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113-618: Most Greek churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary are called Panagia ; the standard western Christian designation of "St. Mary" is rarely used in the Orthodox East, as Mary is considered the holiest of all created beings and therefore of higher status than the saints. Panagia is also the term for a particular type of icon of the Theotokos , wherein she is facing the viewer directly, usually depicted full length with her hands in

226-554: A pagan or Gnostic context) in his Life of Alexander Severus (xxix) that formed part of the Augustan History . According to Lampridius, the emperor Alexander Severus ( r.  222–235 ), himself not a Christian, had kept a domestic chapel for the veneration of images of deified emperors, of portraits of his ancestors, and of Christ, Apollonius , Orpheus and Abraham . Saint Irenaeus , ( c.  130–202 ) in his Against Heresies (1:25;6) says scornfully of

339-471: A beardless young man. It was some time before the earliest examples of the long-haired, bearded face that was later to become standardized as the image of Jesus appeared. When they did begin to appear there was still variation. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) said that no one knew the appearance of Jesus or that of Mary. However, Augustine was not a resident of the Holy Land and therefore was not familiar with

452-401: A blue undergarment with a red overgarment (representing a human who was granted gifts by God), and thus the doctrine of deification is conveyed by icons. Letters are symbols too. Most icons incorporate some calligraphic text naming the person or event depicted. Even this is often presented in a stylized manner. The historical tradition of icons used for purposes other than visual depiction are

565-408: A church and admonished the other bishop that such images are "opposed   [...] to our religion". Elsewhere in his Church History , Eusebius reports seeing what he took to be portraits of Jesus, Peter and Paul , and also mentions a bronze statue at Banias /Paneas under Mount Hermon, of which he wrote, "They say that this statue is an image of Jesus". Further, he relates that locals regarded

678-674: A confession of faith. The partaking of the Eucharist follows, first the Body of Christ given to the celebrants, to the deacons and to the faithful who approach the sanctuary without shoes and then the Blood of Christ in the same order. Psalm 150 is sung in the meantime. The distribution of the Eucharist ends with a blessing with the Paten . The dismissal rites include The Prayer of Laying the Hands and

791-510: A few conventional poses. Archangels bear a thin staff and sometimes a mirror. Colour plays an important role as well. Gold represents the radiance of Heaven; red, divine life. Blue is the colour of human life, white is the Uncreated Light of God, only used for resurrection and transfiguration of Christ. In icons of Jesus and Mary, Jesus wears red undergarment with a blue outer garment (representing God becoming human) and Mary wears

904-530: A letter to Jesus at Jerusalem, asking Jesus to come and heal him of an illness. This version of the Abgar story does not mention an image. A later account found in the Syriac Doctrine of Addai ( c.  400? ) mentions a painted image of Jesus in the story. Even later, in the 6th-century account given by Evagrius Scholasticus , the painted image transforms into an image that miraculously appeared on

1017-447: A miracle in which Saint Plato of Ankyra appeared to a Christian in a dream. The saint was recognized because the young man had often seen his portrait. This recognition of a religious apparition from likeness to an image was also a characteristic of pagan pious accounts of appearances of gods to humans, and was a regular topos in hagiography. One critical recipient of a vision from Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki apparently specified that

1130-528: A natural progression for the image of Christ, the King of Heaven and Earth, to be paid similar veneration as that given to the earthly Roman emperor. However, the Orthodox, Eastern Catholics, and other groups insist on explicitly distinguishing the veneration of icons from the worship of idols by pagans. (See further below on the doctrine of veneration as opposed to worship.) After adoption of Christianity as

1243-639: A part of church tradition. Thus accounts such as that of the miraculous "image not made by hands", and the weeping and moving "Mother of God of the Sign" of Novgorod are accepted as fact: "Church Tradition tells us, for example, of the existence of an Icon of the Savior during His lifetime (the 'Icon-Made-Without-Hands') and of Icons of the Most-Holy Theotokos [Mary] immediately after Him." Eastern Orthodoxy further teaches that "a clear understanding of

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1356-563: A religious image or symbol on the reverse , usually an image of Christ for larger denominations, with the head of the Emperor on the obverse, reinforcing the bond of the state and the divine order. The tradition of acheiropoieta ( ἀχειροποίητα , literally 'not-made-by-hand') accrued to icons that are alleged to have come into existence miraculously, not by a human painter. Such images functioned as powerful relics as well as icons, and their images were naturally seen as authoritative as to

1469-802: A single anaphora (the Athanasius -Anaphora) for the liturgy: Holy Patarag or in Western Armenian Holy Badarak, meaning 'sacrifice'. This is in distinction from the other liturgies of the Oriental Orthodox Churches (Coptic, West Syrian, Ethiopic) which have retained multiple anaphora. This means that the text of the Patarag can be contained in a single, unified liturgical book, the Պատարագամատոյց ( Pataragamatooyts , Western Armenian Badarakamadooyts , meaning 'the offering of sacrifice'). This book contains all of

