Part IV

The course of lectures on liturgics here put forward was compiled by Archimandrite Averky over the time when he taught this subject in Holy Trinity Seminary, during the academic years of 1951/52 and 1952/53.

The Most Reverend Archbishop AVERKY (in the world Alexander Pavlovich Taushev) was born October 19/November 1, 1906, in the city of Kazan. His parents were Pavel Sergeivich and Maria Vladimirovna Taushev. His father completed his course of study in the Military-Juridical Academy and worked in the military-judicial department until the Revolution. Due to the nature of Pavel Sergeivich’s occupation, the family was obliged to travel constantly to various places in Russia. It was especially difficult during the First World War and the Revolution. At last, after enduring numerous ordeals for Russia, the Taushev family left Russia in the beginning of 1920. Alexander and his parents traveled by steamer to the city of Varna in Bulgaria. Here before long a Russian high school was opened, into which 250 students, including Alexander Taushev, were enrolled. Alexander learned exceptionally well, and in 1926 finished high school "with the gold medal."

Prior to this, the student Alexander had made the acquaintance of Archbishop Theofan (Bistrov) of Poltava and Pereaslavl, and under his influence had become more inclined to the spiritual, monastic life. Upon finishing high school Alexander, having received the blessing of his spiritual father, Archbishop Theofan, entered the theological department of the Derzhava University in Sophia, which he finished in 1930.

Following this, Alexander learned from the magazine "Orthodox Carpatho-Russia" that in Carpatho-Russia there was an opportunity to labor in the field of missionary work. Thus, with the blessing of Archbishop Theofan, he went to Czechoslovakia in Carpatho-Russia, where he was given employment in the diocesan administration of the Mukachev-Prjashev diocese. On May 4/17 he was tonsured a monk at St. Nicholas monastery, near the village of Iza in the region of Khustsk. He was given the name Averky in honor of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Averky of Ierapolsk. On the very next day Father Averky was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon. On March 25/April 7 he was ordained to the rank of the priesthood by the Most Reverend Damascene, bishop of Mukachev and Prjashev. Father Hieromonk Averky then passed the time of his pastoral service in St. Nicholas monastery as the assistant of Father Archimandrite Matthew, after which he soon became the rector of a parish in Uzhgorod. In 1937 on the feast of Pascha he was elevated to the rank of abbot. In December of 1938, Abbot Averky was appointed rector of a parish in Mukachev and administrator of a part of the Mukachev-Prjashev diocese in the territory of the kingdom of Hungary.

Later on Father Abbot Averky was forced to abandon Carpatho-Russia after its occupation by the Magyars, and in 1940 he arrived in Belgrade. Here he was received by Metropolitan Anastasy and appointed to serve at the Russian church of the Holy Trinity. During the Second World War he was first in Belgrade, then in Vienna and other places in Germany, where he endured all the horrors of war. One consolation for Father Averky was the fact that throughout these years he was near the Wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, served molebens before Her and performed services for those who came to pray to Her. In Munich, on October 1, 1944, Father Averky was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

Archimandrite Averky came to Holy Trinity Monastery from Munich, Germany, at the invitation of Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko), in the beginning of 1951. Immediately following his arrival he was appointed to be an instructor in Holy Trinity Seminary, where he taught the following subjects: New Testament, liturgics, and homiletics. Inasmuch as there were no particular study aids for these subjects, he prepared his lectures and typed them on a typewriter, then copied them with a duplicating machine. The students then received the printed lectures. In this way study aids originated for the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, liturgics, and homiletics, all compiled by Archimandrite Averky.

At the recommendation of Archbishop Vitaly, on February 17, 1952, Archimandrite Averky was appointed by the Hierarchal Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad to the post of rector of Holy Trinity Seminary. Within a little over a year he was consecrated bishop of Syracuse and Holy Trinity.

Inasmuch as Bishop Averky was a member of the brotherhood of Holy Trinity Monastery, he participated fully in the life of the monastery. Besides this he took an active part in the publishing work of the brotherhood of the print shop of Venerable Job of Pochaev, wrote articles for "Orthodox Russia" and other publications of the monastery, and participated in the missionary work of the monastery. Being the vicar of the Eastern American diocese, he likewise took part in the life of the diocese. Besides this, Vladika Averky was the spiritual instructor of the St. Vladimir youth. Because of this he often gave lectures in various parishes which had St. Vladimir youth groups.

Thus, being burdened with all of these obediences, Archbishop Averky took upon himself the teaching of the New Testament in the seminary: the Four Gospels in the fourth year and the Apostle in the fifth, four hours a week for each year, plus two hours of homiletics. In the course of the week Vladika Averky had a total of 10 hours of classes. He transferred liturgics to Hieromonk Laurus, who began teaching church ustav in seminary in 1954, and liturgics in 1956.

The lectures on the New Testament, compiled on the duplicating machine, Vladika Averky gradually corrected and prepared. Starting in 1955 they were set in linotype and typographically produced as an appendix to the Holy Trinity calendar under the title, "Handbook for the study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Part I." The Four Gospels were printed in appendixes for the years 1955 and 1956. Part II, the Apostle, was printed in appendixes for the years 1957, 1958, and 1959. Both parts were likewise published as separate books. The handbook for homiletics was printed as a separate book in 1961.

However, the lectures on liturgics, compiled by Archimandrite Averky and printed in the academic year of 1951/52 on a duplicating machine in limited quantities, were not produced typographically. In the seminary we made use of that synopsis, but when copies ran out we began to use other textbooks for our purposes. Now it has become possible to produce this course typographically.

The course of liturgics which we now offer to the reader has been significantly reworked, particularly the first part (the preliminary remarks). Many additions and several changes have likewise been made in the course itself.

We hope, above all, that the publication of this liturgics textbook will be a useful aid for students of the seminary, and likewise for all who study or are interested in our divine services. These lectures present a systematic presentation of material on the subject of liturgics, in which a short historical description of the origins of worship is given, the symbolic meaning of several aspects of the services is discussed, and other necessary explanations and instructions involving the order of the divine services are likewise given. In addition to this, owing to its typographic publication, this academic textbook will now be available to a wider range of readers and lovers of ecclesiastical-liturgical literature.

+ Archbishop Laurus

Holy Trinity Monastery

Afterfeast of Pentecost

Commemoration of Holy Equal-to-

the-Apostles Emperor Constantine

and Empress Elena

May 21/June 3, 1999

Introduction.

The subject of liturgics is the history of Orthodox Christian worship. Orthodox worship is the entirety of the prayers, hymns, and sacred rites which are performed in the Church of God on earth by hierarchical persons, as lawful representatives of Christ (see the epistle to the Hebrews).

Worship is performed for the faithful, and in unity with them, according to an established order. Through worship the faithful are called upon to express their feelings of faith in God, as well as hope and love for Him; they enter into mystical communion with Him; and they receive the power of grace for the living of a Christian life, which leads to salvation.

Worship has great significance for man. It is the expression of the prayer life of the Church of Christ. The Orthodox divine services of ancient Byzantium astounded our forefathers by their majestic beauty, and led them to Christ, to the Orthodox faith.

One may show one’s faith by starting with fervent and comely prayer. But the modern western man, who knows neither God nor religion, in particular those in our homeland who have been corrupted by the propaganda of godlessness — if they were to hear the words of one preaching on faith, on God, on prayer, or on worship, they would be unable to immediately change their position and reach out towards faith in God, accepting all that should be said to them. Prejudice remains in them, and they waver. However, it often happens that such people, upon seeing the earnest performance of the divine services, devout prayer, and the beauty of the Orthodox rite, are penetrated by the sublime majesty of the worship of the Church, and their hearts are touched by "the word of God." As it happened before, so it happens now. An indifferent, possibly even unbelieving person stops by or enters a church by chance, or goes in out of curiousity, and in the surrounding temple atmosphere of peace and faith, fervent reading and singing, such people are caught up by the sincere prayer of the faithful and, unexpectedly for themselves, they become participants in the common prayer and begin to feel a thirst for faith in God: they apprehend the instruction of the one preaching, and often join themselves to the Holy Church.

According to the words of the Holy Apostle Paul, Christians must do everything "decently and in order" (I Cor. 14:40). The decent order of the Orthodox divine services was developed over centuries. Their authors are the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers and hymnographers of the Church. The rite of worship was formed by ascetics and heroes of the spirit, in deserts and in monasteries.

Therefore the wealth of prayers, ideas, images, and thoughts which has accumulated over the ages, which is kept and preserved in thick church books and leather bindings, must resound in the souls of contemporary believers through fervent worship. And whoever loves the prayers of the Church, once he has understood their contents, will love also their harmonious order.

We shall remember that the most important element in the divine services is the living, personal participation of both those who come to pray and of those who perform the divine services — those who serve, the readers, and the chanters. Only that which is felt and experienced by the performers of the divine services themselves will reach the hearts of those who pray.

Part One

I. Understanding the Science known as

“Liturgics”

Preliminary remarks.

