The Proskomedia

The rite of preparation that precedes the public Liturgy: at the Table of Oblation the priest cuts the Lamb from the prosphora and gathers around it the commemorative particles for the Theotokos, the saints, the living, and the departed — so that the whole Church is visibly assembled on the diskos before the great prayer even begins.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Overview

Before the Divine Liturgy proper opens, the priest (with the deacon, if one serves) performs the proskomedia or prothesis — the preparation of the bread and wine — at a small altar of oblation to the north of the main altar, behind the iconostasis. From the first of the prosphora loaves he cuts the cube called the Lamb, which will become the Body of Christ; from the others he removes particles in honor of the Mother of God and the ranks of the saints, and for the living and the departed whom the Church commemorates, arranging them all on the diskos around the Lamb. This section describes the rite and draws out its meaning: a symbolic enactment of the whole economy of salvation and, above all, a visible gathering of the entire Church — heavenly and earthly, living and reposed — around Christ the Lamb, as St. Germanus of Constantinople’s mystagogy teaches.

Files

File Description
the-preparation-of-the-gifts.md The prothesis rite; the Lamb cut from the prosphora; the wine and water; the commemorative particles for the saints, the living, and the departed
the-symbolism-of-the-prothesis.md The gathering of the whole Church around the Lamb; the economy of salvation enacted; Germanus’ commentary

See Also