What are altar coverings called?
Chalice cloths The pall (palla) is a stiffened square card covered with white linen, usually embroidered with a cross, or some other appropriate symbol. The purpose of the pall is to keep dust and insects from falling into the Eucharistic elements.
What is the area around the altar called in a Orthodox Church?
The nave is the main body of the church where most of the worshippers stand, and the sanctuary is the area around the altar, east of the nave. The sanctuary is usually one to three steps higher than the nave.
What is on an Orthodox altar?
All Eastern Orthodox altars have a saint’s relics embedded inside them, usually that of a martyr, placed at the time they are consecrated. Behind the altar is a seven-branched candlestick, which recalls the seven-branched candlestick of the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple in Jerusalem.
What is the top of an Orthodox Church called?
ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople
The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the bishop of Rome (Pope), but the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all bishops as primus inter pares (“first among equals”) and regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians.
What are altar hangings?
An antependium (from Latin ante- and pendēre “to hang before”; pl: antependia), also known as a parament or hanging, or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: pallium altaris), is a decorative piece, usually of textile, but also metalwork, stone or other material that can …
What is the chalice veil?
noun In the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, a piece of silk, varying in color according to the ecclesiastical season, used, over the chalice-pall, to cover the paten and chalice at certain times during the celebration of the mass or holy communion.
What is the difference between the nave and sanctuary?
As nouns the difference between sanctuary and nave is that sanctuary is a place of safety, refuge or protection while nave is (architecture) the middle or body of a church, extending from the transepts to the principal entrances or nave can be a hub of a wheel.
What is compline in Orthodox church?
Compline (/ˈkɒmplɪn/ KOM-plin), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final church service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times.
Why do Greek Orthodox churches have domes?
One says that these domes are meant to gather or collect the goodness from Heaven, while another explanation is that they are meant to show the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. The domes also come in different forms.
What is compline in Orthodox Church?
Is Orthodox older than Catholic?
Therefore the Catholic Church is the oldest of all. The Orthodox represents the original Christian Church because they trace their bishops back to the five early patriarchates of Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Constantinople and Antioch.