"Liturgics" is the name given to the theological science which concerns itself with the teachings on Christian worship. Of these, the Divine Liturgy occupies the place of primary importance. The word "liturgics," a derivative of the word "liturgy," comes from the Greek words "leitos," which means public, social, "common," and "ergon" — "work." Thus, for the ancient Hellenes the word leitourgia meant "common work," a common service performed for the people or with the participation of the people. This term is made use of in both the Old and the New Testament, though not in the same sense. In the Old Testament the word "liturgy" signified common service in the tabernacle, in honor of God and for the benefit of the people (see II Chron. 35:3). In the New Testament this term is applied to the service of Zacharius in the temple of Jerusalem (Lk. 1:23); further, to the service in the Tabernacle in which the vessels have been sprinkled with the blood of Christ (see the epistle to the Hebrews); and to the service of Christ the Savior, Who performs the priestly rite by means of His every service to His neighbor (I Cor. 9:1, Heb. 12:24). The word "liturgy" is applied especially clearly to the Eucharist by Clement of Rome (second century) in his first epistle to the Corinthians, in which the service of apostles, bishops, and presbyters is described by the term prosferin ta dora = leitourgein (to perform the offering and the liturgy). From this, the term came to define our Eucharistic divine service — the Divine Liturgy. The name indicates the "common" character of Christian worship, as a "common work" in which all must participate. In a broader sense, the word "leitorgia" describes any service established by the Holy Church to the glory of the Trihypostatic God.

Thus, liturgics is the science of Christian worship as a whole. The term "liturgical" indicates that something is concerned with the divine services in general — not simply with the Divine Liturgy alone.

And so, "liturgics," as Archimandrite Gabriel explains, "considers the Christian religion particularly with regard to how it should outwardly manifest itself, correctly and based on lawful foundations, in a community of many people who are united together into one grace-filled kingdom of Christ, or the Church of the Living God (II Cor. 6:16). The Church, or the community of believers in Jesus Christ, in maintaining the Christian faith, must first discover in itself the inner spirit of that faith, and, second, must exhort and nourish the pious souls of the faithful. To this end it has the religious ceremonies and sacred rites… Thus, liturgics must concern itself with the examination of how the religion of Christians is to be expressed in the sacred rites and ceremonies of the Church, as of the community of believers.

"But we know that so-named Christian churches differ in accordance with their differing confessions of faith. Thus, liturgics must be and is the science of the worship of the Orthodox Church. Consequently, when speaking of the divine services, we speak exclusively of the divine services of the Orthodox Church. The latter designation will prove fitting for our science only when that science examines (studies) and explains the order of the divine services of the Orthodox Church, when it presents a definite conceptualization of every sacred thing and every sacred rite that is a part of the structure of the divine services and, in a similar way, of each rank of service, simultaneously indicating where possible the times at which they should be performed, the reason or holy design with which they were included in the cycle of the divine services, their inner worth, and their spiritual-mystical significance." (Handbook of Liturgics [Руководство по Литургике], Archm. Gabriel, Tver, 1886, p. 3-4)

The science of liturgics may be approached in various ways. Inasmuch as this science covers a variety of fields in the everyday life of the Church and in her divine services, it is divided into several sections. In textbooks and manuals on liturgics one many observe 1) a historical-archaeological approach, 2) a ritualistic or orderly approach, and 3) a theological approach.

1. The historical-archaeological method in the study of liturgics concerns itself with the firmly established forms and structure of the divine services, which liturgics are obliged to explain. The historical approach attempts to indicate from where a given form has its beginnings, how it transformed, and when it was ultimately established. By using the historical-archaeological method it becomes easier for us to understand the inner meaning of the liturgical form, which is confirmed by the authority of antiquity. Furthermore, this approach elucidates the gradual development and transformation of the liturgical orders and hymns, the church implements, vesture, various styles of temple construction, iconography, and so forth.

In some textbooks on liturgics we encounter the view that the ceremonies of the church are the equivalent of dogmas, since this or that form of divine service or this or that ceremony entered into general use as the result of a conciliar decree. However, we must bear in mind that church ceremonies generally were formed throughout history, and they are subject to the laws of historical development. The inner life of the Holy Church would give rise to a certain custom or ceremony, which eventually would receive the recognition of the Church.

As an example, let us take the explanation of the "small entrance" at the liturgy, as we now interpret it. The small entrance represents our Lord Jesus Christ going out to preach, while the candlestick symbolizes St. John the Baptist. In actual fact the ceremony appeared first, and then its explanation. How did the small entrance come to be? The small entrance is a historical phenomenon, and arose in answer to the needs of Church life at the time. In ancient times during the small entrance the sacred vessels were transferred from the diakonika, the room where the vessels were kept, to the Church, for from this moment began the most important part of the liturgy. Over time this practice of necessity became a ceremony, and later received a symbolic meaning.

2. The second approach, the orderly or ritualistic approach, has as its purpose the study of our Orthodox worship exclusively within the context of contemporary church service order, or the Typicon, with the application of those rules and rites which we use and by which we are guided for the majestic, orderly, prayerful performance of the services. The approach is often limited to this; however, it is essential when possible to likewise give attention here to the history of the development of the Ustav itself, the Typicon; how it gradually gained form, was enriched and, finally, how it was defined and established in its current form.

3. The Theological approach to the study of liturgics is not only an examination of liturgics as a subject historical or archaeological in origin and content, nor yet as simply a code of rules regulating the performance of the divine services according to the direction of the Typicon. Rather, it assimilates the teaching concerning our divine services and treats it as a theological discipline. Why exactly must we regard liturgics in this way? Because liturgical texts, in particular the three-canticled canons, vividly and graphically proclaim to us the great truth of the Trinity in Unity, the Triune Divine Essence; while the Theotokia, foremost of which are the Dogmatica, tell us of the great mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God from the Unwedded and Most Pure Virgin Mary. These tell us also of the dogma, confessed by the Church, of the ever-virginity of the Most Holy Theotokos; and many other theological truths are likewise contained in them.

It should be noted that liturgical texts contain within themselves a wealth of theological thought, especially with regard to dogmatics and moral theology, on the foundation of which material it would be possible to compile an entire discipline which might be titled "liturgical theology." Unfortunately, liturgical material has been studied and developed but little in this area. There are, however, several works on the subject; for instance, Readings on Liturgical Theology by Bishop Benjamin (Milov), Brussels, 1977; In the World of Prayer by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, Jordanville, N.Y., 1957; and others.

The Subject and Objective of Liturgics.

The objective of liturgics is the scientific explanation of the external forms of worship which have been established in Christianity. These liturgical forms may be examined 1) from a dogmatic, symbolic, moralistic viewpoint, 2) from a practical point of view — how a given form of service applies to life —, and 3) from a historical point of view.

In western Christianity, in Roman Catholic liturgics, the accepted approach to the study of the services is the practical. This is explained by the character of Catholicism as a "form of religion." A thorough representation of worship and its history has not, until fairly recently, been given by Catholic liturgicists. To be sure, some scholars at the beginning of this century began to systematize liturgical material on the basis of historical fact. However, the Catholic church has now started down a path of reforms, following the Second Vatican Council and beginning in the 1960’s. Hence, their services have been reformed, and new practices introduced. The alter has been transferred to the center of the temple, the worshippers sit surrounding it, and the clergy stand or sit with their backs to the alter, facing the people. For such worship not only organs are used, but the use of guitars and other instruments is also permitted; vocal performances likewise occur. In this manner Roman Catholicism went the way of Protestantism. Roman Catholics can now alter the divine services at any time depending on the circumstances. We know of meetings the Roman Pope has had with various heterodox representatives, and of his participation in prayer even with non-Christians — pagans, Jews, and Muslims, for example.

The theoretical approach is more widely accepted in Protestant liturgics. Protestantism appropriated the right to create various systems of worship, which are allegedly in agreement with the establishments of Christ and His Apostles; but they reject holy tradition and discard its forms, considering them dead weight. Consequently their services consist of assemblies, the reading of Holy Scripture, sermonizing, and the singing of cantatas, or spiritual poetry. In recent times, inasmuch as Protestantism is inclined towards unification with various denominations, their services have acquired a character of ecumenical prayer, in which not only Christian but also non-Christian faiths participate. The so-called "ecumenical meetings" organized by the "World Council of Churches" lead to the organization of ecumenical prayer meetings, in which unfortunately currently take part not only Protestants, sectarians, and members of all kinds of non-Christian religions, but also several Orthodox participants in these meetings.

The main objective of Orthodox liturgics lies in the expounding of the worship of the Orthodox Church, that is, the expounding of the structure and content of every kind of service. As Archimandrite Gabriel correctly noted, "In the explanation of the divine services there must be clearly indicated the idea that visible actions, things connected with the order of the performance of a certain sacrament, are but symbols, or tools, and the conductors of the invisible grace of the Holy Spirit into our souls. If liturgics are to explain the structure and content of the different forms of prayer, and of the various hours of public services, they must show that all of these church services, in spite of their adaptation to the various necessities and circumstances of the earthly life of a Christian, have one principle meaning, one essential purpose: to remove us as often as possible from earthly vanities and calm our mind and heart in God; as often as possible to tear our spirits away from all that is earthly and to strive towards that which is lofty and Divine." (See Handbook of Liturgics, Archim. Gabriel, p. 14, Tver, 1886.)

