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The Liturgy of Preparation, also Prothesis (Greek Προθησις a setting forth) or Proskomedia, is the name given in the Eastern Orthodox Church to the act of preparing the bread and wine for the Eucharist. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... The Vladimir Icon, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the Virgin Mary. ... European sweetbread (strucla) Four loaves French bread has a somewhat rigid crust Breads and Bread Rolls at a bakery Continental Italian Bread Tin Vienna Bread Bread in a traditional oven, in Portugal, with hot coal in front For other uses, see Bread (disambiguation). ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice. ... The Eucharist or Communion or The Lords Supper, is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus instruction, recorded in the New Testament, to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. ...

Liturgy

Before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, the priest, often assisted by a deacon, puts on his vestments, takes a prosphora, cuts it into a cube with a special liturgical knife called the sacred spear, and places it on the diskos. He also cuts particles of bread (either, in the Greek tradition, from the same prosphora or, in the Slavic tradition, from four others) to commemorate the Theotokos, the various saints, the living, and the dead [1]. He then mixes wine with a little water in the chalice, covers the diskos and the chalice with veils, and censes them (see F. E. Brightman, Liturgies Eastern and Western, 1896). The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. ... Roman Catholic priest LCDR Allen R. Kuss (USN) aboard USS Enterprise A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... Deacon is a role in the Christian Church which is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. ... Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religions, especially the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican Churches. ... A Prosphora (Greek Προσφωρα, Offering) is a small loaf of bread used in Orthodox Christian ritual. ... A cube (or regular hexahedron) is a three-dimensional Platonic solid composed of six square faces, with three meeting at each vertex. ... A paten is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic hosts. ... Theotokos of Kazan Theotokos (Greek Θεοτόκος) is a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus. ... In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... Look up life and living in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Death is the cessation of physical life in a living organism, or the state of the organism after that event. ... Water (from the Old English word wæter; c. ... Russian chalice A chalice (from Latin calix, cup) is a goblet intended to hold drink. ... Veils are articles of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, which cover some part of the head or face. ... Incense is a preparation of aromatic plant matter, often with the addition of essential oils extracted from plant or animal sources, intended to release fragrant smoke for religious, therapeutic, or aesthetic purposes as it smolders. ...

Architecture

The Prothesis is also the term, architecturally, for the place in which this ceremony takes place. This is a small table, also known as the Table of Oblation, which can be placed in the north side of the sanctuary or in a separate chamber (also called the Prothesis) on the north side of the central apse. Sanctuary has multiple meanings. ... This article is about an architectural feature; for the astronomical term see apsis. ...

During the reign of Justin II (565-574), this chamber was located in an apse, and another apse was added on the south side for the diaconicon, so that from his time the Greek church was triapsal. In the churches in central Syria, the ritual was apparently not the same, as both prothesis and diaconica are generally rectangular, and the former, according to De Vogue, constituted a chamber for the deposit of offerings by the faithful. Consequently it is sometimes placed on the south side, if when so placed it was more accessible to the pilgrims. There is always a much wider doorway to the prothesis than to the diaconicon, and there are cases where a side doorway from the central apse leads direct to the diaconicon, but never to the prothesis. Flavius Iustinus Iunior Augustus Flavius Iustinus Iunior Augustus or Justin II (c. ... Events January 22 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. ... Events Emperor Justin II retires, choosing Tiberius II Constantine as his heir. ... Diaconicon is, in the Greek Church, the name given to a chamber on the south side of the central apse, where the sacred utensils, vessels, etc, of the church were kept. ...

See also

• Altar of Prothesis

External links

The Vesting and Prothesis from the website of the Orthodox Church in America, with photos and descriptions. The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, led by Metropolitan Herman. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.