1582-523: A towel when Christ pressed the cloth to his wet face. Further legends relate that the cloth remained in Edessa until the 10th century, when it was taken by General John Kourkouas to Constantinople . It went missing in 1204 when Crusaders sacked Constantinople, but by then numerous copies had firmly established its iconic type. The 4th-century Christian Aelius Lampridius produced the earliest known written records of Christian images treated like icons (in

1695-731: A veil. In the Liturgy of the Catechumens the readings from the New Testament are proclaimed. This portion was in ancient times the beginning of the liturgy, and the only part which could be attended by the catechumens . It is roughly equivalent to the Liturgy of the Word in the Western Rites. It begins with a Penitential Rite in which first the priest prays inaudibly to Christ for the forgiveness of sins ( The Absolution to

1808-483: A very exact, but reverse mirror image of the original circular icon that was made in the 5th century and brought to Rome, where it has remained until the present. In later tradition the number of icons of Mary attributed to Luke greatly multiplied. The Salus Populi Romani , the Theotokos of Vladimir , the Theotokos Iverskaya of Mount Athos , the Theotokos of Tikhvin , the Theotokos of Smolensk and

1921-542: Is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting , in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Catholic churches. The most common subjects include Jesus , Mary , saints , and angels . Although especially associated with portrait-style images concentrating on one or two main figures, the term also covers most of the religious images in a variety of artistic media produced by Eastern Christianity , including narrative scenes, usually from

2034-556: Is also proclaimed in the language of colors". Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Θεία Λειτουργία , translit.   Theia Leitourgia ) or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches see the Divine Liturgy as transcending time and the world. All believers are seen as united in worship in

2147-583: Is fixed, although the specific readings and hymns vary with season and feast. The Divine Liturgy consists of three interrelated parts; when not in conjunction with vespers, the liturgies of John Chrysostom and Basil the Great are structured thus: A typical celebration of the Byzantine Liturgy consists of: This part of the Liturgy is private, performed only by the priest and deacon. It symbolizes

2260-575: Is in a context attributed to the 5th century that the first mention of an image of Mary painted from life appears, though earlier paintings on catacomb walls bear resemblance to modern icons of Mary. Theodorus Lector , in his 6th-century History of the Church 1:1 stated that Eudokia (wife of emperor Theodosius II , d. 460) sent an image of the " Mother of God " named Icon of the Hodegetria from Jerusalem to Pulcheria , daughter of Arcadius ,

2373-535: Is named among the saints. The term Liturgy of Saint Basil may refer also to the whole Eucharistic Liturgy which in the Coptic Church has the following structure: Offertory (or Prothesis ) is the part of the liturgy in which the Sacramental bread ( qorban ) and wine ( abarkah ) are chosen and placed on the altar. All these rites are Middle-ages developments. It begins with the dressing of

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2486-403: Is no century between the fourth and the eighth in which there is not some evidence of opposition to images even within the Church". Nonetheless, popular favor for icons guaranteed their continued existence, while no systematic apologia for or against icons, or doctrinal authorization or condemnation of icons yet existed. The use of icons was seriously challenged by Byzantine Imperial authority in

2599-410: Is often the detail that, to the casual observer, distinguishes a bishop from a priest or a monk . The panagia is usually oval in shape and crowned with a depiction of an Eastern mitre . Sometimes, bishops will wear a panagia which is either square (see picture, right) or shaped like a Byzantine double-headed eagle ; this latter is especially true of Greek bishops. When the bishop is vested before

2712-474: Is simple and mundane: Christians lacked land and capital. Art requires both. As soon as they began to acquire land and capital, Christians began to experiment with their own distinctive forms of art". Aside from the legend that Pilate had made an image of Christ, the 4th-century Eusebius of Caesarea , in his Church History , provides a more substantial reference to a "first" icon of Jesus. He relates that King Abgar of Edessa (died c.  50 CE ) sent

2825-468: Is the core of the Liturgy, where are placed the proper Eucharistic rites. It begins with the prayer of the Veil, in which the priest offers the liturgical sacrifice to God. The Long Litanies follows, where all pray for the peace, for the ecclesiastic hierarchy and for the congregation. The Nicean Creed is proclaimed, the priest washes his hands three times and sprinkles water on the congregation reciting

2938-472: Is usually used during the feasts of the Church but not exclusively. In addition the clergy performing the liturgy can combine extracts of the Liturgies of St. Cyril and St. Gregory to the more frequently used St. Basil at the discretion of the priest or bishop. The main liturgy used by the Coptic Church is known as Liturgy of Saint Basil. The term Liturgies of Saint Basil in a Coptic context means not only

3051-717: The orans position, and with a medallion showing the image of Christ as a child in front of her chest. This medallion symbolically represents Jesus within the womb of the Virgin Mary at the moment of the Incarnation . This type of icon is also called the Platytéra (Greek: Πλατυτέρα, literally wider or more spacious ): poetically, by containing the Creator of the Universe in her womb , Mary has become Platytera ton ouranon (Πλατυτέρα τῶν Ουρανῶν), "more spacious than

3164-499: The Apostle John discovers that one of his followers has had a portrait made of him, and is venerating it: [John] went into the bedchamber, and saw the portrait of an old man crowned with garlands, and lamps and altars set before it. And he called him and said: Lycomedes, what do you mean by this matter of the portrait? Can it be one of thy gods that is painted here? For I see that you are still living in heathen fashion. Later in

