Orthodox Christianity Forum

Altar tour, continued: the Holy Table. The Holy Table (or Altar Table) is the most conspicuous item in the Altar (which recall refers to the entire space behind the iconostasis) due to its central location as well as being where all the “action” takes place. Ours is a little taller since Fr. Iggy is ginormous, but typically the Holy Table is about a meter square (the stone top on ours is), made of wood or stone, sometimes covered with brocade, upon which the Holy Mysteries are celebrated. Ours is made of a single column representing Jesus Christ, while some are supported by four columns representing the Gospel writers. On top of the Holy Table are the antimension, the Gospels, the artophorion, a few red cloths, and the Holy Spoon and Spear(s) used for Holy Communion. On the front of the Holy Table as you’ll notice when the Royal Doors are open, there is a Cross on top of a pediment (the little 3-step thingy) - this represents Golgotha where Christ was crucified, because in the Divine Liturgy we celebrate His Passion through which eternal life is granted to us. The Holy Table also represents the Throne of God because through the Holy Mysteries celebrated upon it we partake in the saving and sanctifying grace God bestows upon us as His people. The Holy Table may only be touched by subdeacons, deacons, priests, and bishops, and any objects placed upon it, such as crosses to be worn on the breast, icons, and so forth, are allowed because they will be consecrated or blessed as an object worthy of our veneration.

Altar tour, continued - the antimension/ antimins (literally, “instead of the table”) is one of the most important items in the Altar, on the Holy Table because without one Holy Communion may not be celebrated. At St. Andrew’s ours is a rectangular pink piece of silk depicting the entombment of Christ on it, and signed by the Archbishop thereby conveying his authority for the priest to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. A small relic of a martyr is sewn into a pocket on the back; as ours is unmarked we have presumed it to be a relic of one of the New Martyrs of Russia. The antimins is folded into a cross, and then folded into a slightly larger square called the iliton, which gets folded around it similarly and then topped by the Gospel book. Folded inside the antimins is a small, flattened natural sponge used for wiping the crumbs from the priest’s fingers, as well as from the Diskos into the Chalice (“by Thy sacred Blood, O Lord, wash away the sins of those here commemorated”). Only bishops, priests, and deacons may touch the antimins, and because it is a consecrated object, they must be vested when they do so. Because it can serve in place of a table, this allows the Divine Liturgy to be celebrated nearly anywhere - from home chapels to hospital rooms, beds of trucks to hoods of cars. You’ll see it during the Divine Liturgy, right before the Great Entrance as the ektenias are chanted, the iliton is fully opened and the bottom ⅔ of the antimins is opened; then during the Litany of Catechumens, when we pray that God will “reveal unto them the Gospel of Righteousness,” it’s opened all the way to receive the Chalice and Diskos. After Holy Communion it is inspected closely for crumbs, folded back up and the Gospel placed upon it again.

Typika ( obednitsa ) is a short service that is usually served when a priest is not present; while you can do these in a limited form at home, when they’re in the parish the only stipulation is that the doors on the iconostasis remain closed. A readers’ typika looks a lot like the structure of the Divine Liturgy, minus the priest, and can actually be celebrated by anyone, but should be celebrated by the ranking minor clergy, or if none are available the warden (starosta), etc. on down the line. A deacon’s typika is a sort of Presanctified Liturgy, a relatively recent innovation based on the ancient practice of deacons taking Holy Communion to homebound folks, and so requires the permission of the bishop. Finally a priest’s typika is used for when the priest would have to serve multiple parishes; since we can’t celebrate more than one Divine Liturgy a day, a typika service would be offered for the others. The typika is a beautiful service and should be the default practice of your family for mornings when you can’t make it to the Divine Liturgy. The text can be found here .