Question first
appeared on February 1, 2004
Please
define the following: “ektenia,” “antiphon,” “prothesis,”
“anaphora,” and “kontakion.”
ektenia:
A long prayer consisting of short petitions said by the deacon or
priest and to which the choir, chanters or congregation responds with “Lord,
have mercy” or “Grant this, O Lord.”
antiphon:
The Greek term signifies something that is sung alternately by two
choirs or two chanters. In the
Divine Liturgy the first three hymns are designated antiphons.
Traditionally, the first is a hymn to Christ to save us through the
intercessions of His mother, the Theotokos; the second, Christ is implored as
the Resurrected Savior, followed by the singing of the famous, “O
Only-begotten Son and Word of God...; and the third is the troparion of the
day in the Greek tradition. These
are sometimes interspersed with Psalm verses sung alternately with the hymns.
prothesis:
The term signifies the table upon which the preparation of the
Eucharistic gifts
take
place. It is to the left
of the altar, and traditionally built into a wall apse.
The apse symbolizes the cave of the Nativity and an icon of
that Feast is placed on the wall.
anaphora:
The offering of the prepared Eucharistic gifts for
consecration. It begins
with the petition, “Let us stand aright!
Let us stand with fear! Let
us attend, that we may offer the Holy Oblation in peace!,” and
concludes with the hymn following the prayer for the descent of the
Holy Spirit. The term
“anaphora” implies to “offer up” or “lift up.”
It follows, logically, the “prosphora,” which means to
“offer forth,” the preparation and the transfer of the gifts from
the prothesis to the altar. We
bring the gifts/offering “forth” and then lift them “up,”
doing all that we humanly can, and lastly invoking the Holy Spirit to
“descend” and “change” the gifts into the Body and Blood of
Christ.
kontakion:
The term implies a hymn that is an “abbreviation” of the
“theme” or the subject matter.
The kontakion is chanted in the Divine Liturgy after the Little
Entrance and following the singing of the troparia of the day.
The kontakion tells of the feast, the season, the event, or the
saint being celebrated at that time in a “abbreviated” way.
©Very Rev. Fr. Olof Scott, Sunday Bulletin,
February 1, 2004
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