Through the Orthodox divine services, as Archim. Gabriel goes on to show, we are lifted up to living communion with God, and this in its turn is the preparation of the faithful for eternal communion with Him in the eternal life of the age to come, for the blessedness for which man is destined. Thus, in liturgics it is essential to approach the explanation of the church services from various angles: contemplative, prototypical, spiritual and mystical, i.e., in the sensual to perceive the pretersensual, "to ascend from the material to the contemplation of the spiritual; to see in the mysteries of the earthly Church the elements of the heavenly mysteries; in the prayerful service to our Lord — the prototype of our eternal service in heaven; in the standing before the alter — the beginnings of the glorious standing before the Lord in the life of the age to come; and in the hymnody of those born of earth — the likeness of the ceaseless hymnody of the hosts on high" (Archim. Gabriel, p. 15, Tver, 1886).

Additionally, liturgics must present an interpretation of the services from a dogmatic, moralistic, and historical viewpoint, for without such an approach to the study and exposition of the divine services much of their contents seem to us unclear, unintelligible, and unauthoritative.

Liturgics, in explaining the ceremonies of the Orthodox Church, are obliged to indicate the origins of these liturgical rites. For the Orthodox person it is important to know the origins of all the church rites, who composed them, in what form they were performed in the ancient Church, and how they came to us. If there were changes in these rites, of what sort were they, and why? For by knowing the history of the gradual development and refinement of the church services it will be easier for us to interpret and expound them to those who do not know them but are interested in the subject. At present even among the Orthodox, but especially among the heterodox, a hostile attitude towards our Orthodox divine services may be noted; sectarians often subject our rites to attacks, saying that our services are not currently being performed as they were in the ancient Church. They point to an alleged introduction in the Byzantine period of many superfluous, pompous rituals; this they say with particular reference to the costly beautification of the church implements, vestments, and various ceremonies. Therefore, in order to enlighten those astray and to preserve our Orthodox children from such temptations, liturgics must show that all the rites have their origins in their essential parts in the very depths of ancient Christian times. They have remained the same as they were in the ancient Church.

But inasmuch as the Church lives a life of grace, so her services were in some ways supplemented and developed. New services were compiled for newly glorified saints, new rites and prayers appeared in answer to various needs, and so forth. The construction of the temple was also improved; on the outside churches were made more majestic, while on the inside they were beautified with iconography and casings with images of the saints and particularly venerated or renowned icons. In their turn, zealous Christians made offerings to their temples and adorned them with precious icons, church implements, and vestments. These adornments were not an end in themselves; rather, the most important element was the desire that the performance of the divine services, and especially of the Divine Liturgy, take place in a fitting setting, one suited to the sanctity of these services. Thus, for the temple, for the services, for offerings to God, earnest Christians strove to offer what was best, most valued, and most beautiful.

Therefore, it is essential for every Orthodox Christian to know at least in brief the history and origins of the divine services, so that by participating in the common services they might clearly comprehend their mystical significance. For without this one cannot know how or for what purpose they are performed, nor will one remember their meaning.

But it is even more necessary for pastors of the Church to study liturgics, and especially for those who are preparing to become pastors. For pastors must not only themselves perform the church services with complete understanding and reverence, but must at the same time teach their flock; they must be able to explain everything, to show those who are interested where a more detailed explanation of everything may be found, and so on.

Liturgics as a theological, not to mention practical, science are closely linked to all the other related theological sciences. Thus, they are linked with dogmatic theology, from which they draw their substance. Like dogmatics, liturgics expounds on how, in the divine services, in the mysteries and ceremonies, dogmatic truths are graphically revealed; or, regarding forms of expression of veneration for God, liturgics indicates ways of pleasing God by prayer, fasting, and by other means. They likewise show how it is vital to take abstract moralistic rules and apply them to life, linking itself thereby to moral theology. Liturgics provides homiletics with material for church sermons. Liturgics are forever linked with Church history, for they turn to it when explaining the divine services. Therefore, one may clearly see that between the divine services, with which liturgics is occupied, and the other elements of spiritual-religious, Christian life, that is to say, between faith, with which dogmatics are occupied, and Christian activity, with which moral theology concerns itself with, there is a close association.

Our Orthodox services are the expression of our religious experiences, our spiritual feelings, our faith in the Triune God, and our devotion to God. Such a perception, such a purposefulness is called in liturgics ‘latreutical,’ from the Greek word latreuein, or service, worship of the Trihypostatic God.

In addition to this, in the divine services one may note the sacramental purpose, seeing as they join us to the redeeming labor of our Savior, and are the channel of grace into the world and to individual believers.

Further, the services have a didactic, i.e. instructive, character. Our cycle of services contains a great wealth of hymnography, which is interwoven with readings from the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and with lessons from patristic writings, ascetic anthologies and the lives of the saints, from which a great spiritual wealth of knowledge may be drawn. Thus, the divine services are a source of knowledge of God, and enable one to likewise deepen one’s knowledge of theology. In this instance liturgics are completely interrelated with patristics. Patristics concern themselves with the study of the development of Christian theological thought by various religious writers and teachers of the Church at different times, and should not be separated from liturgical theology. The revealing of the contents of patristic works enriches our theological awareness, and provides us with material for the system and history of Orthodox theology.

In particular, much may be obtained from the hymns of the Ochtoechos, from its stichira and dogmatica which are sung on "Both now" and "Lord, I have Cried," in which are expounded thoughts on the incarnation of the Son of God, on the redemption of man, on the ever-virginity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and more. The ascending antiphons of the resurrectional services likewise give us valuable material for learning about the Holy Spirit. In the Lenten Triodion we find material that expounds to us the origin of sin in man, the struggle against it, fasting, and prayer. The Pentecostarian recounts the Resurrection of Christ, while other liturgical books likewise contain a wealth of theological material.

The authors of liturgical hymns are spiritual teachers and inspired poets who expound their teachings on various dogmatic issues in a way similar to that in which theological writers of the Church expound their teachings in theological tracts.

Archimandrite Kyprian (Kern) states, "that worship in the widest sense of the word, that is, hymns, readings from Scripture and edifying patristic books, the inexhaustible wealth of our iconography and of the symbolic actions in the mysteries, at the daily services, and at divine services in general, as well as the common folk wisdom in customs connected with individual feasts and sacred rites — all of this is the source of our theological edification and knowledge of God." (Liturgics [Литургика], p. 5, Paris, 1964.)

Division of the Science of Liturgics.

Liturgics are usually classified as either general or particular.

General liturgics consider the institution or establishment of the divine services as a whole, give an account of their theoretic foundation, recount the history of their origin and development, discuss the components of the services — the sacraments, prayers, hymns, readings from Holy Scripture, lessons, the various symbolic rites and the actions that accompany them —, talk about those who perform the services — the clergy and those who serve in the church —, the times and places at which the services are performed, the church architecture, the construction of the temple, the sacred imagery and raiment, and the liturgical vessels and books.

Particular liturgics attend to the study of individual liturgical rites — daily, festal, and Lenten; the sacraments, the blessing of water, the consecration of temples, the burial of the reposed and their commemoration.

Liturgics in general and Orthodox liturgics in particular are a science that is predominantly archaeological, which is why before, in ecclesiastical institutions of higher education, they were often combined, as they still occasionally are, with the rostrum of ecclesiastical archaeology.

As a science, liturgics, especially particular liturgics, have been developed but little, due in part to the lack of ancient testimony concerning individual liturgical rites, and partly because the subject of liturgics for a long time was considered merely practical in application.

The principle source on the foundation of which one may show that our Orthodox worship has its beginning and origin from our Lord Jesus Christ is the Holy Scripture of the New Testament. By His coming to earth Our Lord Jesus Christ brought the Old Testament to an end. However, not all of the particulars were abolished by Him and His disciples; worship in the Old Testament temple in particular continued to be performed, and the first Christians, who were of the Jews, continued to go to the temple and pray to God at the appointed hours. However, gradually Christians began to gather together for prayer and especially for the performance of what were already the divine services of the New Testament. Thus, in the Holy Gospel we have the command of the Lord, which he gave at the Mystical Supper, to perform the Eucharist in remembrance of Him. Likewise in the Gospel we have the command concerning baptism. In the Acts of the Apostles it is related that the Apostles Peter and John were sent to Samaria, and through the laying on of their hands the Samarians received the Holy Spirit: this was the sacrament of chrysmation. The sacrament of the consecration of oil was likewise established by the Apostles (see the epistle of Ap. James).

Thus we see from the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition that the origins of the principle elements in our divine services have their source in our Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples.

True, references to them are very brief, but these may be supplemented by the other surviving monuments that comprise Holy Tradition. Among these are the rules of the Holy Apostles, the decrees of the Ecumenical and local counsels, and the canonical epistles of the Holy Fathers.

Primary Sources of Liturgics.

The interpretive primary sources of Orthodox liturgics are the following patristic works:

1. Catechetical and Sacramental Homilies, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 386). St. Cyril explains the sacred rites and the symbolism of the mysteries of baptism, unction, and the Eucharist.

2. On the Church Hierarchy. This composition, attributed to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, was written in the beginning of the fifth century. Among other things it discusses the liturgy, several sacraments, and the monastic tonsure.

3. On the Sacraments, by St. Ambrose of Mediolan (+ 397). The hierarch Ambrose has a rather important significance in the history of the divine services of the Holy Church, especially in the west.

4. On the Tradition of the Divine Liturgy, by St. Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople (+ 447).

5. Mystogogia (On the Sacraments), by St. Maximus the Confessor (+ 662). The latter explains the symbolism of the temple and the liturgy; his commentary is the first specifically Byzantine commentary. In his explanations he often cites from the treatise On the Church Hierarchy, attributed to St. Dionysius the Areopogite.

