The name of the communion cup. Eucharistic chalice at the cathedral liturgy

“What the Holy Church has received and kissed must be kind to the heart of a Christian,” the luminous Father Seraphim of Sarov used to say. Unfortunately, recently there has been an unkind tendency to criticize the church tradition and liturgical traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, sanctified by the prayers and practices of a host of saints and new martyrs. The Church Slavonic language of worship, the traditional symbolic understanding of certain moments of the liturgy, the lives of individual saints, the generally accepted norms of Orthodox asceticism (primarily the discipline of fasting), the moral teaching of the Church are mercilessly subject to revision and revision by some church reformers.

In particular, the question of the meaning and essence of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (LPD) is again raised. For our part, we will try, with God’s help, to identify the problem and focus on individual moments of the Presanctified Liturgy in order to assimilate the traditional view, in the hope that this topic will subsequently be explored in more detail on the pages of the magazine “The Holy Fire.”

The topic is by no means new. In the twentieth century, this issue was considered by such theologians as prof. N.D. Uspensky “The collision of two theologies in the correction of Russian liturgical books in the 17th century” and prof. I.A. Carbines "St. Chalice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts." The differences in liturgical practices described in these works over the centuries are nothing more than a liturgical reflection of different theological views on the very subject of the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts.

So, the main question is: can we consider that wine, through the immersion of the Holy Lamb in it, is transformed into the Blood of Christ? Is transubstantiation possible only from contact with the Body of Christ?

According to existing Orthodox liturgical practice, if you take simple water, then its consecration can be accomplished without prayers by simply pouring holy water into it, but... here no transubstantiation (i.e., change in essence) occurs, water remains water. Consecration in the Orthodox understanding is not transubstantiation. You can do the same with oil. The transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, precisely as a change in essence, occurs only during the Eucharistic canon at the full liturgy after the appropriate prayers of the Church through the invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis).

Unfortunately, liberal theologians have appeared who, in principle, deny transubstantiation The Holy Gifts, as such. Indeed, the idea of ​​the transformation of wine poured into the Chalice into Blood from its contact with the consecrated Lamb receives its “legitimacy” only by denying the transubstantiation (change of essence) of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The complete inconsistency of this opinion, the so-called. "hypostatization" was shown in theological articles prot. Vadim Leonov And priest Daniil Sysoeva in previous issues of the magazine “Holy Fire” (No. 14, 15 ).

In Church Tradition there is not a single conciliar definition stating that wine becomes the Blood of Christ from contact with the Lamb. If such an idea were true, then simple bread could be put into the Cup of the Blood of Christ, and it would become the Body of Christ without any prayers. Then it turns out that the particles taken out for health and repose, which the priest pours into the Chalice at the end of the full liturgy, also become the Body of Christ. Strange theology, isn't it? Why then pour them in after the laity receives communion, and not before? After all, one could then give communion with them. This already resembles some kind of magic. Everything turns out like in a fairy tale about Cinderella or some Harry Potter - a touch with a magic wand turns a pumpkin into a carriage, etc. And if by chance a fly falls into the Chalice (such cases are stipulated in the “Teaching News”) then what?... will this also become the Body of Christ?

The Service Book clearly states: “It will also be known to you, priest, that if there happens to be a large number of communicants, then do not dare (due to the lack of Divine Blood or Body in the holy cup) to add wine or pour simple bread into the cup, otherwise you will sin gravely and fall defrocking. In this case, they led those who had not received communion to wait until the next morning and, having served in the morning, gave them communion. Or, taking from the ark the Divine Mysteries, kept for the sake of the sick, pour them into the holy cup and communion according to custom” (“Teaching News”).

The main meaning of LPD is not the transformation of wine into the Blood of Christ by the investment of the Lamb, but something completely different. Blzh. Simeon of Thessaloniki writes in the 57th answer: “The presanctified Most Holy Gifts do not receive anything through prayer, for they are sanctified; for this is proven by the prayers themselves, read at the presanctified liturgy, because they contain prayers and intercession for us through the terrible sacraments that are presented: the body and blood of the Only Begotten, (prayers) that propitiate God the Father and make us capable of receiving communion of Christ... from the entrances one is vespers (i.e., meaning the same as at vespers), the other is when the gifts are transferred to the meal, so that we, looking at them and worshiping them, are sanctified through looking at Christ by His grace.”

It is also obvious that the culmination of the liturgy cannot in any way occur after the exclamation “The Holy One, Presanctified to the Holies.” At this point in the liturgy, the faithful are already invited to begin communion. In fact, this is the end of the liturgy.