3277-579: The Black Madonna of Częstochowa are examples, and another is in the cathedral on St Thomas Mount , which is believed to be one of the seven painted by Luke the Evangelist and brought to India by Thomas the Apostle . Ethiopia has at least seven more. Bissera V. Pentcheva concludes, "The myth [of Luke painting an icon] was invented in order to support the legitimacy of icon veneration during

3390-769: The Byzantine Rite apply it to their Eucharistic services but, while in English the same word (as also the word "Mass") is at times used to speak of the corresponding services of the Oriental Orthodox Churches , the normal names used in those Churches refers either to the aspect of offering/sacrifice ( Qurobo Alohoyo in the Syriac Orthodox Church ), Badarak in the Armenian Apostolic Church , Prosfora in

3503-540: The Byzantine Rite : As well as these, there are two others that are used locally and rarely, the Liturgy of St. James and the Liturgy of Saint Mark . As numbers in a diocese increased dramatically, the bishop who presides over the Eucharistic assembly appointed presbyters to act as celebrants in the local communities (the parishes). Still, the Church is understood in Eastern Orthodoxy in terms not of

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3616-602: The Coptic Orthodox Church ) or of sanctifying ( Keddase in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ). The Oriental Orthodox Churches own a richness of different liturgies, which are named after the anaphora included. At present, the Coptic Orthodox Church and Coptic Catholic Church have three Liturgies: The Liturgy of St. Basil is celebrated on most Sundays and contains the shortest anaphora. The Liturgy of St. Gregory

3729-559: The Father for the forgiveness of sins ( The Absolution to the Father ). The Elevation is similar to that in the Byzantine Rite , with the celebrant who raises the portion of the Lamb engraved with a cross (the ispadikon ) crying: " The holy things for the holy ones ". The priest makes a second consignation and puts gently the ispakidon in the chalice (the commixture), then he recites aloud

3842-638: The Iconoclastic controversy " (8th and 9th centuries, much later than most art historians put it). According to Reformed Baptist pastor John Carpenter, by claiming the existence of a portrait of the Theotokos painted during her lifetime by the evangelist Luke, the iconodules "fabricated evidence for the apostolic origins and divine approval of images." In the period before and during the Iconoclastic Controversy , stories attributing

3955-503: The Kyrie eleison , the priest checks the wine and chooses among the bread one loaf which will be consecrated (the Lamb ). The Lamb is cleaned with a napkin and blessed with the priest's thumb wet with wine. Afterwards the priest takes the Lamb in procession around the altar and the deacon follows with the wine and a candle. At the altar, the priest, with appropriate prayers, blesses the Lamb and

4068-548: The Palladium (protective image) , the Palladium (classical antiquity) , the acheiropoieta , and various "folk" traditions associated with folk religion . Of these various forms the oldest tradition dates back to before the Christian era among the ancient Greeks. The various "folk" traditions are more poorly documented and often are associated with local folk narratives of uncertain origin. In English, since around 1600,

4181-609: The Platytera is often depicted on a dark blue background, sometimes dotted with gold stars: a reference to the Heavens. As with most Orthodox icons of Mary, the letters ΜΡ ΘΥ (short for Μ ΗΤΗ Ρ Θ ΕΟ Υ , " Mother of God ") are usually placed on the upper left and right of the halo of the Virgin Mary. By extension of this last sense, a panagia is an engolpion with an icon of the Theotokos, worn by an Orthodox bishop . They can be very simple or extremely elaborate, depending on

4294-776: The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and revised by Pope John Paul II in 2002, largely replacing the usage of the Tridentine Mass form originally promulgated in 1570 in accordance with decrees of the Council of Trent in its closing session (1545–46). The 1962 form of the Tridentine Mass, in the Latin language alone, may be employed where authorized by the Holy See or, in

4407-683: The Sign of the Cross with the Panagia over the Sacred Mysteries ( consecrated Body and Blood of Christ ) as he says, "Great is the name of the Holy Trinity ." In some monasteries there is a special rite ceremony called the "Lifting of the Panagia" which takes place in the trapeza ( refectory ). After the dismissal of the Liturgy, a triangular portion is cut from the prosphoron by

4520-677: The Trisagion is sung three times, each time with a different reference to the Incarnation , Passion , Resurrection , thus addressing the Trisagion to Christ only. After the Trisagion follows a litany , the recital of a Psalm and the singing of the Alleluia , and finally the proclamation of the Gospel from the doors of the sanctuary. The sermon may follow. The Liturgy of the Faithful

4633-460: The 2nd century. In the icons of Eastern Orthodoxy, and of the early Medieval West, very little room is made for artistic license. Almost everything within the image has a symbolic aspect. Christ, the saints, and the angels all have halos. Angels (and often John the Baptist ) have wings because they are messengers. Figures have consistent facial appearances, hold attributes personal to them, and use

