even every Lenten Wednesday and Friday: on other days, according to the same information, the full liturgy was performed, and, therefore, it was possible, at least in normal times of the year, to have constant presanctified St. Blood. But with all the possibility and even probability of such a practice, one cannot deny the deep antiquity and another order of the presanctified service, namely, with the consecration of the cup, as the letter to Paul of Callipoli indicates: if in the 11th century. Since such an order in the Church of Constantinople was apparently already firmly established, its origin undoubtedly must be attributed to an earlier time. Some facts from ancient church practice support the validity of this conclusion. In the life of Rev. George Khozevit (c. 6th-7th century), written by the disciple of Saint Anthony, tells an incident from the life of the Khuziv monastery of the 6th century, which happened to one brother, the young man Zinon, partly confirming the use, at least in the East, of presanctified service of St. Bread without connection with St. Blood. The Life tells that Zinon’s teacher “on Sundays, after the vigil, he sent a young man to Jericho for prosphora in case someone came to them for prayer. Once, during the celebration of the Eucharist, a young man stood near the altar: since the mentor, through negligence, made the offering in a rather clear voice, the young man, listening, remembered some expressions of the Eucharistic prayer. It happened that when returning from Jericho one Sunday with prosphoras (Zinon), those words came to mind that he remembered while listening to his teacher celebrating the Eucharist - he began to think diligently about them, and immediately the Holy Spirit descended and consecrated the prosphoras , and the youth. An angel of the Lord appeared to his mentor, who was resting a little after the Sunday vigil, and said: “Rise, presbyter, and perform the presanctified service over the offering that the young man is carrying, for it is consecrated.” The Life is silent about how the cup was consecrated in this case, but its message is remarkable in that it allows for the possibility of performing a presanctified service without a presanctified saint. Blood. The belief that St. Blood can be accomplished by combining wine with St. The body was not the exclusive property of the Church of Constantinople alone. In Western churches, not excluding, perhaps, Rome, in the 9th-13th centuries. It was also widely believed that the Holy Chalice at the Great Heel service, after putting a particle of the presanctified St. into it. Bread becomes the Blood of Christ.

In particular, in the Roman Church, at papal services, from ancient times St. Blood for the communion of the people was sanctified by pouring some of it from the Eucharistic chalice into a vessel of wine. Monophysite James Bishop of Edessa also writes that if a clergyman has St. Body, then it is convenient for him to bless the cup, which Jacob allows, as was indicated, to be left from the liturgy only until the next day and in exceptional cases. On the other hand, the very method of consecrating the chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, namely, through the already consecrated substance, in the Church of Constantinople was not a feature of only one presanctified service - it was widely used there and in other sacred rites. In a similar way, for example, the chrism and, in some cases, thrones were consecrated in the said church. Usually, from the newly brewed ointment during the liturgy of the Great Fourth, the Patriarch of Constantinople in the old days consecrated only one alavaster, the rest of the spikenard (the so-called unconsecrated ointment) was consecrated by the fact that on the indicated day one of the priests poured into it part of the ointment consecrated in the previous year, which was kept in the alavaster . Usually, also in the Greek Church, churches were consecrated by bishops, but in other cases, for example, due to the long distance, it was considered sufficient to place on the altar of the church being consecrated a piece of cloth that was laid on the altar consecrated by the bishop, from which the antimensions arose.