Prof. Uspensky writes that earlier in many places the Lamb did not drink Blood. Question: then how can “the secret sacrifice be completed” when the Lamb is not given the Blood to drink, and the Chalice contains simple wine? How can the King of Glory enter when the priest has only one Body of Christ in his hands? And how after this can the deacon proclaim “I (i.e., the Presanctified Gifts) received into His holy and heavenly and mental Altar,” when there is no Blood of Christ at all? The statement that “where the Body is, there is the Blood” cannot in any way be taken into consideration, as having a later Latin origin, and being completely unsubstantiated. Why, one might ask, then use wine in the liturgy at all? And then why not say that where the Body is, there is the Blood, there are the Bones? However, there are no Bones, etc. Maximus the Confessor explains why. Naturally, they subsequently began to give the Lamb the Holy Blood to drink everywhere, while correcting the liturgical errors that had crept in, of which, as we know, there were quite a few in history. The very fact of giving the Lamb blood to drink indicates that the Chalice contains simple wine, otherwise why would it be given a drink at all? What then is the point of preparing the Angz at the full liturgy, if the transformation takes place at the LPD?

One can, of course, assume that the Holy Blood, which the Lamb was given to drink, dissolves in wine. But then we can only talk about the concentration of Blood in wine, but not about the transformation of the wine itself into Blood. Molecules of the Holy Blood, evaporating, are also present in the air in some concentration. But is this enough for communion? Clearly not.

The “blessed wine” in the Chalice in the “Announcement on Certain Corrections in the Service of the Presanctified Liturgy” simply means blessed wine. Also with the blzh. Simeon of Thessalonica, the wine in the Chalice is nowhere called Blood, as liberal liturgists persistently try to convince us of this, but only blessed wine.

This is also stated in the Missal, in which it is strictly forbidden to consume wine from the Holy Chalice before consuming the Holy Gifts: “The deacon then does not drink from the Chalice, but after the prayer behind the pulpit and after consuming the remaining particles of the Holy Mysteries (If only one priest serves without a deacon, and that, after communion of the Holy Mysteries, does not drink from the Chalice, but after the celebration of the Liturgy and after the consumption of the Holy Mysteries. For even if it is sanctified by the investment of a Particle, it is not essential in the Divine Blood, since there are no sacred words above it, as is the case in liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom)" (“Announcement on certain corrections in the service of the Presanctified Liturgy”).

Hence the problem of giving communion to infants under 7 years of age, to whom a piece of the Body of Christ is not taught. If the Chalice contains only consecrated wine, then will this be communion for infants? Of course not. And there is no problem giving Holy Communion to a baby on Saturday or Sunday, when the full liturgy is celebrated.

Then why is the Chalice needed in the LPD at all, liberal thinkers ask? Answer: so that the solidified Holy Gifts can be soaked in wine and become acceptable for communion, as well as for the convenience of communion by analogy with the full liturgy: “When you drink from the cup, or give it to the deacon, say nothing: for there is simple wine, and not the Sovereign Blood, I mean ceremonial for the sake of everyday life It can be used instead of rinsing the mouth” (Trebnik of St. Peter the Mogila).

Therefore, if anyone has ever believed, without having any conciliar definitions on this, at the level of personal opinion or local custom, that in the Chalice wine automatically becomes Blood from contact with the Lamb, then this is not evidence of conflicts of theological opinions, but rather resembles a real collapse of liturgical theology.

At the end of the 20th century, a most important change occurred in the liturgical practice of the Russian Orthodox Church: almost everywhere, much more frequent communion of the laity was established than was previously customary.

Most laity and even clergy, especially those who came to the Church in the last twenty years ago, no longer remember that not so long ago the norm was considered to be communion several times a year: once or twice during Lent (usually during the first and Holy weeks ) and once or twice during the rest of the year (usually on the day of the angel; sometimes also on the Nativity or Dormition fasts). This was the practice of the pre-revolutionary Russian Church, reflected in the “Catechism” of St. Philaret of Moscow: “Ancient Christians received communion every Sunday; but few of today have such purity of life as to always be ready to begin such a great Sacrament. The Church, with a maternal voice, commands those who are zealous for a reverent life to confess to their spiritual father and partake of the Body and Blood of Christ - four times a year or every month, and for everyone - certainly once a year" (1). Nowadays, receiving communion once a month, which St. Philaret speaks of as a special feat of “the few,” has actually become the norm for churchgoers, and many of them begin holy communion on every holiday and Sunday.