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4746-470: The 8th century identifies Luke the Evangelist as the first icon painter, but this might not reflect historical facts. A general assumption that early Christianity was generally aniconic , opposed to religious imagery in both theory and practice until about 200, has been challenged by Paul Corby Finney's analysis of early Christian writing and material remains (1994). His assumption distinguishes three different sources of attitudes affecting early Christians on

4859-604: The 8th century. Though by this time opposition to images was strongly entrenched in Judaism and Islam, attribution of the impetus toward an iconoclastic movement in Eastern Orthodoxy to Muslims or Jews "seems to have been highly exaggerated, both by contemporaries and by modern scholars". Though significant in the history of religious doctrine, the Byzantine controversy over images is not seen as of primary importance in Byzantine history; "[f]ew historians still hold it to have been

4972-605: The All-Holy") which is solemnly blessed in honor of the Theotokos during the Divine Liturgy (see Prosphora for details). From this loaf, a large triangle in honour of the Theotokos is cut and placed on the diskos (paten) during the Liturgy of Preparation . The remainder of the loaf is blessed over the Holy Table (altar) during the hymn Axion Estin , just before the blessing of the antidoron . The priest makes

5085-727: The Annunciation's case, during Easter Week)), Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday ) after the Old Testament readings the Little Litany is said and the liturgy continues from this point: In the early Church, only baptized members who could receive Holy Communion were allowed to attend this portion of the Liturgy. In common contemporary practice, with very few local exceptions (e.g., Mount Athos ), all may stay. However, in some places, catechumens are formally dismissed for further study. Almost all texts are chanted throughout

5198-468: The Bible or the lives of saints. Icons are most commonly painted on wood panels with egg tempera , but they may also be cast in metal or carved in stone or embroidered on cloth or done in mosaic or fresco work or printed on paper or metal, etc. Comparable images from Western Christianity may be classified as "icons", although "iconic" may also be used to describe the static style of a devotional image. In

5311-550: The Body of Christ (that is, the Church ). Each Liturgy has its differences from others, but most are very similar to each other with adaptations based on tradition, purpose, culture and theology. Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: Three Divine Liturgies are in common use in

5424-634: The Bohairic text: the manuscript, incomplete in its first part, begins with the Post Sanctus , and is followed by a terse Institution narrative , by a pithy Anamnesis which simply lists the themes and ends with the oblation . The next Epiclesis consists only of the prayer to the Holy Spirit to come and manifest the gifts, without any explicit request to change the gifts in the Body and Blood of Christ. The intercessions are shorter and only Mary

5537-414: The Christ child and it is this composite icon that became the one historically known as the Hodegetria. She further states another tradition that when the last Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin II , fled Constantinople in 1261 he took this original circular portion of the icon with him. This remained in the possession of the Angevin dynasty who had it inserted into a much larger image of Mary and

5650-417: The Christ child, which is presently enshrined above the high altar of the Benedictine Abbey church of Montevergine . This icon was subjected to repeated repainting over the subsequent centuries, so that it is difficult to determine what the original image of Mary's face would have looked like. Guarducci states that in 1950 an ancient image of Mary at the Church of Santa Francesca Romana was determined to be

5763-450: The Divine Liturgy, not only hymns but litanies, prayers, creed confession and even readings from the Bible, depending on tradition. In ancient rubrics, and contemporary Greek practice, the sermon, Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer are spoken/read, rather than chanted. Slavic traditions chant or sing everything except the sermon. "Divine Liturgy" is the normal word for church service in Oriental Orthodoxy. In their own languages, followers of

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5876-411: The Divine Liturgy, the panagia is presented to him on a tray. He blesses it with both hands and the subdeacons bring it to him to kiss and place the panagia around his neck, while the protodeacon swings the censer and says the following prayer: May God create a clean heart in thee, and renew a right spirit within thee, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. After the liturgy, when

5989-410: The Gnostic Carpocratians : They also possess images, some of them painted, and others formed from different kinds of material; while they maintain that a likeness of Christ was made by Pilate at that time when Jesus lived among them. They crown these images, and set them up along with the images of the philosophers of the world that is to say, with the images of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Aristotle, and

6102-436: The Greek god of healing, but the description of the standing figure and the woman kneeling in supplication precisely matches images found on coins depicting the bearded emperor Hadrian ( r.  117–138 ) reaching out to a female figure—symbolizing a province —kneeling before him. When asked by Constantia (Emperor Constantine 's half-sister) for an image of Jesus, Eusebius denied the request, replying: "To depict purely

6215-425: The Greek language, the term for icon painting uses the same word as for "writing", and Orthodox sources often translate it into English as icon writing . Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the production of Christian images dates back to the very early days of Christianity , and that it has been a continuous tradition since then. Modern academic art history considers that, while images may have existed earlier,

6328-466: The Heavens". This type is also sometimes called the Virgin of the Sign or Our Lady of the Sign , a reference to Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Such an image is often placed on the inside of the apse which rises directly over the altar of Orthodox churches . In contrast with standard religious mosaics which usually have gold backgrounds,

6441-409: The Kingdom of God along with the departed saints and the angels of heaven. Everything in the liturgy is seen as symbolic, but not merely so, for it makes present the unseen reality. According to Eastern tradition and belief, the liturgy's roots go back to the adaptation of Jewish liturgy by Early Christians . The first part, termed the "Liturgy of the Catechumens", includes like a synagogue service