6. On the Divine Sacred Rites, by St. Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (+ 644). This hierarch presents a detailed explanation of all that is performed in the divine services. Additionally, he is one of the first hymnographers whose three-canticled canons were included in the composition of the Lenten Triodion, as well as the Festal Menaion.

7. Reflections on Ecclesiastical Matters, by St. Herman, patriarch of Constantinople (+ 740).

8. Commentary on the Divine Liturgy, by Nicholas Kavasila, archbishop of Thessalonica (+ 1371).

9. On the Temple of God and the Divine Liturgy and On the Sacred Ceremonies, by Symeon, archbishop of Thessalonica (+ 1429).

It should be noted that the aforementioned works bear witness to the fact that, throughout its history, the services of the Orthodox Church have had their own rich literary tradition. Besides the monuments of interpretation and explanation of the services here mentioned, there also exist other collections and treatises on the liturgical ceremonies. There likewise exists a considerable quantity of information in foreign languages which deal with western, Catholic worship, which we will not deal with here.

Russian Research of Liturgics.

The development of liturgics in Russian theological schools began comparatively late. In Russia the science was at first considered a pastoral matter, and attention was therefore mainly focused on the ritual ustav aspects of the services. On this subject not a few works were written in Russia in the XVIII and XIX centuries. Inasmuch as liturgics have an archaeological side (which concerns the temple, the icons, etc.), in spiritual institutions of higher education in Russia liturgics was often combined with the field of ecclesiastical archaeology.

In Russia the best systems of investigation of liturgics that we have are the following:

1. New Tablet, by Archbishop Benjamin (1870).

2. A Historical, Dogmatic, and Mystical Explanation of the Divine Liturgy, by Ivan Dimitriev (1897).

3. Commentary on the Liturgy and On the Lessons, by Bishop Vissarion of Kostroma.

4. Handbook of Liturgics, or the study of Orthodox worship, by Archimandrite Gabriel. Tver, 1886.

For ecclesiastical seminaries we had the textbooks of the following authors on liturgics: Alhimovich (1891), Smolodovich (1869), and the most widely distributed of late, Peter Lebedev (1893).

There exists a series of monographs: Divine Services in Apostolic Times and Divine Services from the Time of the Apostles to the IV Century, by F. Smirnov; The Order of Common and Particular Services in Old Russia up to the XVI Century, by N. Odintsov; and The Divine Services of the Russian Church for the First Five Centuries and Divine Services in the Russian Church in the XV Century, by A. Dimitriev.

The principle reformer of liturgics and founder of the same as a science was the doctor of Church history and professor of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy Ivan Danilovich Mansvetov, who died in 1885. He explained and argued for the necessity of the application of the historical method.

Of other liturgicists who left a wealth of material in the sphere of extensive research of liturgics, the following are the most notable: N. F. Krasnoseltsev, A. A. Dimitrievsky, A. P. Golubtsov, Prof. Lisitsin, Protopriest Kekelidze, Prof. Karabinov, and one who has of late done especially much, the professor of the Kiev Eccl. Acaedemy M. N. Skaballanovich. The Russian school of liturgics is indebted to the latter for such works as "The Annotated Typicon," in three editions, and "Feasts." The first of these works is the history of our Typicon, in which he gives a detailed analysis and explanation of each service regarding both its origin and its gradual historical development. In addition he gives a complete critical-historical interpretation of the entire contents of the Typicon. Especially valuable is his "Feasts," of which a total of six installments were published, each feast in a separate installment. The scheme of these essays is as follows: first, the biblical fact lying at the foundation of the given feast, geographic and archaeological detail, and the theological significance of events. Then patristic works devoted to the feast are introduced and the gradual historical development of the feast is shown. Then follows the whole of the liturgical material in Slavonic, as well as a translation of it into Russian with appropriate notes and explanations. Skaballanovich even compares Orthodox services with the services of other confessions, describing the manner in which the latter celebrate the same feasts. Unfortunately, due to the war of 1914 and the catastrophe that followed in Russia — the Revolution —, his brilliant work was never completed, and only six installments were published. These installments were republished by our own Holy Trinity Monastery, and were printed as appendixes to the Holy Trinity calendar from 1976 to 1982.

II. On Worship

Owing to the close link between the spirit and the body, man is unable to keep from outwardly expressing the movements of his spirit. Just as the body acts upon the soul, relating certain impressions to it through the organs of the external senses, in precisely the same way the spirit causes certain movements in the body. Like all his other thoughts, feelings, and experiences, the religious feelings of a man cannot remain without outward revelation. The whole of all the external forms and actions which express the inner religious disposition of the soul comprise what is known as divine service, or worship. Divine service, or worship, in one form or another, is therefore an inescapable attribute of every religion: in it the latter manifests and expresses itself, just as the soul reveals its life through the body. Thus, worship is the external expression of religious faith through prayers, sacrifices and rituals.

The Origins of Worship.

Worship as an external expression of internal inclination of man towards God has its origin from the time when man first learned of God. He learned of God when, after the creation of man, God appeared to him in paradise and gave him the first commandments not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17) and to keep the Sabbath (Gen. 2:3), and blessed his marital union (Gen. 1:28).

The primitive worship of the first people in paradise consisted, not of any defined church ceremonies, as in contemporary times, but of the free pouring forth by the former of reverent feelings before God as their Creator and Provider. In addition to this, the commands concerning the seventh day and abstinence from the forbidden tree had already laid the foundation for defined liturgical establishments. In these lie the beginnings of our feasts and fasts. In God’s blessing of the marital union of Adam and Eve we cannot but see the establishment of the sacrament of marriage.

After the fall into sin of the first people and their expulsion from paradise, primitive worship found its further development in the establishment of the ritual offering of sacrifice. These sacrifices were of two kinds: those that were performed on all solemn and joyous occasions as an expression of thankfulness to God for the benefits received from Him, and those performed when it became necessary to petition God for aid or to pray for forgiveness for sins committed.

Sacrifices were intended as a continual reminder to men of their guilt before God, the original sin overshadowing them, and the fact that God could hear and accept their prayer only in the name of that sacrifice which should subsequently be offered for the redemption of their sins by the Seed of the woman promised by God in paradise — that is, He who was to come into the world and carry out the redemption of mankind, the Savior of the world, Christ, the Messiah. In this way for the chosen people worship had a propitiatory quality, not in and of itself, but because it was a prefiguration of the great sacrifice which should one day be offered by the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified on the cross for the sins of the whole world. In the time of the patriarchs, from Adam to Moses, worship was performed among the families of these patriarchs by their heads, the patriarchs themselves, at times and places decreed by them. From the time of Moses, when the chosen people of God, the Old Testament Israel who preserved the true faith in the One God, increased in number, worship began to be performed on behalf of the whole nation by individuals especially appointed for this, who were known as high priests, priests, and Levites, as it is recounted in the book of Exodus and, later, in the book of Leviticus. The order of the Old Testament worship of the people of God was specified with all its details in the ritual law given through Moses. By the command of God Himself, the prophet Moses established for the performance of worship a place (the tabernacle of the covenant), times (feasts and fasts), sacred personages, and the very forms thereof. During the reign of King Solomon, in place of the portable tabernacle-temple, the beautiful, majestic, permanent Old Testament temple was built in Jerusalem, which in the Old Testament was the only place where worship of the True God was performed.

The worship of the Old Testament, which was defined by the law, before the coming of the Savior was divided into two forms: worship in the temple, and worship in the synagogue. The first took place in the temple. It consisted of the reading of the Ten Commandments and several other selected places from the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, the offering of sacrifices and, finally, the singing of hymns. However, besides the temple, from the time of Ezra synagogues began to be built, the need for which was felt especially by the Jews who were deprived of participation in temple worship, yet did not wish to remain without communal religious edification. In the synagogues the Jews gathered on Saturdays for prayer, singing, and the reading of Holy Scripture, as well as for the translation and explanation of the services for those born in captivity, who did not know well the holy language.

With the coming into the world of the Messiah, Christ the Savior, who offered Himself in sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, the ritual Old Testament worship lost all significance, and was replaced by that of the New Testament, at the foundation of which lies the supreme Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ, established at the Mystical Supper by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, which bears the name of the Holy Eucharist, or the Sacrament of Thanksgiving ("Eucaristia" in Greek meaning "thanksgiving"). This is the Bloodless Sacrifice, which replaced the sanguinary Old Testament sacrifices of calves and lambs that had but prefigured the One Great Sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself commanded His followers to perform the sacraments prescribed by Him (Lk. 22:19; Matt. 28:19), to pray both privately and communally (Matt. 6:5-13; Matt. 18:19-20), and to preach throughout all the world His Divine Evangelical teaching (Matt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15).

From this performance of sacraments and prayers and the preaching of the Gospel, New Testament worship was compiled. Its structure and character were still more fully defined by the Holy Apostles. As it is seen from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, in their time specific places were already appearing for the gatherings of the faithful for prayer, which in Greek were called "ekklhsia," or "churches," because the members of the Church gathered in them. Thus the Church, the assembly of the faithful who are united in the one organism of the Body of Christ, gave its name to the place where these assemblies took place. Just as in the Old Testament, beginning from the time of Moses, worship was performed by specific individuals appointed for this — the high priests, priests, and Levites —, so also in the New Testament divine service came to be performed by clergy especially appointed through the laying on of the hands of the Apostles: bishops, presbyters, and deacons. In the book of Acts and the apostolic epistles we find clear indications that all of these three basic levels of priesthood in the New Testament Church have their origins from the Holy Apostles themselves.