Another important change is the significant increase in the number of cathedral services. 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.

This article is not devoted to an assessment of these phenomena in general, but to an analysis of one of their particular consequences, namely the practice of celebrating the Divine Liturgy using a large cup.

Nowadays, at the bishop's Liturgy, especially when there is a large crowd of worshipers, a chalice (chalice) of a very impressive size is often used during the service, almost half a man's height and a volume of three, five, or even nine liters. Eucharistic cups with a capacity of over a liter are also used in parish services, especially in large parishes on major holidays. When using multi-liter bowls during proskomedia, as a rule, only part of the wine and water prepared for the consecration is poured into the chalice, and the main volume is added after the great entrance, since it is not easy to carry a multi-kilogram vessel at the great entrance. Then, at the end of the Eucharistic prayer and at the cry of “Holy to Holies,” the most pure Blood of Christ is poured from a large chalice into bowls of regular size, that is, a volume of 0.5-0.75 liters. Thus, the main volume of Eucharistic wine - and then the Holy Blood - is in the main chalice not during the entire Liturgy, but only during its “sanctifying” part, from the Great Entrance to the Communion of the clergy.

According to many clergy, the situation of a crowded service with a large number of communicants does not provide for any other way out than using a huge cup, adding wine into it and then pouring the Holy Blood from it into several cups. And to the question of 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 not possible. 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.

What did the tradition of the Ancient Church prescribe in a similar situation, in which the simultaneous communion of many communicants in huge churches (remember the basilicas built by St. Emperor Constantine the Great or the Constantinople Church of Hagia Sophia of the Wisdom of God) was by no means uncommon?

Of particular importance among ancient church testimonies are data on worship in Constantinople and Byzantium in general, since our liturgical tradition is the heir and direct continuation of the Byzantine one. Archaeological evidence suggests that even the largest Byzantine chalice did not exceed a volume of 0.75-1 liter (2). Obviously, one such bowl for worship in the Church of Hagia Sophia would clearly not be enough. What did the Byzantines do? Patristic and liturgical sources give a clear answer: they celebrated the Eucharist simultaneously on many vessels (3). By the way, there could have been several paten with Lambs lying on them.

For the first time, many chalices during the Divine Liturgy are mentioned in the “Apostolic Constitutions” (VIII. 12. 3) - a collection of early Christian documents, finally edited around 380 in Antioch (4). In relation to Constantinople, the “Easter Chronicle” of the 7th century testifies to the multitude of paten and bowls in the rite of the Divine Liturgy (5). These data are confirmed by St. Maximus the Confessor, who additionally gives a symbolic interpretation of why there must be an odd number of cups at the Liturgy (6). In a whole series of Byzantine collections of liturgical texts, starting with the Barberine Euchologia, the oldest surviving manuscript of the Byzantine Service Book and Trebnik (Vat. Barb. gr. 336, late 8th century), and especially in the lists intended for bishop’s services, in the rubrics of the rite of the Divine Liturgy, it is said not about the “cup”, but about “chalices” (7). Indications of many cups during the Liturgy are contained in the Byzantine order of the Patriarchal and Bishops' Liturgy of the 14th century, compiled by Demetrius Gemistos (8). Finally, the iconography of the great entrance in Byzantine and Balkan frescoes of the 14th-16th centuries also represents many bowls.

In addition to the simple mention of many cups in the Liturgy, some Byzantine sources also contain statutory instructions on how the Eucharist should be celebrated if there are several cups. Saint Simeon of Thessalonica writes that the words of the proskomedia do not change, “even if there are many cups” (9). The rite of the Liturgy described by Demetrius Gemistos says that at the great entrance the Patriarch places the paten on the throne, and places the bowls in pairs on both sides of the paten (10). In a letter written at the end of the 11th century by the Patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas III Grammar (11) to Bishop Paul of Gallipoli, it is said in detail that the paten is placed in the shape of a cross, and the bowls are placed between the shoulders of this cross.

So, the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on many chalices and many paten 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? Obviously, its disappearance is associated with the establishment of the practice of rare communion and the general tendency to reduce the size of churches (12). In small churches with a few communicants, the need to use significant volumes of Eucharistic wine disappeared - and along with it, the need to celebrate the Liturgy in many vessels also disappeared.