6554-423: The Patarag. However, the celebration of a short memorial service for one or more departed persons (Հոգեհանգիստ hogehangist , Western Armenian hokehankist , meaning 'rest of the spirit') is quite prevalent in parishes and replaces the reading of the last Gospel. The following description of the celebration of Mass, usually in the local vernacular language, is limited to the form of the Roman Rite promulgated after

6667-416: The Prayer of Reconciliation which is a prayer of worthiness for all who attend the liturgy. Next is the Kiss of peace during which the faithful sing the Aspasmos Adam ( Rejoice O Mary ) hymn. The Anaphora is conducted. After the anaphora takes place the consignation, i.e. the moistening of the Lamb with some drops of the consecrated Wine, which is shown for the worship of the faithful. The Fraction of

6780-519: The Roman Empire probably saw the use of Christian images become very widespread among the faithful, though with great differences from pagan habits. Robin Lane Fox states "By the early fifth century, we know of the ownership of private icons of saints; by c.  480–500 , we can be sure that the inside of a saint's shrine would be adorned with images and votive portraits, a practice which had probably begun earlier." When Constantine himself ( r.  306–337 ) apparently converted to Christianity,

6893-399: The Son ) and then all the participants kneel in front of the altar and the celebrant, or the bishop if present, recites a prayer of absolution ( The Absolution to the Ministers ). The reading from the Pauline epistles is preceded by the offering of incense at the four sides of the altar, at the iconostasis , at the book of the Gospel and at the faithfuls in the nave ; in the meantime

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7006-558: The Western church. Palladia were processed around the walls of besieged cities and sometimes carried into battle. The Eastern Orthodox view of the origin of icons is generally quite different from that of most secular scholars and from some in contemporary Roman Catholic circles: "The Orthodox Church maintains and teaches that the sacred image has existed from the beginning of Christianity", Léonid Ouspensky has written. Accounts that some non-Orthodox writers consider legendary are accepted as history within Eastern Orthodoxy, because they are

7119-483: The assembled brethren, saying, "Bless me, holy Fathers, and pardon me a sinner," to which the brotherhood bows and replies, "May God pardon and have mercy on you." Then, taking the Panagia in his fingertips, he lifts it up while saying, "Great is the name," and then the community continues with "of the Holy Trinity." The rite then continues with, "O All-holy Mother of God, help us!" with the reply, "At her prayers, O God, have mercy and save us." Two hymns are then sung while

7232-409: The bishop takes the panagia off to unvest, he crosses himself , kisses the panagia and places it on the Holy Table (altar). After unvesting and putting on his outer riassa , he blesses the panagia, crosses himself again, and puts it on, before exiting through the Holy Doors to bless the faithful. Panagia may also refer to a prosphoron ( Ἄρτος της Παναγίας , Ártos tēs Panagías , "Bread of

7345-410: The church in Jerusalem. A special prayer of repentance is sung by the clergy on the morning of Palm Sunday (Armenian: Ծաղկազարդ tsaghkazard , Western Armenian dzaghgazard ), after which the curtain is opened for the first time since the last Sunday before the Great Fast. One element which almost certainly derives from the influence of Western liturgy is the reading of a last Gospel at the conclusion of

7458-427: The consecrated Lamb ensues, during which the priest says a prayer which varies according to the Coptic calendar . All of the congregation stands and prays with open hands the Lord's Prayer . To be prepared for partaking of the Eucharist, the faithful bow while the celebrant says in low voice the prayer of submission, then the priest and the participants offer each other a wish of peace and the priest inaudibly prays to

7571-420: The consecration of churches, and the first liturgies offered by newly ordained priests. Due to the long isolation of the Saint Thomas Christians the rite of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church shows some differences, so that this rite is called the Malankara Rite . The Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church have at present a single liturgical structure, called the Armenian Rite , with

7684-469: The creation of icons to the New Testament period greatly increased, with several apostles and even Mary herself believed to have acted as the artist or commissioner of images (also embroidered in the case of Mary). There was a continuing opposition to images and their misuse within Christianity from very early times. "Whenever images threatened to gain undue influence within the church, theologians have sought to strip them of their power". Further, "there

7797-485: The earliest depictions of Christ, Mary and saints therefore comes from wall-paintings, mosaics and some carvings. They are realistic in appearance, in contrast to the later stylization. They are broadly similar in style, though often much superior in quality, to the mummy portraits done in wax ( encaustic ) and found at Fayyum in Egypt. As can be judged from such items, the first depictions of Jesus were generic, rather than portrait images, generally representing him as

7910-517: The elements a few Christian writers criticized in pagan art—the ability to imitate life. The writers mostly criticized pagan works of art for pointing to false gods, thus encouraging idolatry. Statues in the round were avoided as being too close to the principal artistic focus of pagan cult practices, as they have continued to be (with some small-scale exceptions) throughout the history of Eastern Christianity . Nilus of Sinai ( d. c.  430 ), in his Letter to Heliodorus Silentiarius , records