After the Holy Apostles the divine services continued to develop, with additions of newer and newer prayers and sacred hymns, deeply edifying in their content. The final establishment of a specific order and uniformity in Christian worship was achieved by the successors of the Apostles, according to the commandment given them: "Let all things be done decently and in order" (I Cor. 14:40).

Thus, in contemporary times, the worship of the Orthodox Church is comprised of those prayers and sacred rites by which Orthodox Christians express to God their feelings of faith, hope and love, and by means of which they enter into mystical communion with Him and receive from Him powers of grace for a holy and God-pleasing life, worthy of a true Christian.

The Development of Orthodox Worship.

The New Testament Christian religion, in accordance with its close historical connection to that of the Old Testament, retained several forms and much of the content of Old Testament worship. The Old Testament temple in Jerusalem, which Christ the Savior Himself and the Holy Apostles attended on all the major feasts of the Old Testament, was at first a holy place for Christians as well. The sacred books of the Old Testament were accepted into the structure of common Christian worship, and the first sacred hymns of the Christian Church were those same psalms which were so widely used in Old Testament worship. Despite the purely Christian hymnography which was growing ever stronger, these psalms retained their significance in Christian worship in the times that followed and even unto the present day. The hours for prayer and the feast days of the Old Testament likewise remained sacred for Christians in the New Testament. However, all that Christians accepted from the Old Testament Church was given a new meaning and a particular significance that were in keeping with the spirit of the new, Christian teaching, yet in complete accordance with the words of Christ the Savior, that He came, "not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it," i.e., to "fill it up," to fill everything with a new, deeper and more exalted understanding (Matt. 5:17-19). At the same time that they were attending the temple in Jerusalem, already the Apostles themselves, and with them the first Christians, were beginning to gather separately in homes for the "breaking of bread," i.e., for what was already purely Christian worship, the center of which was the Eucharist. Comparatively early on, however, historical circumstances forced the first Christians completely and in all ways to separate themselves from the Old Testament temple and the synagogues. In A.D. 70 the temple was destroyed by the Romans, after which the worship of the Old Testament with its sacrificial offerings ceased entirely. The synagogues, however, which for the Jews were places not of worship, in the strictest sense of the word (worship could take place in only one place — the temple in Jerusalem), but merely places of assembly for prayer and instruction, soon became hostile towards Christians to such a degree that even those Christians who were of the Jews ceased to visit them. The reason for this is clear: Christianity as a new religion, perfect, purely spiritual, and also universal in terms of time and nationality, was naturally obliged to develop new forms of worship in keeping with its spirit: it could not be limited to the sacred books and psalms of the Old Testament alone.

"The basis and foundation for common Christian worship," as Archimandrite Gabriel shows clearly and in detail, "was laid by Jesus Christ Himself partly by His example, partly in His commandments. In performing His Divine service on earth He builds the New Testament Church (Matt. 16:18-19; 18:17-20; 28:20), and selects for her the Apostles and, through them, successors to their service — pastors and teachers (Jn. 15:16; 20:21; Eph. 4:11-14; I Cor. 4:1). In teaching the faithful to worship God in spirit and in truth, He accordingly sets Himself above all else as an example of the worship being established. He promises to be with the faithful where "two ore three are gathered together in His name" (Matt. 18:20), and "to be with them alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20). He Himself prayed, at times throughout the night (Lk. 6:12; Matt. 14:23), praying with visible outward signs, such as lifting up His eyes to heaven (Jn. 17:1), kneeling (Lk. 22:41-45), and bowing His head (Matt. 26:39). He also arouses others to prayer, showing it to be a grace-filled medium (Matt. 21:22; Lk. 22:40; Jn. 14:13; 15:7), divides it into common (Matt. 18:19-20) and domestic prayer (Matt. 6:6), teaches His disciples prayer itself (Matt. 6:9-10), and forewarns His followers against abuses in prayer and honoring God (Jn. 4:23-24; II Cor. 3:17; Matt. 4:10). Further, He proclaimed His new teaching of the Gospel by the living word and through preaching, commanded His disciples to preach the same "to all nations" (Matt. 28:19; Mk. 16:15), gave them His blessing (Lk. 24:51; Mk. 8:7), laid His hands on them (Matt. 19:13-15), and, finally, upheld the sanctity and dignity of the house of God (Matt. 21:13; Mk. 11:15). In order to impart divine grace to those that believe in Him He established the sacraments, commanding that those who enter into His Church be baptized (Matt. 28:19); in the name of the power given unto them He entrusts them with the power to bind and to loose the sins of men (Jn. 20:22-23); of the sacraments He especially commands that the sacrament of the Eucharist be performed in remembrance of Him, as an image of the sacrifice on the Cross at Golgotha (Lk. 22:19). The Apostles, having learned the New Testament service from their Divine Teacher, in spite of their primary work of proclaiming the word of God (I Cor. 1:27) specified rather clearly and in detail the rite of external worship. Thus, we find mention of several aspects of external worship in their writings (I Cor. 11:23; 14:40), but the greater part of it remained in the practice of the Church. The successors of the Apostles, the pastors and teachers of the Church, preserved the apostolic decrees concerning worship; and, in the time of peace which followed the terrible persecutions, on the foundation of these decrees defined in writing, down to the smallest details, the whole of the permanent, unchanging rite of worship, which the Church has preserved even until now" (Handbook of Liturgics, Archim. Gabriel, pp. 41-42, Tver, 1886).

In accordance with the decree of the apostolic council in Jerusalem (Acts, chapter 15), the ritual law of Moses has been repealed in the New Testament. Sacrifices of blood can no longer be made, since the Great Sacrifice has already been offered for the expiation of the sins of the whole world. There is no longer a tribe of Levi for the priesthood, because in the New Testament all men, having been redeemed by the Blood of Christ, have become equal with one another: the priesthood is equally accessible to all. Neither is there any longer a single chosen people of God, for all nations are equally called to the Kingdom of the Messiah, revealed through the sufferings of Christ. The place for service to God is no longer in Jerusalem alone, but everywhere. The time for service to God is always, and ceases not. At the center of Christian worship stands Christ the Redeemer, and His whole earthly life, which is unto the salvation of mankind. Therefore, all that has been adopted from Old Testament worship is suffused with a new spirit — a spirit purely Christian. Such are all the prayers, hymns, readings and rituals of Christian worship. Their primary purpose is salvation in Christ. Therefore, the central point of Christian worship became the Eucharist — a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

Too little information has been preserved on precisely how Christian worship took place in the first three centuries, in the epoch of savage persecution by the pagans. Permanent temples were impossible. For the performance of the divine services Christians assembled in private homes and in sepulchral caves under the ground — the catacombs. We know that the first Christians performed vigils of prayer in the catacombs throughout the night — from evening until morning —, especially on the eves of Sundays and great feasts, and likewise on days of commemoration of the martyrs who had suffered for Christ; these in fact usually took place on the graves of the martyrs, and finished with the Eucharist. Already in this ancient period there existed definite liturgical rites. Eusebius and Jeronimus give accounts of the Justinian book "Psalter"-"Chanter," which contained church hymns. Hippolitus, bishop of Ostee, who reposed around 250, left behind a book in which he expounds on apostolic tradition concerning the rites of ordination of a reader, subdeacon, deacon, presbyter, and bishop, and also concerning prayers, or short liturgical rites, and the commemoration of the departed. Regarding prayers he states that these should take place in the morning, at the third, sixth, and ninth hours, in the evening, and at cock-crow; if there can be no assembly, let each sing, read, and pray in his own home. This naturally suggests the existence of corresponding liturgical books.

Church Hymnographers.

The shining golden age of Christian worship began in the IV century, following the end of the persecutions. Here there appear a whole series of remarkable church hymnographers, compilers of profound, heartfelt prayers and entire liturgical rites, which have now taken on a strictly defined form and content which is uniform for all places.

Of these personages who have enriched and beautified our divine services, it is essential that we mention the following church hymnographers:

1. St. Basil the Great (+ 379) and St. John Chrysostom (+ 407) in the East, and St. Ambrose of Milan (339 — 397) in the West. Each of these compiled for his Churh a rite of Divine Liturgy. St. Basil the Great additionally defined and supplemented with prayers, which he himself composed, the daily services and the Vespers of Pentecost, and St. John Chrysostom introduced the Litia into the All-night Vigil. St. Ambrose introduced antiphonal singing in the West, modeling on the way it was employed in the East.

2. St. Gregory the Theologian (+ 391) wrote much against the Arians, and left not only epistles but discourses as well. In particular he composed many poetic works. In his poems there are many expressions which later, in one way or another, were used by church hymnographers. Ven. John of Damascus in particular used many of the former’s words in his own Paschal canon and stichera.

3. Venerable Ephraim the Syrian (323 — 378) labored in Syria, in the province of Edessa. Quite a number hymns are ascribed to him — hymns for the feast of the Nativity of Christ, in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, in honor of the Church of Christ, and for other occasions. These hymns are still sung by the Syrians.