In the modern Greek Church, the dominant opinion about St. More often, at the presanctified service, we discover a desire to get closer to the view of this subject of the Russian Church. It is difficult to trace when and under what conditions this view began to spread among the Greeks. The publishers of the Greek “Helmsman” of 1801 write in a note to the 52nd rule of the Council of Trullo: “Those who do not solder St. The bodies of the Most Pure Blood, as it is supposed to be in the Euchologies... are clearly being Latin. For one of the points of Latin impiety is, among other things, that the Latins teach the laity the sacrament of the Eucharist under one guise, that is, under Bread.” Thus, the compilers of “The Helmsman” have an ancient church opinion that by placing particles of St. into the chalice at the presanctified liturgy. The contents of the body of the cup are given into the Blood of Christ and are alien. Almost all Greek editions of the complete Euchologia, until very recently, are silent about the procedure for the celebration of communion by clergy at the presanctified service. The Greek editions of the liturgies corresponding to our service book, and even those, apparently, later ones, contain for the most part the rules of the great entrance alone, almost coinciding with the instructions of our “Declaration” and adopted by the Greeks almost under the influence of the Russian service book. It is very noteworthy that regarding the communion of the presanctified Gifts at the Liturgy, such publications more often find it possible to limit themselves to a brief statement that it is performed in the same way “as at the Liturgy of Chrysostom.” In fact, Greek clergy receive communion during the presanctified service in almost the same way as Russians: the only difference between Greek practice and Russian practice is that in the Greek Church both the priest, who personally performs the liturgy, and the deacon, certainly partake of the chalice after communion from the Holy Bread. , and it says: “Through the prayers of St. father of ours." But there are new Greek editions of liturgies with the ancient rule of communion at the Liturgy of the Presanctified, i.e. recognizing the contents of St. cups of divine blood.

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Literature

L. Аllatius, De missa praesanctificatorum (in the work - De ecclesiae Occident, atque oriental, perpetua consensione, 1648, pag. 1530);

G. Smirnov-Platonov, On the Liturgy of Presanctification. Darov, 1850;

N. Malinovsky, op. with the same title, 1850;

S. Muretov, Features of the Liturgy of Presanctification. Gifts in ancient Greek. and Slavic monuments (Moscow Church Gazette, 1896, Nos. 10–12).

The author is largely indebted to the rector of the Greek Church in Petrograd, Fr. Archimandrite Sophronius [Duke], Hierodeacon Fr. Hilarion Vasdekas and teacher of the Moscow Teachers Institute D.S. Spiridonov, to whom he expresses deep gratitude.

Rev.'s missal Nikon, kept in the sacristy of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, describes the great entrance to the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts as follows: “And when the deacon entered the altar, they washed themselves, saying: I will wash the innocent, and we take the censer and the dark, he orders the priest, and we take the blessing from the priest and cense the rag and the holy gifts three times saying: Lord have mercy. Take it, lord. And the priest took the dish with St. darmi and puts it to the deacon at the head, the priest carries the cup and so carries it, singing Psalm 50 to himself to the end and the singers sing: “now the powers of heaven.” Smirnov-Platonov, cit. op., 93, approx. A

Such, for example, is the service book of Khludovskaya b., remarkable for its detailed presentation of the order of priestly service. No. 115, written in 1602–3. under Patriarch Job, in the Chudov Monastery. Hieromonk Abraham of Rostov.

Libellus contra latinos (de azymis et sabbatorum jejuniis et nuptiis sacerdotum). Migne, gr. 120, col. 1011.

Full title: Τού άγιωτάτου χαι οίχουμενιχού πατριάρχου χορού Μιχαήλ δήλωσις πρός τον βασιλέχ , ότι ή τών . προηγιασμένων μυστσγωγία άρχαιοπαράδοτος . χαί πώς ή τοιαύτης μυστιχή τελεσιουργία γίνεται . χαί διατί χεχώλυται έν τή άγία M" τελαία γίνεσθα : M. Γεδεών, Αρχετον έχχληοιάστιχής ίοτορίας , 1–1, 1911, σσ. 29–35; excerpts in cit. op. Allation, who considered the author of the monument to Patr. Michael of Ankhialsky.

Monophysite Jacob Bishop. Edessa writes: “The Holy Chalice is kept either for the sake of the weak, who are awaiting death, or for the sake of the fasting, who remain in fasting until late in the evening.” Assemani, Bibl. orient, III, 1, p. 246.