At the same time, for some time the practice of making the great entrance with the transfer of many cups in the procession was still preserved - but the cups, except for one main cup with wine, began to be carried empty. Already Saint Simeon of Thessaloniki describes such a practice and, moreover, gives an explanation for it, arguing that the transfer of empty cups at the great entrance occurs “as a sign of veneration of the honest Gifts” (13). A similar practice was known in pre-Nikon Rus': in the services of the largest ancient Russian cathedrals on holidays, not only the paten and the chalice with Eucharistic bread and wine, but also other empty vessels, including zions, that is, tabernacles, were transferred to the great entrance (14). The custom of transferring during the great entrance, in addition to the paten and the chalice, also the tabernacle, has been preserved to this day in the Russian Church in the rank of Patriarchal enthronement (15).

Returning to the modern church situation, we can pose the question: what prevents us today from returning to the Byzantine practice of celebrating the Liturgy with many cups? To answer this question, one must evaluate the positive and negative aspects celebration of the Liturgy on one multi-liter chalice. The first positive side is that 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 of communion, with each other into the one Holy Spirit.” The second positive side is the solemnity and grandeur that can be seen in the celebration of the Liturgy on huge vessels.

But the same arguments can be turned in the other direction. Firstly, to some, unnaturally large paten and bowl may seem grotesque and unaesthetic. Secondly, even when using a huge chalice, the Holy Blood from it is still ultimately poured into many cups, from which believers receive communion: therefore, by the time of communion, one way or another, there is already not one cup, but many cups on the throne. In addition, when serving on one huge chalice, the liturgical symbolism is also violated, only in a different way. After all, wine is necessarily added to the chalice after the Great Entrance, but this added wine, unlike the one already in the chalice, 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.

Moreover, the very argument in favor of the “single cup” as supposedly symbolizing the unity of the Eucharist can be contested. Firstly, the Byzantines knew the words of their own anaphora very well, which did not prevent them from celebrating the Liturgy with many cups. Secondly, and this is the main thing, in the anaphora of Basil the Great we're talking about not about the cup at this or that specific Liturgy, but about the Cup of Christ as such - about the Cup of His most pure Blood shed for the whole world. This Chalice is the same in all churches around the world, no matter how many chalices there are on the throne. Just as many chalices in many churches are one and the same Chalice of Christ, so many bowls standing on the throne of one temple during the Divine Liturgy are one and the same Chalice.

However, we were prompted to write this article not by considerations of a theological or church-historical nature, but by practical ones. They are associated primarily with the need, when serving on one large chalice, to pour the Holy Blood from it into ordinary smaller chalices. The very volume of such a chalice greatly complicates any manipulation with it - and even more so when it concerns the Holy Blood, not a single drop of which should be lost during the process of pouring into the cups. 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 altar, his own vestments, even on the floor. After all, sometimes the chalice is so large that the priest, standing at the altar, does not even see its contents and pours the Holy Blood “by touch.” Visual evidence of such scenes are the antimensions filled with Holy Blood that lie on the altars of many of our churches.

Another practical difficulty is associated with the consumption of the Holy Gifts remaining after communion, since when using a large chalice it can be difficult to correctly determine in advance the required amount of Eucharistic wine, and washing out a large chalice is not always an easy task. Finally, the use of large chalices is not sufficiently justified economically - for example, in parishes, episcopal and crowded holiday services do not happen very often, but for the sake of them, parish communities have to spend large sums of money on purchasing expensive large chalices, which are then used only occasionally.

In our opinion, the described difficulties when using multi-liter chalice should make us remember the Byzantine practice of celebrating the Divine Liturgy on many bowls of regular sizes, repeatedly and unequivocally attested in a number of sources. In accordance with this practice, several cups should be placed on the throne not after the consecration of the Holy Gifts, but before their consecration - so that by the time the wine is transmuted into the Blood of Christ, all the cups will be on the throne, from which the believers will then receive communion. At the same time, if we are literally guided by the Byzantine tradition, then we should place the required number of bowls on the altar already at the proskomedia, and then take them all to the great entrance. It is possible, however, to propose a less radical, but more practical option: cups of wine are placed on the throne next to the main cup after the great entrance, for example, at the beginning of the singing of the Creed. In both cases, the risk of spilling the Holy Blood when pouring it from one cup into many will disappear. There will also be no need for huge chalices, the use of which during the Liturgy gives rise to so many practical inconveniences.