8023-442: The elevated altar area (Armenian խորան khoran ) is never opened – even for the reading of the Gospel, certain movable parts of the liturgy are omitted, the parts of the liturgy sung by the choir are said or chanted simply without adornment, there is no general confession, and there is no distribution of Communion to the faithful. This practice of fasting from the Communion bread in preparation for Easter may reflect an ancient custom of

8136-757: The faithful sing a hymn to Mary and a hymn of intercession. The Pauline epistle is followed by a reading from the Catholic epistles and by one from the Acts of the Apostles . Another offering of incense is conduced (the Praxis Incense ), similar to the Pauline incense except that only the first row of the faithful is incensed. A reading from the Coptic Synaxarium can follow. After these readings,

8249-807: The final blessing. The Syriac Orthodox Church , the Syriac Catholic Church , the Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church of the West Syriac Rite which is developed from the Antiochene Rite use a version of the Divine Liturgy of Saint James which differs substantially from its Byzantine Rite counterpart, most notably in being substantially shorter (it can be completed in under two hours, whereas

8362-546: The former emperor and father of Theodosius II. The image was specified to have been "painted by the Apostle Luke ." Margherita Guarducci relates a tradition that the original icon of Mary attributed to Luke, sent by Eudokia to Pulcheria from Palestine, was a large circular icon only of her head. When the icon arrived in Constantinople it was fitted in as the head into a very large rectangular icon of her holding

8475-532: The greatest issue of the period". The Iconoclastic period began when images were banned by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian sometime between 726 and 730. Under his son Constantine V , a council forbidding image veneration was held at Hieria near Constantinople in 754. Image veneration was later reinstated by the Empress Regent Irene , under whom another council was held reversing the decisions of

8588-492: The hidden years of Christ's earthly life. This is the public part of the Liturgy, in which both catechumens and baptized faithful would be in the nave: When the liturgy is at the usual time (following matins or the sixth hour), this order is followed: But when the liturgy is joined to vespers (on Christmas Eve , Theophany Eve , the feast of the Annunciation (except when these days fall on Saturday or Sunday (or, in

8701-480: The historic form of the Byzantine Rite liturgy prior to the revisions of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom took more than four hours), and in that it can be used with more than eighty different anaphoras; the most commonly used are those of Mar Bar Salibi (which is the shortest), and that of St. James, which resembles that of the Byzantine Rite liturgy, and is mandated on certain occasions, such as major feasts,

8814-541: The human form of Christ before its transformation, on the other hand, is to break the commandment of God and to fall into pagan error." Hence Jaroslav Pelikan calls Eusebius "the father of iconoclasm". After the emperor Constantine I extended official toleration of Christianity within the Roman Empire in 313, huge numbers of pagans became converts. This period of the Historiography of Christianization of

8927-555: The illiterate faithful during most of the history of Christendom . Thus, icons are words in painting; they refer to the history of salvation and to its manifestation in concrete persons. In the Orthodox Church, "icons have always been understood as a visible gospel, as a testimony to the great things given man by God the incarnate Logos". In the Council of 860 it was stated that "all that is uttered in words written in syllables

9040-444: The image as a memorial of the healing of the woman with an issue of blood by Jesus (Luke 8:43–48), because it depicted a standing man wearing a double cloak and with arm outstretched, and a woman kneeling before him with arms reaching out as if in supplication. John Francis Wilson suggests the possibility that this refers to a pagan bronze statue whose true identity had been forgotten. Some have thought it to represent Aesculapius ,

9153-526: The importance of Icons" was part of the church from its very beginning, and has never changed, although explanations of their importance may have developed over time. This is because icon painting is rooted in the theology of the Incarnation (Christ being the eikon of God) which did not change, though its subsequent clarification within the Church occurred over the period of the first seven Ecumenical Councils. Icons also served as tools of edification for

9266-452: The issue: "first that humans could have a direct vision of God; second that they could not; and, third, that although humans could see God they were best advised not to look, and were strictly forbidden to represent what they had seen". These derived respectively from Greek and Near Eastern pagan religions, from Ancient Greek philosophy, and from the Jewish tradition and the Old Testament. Of

9379-614: The latter and has its own peculiarities: its text is more brief, with less Scriptural and allusive enhancements, and it lacks well-defined Trinitarian references, which are typical of other versions and reflect the theology of the First Council of Constantinople of 381. The structure of the Bohairic Coptic version used today in the Coptic Church can be summarized as follows: The 7th-century Sahidic Coptic version found in 1960 shows an earlier and more sober form of

9492-467: The liturgy. Then comes the prayer of covering said inaudibly by the priest, which has the form of an epiclesis asking God to show his face on the gifts, and to change them in order that the bread and wine may became the Body and Blood of Christ . This text might come from an ancient anaphora or simply be a later High Middle Ages creation. The paten and the ark with the chalice inside are here covered with

9605-403: The local populations and their oral traditions. Gradually, paintings of Jesus took on characteristics of portrait images. At this time the manner of depicting Jesus was not yet uniform, and there was some controversy over which of the two most common icons was to be favored. The first or "Semitic" form showed Jesus with short and "frizzy" hair; the second showed a bearded Jesus with hair parted in