4. St. Cyril of Alexandria (+ 444). Some ascribe to him the authorship of the hymn "O Theotokos and Virgin, Rejoice!" He also compiled and introduced the rite of the Royal Hours of Great Friday.

5. The Emperor Justinian (527 — 565) is, according to holy tradition, the author of the hymn "O Only-begotten Son and Word of God," which is sung at the Divine Liturgy.

6. St. Anatolius, patriarch of Constantinople (+ 458), compiled the resurrectional stichera. Note: several scholars believe that these stichera, marked as being "of Anatolius," are not his at all, but are rather "eastern," since they were accepted into the eastern typica. At the time of Pat. Anatolius, they state, this type of hymnography did not yet exist (Liturgics, Archim. Kyprian, p. 72).

7. Ven. Roman the Melodist (end of the V century), some believe, compiled more than 1000 kontakia and ikosi. In the profundity and sublimity of his language he surpasses all of the Greek poets. Byzantine church poetry found perfection in him. His kontakia for the feasts and the saints gave ground before new hymns, the canons, which gradually replaced the kontakia of Ven. Roman.

8. Ven. Savva the Sanctified (532), the founder of the glorious Palestinian Lavra, compiled the first liturgical Ustav (the Typicon), which is known by the title of "Jerusalem" and has been widely distributed in the East.

9. Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople, to whom is ascribed the compilation, around 626, of the akathist to the Mother of God. However, some dispute his authorship, but this, apparently, as notes Archim. Kyprian (Kern), stems in this case more from a reluctance to accept as the author of so Orthodox a composition such a patriarch, one who compromised himself by defending the monothelite heresy, than from any more serious scientifically critical basis (p. 76). Others believe the author of the akathist to be the deacon George Pisida, who was a contemporary of Pat. Sergius and noted for his poetic gifts.

10. St. Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (+ 638), composed a significant part of the Triodion and the rite of the Royal Hours of the Nativity of Christ, conclusively formulated the rite of the Great Blessing of Water which is performed on the eve of Theophany, and, as a result of the introduction of a multitude of hymns into the services, revised and reedited the rule of St. Savva the Sanctified.

11. St. Andrew, archbishop of Crete (+ 713), compiled the Great Canon of repentance which is sung and read on the first and fifth weeks of Great Lent. He likewise wrote many other canons, three-canticled canons, and other hymns. He originally came from the monastery of Ven. Savva the Sanctified.

12. Ven. John of Damascus (675 — 749-50) was a very prolific and renowned hymnographer. He compiled the canons of Pascha, the Nativity, and many others; the hymns of the Ochtoechos, funereal hymns, morning antiphons, and the Calendar; and revised and reedited the rule of St. Sophronius.

13. St. Cosmas, bishop of Maiuma (700 — 760), a friend of Ven. John of Damascus and his adopted brother and schoolfellow. They labored in the monastery of Ven. Savva. St. Cosmas composed many canons for feast days, the three-canticled canons for four of the days of Passion Week, and the hymn "More Honorable than the Cherubim," and took part with the Damascene in the compilation of the hymns of the Ochtoechos. He likewise composed canons for the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Nativity of Christ, Theophany, the Meeting of our Lord, Pentecost, Transfiguration, the Exaltation of the Cross, and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.

14. Venerable Theodore (759 — 826) and his brother Joseph (+ 825-30), archbishop of Thessalonica, the Studites; both confessors for the sake of the Holy Icons. They gathered all the hymns of Great Lent at that time in existence and, adding three- and four-canticled canons, stichera and troparia which they had composed, thus compiled an entire book, which was given the name of The Lenten Triodion. Besides this, Ven. Theodore wrote a particular liturgical Rule for his monastery, which was passed on to the Russian churches and monasteries, attaining renown and usage just as widespread as had the Jerusalem Rule of Ven. Savva the Sanctified.

15. Ven. Theophan the Inscribed (+ 843), a confessor, metropolitan of Nicea. He was called "the Inscribed" because the iconoclasts branded sacrilegious words on his face for his steadfastness in defending the veneration of icons. He is the author of over 100 canons, of which the best known are the canons for the funeral, for the Midfeast of Pentecost, for the second day of Pentecost in honor of the Holy Spirit, and for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, part of the canon for Lazarus Saturday, and many other canons and stichera in honor of various saints.

16. Ven. Joseph the Hymnographer (810 — 886) may be considered one of the most prolific of all hymnographers. He compiled canons for the weekdays in the Ochtoechos and for other days of commemoration of the saints. Altogether are attributed to him 175 canons, 30 three-canticled canons, and 6 four-canticled canons — 211 church hymns in all. Through the labors of the Venerable Joseph and Theophan the Inscribed a multitude of canons were compiled, which supplemented the Ochtoechos of the Damascene, bringing it to its current status.

17. St. John, bishop of Eukhaitia (+ 1100), composed many canons, including the famous canons to the Sweetest Jesus and to the Guardian Angel, and supplemented the Menaion.

All of these church hymns and prayers were originally written in Greek, which at the time was in universal and common usage in the Christian East of the Byzantine Empire.

The foundation for the translation of all of these hymns and prayers from Greek into Slavonic, which translation has been in use even until now in our Russian Churches, was laid by the enlighteners of the Slavs, the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equals-of-the-Apostles. After Russia’s acceptance of Christianity in 988, and the appearance in Russia of her own God-pleasing saints, the latter began to compose in Church Slavonic their own prayers and hymns of praise, which still more greatly enriched the divine services which we received from the Greeks. In Russia entire liturgical rituals were likewise composed, in memory of exclusively Russian national feasts, wonderworking icons that appeared at different times in the Russian land, and so forth.

The Significance of Orthodox Worship.

This significance is extraordinarily great. Our Orthodox services teach, exhort, and spiritually educate the faithful, providing them with rich spiritual food for both mind and heart. The yearly cycle of our services presents to us in vivid images and lessons nearly the whole of biblical history, both of the Old Testament and especially of the New; it likewise presents the history of the Church, both universal and, in particular, Russian. Here the dogmatic teachings of the Church are revealed, which overwhelm the soul with awe before the greatness of the Creator; and moral lessons in authentically Christian life, which cleanse and uplift the heart, are given in the living images and examples of the God-pleasing saints, the memory of whom is glorified by the Holy Church nearly every day. Like the purely external appearance and construction of our Orthodox temples, so also the services performed in them vividly remind those praying of that "higher world" for which all Christians are destined. Our worship presents itself as an authentic "SCHOOL OF GODLINESS," which completely removes the soul from this sinful world and transports it to the kingdom of the Spirit. "Truly, the temple is an earthly heaven," says the great pastor of our times, St. John of Kronstadt, "for where the throne of God is, where the terrible sacraments are performed, where angels serve with men, where there is unceasing doxology of the Almighty, there truly is heaven and the heaven of heavens." Whosoever listens attentively to the service, whosoever consciously participates in it with his mind and heart, such a one cannot help but feel the full strength of the powerful call of the Church to sanctity, which is, according to the words of the Lord Himself, the ideal of Christian life. Through her services the Holy Church endeavors to tear each of us from all earthly attachments and passions, and to make of us those "earthly angels" and "heavenly men" of whom she sings the praises in her troparia, kontakia, stichera and canons.

Worship has great powers of regeneration, and in this lies its wholly irreplaceable significance. Some forms of worship, called "sacraments," also have an particular, specific meaning for the man who receives them, for they bestow on him special powers of grace.

III. The Origin of

the Christian Temples

The liturgical rule of today prescribes for services to be performed for the most part in the temple. Concerning the very name temple, templum, naoς, it came into use around the IV century. Before, the name was applied by the pagans to the places where they assembled for prayer. Among us, the Christians, the name temple refers to a building specially consecrated to God, in which the faithful gather for the receiving of the grace of God through the sacrament of Communion and other sacraments, and for the lifting up of prayers of a communal nature to God. Since the faithful, who themselves comprise the Church of Christ, gather in the temple, the temple is likewise called a "church," a word which came from the Greek kuriakon, which means "house of the Lord," domus Dei. This title was adopted from the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament (Gen. 28:17, 19, 22). From the Greek word kuriakon, by changing the letters k and u to the Russian letters ц and е, the Russian word церковь was formed, which also means a house or temple of the Lord. (So maintains Archb. Benjamin, compiler of the New Tablet; see p. 10).

