In accordance with the importance of the Mysteries depicted in the Divine Services, all clothing, as well as the utensils used with them, as established by the saints and great teachers of the Church, received mysterious meanings. Without a doubt, all these accessories were established simultaneously with the establishment of the Sacred rites themselves, but it is obvious that over time, their number, according to need and significance, increased from the original.
The vessels and other accessories used during the Liturgy are the following: Paten, Chalice, Star, Veils, Antimens, Spear, Lip, Liar, Censer and Lamps. And during the Hierarchical service, the following are added to them: Ripidy, Trikirsh and Dikiriy; in addition: the Gospel, the Cross and the Tabernacle - which must always be on the throne.
The paten, installed by the Apostles at the same time as the Chalice, is a flat saucer on a leg that serves to crush the body of Christ. In a mysterious sense, it means: both the manger at the birth of Christ and the coffin at His burial.
A chalice is a cup for the sacred rite of the Blood of Christ, depicting the cup in which, under the guise of wine and water. The Savior, having dissolved His Blood, offered it to the Apostles at the Last Supper.
An asterisk or star is two cross-shaped arcs connected by the vertices, moving apart and folding on a screw, on top of which a star is inscribed, representing the star that appeared to the Magi at the Birth of the Savior. It is placed on the paten above the Holy Lamb, also so that the cover, by its close touch to the Gifts, cannot shed the parts surrounding the Lamb. Its introduction into the number of liturgical utensils is attributed to St. John Chrysostom.
Veils. Of the three covers used during the Liturgy, the large one (quadrangular) is called air, because it, like the air surrounding the earth, embraces and covers the Holy Gifts and, like air, depicts the breath of the Holy Spirit. The meaning of the other two cruciform covers is explained above (one represents the sir, the other the shroud).
Antimens. - This is a sacred rug or scarf that is constantly on the throne and spread under the Holy Gifts. In the middle of it is depicted the Savior lying in a tomb, and in the corners are the Evangelists. The reason for the establishment of the Antimins was the frequent attacks of pagans on primitive Christian churches, and the destroyed thrones took away the opportunity to perform Divine services for a long time; and therefore, in order to replace the legal sanctity of the throne with something else, equivalent, the Holy Apostles decided to establish altar tables that have the same power as thrones, but are more convenient in that they can be quickly removed from the temple and hidden. And although, over time, the peace that had settled in the Christian Church stopped these attacks, the Apostolic establishment was retained on the basis that the Bishops, according to ancient law, were obliged to consecrate churches everywhere themselves and at the same time place them in the altars of St.
relics: and since the vastness of their dioceses and the large number of churches being erected did not allow them to fulfill this exactly, they decided to replace this personal participation of the rulers in the consecration with Antimensions, placing in each of them a part of the Holy Relics, and giving them the power of the Archpastoral blessing for each church.
A spear is a double-edged knife in the shape of a flat spear, used to remove the Holy Lamb from the prosphora and to crush It into pieces. It represents the spear with which the Savior was pierced on the cross, in memory of which the priest, piercing the Lamb at the proskomedia, says: One of the warriors pierced His side with a spear.
Lip - a thin piece of walnut sponge used for wiping Sacred vessels; for them to collect into one all the parts located near the Lamb on the paten and for more convenient pouring them into the chalice. It depicts the lip that one of Christ’s crucifiers, having filled with bile and stool, brought to the Savior’s lips while exclaiming His Thirst!
A liar or sacred spoon with an image of a cross at the end of the handle is used to give communion to believers. It depicts the tongs with which Seraphim, taking a burning coal from the altar, brought it to the lips of the prophet Isaiah and thereby cleansed all his sins.
A censer is a metal vessel with a movable lid, on chains, into which hot coals are placed and fragrant incense is poured. Smoking incense in honor of the Divine has been introduced since ancient times; and therefore, censing with a censer in front of icons and other sacred objects depicts reverence for them on the part of the celebrants; and the burning of incense by those present signifies the grace of the Holy Spirit upon them, and gives them the proper image of their prayers to God, which should be the aroma of a spiritual fragrance.
When we were organizing the rite of worship for the first man-made church of the Name of God on earth - the Tabernacle of Testimony - then among its sacred utensils, indicated to Moses by God Himself, a golden lamp should have been built following the example of heaven. “Make a lamp of gold, cleanly carved,” said God, “and make its seven lights, and set up the lights, and they will shine from one face of it: see, and make it according to the image shown to you on the mountain.” From that time on, the lighting of oil in lamps or candles in lamps became an indispensable part of worship, as an expression of reverence and love for God and the spiritual triumph of those praying. So Solomon, having erected a magnificent temple in Jerusalem, placed ten precious lamps in the sanctuary, in front of the entrance to the Holy of Holies. On the Feast of Tabernacles, especially solemn and joyful among the Jews, they illuminated the church and the altar with many lamps, just as, later celebrating the feast of the Renewal of the Church, they placed numerous lamps around the renewed altar.
The New Testament Church, the heir to the pious rites of the Old Testament, almost from its very beginning, introduced its use of lamps into worship. It is known that even under the Apostles, divine services were performed with many candles, and these latter were used not so much out of need in natural light, but to show the light of Christ, which illuminated the world, which lay in darkness, for Christ Himself compared His teaching with a light shining in the darkness, or with a lamp placed on a candlestick, so that those who enter would see the light.
“We never perform divine services without lamps,” says Tertullian, “but we do not use them to disperse the darkness of the night, for our liturgy is celebrated in daylight; but in order to depict Christ through them, the uncreated Light, without Which we would wander in darkness even at midday.” Regardless of this, the deplorable situation of the primitive Church during the first 3 centuries AD forced Christians, out of necessity, to resort to material illumination of their places of prayer. Vigilantly watched and cruelly persecuted by the pagans in their homes, they had to retire for worship to hidden and secluded places, namely: to dungeons and caves, where only artificial light could replace their lack of daylight. In the Roman catacombs (quarries), some of which have survived to this day in the form in which they were during the times of the primitive Church, traces of the lighting that the pioneer Christians used during their services have still been preserved.
There are found many lamps of two types: some, as can be guessed from their shape, were probably placed in small niches or on projections of the walls, found at different distances along the entire length of the passage leading to the catacombs; and others, as is noticeable, were hung over the tombs of the martyrs, where services were performed. Most of them are clay, but there are bronze and even silver ones. Their usual figure is a ship, a commonly used symbol of the Church of that time; on the outside, some of them are covered with various applied decorations, also depicting symbols, such as a dove, a lamb, a fish (a symbol of the apostleship), a palm branch, a wreath, etc. On some, the initial letters of the Savior’s name I.X are found.