9718-406: The majority of his subjects remained pagans. The Roman Imperial cult of the divinity of the emperor, expressed through the traditional burning of candles and the offering of incense to the emperor's image, was tolerated for a period because it would have been politically dangerous to attempt to suppress it. In the 5th century the courts of justice and municipal buildings of the empire still honoured

9831-411: The middle, the manner in which the god Zeus was depicted. Theodorus Lector remarked that of the two, the one with short and frizzy hair was "more authentic". To support his assertion, he relates a story (excerpted by John of Damascus) that a pagan commissioned to paint an image of Jesus used the "Zeus" form instead of the "Semitic" form, and that as punishment his hands withered. Though their development

9944-480: The only permissible Roman state religion under Theodosius I , Christian art began to change not only in quality and sophistication, but also in nature. This was in no small part due to Christians being free for the first time to express their faith openly without persecution from the state, in addition to the faith spreading to the non-poor segments of society. Paintings of martyrs and their feats began to appear, and early writers commented on their lifelike effect, one of

10057-646: The passage John says, "But this that you have now done is childish and imperfect: you have drawn a dead likeness of the dead." At least some of the hierarchy of the Christian churches still strictly opposed icons in the early 4th century. At the Spanish non-ecumenical Synod of Elvira ( c.  305 ) bishops concluded, "Pictures are not to be placed in churches, so that they do not become objects of worship and adoration". Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis , wrote his letter 51 to John, Bishop of Jerusalem ( c.  394 ) in which he recounted how he tore down an image in

10170-400: The performance of miracles". Cyril Mango writes, "In the post-Justinianic period the icon assumes an ever increasing role in popular devotion, and there is a proliferation of miracle stories connected with icons, some of them rather shocking to our eyes". However, the earlier references by Eusebius and Irenaeus indicate veneration of images and reported miracles associated with them as early as

10283-957: The person is named in honor of Mary, mother of Jesus and consequently their name days are celebrated as if they were named Mary or Marios . In the Orthodox world, specific icons and churches of the Virgin Mary are often given particular names, which reflect certain theological or intercessory aspects of Mary, or certain standardised depictions in hagiography , or peculiarities of the particular church or monastery. Some examples of such names (in Greek ) are: [REDACTED] Media related to Panagia at Wikimedia Commons Icon Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: An icon (from Ancient Greek εἰκών ( eikṓn )  'image, resemblance')

10396-435: The personal taste of the particular bishop. When an Orthodox bishop is vested for the Divine Liturgy or another service, he wears a panagia and a pectoral cross over his other vestments . The primate of an autocephalous church, when fully vested, wears a panagia, a pectoral cross, and an engolpion of Jesus . Bishops of all ranks when not vested will usually wear the panagia alone over their riassa ( cassock ); this

10509-527: The portrait of the reigning emperor in this way. In 425 Philostorgius , an allegedly Arian Christian, charged the Orthodox Christians in Constantinople with idolatry because they still honored the image of the emperor Constantine the Great in this way. Dix notes that this occurred more than a century before the first extant reference to a similar honouring of the image of Jesus or of his apostles or saints known today, but that it would seem

10622-605: The prayers for the Patarag assigned to the bishop (if celebrating as a bishop), the celebrating priest, the deacon(s), and the people, the last typically led by a choir with accompaniment. Before the end of the 10th century there were also other liturgical forms, such as the Anaphora of St. Basil , the Anaphora of St. Gregory the Illuminator and others in use. The elements of the Armenian eucharistic liturgy reflect

10735-399: The presbyter, but the diocesan bishop. When the latter celebrates the liturgy personally, the service is more complex and festive. To demonstrate unity with the greater Orthodox community, the hierarch commemorates the hierarch he is subordinate to or, if he is head of an autocephalous church, he commemorates all his peers, whose names he reads from a diptych . The format of Divine Liturgy

10848-416: The previous iconoclast council and taking its title as Seventh Ecumenical Council . The council anathemized all who hold to iconoclasm, i.e. those who held that veneration of images constitutes idolatry. Then the ban was enforced again by Leo V in 815. Finally, icon veneration was decisively restored by Empress Regent Theodora in 843 at the Council of Constantinople . From then on all Byzantine coins had

10961-571: The priest with vestments and the preparation of the altar, along with prayers of worthiness for the celebrant. At this point is chanted the appropriate hour of the Canonical hours , followed by the washing of the hands with its prayer of worthiness, and by the proclamation of the Nicean Creed . Then takes place the elaborate rite of the choosing of the Lamb: while the congregation sing 41 times

11074-517: The question of the appropriateness of images. Since then, icons have had a great continuity of style and subject, far greater than in the icons of the Western church . At the same time there have been change and development. Pre-Christian religions had produced and used art works. Statues and paintings of various gods and deities were regularly worshiped and venerated. It is unclear when Christians took up such activities. Christian tradition dating from

11187-522: The reading of scriptures and, in some places, perhaps a sermon/homily. The second half is based on the Last Supper and the first Eucharistic celebrations by Early Christians and it is called "Liturgy of the Faithful". Eastern Christians believe that the Eucharist is the central part of the service in which they participate, as they believe the bread and wine truly become the real Body and Blood of Christ , and that by partaking of it they jointly become