Christian temples as specifically houses of worship only began to appear among Christians in significant numbers after the end of the persecutions by the pagans, i.e., in the IV century. However, temples were already being built before this since at least the III century. Christians of the first community in Jerusalem still attended the Old Testament temple, but for the performance of the Eucharist they were already gathering apart from the Jews, "from house to house" (Acts 2:46). In the epoch of the persecutions of Christianity by the pagans the principle places for assemblies of worship for the Christians were the catacombs. These were special underground vaults, excavated for the burial of the dead. The custom of burying the dead in catacombs was rather widespread in pre-Christian antiquity, both in the East and the West. Places of burial, in accordance with the Roman laws, were recognized as inviolable. Roman legislation likewise permitted the free existence of sepulchral communities, regardless of what creed they professed; these enjoyed the right to assemble in the burial places of their fellow members, and were even allowed to have their own altars there for the practicing of their worship. Hence, it is clear that the first Christians made wide use of these rights, the result of which was that the main places for their assemblies of worship, or the first ancient temples, were the catacombs. These catacombs have been preserved even until the present time in various places. Of the greatest interest to us are the exceptionally well-preserved catacombs on the outskirts of Rome, the so-called "catacombs of Kallistus." These are an entire web of underground corridors interwoven among themselves, with more or less spacious room-like apartments, called cubicles, scattered here and there throughout. In this labyrinth without the help of an experienced guide it is easy to become confused, the more so because these corridors are sometimes situated on several levels; from one level it is possible to pass unconsciously to another. Along the corridors recesses are gouged, in which the dead were immured. The cubicles constituted family vaults, while still larger apartments, the "crypts," were precisely those temples in which Christians performed their worship in times of persecution. In these the tomb of a martyr was usually erected: this served as the altar on which the Eucharist was performed. It is from this that the custom originates of putting holy relics into a newly consecrated temple, within the altar and the antimins, without which the Divine Liturgy cannot be performed. Along the sides of the altar or tomb, places were set up for the bishop and the presbyters. The biggest apartments in the catacombs were generally called "capellas" or "churches." In them one may already easily discern many of the structural parts of our contemporary temple.

The catacombs were adorned with fresco paintings. These frescoes were of a mostly symbolic character, such as, for instance, the "Anchor," the symbol of Christian hope; the "Dove," the symbol of the Holy Spirit; the "Phoenix," the symbol of the Resurrection; the "Peacock," the symbol of immortality; the "Rooster," the symbol of spiritual wakefulness and a reminder of the denial of Peter; the "Lamb," the symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and the "Cross," in the form of various kinds of monograms. The cross was, in the eyes of the pagans, an instrument of shameful punishment, and for this reason the Christians, so as to escape the mockery of the pagans, concealed this symbol of Christianity, combining the image of the Cross with the initials of the name of Christ. Other frescoes were allegorical in nature, symbolically depicting the parables of Christ the Savior. A third category comprises depictions of biblical events, such as, for example, Noah in the ark; Jonah and the whale which swallowed him; Daniel in the lions’ den; Moses by the burning bush, and drawing forth water from the rock; the adoration of the Magi; the Annunciation; the resurrection of Lazarus. The fourth category of fresco comprises images of a liturgical nature. The chief of these is the fish, which represents the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Apostles were fishermen, and we find the symbol of the fish often in the Gospel. Moreover, the Greek word for fish, icquV, contains the initial letters of the Greek phrase, "IhsouV CristoV Qeou UioV Swthr," which means "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."

Already in the I-II centuries we find in the catacombs iconographic representations of Christ the Savior and the Mother of God, albeit few in number. Symbolic images were preferred, due to the threat of mockery and desecration by the pagans.

Even before Christianity obtained its status as the predominant religion in the reign of Emperor Constantine, Christians had begun to build unconcealed above-ground temples. These were often destroyed, but in the intervals of peace between persecutions the Christians built them anew.

The most ancient type of Christian temple is the basilica. In its layout the Christian basilica consists of an elongated tetragon, the length of which is equal to twice its breadth. Its interior is divided, by rows of pillars running along its length, into three or five "naves," or longitudinal areas. Corresponding to the number of naves, on the east side several "asps," or semicircular altars, were set. Smaller churches were not divided into naves, and only one semicircular altar was built. Temples were built with the altar facing east, while on the west side "narthexes," or "vestibules," were built, and, still before these, the "portico," or porch. The central nave was usually made higher and wider than those along the sides. In the walls between the columns of the central nave, above the roofing of the lateral naves, windows were set, which illuminated the whole inside of the basilica.

What are the origins of the Christian basilica?

The name itself indicates that it is a "royal building," as it comes from the Greek word "basileuV," which means "king," or "judge." In those times the basilica was considered the most perfect form of architectural art; all government buildings, as well as the homes of the wealthy, were built in the form of basilicas. It was natural for Christianity to choose for their temples that architectural style which was in those times considered to be the most beautiful, the most perfect. Furthermore, it is known that the first Christians, who as yet had no temples, gathered for their Eucharistic assemblies in the homes of wealthy people who had turned to Christ, who reserved for these assemblies the best rooms, called oikoV, or "ikosi." These rooms happened to have the shape of an elongated tetragon, with columns that divided the apartment along its length into three sections. In their form basilicas resembled a ship. This conveyed to the faithful the edifying thought that the Church is a ship on which one may safely sail across the sea of life and reach safe harbor.

From the time of the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople, and the cessation of the persecution of Christians, a new architectural style arose in Christian temple construction — the Byzantine style. Temples of this type were constructed in the form of a cross (staurweidh), or in the form of a rectangle, close to a square. Typical features of the Byzantine style are the vault and the dome. In the beginning of the IV century the dome was still low, and covered the whole top of the building, being mounted directly on the walls; but later it rose higher and was set upon special pillars, and windows were set in the dome. The entire dome was intended to remind one of the broad vault of heaven, as a place of the invisible sojourn of the Lord.

The forming of the temple in the shape of a circle, which is likewise characteristic of the Byzantine style, probably originated from the "baptisteries," or baptismal temples — temples specially designated for baptism, in the center of which, in the style of the Roman public baths, round basins for water were set. Another opinion holds that round temples came from the Greek monuments, or rotundas, which were built above the burial places of particularly revered and distinguished government and social figures.

The cruciform temple was intended to call to mind the fact that at the foundation of the Church lies the Cross of Christ. The round form indicates the eternalness of the Church, for the circle has neither beginning nor end.

During the time of persecution of Christians under Decius, in Rome alone around 40 basilical temples were destroyed. A typical basilica temple is the temple of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome, which was built anew in the style of the Renaissance. In Rome were also built two other notable basilicas — the church of Mary the Great in the V century, and the basilica of St. Paul, destroyed by fire in 1823 and rebuilt in what was an already distorted form. Many basilicas were built in the IV and V centuries outside the precincts of Rome, particularly in Bethlehem above the cave of the Nativity of Christ, in Jerusalem over the tomb of the Lord, in Thessalonica, Syria, and our own Chersonese.

We see the most brilliant period of the Byzantine style in the temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Many temples of this style exist on Athos, in Athens, Thessalonica, Armenia, Serbia, and even in the West, especially in Rowena and Venice.

In the West, however, a specifically Roman style appeared. A temple built in the Roman style consisted of a wide, elongated nave, set between two lateral naves that were half its own length and width. From the eastern, frontal side, to these was joined a transverse nave, called a "transept," which gave the whole building the form of a cross, though not an equilateral cross as in the Byzantine style. Peculiar to the Roman style were that 1) the floor was set higher in the asps and transepts than in the central part of the temple, and that 2) the columns of various parts of the temple began to be united together into a semicircular vault and to be adorned at their upper and lower extremities with carved, molded, and superimposed images and figures. The Roman style was widespread in the West from the X to XIII centuries, when it was replaced by the Gothic style.

The Gothic style, also known as the "lancet style," is similar in plan to the Roman, and is distinguished by sharp, pyramidal extremities that stretched up towards the sky: sharp-pointedness is visible in its every aspect. This style is characterized by an abundance of high, closely set windows covered with pictures.

From the XV century still another style began to spread in the West — that of the Renaissance. This style shows the influence of ancient pagan architecture. Western temples began to resemble in style the pagan temples of antiquity. From the Roman style, this style retained the transept; from the Byzantine — the vaults and dome-shaped arches. Characteristic features of the Renaissance style were ancient Greek columns inside and out, ornamental decorations in the forms of leaves, flowers, figures, people, and animals (in contrast to the Byzantine patterns, adopted from the sphere of Christianity), and sculptural representations of the saints.

Old Russian temples were built in the Byzantine style. Such are — in Kiev — the Church of the Tithe, the Wisdom Cathedral, the Kiev Caves Lavra, the Monastery of St. Michael; in Pskov — the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity; in Vladimir — the Cathedral of the Dormition; in Rostov — the Church of the Dormition; and others. But the Russian temples differed in many ways from those of the Byzantines. For instance, due to the absence of marble and stone, there were no columns. Stone temples were very few in number. In the construction of wooden churches, of which there was an especially large number in the north, due to the abundance of wood materials, Russian craftsmen displayed much of their own taste and independence. A characteristic peculiarity, which distinguishes Russian domes from the domes of the Greeks, is that above the dome, below the cross, a special cupola resembling an onion was placed. The first form that was purely Russian in style is called the "marquee" or column style. This has the appearance of several separate churches, united into one, each of which appeared to be a pillar, or marquee, crowned by a dome and a cupola. Aside from the large quantity of onion-shaped cupolas, the marquee style is characterized by a variety of colors and diversity in paints. Examples of such temples are the Church of the Village of Clerks and the Church of St. Basil the Blessed in Moscow. Besides the marquee style there existed still other forms of the Russian national style: 1) a cube raised in height, due to which upper and lower churches often resulted; 2) the two-part form — a tetragon below with an octagon above; and 3) a form created by the layering of several square frameworks, each of which was superincumbent to the one below it. During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I the architect T. Tono developed a universal style for the construction of military churches, which came to be known as the "Tonovski style." One example of the latter is the Church of the Annunciation in the Mounted Guards Square in Petersburg.

Of the Western European styles, in Russia the Renaissance style alone saw some application. Features of this style are found in the two principle cathedrals in Petersburg — the Kazan and Isaacian cathedrals.