See A., Description of liturgical. manuscripts, II, Εύχολόγια, 1901, 32 (Eucholog. Sinai b. No. 958, Hv., fol. 86 vol.), - “prayer over those who receive communion late,” which intercedes for a slave “busy with the affairs of life and stubborn towards the communion of St. . Bodies."

In the “Spiritual Meadow”, with the word of the sacristan of the Jerusalem Church of St. Resurrection - Presbyter Anastasius (6th century) reports (chap. 47-48) two cases of followers of Sevirus joining Orthodoxy - Cosmiana, wife of Germanus the patrician, and one Palestinian military leader Givimer, who were miraculously prevented from worshiping St. To the coffin: in both cases the deacon appeared for communion with a bowl and taught to the attached Sts. Body and Blood. The incident with Kozmiana took place at night.

Dmitrievsky, cit. ed., pp. 28 (Sinaisk manual No. 958), 73 (Eucholog. of the same library No. 962, XI-XII centuries, l. 138), 96 (No. 973, l. 59) and others, where in the rites of marriage along with the rings and crowns placed on the throne, a cup with Sts. standing there is also mentioned. The mysteries, from which the newlyweds then receive communion and which in some of the listed monuments (pages 31 and 74) is called presanctified.

See in the same place, p. 59 (Sinai Evcholog. No. 959, 11th century, l. 126) the rank of royal installation, where the patriarch, after dressing the king in a mantle and a crown, “ ποιών προηγιασμένα , μεταδίδωσιν αύτφ τής ζωοποιού χοινωνίας " In the rite published by Goar (Εύχολόγιον, 1647, p. 926, cf. Dmitrievsky, cited ed., p. 997) this is conveyed simply - “ χαι χοινωνεί προηγιασμένα " Gohar (931, cf. 997) published according to the famous euchology of the 11th century, which belonged to Vissarion of Nicea (Grottaferrat. b. G. β. I, - there is this rank in the famous Barberinov euchology of the 9th century), rank for the work in archons or patricians, where it is prescribed that προηγιασμένα be placed on a table prepared in the great church, along with the clothes assigned to the indicated title (lor). After the patriarchal prayers and vestments performed by the master of ceremonies, he bows and kisses the patriarch, and then receives communion.

In Allation in cit. essay (col. 1593) the following lengthy answer from an unknown author is given about the comparative correctness of both practices of preparing the presanctified Gifts: “I have seen in many places that some priests, intending to deposit the presanctified Gifts for safekeeping, anoint them with the help of a spoon of the Blood of the Lord and in this form protect them them, others don’t do anything similar, what is more correct? - To us who are trying connect spiritual with spiritual(), it seems that neither one nor the other deviates from correctness. For some, in order to preserve a certain remnant of the presanctified and invisibly transformed into Blood (substance), do this through the anointing of the Bread, while others, considering that the Bread already transformed into the Body of Christ is sufficient to transform the wine added with it during communion into Blood and to impart consecration to those who receive communion, they do nothing of the kind, but are content with keeping (alone) the pre-sanctified Bread. This is how things seem to us. Since in the great church we see the second custom being observed, we should also follow it as more correct.” Smirnov-Platonov (op. cit., 97) identifies the author of this opinion with “Blessed John” K. Armenopoul. Indeed, both opinions are expressed very similarly. The form of the opinion fits very well with John of Cythra, who has 100 replies to the Dyrrachian archbishop Constantine Cabasiles. Fabricii, Bibliotheca, XI, 1808, p. 341.

Edition (Uniate) of liturgies by D. Duca 1526, Swainson, The Greek Liturgies, 1884; 183; Venetian Euhodog ed. M. Kigala 1639, p. 60.

Analecta Bollandiana, VII, 1888. p. 367 [Russian translation: Palestinian Patericon, vol. 9, 1899, pp. 64–65]. The same case, in a slightly modified form, is conveyed in Chapter 25. "Meadows of the Spiritual".

