Artoklasia
Encyclopedia
The Artoklasia is a service held near the end of Vespers
in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic churches. Five round loaves of leavened bread are blessed, together with wheat, wine and oil. In East Slavic (Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian) usage, wheat is not used. The items are arranged on a special artoklasia tray, which is adorned with candle
s. The blessing is performed on Sundays and Feast days, as part of the All-Night Vigil
. During the singing of the troparion
of the feast, the deacon
censes the items on the artoklasia tray. The priest holds one of the loaves in his right hand while he says the prayer of blessing, and points to each of the items being blessed as he mentions them, thus making the sign of the Cross
. He then breaks the loaf in half, from which the service gets its name, meaning literally, "breaking of bread."
Later during the service, the loaves and wine are distributed to the faithful to help sustain them with physical nourishment for the rest of the Vigil. The blessed oil is used to anoint the faithful to provide them with spiritual nourisment, and the wheat may either be planted in the earth, or ground into flour to be used for making prosphora
. The faithful may also take some of the blessed items home to friends or family who were not able to attend the service.
The loaves of bread are offered by the faithful as a sign of devotion for personal or family anniversaries such as name day
s, feast days, and other special occasions. The five loaves are reminiscent of the five loaves that Jesus Christ blessed in the desert and by which five thousand of His hearers were fed
.
Artoklasia also symbolizes and brings into practice the Agape
meals of the very early Christian communities. After the faithful had received the Body and Blood of Christ
, they would gather in a common meal, thus signifying the brotherly association established between them by their common faith and by their receiving the same sacramental Lord. The Agape meals also served a charitable purpose by providing meals to the poorer from among them.
The significance behind the artoklasia includes also the fact that, among the Orthodox, bread continues to be highly valued not only as a basic food but also as the supreme symbol of the Body of Christ
- for it is the bread which is changed by consecration
in the Liturgy into the Body of Christ. Christ has been repeatedly designated as the Bread of Life, and also as "the Bread which came from heaven". Bread symbolizes the Church of Christ, which has spread everywhere, as the wheat
on the mountains, and which was gathered by Christ into one body. Thus, bread has been given a mystical meaning according to which it constitutes the essence of the spiritual life of the Christian.
The blessed bread of the artoklasia has been from ancient times considered to effect personal sanctification and to help the individual against bodily infirmities and illness, if taken with faith. The Greek
term "artoklasia" derives from the very words used by the Four Evangelists
in describing the Last Supper
at which Christ "broke bread" and offered it to His disciples as His own Body. Also, "bread is broken" in the artoklasia, signifying not only an identity in terms but a far more significant affinity between the Lord's and His Church's breaking of bread.
Sometimes, for reasons of economy, the service may be transferred from Vespers to Orthros
(Matins), or even the Divine Liturgy
(Mass
).
On Great Saturday
of Holy Week
there is a special artoklasia celebrated at the end of the Vesperal
Divine Liturgy
. At this artoklasia, only bread, wine and figs
are blessed (the use of oil being forbidden on that day, according to the fasting laws of the Orthodox Church).
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic churches. Five round loaves of leavened bread are blessed, together with wheat, wine and oil. In East Slavic (Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian) usage, wheat is not used. The items are arranged on a special artoklasia tray, which is adorned with candle
Candle
A candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
s. The blessing is performed on Sundays and Feast days, as part of the All-Night Vigil
All-Night Vigil
The All-Night Vigil , Opus 37, is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff,written and premiered in 1915. It consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement and "the greatest musical...
. During the singing of the troparion
Troparion
A troparion in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas. The word probably derives from a diminutive of the Greek tropos...
of the feast, the deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
censes the items on the artoklasia tray. The priest holds one of the loaves in his right hand while he says the prayer of blessing, and points to each of the items being blessed as he mentions them, thus making the sign of the Cross
Sign of the cross
The Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....
. He then breaks the loaf in half, from which the service gets its name, meaning literally, "breaking of bread."
Later during the service, the loaves and wine are distributed to the faithful to help sustain them with physical nourishment for the rest of the Vigil. The blessed oil is used to anoint the faithful to provide them with spiritual nourisment, and the wheat may either be planted in the earth, or ground into flour to be used for making prosphora
Prosphora
A prosphoron is a small loaf of leavened bread used in Orthodox Christian and Greek Catholic liturgies. The plural form is prosphora...
. The faithful may also take some of the blessed items home to friends or family who were not able to attend the service.
The loaves of bread are offered by the faithful as a sign of devotion for personal or family anniversaries such as name day
Name day
A name day is a tradition in many countries in Europe and Latin America that consists of celebrating the day of the year associated with one's given name....
s, feast days, and other special occasions. The five loaves are reminiscent of the five loaves that Jesus Christ blessed in the desert and by which five thousand of His hearers were fed
Feeding the multitude
Feeding the multitude is the combined term used to refer to two separate miracles of Jesus in the Gospels.The First Miracle, "The Feeding of the 5,000" is the only miracle which is present in all four canonical Gospels...
.
Artoklasia also symbolizes and brings into practice the Agape
Agape
Agape is one of the Greek words translated into English as love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for mankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term...
meals of the very early Christian communities. After the faithful had received the Body and Blood of Christ
Blessed Sacrament
The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the Host after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist...
, they would gather in a common meal, thus signifying the brotherly association established between them by their common faith and by their receiving the same sacramental Lord. The Agape meals also served a charitable purpose by providing meals to the poorer from among them.
The significance behind the artoklasia includes also the fact that, among the Orthodox, bread continues to be highly valued not only as a basic food but also as the supreme symbol of the Body of Christ
Body of Christ
In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ has two separate connotations: it may refer to Jesus's statement about the Eucharist at the Last Supper that "This is my body" in , or the explicit usage of the term by the Apostle Paul in to refer to the Christian Church.Although in general usage the...
- for it is the bread which is changed by consecration
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
in the Liturgy into the Body of Christ. Christ has been repeatedly designated as the Bread of Life, and also as "the Bread which came from heaven". Bread symbolizes the Church of Christ, which has spread everywhere, as the wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
on the mountains, and which was gathered by Christ into one body. Thus, bread has been given a mystical meaning according to which it constitutes the essence of the spiritual life of the Christian.
The blessed bread of the artoklasia has been from ancient times considered to effect personal sanctification and to help the individual against bodily infirmities and illness, if taken with faith. The Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
term "artoklasia" derives from the very words used by the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
in describing the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
at which Christ "broke bread" and offered it to His disciples as His own Body. Also, "bread is broken" in the artoklasia, signifying not only an identity in terms but a far more significant affinity between the Lord's and His Church's breaking of bread.
Sometimes, for reasons of economy, the service may be transferred from Vespers to Orthros
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
(Matins), or even the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
(Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
).
On Great Saturday
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday , sometimes known as Easter Eve or Black Saturday, is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week in which Christians prepare for Easter...
of Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
there is a special artoklasia celebrated at the end of the Vesperal
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
. At this artoklasia, only bread, wine and figs
FIGS
FIGS is an acronym for French, Italian, German, Spanish. These are usually the first four languages chosen to localize products into when a company enters the European market....
are blessed (the use of oil being forbidden on that day, according to the fasting laws of the Orthodox Church).
External links
- Artoklasia article from the Catholic EncyclopediaCatholic EncyclopediaThe Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
- Intricate Artoklasia Tray from St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount SinaiMount SinaiMount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...
- Censing the Artoklasia Tray
- Anointing the Faithful with Oil Blessed at Artoklasia
.jpg){kind=link}