All the edifices of the temple usually culminated in a dome, which was intended to remind the faithful of heaven, to which all their thoughts and desires should be directed. Above the dome were placed "cupolas," or "crowns." One cupola symbolizes the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ; three cupolas remind us of the three Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity; five — the Lord Jesus Christ and the four Evangelists; seven — the Seven Ecumenical Counsels, the seven sacraments, and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; nine — the nine ranks of angels; thirteen — the Lord Jesus Christ and the twelve Apostles. Each dome is crowned by a cross, the victorious sign of the Church.

The Inner Layout and Arrangement of the Temple.

The inner layout of temples has been defined from extreme antiquity by the purposes of Christian worship and a symbolic view of their meaning. Like every worthwhile building, the Christian temple had to fulfill those purposes for which it was intended. It had to contain, firstly, a space suitable for the clergy who performed the services; secondly, an area where the faithful were to stand in prayer, and, thirdly, a special place for the catechumens — i.e., those not yet baptized, who were preparing to receive baptism — and the penitents. Accordingly, as in the Old Testament temple there were three sections — the Holy of Holies, the sanctuary, and the court —, so also the Christian temple has from the earliest times been divided into three parts: the altar, the central part of the temple — essentially, the church —, and the vestibule.

The Altar.

The most important part of the Christian temple is the altar. The name ‘altar’ comes from the Latin alta ara — the high altar. According to the customs of the ancient Church, the altar was always placed in the semicircle on the east side of the temple. Christians ascribed a great symbolic meaning to the east. In the east paradise had been; in the east our salvation was accomplished. In the east rises the material sun, giving life to all living things on the earth — so also in the east arose the Sun of Righteousness, giving eternal life to mankind. The east has always been recognized as a symbol of good, in opposition to the west, which was considered a symbol of evil, the realm of impure spirits. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is personified by the image of the east — "Orient is his name" (Zach. 6:12; Ps. 67:34); "the Dayspring from on high" (Lk. 1:78) —, while the Holy Prophet Malachi calls Him "the Sun of righteousness" (Mal. 4:2). This is why, in their prayers, Christians have always faced and still face towards the east (see canon 90 of St. Basil the Great). The Roman Catholic and Protestant practice of making the altar to face the west was established no earlier than the XIII century. The word ‘altar’ (in Greek, bhma - "vima" — or itration - "itration") signifies an elevated place; in addition, it represents the earthly paradise where our first parents lived, those places where the Lord journeyed in preaching, and Mount Sinai, where the Lord established the Sacrament of Communion. The altar is a place for the clergy alone who, like the bodiless powers of heavens, serve before the altar of the King of Glory. The laity is forbidden to enter the altar (canon 69 of the VI Ecumenical Counsel; canon 44 of the Counsel of Laodicea); entrance into the altar is permitted only to the lower clergymen who assist in the performance of the services. Members of the female sex are not permitted to enter the altar for any reason. Only in women’s monasteries may a tonsured nun be permitted to enter the altar for its upkeep and to assist the clergy. The altar, as is indicated by its very name (which comes from the Latin words alta ara, meaning "high altar"), is raised higher than the other parts of the temple by a step, or two, or sometimes more. In this way it is made more visible to those who are praying, and visibly merits its symbolic meaning of a "higher world." Anyone who enters the altar must make three full prostrations on weekdays and feasts of the Theotokos, or three bows from the waste on Sundays and feasts of the Lord.

The principle fixture of the altar is the holy table; in Greek, the trapeza, as it is sometimes also called in Church Slavonic in our liturgical books. In the first centuries of Christianity, in the underground churches of the catacombs, the grave of a martyr served as the holy table, as it by necessity had an elongated tetragonal form and was joined to the altar wall. In ancient above-ground churches holy tables began to be built in a nearly square form, on one or four supports. These were made of wood, in the shape of an ordinary table; but later they began to be made of precious metals, and were sometimes built of stone, and even marble. The holy table represents the heavenly throne of God, on which the Almighty Lord Himself is mystically present. It is likewise called the "table of oblation," (in Greek, the qusiasthrion - "thesiastirion") since on it the Bloodless Sacrifice is offered for the world. The holy table likewise represents the tomb of Christ, for on it is laid the Body of Christ. The four-sided shape of the holy table symbolically expresses that sacrifice is offered on it for all four corners of the earth, and that all the ends of the earth are called to the partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ.

In accordance with the dual significance of the holy table, it is vested in two coverings: an inner, white vestment, called the "sryachitsa" (in Greek, katasarkion, "katasarkion," meaning "close fit"), which represents the shroud in which the Body of the Savior was wrapped, and an outer vestment, the "inditia" (from the Greek endiw ("endio"), meaning "I clothe"), made of brilliant, precious material, which represents the glory of the throne of the Lord. During the consecration of the temple the inner vestment, the katasarkion, is wound about with the rope, which symbolizes the bonds of the Lord with which He was bound when He was led for judgment to the high priests Annas and Caiaphas (Jn. 18:24). The rope is tied around the table in such a way that on each of the four side of the latter a cross is formed, symbolizing that cross by which the malice of the Jews brought the Lord down into the tomb, and which served for the victory over sin and Hades.

The most important article on the altar table is the antimins (from the Greek "anti" — "in place of" — and the Latin "mensa" — "table, altar"), or "antialtar." Today the antimins consists of a silken cloth, on which is portrayed the laying of the Lord Jesus Christ into the tomb, the four Evangelists, and the instruments of the sufferings of Christ the Savior. Inside the antimins, in a special pouch on the reverse side, pieces of holy relics are placed. The history of the antimins goes back to the earliest days of Christianity. The first Christians had a custom of performing the Eucharist on the graves of martyrs. When in the IV century Christians were allowed to freely build churches above ground, they began, on account of this custom that had already taken root, to transfer the relics of martyrs from various places into the temples. However, as the number of temples continued to increase, it became difficult to obtain whole relics for each temple. Then they began to place beneath the altar table at least a particle of holy relics. From this the antimins has its origins. It is, in essence, a portable altar. Heralds departing for distant lands to preach the Gospel, and Emperors setting off on campaigns with clergy and mobile churches, had to bring with them mobile altars, which were the antimins. A series of sources of information regarding the antimins, by precisely that name, we have already from the VIII century, while actual antimins, which have descended to us in the form of material memorials, date from the XII century. The Old Russian antimins, which have been preserved until now, were made of linen, had an inscription, and bore an image of the Cross. The inscriptions indicate that the antimins takes the place of a consecrated altar table; here indicated are the name of the bishop who consecrated "this altar," the place of its allocation (for which church), and a caption concerning the relics ("here are the relics of…"). From the XVII century, more complex images appear on the antimins, such as the laying of the Savior into the tomb, and the linen is replaced by silk. Originally relics were placed in every altar table consecrated by a bishop (in a small metal shrine under the altar or in a hollow in the upper boards of the altar table). Such altar tables required no antimins. The temples which were not sanctified by bishops, however, were sanctified through antimins with holy relics, sent by the bishop. As a result of this, some temples had altars with holy relics, but did not have antimins; others had altars without holy relics, but had antimins. So it was also in the Russian Church in the early times following the acceptance of Christianity. But with the passage of time, first in the Greek, then in the Russian Church, antimins began to be placed even on those altars which had been sanctified by a bishop, but were as yet without holy relics. In the Russian Church from 1675 it became the custom to place antimins with holy relics in all churches, even in those consecrated by bishops. The antimins, given to the priest by the bishop, became as it were a visible sign of the authority of the priest to perform the Divine Liturgy, being subordinate to the bishop who had issued the antimins.

The antimins lies on the altar table, folded four times. Inside it are laid the "sponge" or, in Greek, musa (spoggoV); the "mesa." This represents that sponge which, filled with gall and vinegar, was raised to the lips of the Lord hanging on the Cross, and is used for wiping away the particles of the Body of Christ and the particles removed in honor of the saints, the living, and the departed, during their immersion into the holy chalice at the end of the liturgy.

The antimins, folded four times, is also wrapped in a special silken cloth, which is slightly larger than itself in size, and is called the eileton - "eileton" — from the Greek eilew ("eileo"), meaning "I wrap up." The eileton represents the swaddling clothes with which our Lord was wrapped upon His birth and, simultaneously, the shroud in which His Body was wrapped at His Burial in the tomb.

In present times, on top of the antimins on the altar the Gospel is laid. It is usually decorated, and lavishly bound, with images on its front cover — the Resurrection of Christ in the center, with the four Evangelists at the corners. In ancient times the Gospel was kept, not on the altar table, but in a special partition near the altar — the vessel repository — and was solemnly carried into the altar before it was to be read (the "Small Entrance").

Beside the Gospel on the altar table the cross is laid (in Greek, stauroV - "stavros"), for on the altar table the Bloodless Sacrifice is offered in memory of the sacrifice which the Lord offered on the cross. This cross, like the Gospel, is entitled "altar." Occasionally a cross is also placed behind the altar table.

Above the altar table in ancient temples was placed what is called the ciborium by latin writers, the kuborion (kivorion) in Greek, or the sjen’ in Slavonic: a kind of canopy, supported by four columns. The canopy also appears in old Russian churches. It symbolizes heaven, spread out above the earth on which sacrifice is offered for the sins of the world. In addition to this, the canopy signifies the "immaterial tabernacle of God," that is, the glory of God and the grace with whic