I. Mabi11on, Museum Italicum, II, 1689, pp. LXXVI-XCII; E. Martene, Tractatus de antiqua Ecclesiae disciplina in divinis celebrandis officiis, 1706, 352–401; aka, De antiquis Ecclesiae ritibus, I, 1700, 427. This opinion was especially widespread outside Italy. In the so-called Gelasian edition of the Roman sacramentary, as stated earlier, for communion in the century. heels are kept separately not only by St. Body, but also St. Blood. Sacramentaries so-called editions of Pope Gregory VI (Dvoeslov) - their original between 784–791. was sent by Pope Adrian I, at the request of Charles V., to the Frankish state [A. Ebner. Missale Romanum im Mittelalter, 1896, 380), - order to be delivered to the. heels on the throne is a cup of unconsecrated wine: after the Lord’s Prayer, “the pope takes from St. He takes a particle of the body and puts it into the bowl without any words. And then everyone communes in silence (Migne, lat. 78, col. 86).” The order of communion in the century is also stated. Friday and in the most ancient statutes (Ordines) of papal worship (Mabillon, cited by Migne, lat. 78). But already before 831 Amalarius of Metz knew the list of the charter, which in the description of the Sunday service, after the words about the inclusion of St. The bodies in the chalice contained an important explanation: “sauctificatur enim vinum non consecratum per sanctificatum panem” (Mabi11on, LXXXI). During his visit to Rome in 831, Amalarius learned from the archdeacon there that in Rome the contents of St. bowls in service c. the heel is not recognized by St. Only one person receives Holy Communion at this service. It is difficult to say whose view was reflected in the explanation that Amalarius read in his copy of the charter, the old Roman one, or the one adopted in the Frankish state. The fact is that by 831 the Roman Church had already abolished its ancient custom of common communion in the century. heels, and also left another ancient legend - to preserve for this day in addition to St. Tela and St. Blood, - there is reason to suspect that she also changed her view of St. cup in the heels: transition from the presanctified St. Blood is too harsh for ordinary wine. The archdeacon, in justifying Roman practice before Amalarius, referred to the words of Pope Innocent I that in the centuries. On Fridays and Saturdays the Eucharist is not celebrated at all (see below). If such a justification is not the personal conjecture of the archdeacon, but the official opinion of the Roman Church n. IX century, then, of course, it could not cancel the presanctified St. Blood, previously used by this church during worship in. heel, but the consecration of the cup by the investment of St. It could explain the bodies. The only objection to such an assumption can be that the Gelasian edition of the sacramentary and the charter known to Amalarius set out Gallican customs and views: the purest monuments of the Gallican sacramentary that have come down to us do not at all have the rite of communion in the century. heels It is also not found in the archaic sacramentaries of the ancient Spanish (Mozarabic) church.

Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, III, 1, p. 246. A similar instruction is also given there from the Jacobite missal, read in the work Barhebraei - Directiones (V, 1): “Tum accipit Hostiam, eaque Calicem consignat tribus vicibus, inquiens. "Ut uniat, et sanctificet, et convertat mistum, quod in hoc calice est in salutarem ipsius Christi Dei nostri sanguinem in remissionem peecatorum."

“On Maundy Thursday, before the beginning of the liturgy, one priest and one deacon enter the skeuophilacia and put on their vestments; the deacon says to the priest: “Bless, master!” Priest - “Blessed are we always, now”... The deacon says “Amen”, and then takes a vessel filled with last year’s ointment and brings it to the priest. The priest takes a gold or silver vessel that resembles a large spoon, approaches the jugs in which the prepared oil is located, and, bypassing the first of them, pours three spoons into the next two or three; over the first spoon he says: “in the name of the Father”, the deacon says “amen”, etc. Others who are with them say slowly: “Thy secret supper”... They fill Alavaster with oil from that first vessel into which last year’s ointment was not poured... Nard and Miro differ from each other in that spikenard is called unconsecrated oil, and myrrh, backgammon, consecrated or diluted with consecration.” Kekelidze, op. cit., 171–174.