11300-522: The refectorian ( monk in charge of the refectory ). The Panagia is then cut in half and laid crust downwards on a tray. The brethren will go in procession from the catholicon (main church) to the trapeza, and the Panagia is carried on its tray at the head of the procession. Once there, the Panagia is placed on a table called the Panagiarion . After the meal, the refectorian takes off his klobuk ( epanokamelavkion and kamilavkion ), and bows to

11413-569: The refectorian, accompanied by a cleric with a hand censer , offers the Panagia to those assembled. Each takes a piece between his finger and thumb, passes it through the incense, and then consumes it as a blessing . From "Panagia" derive the common Greek given names Panagiota (feminine; pronunciation: Pah-nah-YAW-tah , IPA: [panaˈʝota] ; common diminutives: Ghiota , Nota ) and Panagiotis (masculine; pronunciation: Pah-nah-YAW-tees , IPA: [panaˈʝotis] ; common diminutives: Panos , Notis ). Both names signify that

11526-459: The rest. They have also other modes of honouring these images, after the same manner of the Gentiles [pagans]. On the other hand, Irenaeus does not speak critically of icons or portraits in a general sense—only of certain gnostic sectarians' use of icons. Another criticism of image veneration appears in the non-canonical 2nd-century Acts of John (generally considered a gnostic work), in which

11639-814: The rich set of influences on Armenian culture. The roots of the liturgy lie in the West Syrian and Byzantine forms, with the influence of the Roman Catholic Mass, the latter having arrived likely during the period of the Fourth Crusade or shortly thereafter. Among the distinctive practices of the Armenian Patarag is the tradition that on the Sundays of the fast before Easter (the Great Fast) the curtain which hangs down in front of

11752-556: The saint resembled the "more ancient" images of him—presumably the 7th-century mosaics still in Hagios Demetrios . Another, an African bishop, had been rescued from Arab slavery by a young soldier called Demetrios, who told him to go to his house in Thessaloniki. Having discovered that most young soldiers in the city seemed to be called Demetrios, he gave up and went to the largest church in the city, to find his rescuer on

11865-542: The sole anaphora with or without the related prayers, but also the general order of the Alexandrine Rite liturgy. The Egyptian (or Coptic) anaphora of Saint Basil, even if related and using the same Antiochene (or "West Syrian" ) structure, represents a different group from the Byzantine , West Syrian and Armenian grouping of anaphoras of Saint Basil. The Egyptian version does not derive directly from

11978-627: The three, Finney concludes that "overall, Israel's aversion to sacred images influenced early Christianity considerably less than the Greek philosophical tradition of invisible deity apophatically defined", so placing less emphasis on the Jewish background of most of the first Christians than most traditional accounts. Finney suggests that "the reasons for the non-appearance of Christian art before 200 have nothing to do with principled aversion to art, with other-worldliness, or with anti-materialism. The truth

12091-492: The tradition can be traced back only as far as the 3rd century, and that the images which survive from Early Christian art often differ greatly from later ones. The icons of later centuries can be linked, often closely, to images from the 5th century onwards, though very few of these survive. Widespread destruction of images occurred during the Byzantine Iconoclasm of 726–842, although this did settle permanently

12204-431: The true appearance of the subject: naturally and especially because of the reluctance to accept mere human productions as embodying anything of the divine, a commonplace of Christian deprecation of man-made " idols ". Like icons believed to be painted directly from the live subject, they therefore acted as important references for other images in the tradition. Beside the developed legend of the mandylion or Image of Edessa

12317-413: The wall. During this period the church began to discourage all non-religious human images—the Emperor and donor figures counting as religious. This became largely effective, so that most of the population would only ever see religious images and those of the ruling class. The word icon referred to any and all images, not just religious ones, but there was barely a need for a separate word for these. It

12430-402: The wine, places the Lamb on the Paten and pours wine and a few drops of water in the chalice (the chalice is placed on the altar in a wooden box named ark ). The last part of the offertory resembles an anaphora: after a dialogue, the priest blesses the congregation and proclaims a prayer of thanksgiving, giving thanks to God for his support to us, and asking him for a worthy participation to

12543-563: The word palladium has been used figuratively to mean anything believed to provide protection or safety, and in particular in Christian contexts a sacred relic or icon believed to have a protective role in military contexts for a whole city, people or nation. Such beliefs first become prominent in the Eastern Churches in the period after the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I , and later spread to

12656-447: Was gradual, it is possible to date the full-blown appearance and general ecclesiastical (as opposed to simply popular or local) acceptance of Christian images as venerated and miracle-working objects to the 6th century, when, as Hans Belting writes, "we first hear of the church's use of religious images". "As we reach the second half of the sixth century, we find that images are attracting direct veneration and some of them are credited with

12769-668: Was the tale of the Veil of Veronica , whose very name signifies "true icon" or "true image", the fear of a "false image" remaining strong. Although there are earlier records of their use, no panel icons earlier than the few from the 6th century preserved at the Greek Orthodox Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt survive, as the other examples in Rome have all been drastically over-painted. The surviving evidence for

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