Glossary

The words the Liturgy uses, each pointing at the chapter that explains it.

Absolution: A prayer asking God's forgiveness; in the Liturgy the priest and people are absolved before approaching the holy Mysteries. Read the chapter →
Altar: The holy table on which the Eucharist is offered, also called the Throne because Christ the King is present upon it. Read the chapter →
Anamnesis: "Remembrance." Not a mere memory but the making-present of Christ's saving death and resurrection, as He commanded: "Do this in remembrance of Me." Read the chapter →
Anaphora: "The lifting up," or offering: the central Eucharistic prayer of the Liturgy of the Faithful, which gives thanks, recalls the Last Supper, and calls the Holy Spirit down upon the gifts. Read the chapter →
Aspasmos: "The greeting": the hymns of salutation sung before the Anaphora, joined to the Kiss of Peace by which the faithful are reconciled before they offer. Read the chapter →
Bishop: The successor of the apostles who presides over the Church of a city, guardian of the faith and chief celebrant of the Eucharist. Read the chapter →
Catechumen: One being instructed in the faith in preparation for baptism; in the early Church catechumens were dismissed before the Liturgy of the Faithful. Read the chapter →
Chabourah: A Jewish fellowship meal of a company bound by friendship and devotion; the Last Supper was such a meal, which the Lord transformed into the Eucharist. Read the chapter →
Chalice: The cup that holds the wine which becomes the Blood of Christ. Read the chapter →
Cherubim & Seraphim: The highest ranks of the angels who stand before God's throne; the Church joins their unceasing praise in the Eucharist. Read the chapter →
Communion: Partaking of the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ; the union of the believer with Christ and, in Him, with the whole Church. Read the chapter →
Consecration: The heart of the Anaphora, where the priest recites the Lord's words of institution and the Church invokes the Holy Spirit, and the gifts become the true Body and Blood of Christ. Read the chapter →
Deacon: The ordained servant who assists at the altar, leads the people's responses, and calls them to prayer and attention. Read the chapter →
Divine Office: The Liturgy of Time: the cycles of prayer, daily, weekly, and yearly, by which the Church sanctifies time around the Eucharist; its daily round is the canonical Hours. Read the chapter →
Doxology: A hymn of praise glorifying God, and especially the Holy Trinity. Read the chapter →
Epiclesis: The invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine, asking the Father to send His Spirit to change them into the Body and Blood of Christ. Read the chapter →
Eucharist: From the Greek for "thanksgiving." The Church's offering of the Body and Blood of Christ, and the whole service of the Divine Liturgy in which it is celebrated. Read the chapter →
Fraction: The breaking of the consecrated Bread before Communion, with the Fraction prayer, recalling Christ broken for us. Read the chapter →
Iconostasis: The screen of icons dividing the sanctuary from the nave, at once veiling and revealing the holy things, like the veil of the ancient Temple. Read the chapter →
Incense: Fragrant smoke offered to God from the censer, a sign of the prayers of the saints rising up and of Christ's own sweet-smelling sacrifice. Read the chapter →
Intercession: Prayer offered on behalf of others; in the Anaphora the Church prays for the living and the departed, for herself and for the world. Read the chapter →
Kiss of Peace: The mutual greeting of love and reconciliation given before the offering, in obedience to the Lord's command to be reconciled before bringing your gift. Read the chapter →
Leavened bread: The Coptic Church offers leavened bread for the Eucharist, seeing in the risen leaven the living Body of the risen Christ; the Old Testament Passover used unleavened bread. Read the chapter →
Litany: A prayer of petitions led by the deacon or priest, to which the people answer, such as "Lord, have mercy." Read the chapter →
Liturgy of the Catechumens: The first main part of the Divine Liturgy, of readings and prayers, open to all; it closes with the dismissal of the catechumens. Read the chapter →
Liturgy of the Faithful: The second main part, beginning with the Creed and the Kiss of Peace, in which the baptized offer the Eucharist and receive Communion. Read the chapter →
Manna: The bread from heaven that fed Israel in the wilderness, a type of the true Bread from heaven, the Eucharist. Read the chapter →
Melchizedek: The priest-king of Salem who brought out bread and wine and blessed Abraham, a type of Christ's eternal priesthood and the Eucharistic offering. Read the chapter →
Mystery (Sacrament): The Coptic word for a sacrament: a holy act in which, through visible signs, God gives invisible grace. The Eucharist is the Mystery of mysteries. Read the chapter →
Oblation: An offering or sacrifice presented to God; here the Eucharistic offering of Christ, the one Sacrifice, made present upon the altar. Read the chapter →
Offertory: The first movement of the Liturgy, in which the bread and wine are chosen, presented, and set upon the altar to be offered. Read the chapter →
Pascha: "Passover." Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us; the Eucharist is the true Pascha, and Pascha is the Church's name for her Easter. Read the chapter →
Passover: The Old Testament feast of Israel's deliverance from Egypt by the blood of the lamb, a type fulfilled in Christ and His Eucharist. Read the chapter →
Paten: The plate (diskos) that holds the Lamb, the Bread which becomes the Body of Christ. Read the chapter →
Preparation: The rite of preparing the gifts: the priest selects the Lamb and the deacon the wine, and they are brought to the altar with prayer and incense. Read the chapter →
Priest: The presbyter ordained to celebrate the Mysteries and shepherd the people, offering the Eucharist in the person of Christ. Read the chapter →
Prosphora: The offered bread: a round leavened loaf stamped with crosses and the Trisagion, from which the Lamb is chosen. Read the chapter →
Real Presence: The Church's faith that after the consecration the bread and wine are truly and wholly the Body and Blood of Christ, not merely a symbol. Read the chapter →
Sanctuary: The eastern part of the church that holds the altar, set apart as the holy place; it signifies heaven. Read the chapter →
Sanctus: The angels' hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts," sung by the Church in the Anaphora as she joins the worship of heaven. Read the chapter →
Spadikon: The central portion of the consecrated Lamb, marked with the cross; at the Fraction the Body is broken into twelve parts around it, and the breaking does not touch it. Read the chapter →
The Ark of the Covenant: The gold-covered chest of the Old Covenant that held the manna, the tablets of the Law, and Aaron's rod, and marked God's presence and His witness among His people; what it foreshadowed is fulfilled in the Eucharist, Christ Himself present in the midst of His Church. Read the chapter →
The Didache: "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," a first-century church manual that preserves some of the earliest Eucharistic prayers. Read the chapter →
The Lamb: The one loaf chosen from the prosphora to be consecrated, marked with the cross; called the Lamb because it is Christ, the Lamb of God, offered for us. Read the chapter →
The Sabbath: The Old Testament day of rest, an eternal commandment the Lord came to fulfill, not abolish; its meaning passes to the Lord's Day, Sunday, the eighth day of the new creation, the day of the Resurrection and of the Eucharist. Read the chapter →
The Veil: The cloth covering the gifts, and the veil of the sanctuary; the Lord's own flesh is called the veil through which we enter the holy place. Read the chapter →
Trisagion: "Thrice-holy": the hymn "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy upon us," sung before the Gospel; the Coptic form also confesses the Lord born of the Virgin, crucified, and risen for us. Read the chapter →
Words of Institution: The Lord's own words at the Last Supper, "This is My Body… This is My Blood," repeated by the priest within the Anaphora. Read the chapter →