“We know that antimensions are prepared when the bishop himself consecrates the temple, namely, from cloth laid out and unrolled on the altar, which is cut into pieces, inscribed and distributed to the priests. And you can’t serve without antimensions. And where are they lacking, what needs to be done so that the priests are not left without priestly service? – It is necessary to place antimensions not on all altars, but only on those about which it is unknown whether they are consecrated or not, for antimensions take the place of consecrated saints. thrones and where it is known that the throne is consecrated, there is no need for an antimension,” - From the answers of the Patr. Manuel II (XIII century). Ράλλη χαί Ποτλή Σύνταγμα , V. 1855, 115–116 (cf. 413).

The instructions of the “Statement,” as is known, were also carried out in our “Officer of the Bishop’s Clergy.” In the collection of manuscripts of the Imperial Petrograd D. Academy there is (No. 115, see A. Rodossky, Description of 432 manuscripts belonging to the St. Petersburg D. Academy, 1893–4, p. 143) an interesting Greek translation of “The Official”, written in Russia between 1774–1796 (it mentions Catherine II, Prince Pavel Petrovich and his wife Maria Feodorovna). The manuscript was undoubtedly written by the famous Archbishop Eugene Bulgar, since the handwriting in it is the same as the autographs of this saint, stored in the same collection under No. 146 (Greek translation of the first part of A. Zernikav “On the Procession of the Holy Spirit”, Rhodes, 174) and 151 (interpretations of the Pentateuch, ibid., 180). The same handwriting is used to write the manuscripts of the said collection Nos. 114 and 124 (ibid., 142 and 152), containing Greek translations of the bishop’s promises, rites of consecration and consecration of the temple, adopted by the Russian Church. Probably, all of the translations listed were carried out by Archbishop Eugene for his own personal needs. The influence of them, in particular, the “Official,” on the worship of the Greek Church is unknown.

The first publication with such a charter known to the author is Ί. Βογιαταής , Ί εροτελεστιχόν Τεύχος , 1866, intended for use within the Hellenic Kingdom (the author had only the 6th edition of Τεύχος 'a, Athens 1912). The editor of this book undoubtedly used either the Russian missal, or at least his “Teaching News,” part of which (articles about various cases that occur during the celebration of the liturgy, and about the preparation of reserve Holy Gifts) he redid, sometimes with verbatim translation, in 6–8 introductory chapters of Τεύχος 'a. On the At the entrance of the presanctified service, according to the publication in question, the deacon precedes the priest with a lamp and censer. In the publication of liturgies by J.S. Panagiotopoulos (Ἐν Κςλάμαις, 1870), for use in the church also of the Hellenic Kingdom, about c. at the entrance a note is made (p. 45): “At the. At the entrance of the presanctified liturgy, it is indecent for the deacon, the minister, to carry the saint on his head. The bread, and the priest, the performer of the sacrament, followed him with a sacred vessel containing only wine, and thus seemed to appear lower than the deacon. The deacon, as a minister, should precede the priest with a lamp and censer, and the priest, as a celebrant, should follow with the life-giving Bread on his head, holding it left hand, and with a chalice containing wine, on the right hand." Published by the Patriarchate of Constantinople Ίερατιχόν (1895) about c. entry (138) gives an instruction identical to Τεύχος 'om I. Voyatzi.

This is the edition of M.Σαλιβέρος, Ή θεια Λειτουργια, Ἐν Aθηνας. 1902 (έχδ. 2): after communion from St. Bread priest λαμδάνει τό χάλμυμμα A χαί χαλώς έπιστηρίξας ύπο τόν πώγωνχ του εύθύς πιάνει μέ τήν δεξιάν χείρά του σύν τώ χαλύμματι τό ά . Ποτήριον χαί χοινωνήσας έξ τού τιμίου Αιέχ γλέγει . Δί εύχών, etc. (107–108).