Notes

1. Long Orthodox Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church (any edition). Part 1. § 340.
2. Taft R.F. The Communion, Thanksgiving, and Concluding Rites. R., 2008. (A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Vol. 6). (Orientalia Christiana Periodica; 281). P. 256-257.
3. Taft R.F. The Great Entrance: A History of the Transfer of Gifts and Other Preanaphoral Rites of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. R., 1978. (A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Vol. 2). (Orientalia Christiana Periodica; 200). P. 208-213.
4. S.C. 336. P. 178.
5. PG. 92. Col. 1001.
6. PG. 90. Col. 820.
7. Taft R.F. The Precommunion Rites. R., 2000. (A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Vol. 5). (Orientalia Christiana Periodica; 261). P. 366.
8. Dmitrievsky A.A. Description of liturgical manuscripts stored in libraries of the Orthodox East. T. 2. K., 1901. P. 310.
9. PG. 155. Col. 288.
10. Dmitrievsky A.A. Description... T. 2. P. 206.
11. Perhaps the author of the letter was not Nicholas III the Grammar, but one of the other two Patriarchs of Constantinople at that time - Cosmas I or Eustratius (Taft R.F. The Precommunion... P. 367-368).
12. This trend was caused both by external circumstances - the decline and then fall of Byzantium (and in Rus' - the Tatar-Mongol yoke), and internal processes: in late Byzantine times, the construction of a series of small temples began to be considered preferable to the construction of one large one.
13. PG. 155. Col. 728.
14. Golubtsov A.P. Cathedral Officials and features of service for them. M., 1907. pp. 217-220.
15. Zheltov M., priest. Enthronement // Orthodox Encyclopedia. M., 2010. T. 23. P. 124-131.

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 and 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)

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 common church practice.

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."

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 with the 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

In church practice there are the following types participles.

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 administered 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 - communion Orthodox people both the Body and the 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 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, except for one thing the only 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 cup"(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 this true?

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 bishop’s 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.”

“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, 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.

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 we are guided literally Byzantine tradition, then the required number of bowls should be placed on the altar already at the proskomedia, and then all of them should be brought to the great entrance.” One should, of course, agree with this remark: if one is to serve at several chalices, they all must 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 proposes to place 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 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 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 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, the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on many chalices and many paten 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. Unconditional historical fact is 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 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, the anaphora prayers (like ours today) were conducted over one Eucharistic cup filled with wine during the proskomedia. Blessed Simeon of Thessaloniki 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 the 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.

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 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 also be turned the other way. 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 their transposition

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 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.

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, 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.

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 II liked to emphasize this). “Liturgical symbolism” is not so much “violated” as “corrected” - who dares to deny symbolic meaning evangelical 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 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» .

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.”

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 take 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 the 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 are collected, 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 the circle, the totality of the entire Church and eternity Church of Christ: a circle that has neither beginning nor end is a symbol of eternity. Particles from the service and other prosphora 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 forever 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 usually 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). Ancient prophecy In this image, it embraces 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. Famous wooden paten and chalice St. Sergius Radonezh. 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, agate, framed with silver and gold, and decorated 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, 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, at which 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 exploit 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, turns out to already 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, 6th).

To cut out a lamb from the first liturgical prosphora, as well as to cut out particles from other prosphoras, 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 mankind 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 symbolizes 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, this 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 effected 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 from it. The iron sharp spear cutting out these particles means, accordingly, life trials, which are allowed by God from demonic forces hostile to man, so that these tests themselves turn out, despite the hostile will, to be a necessary instrument in the conditions of earthly life for the salvation of man, cutting off his sinful attachments and uniting 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 warrior 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 bishop services, 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 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 warm water with wine for clear evidence that every layman really 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 general environment 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.” A plate with a Cross is also used in the liturgy to divide on it a part of the Body of Christ into more fine particles, appointed 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 water are poured into such a vessel. cold water in remembrance of the blood and water that flowed from the ribs of the Savior, 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 a 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 the 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 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 the lips of the communing clergy and laity are wiped, generally reflect special actions the grace of God, 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. In the liturgical books these veils have a common name - veil, air, and individual names: for small ones - veil (small veil, small air), for large ones - 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 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 Thy virtue, O Christ, and the earth is full of Thy 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 Pantocrator as the King of Glory, and contain a request to cover people with the cover of immaterial wings God's protection and mercy, for human flesh itself, which the Son of God took upon Himself at His Nativity, appeared to be 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 work of spreading 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 along 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 using 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 likely , 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 from pure love to 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 the fragrance of people and their prayers before God, the priest asks to send down the grace of the Holy Spirit on people in response. 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 Herman of Constantinople (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 the 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 Divine 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 beat at the beginning Great Vespers at the all-night vigil, it 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 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).