Regarding the epitaphios

[Dimitris]

Hallo!

I have two questions regarding the Epitaphios. First one, onto the Epitaphios there is put an icon. I would like to know which icon it is. Is it the icon "Lamentation at the Tomb" (http://www.goarch.org/en/resources/clipart/icondetail.asp?i=91&c=LifeOfChrist&r=lamentation_at_the_tomb)? Second one, I am courios if every single church possesses an Epitaphios. There are churches in which there is only one liturgy per year. Is it mandatory for a church to possess all "utensils" necessary for the complete church year, even if it is forseen that only a restricted number of services will be held there?

I hope the questions don't sound too silly and banal.

Dimitris

[Herman Blaydoe]

As I understand it, unless there is a bishop present, the Eucharist cannot be consecrated by a priest unless there is an epitaphios signed by a bishop on the altar.

[Father David Moser]

What Herman refers to is not technically the "epitaphios" (or in Slavonic the "plashchinitsa") but rather the Antimins. I say technically because the antimins is itself imprinted with the icon of the taking down from the cross - the same as is used on an epitaphios. In fact, I know of parishes where they did not have an epitaphios and to make one purchased an unblessed, unsigned full color anitmins and used it as an epitaphios.

Fr David Moser

[Herman Blaydoe]

OOPS!

Father Bless, thank you for the clarification and apologies for my confusion!

[Dimitris]

I say technically because the antimins is itself imprinted with the icon of the taking down from the cross - the same as is used on an epitaphios.
So could you please confirm that the icon used on the Epitaphios during the service on Great Friday evening is the following: Removal of Christ from The Cross (http://www.goarch.org/en/resources/clipart/icondetail.asp?i=81&c=LifeOfChrist&r=IC_Removal).

Kind regards,
Dimitris

[Father David Moser]

The icon on the epitaphios is essentially the one to which you point, however, on the epitaphios, the figure of Christ is fully protraste - fully laid out. The epitaphios is the "winding sheet" in which the body was wrapped and so it bears the image of the fully laid out body of Christ. The icon that you point to is essentially the same, just that the body is being held - so move the events of the icon forward about 5 min or so and you have the epitaphios.

Fr David Moser

[Dimitris]

Dear Father,

Thank you for your answer. Your explanations are very interesting for me, because I didn' know that the Epitaphios itself is the icon. I always thought that the whole construction (sorry, I don't find a better word for it) with the handles and the flowers is called Epitaphios and that the icon is just a part of it. So is there a term for this construction as a whole?

Dimitris

[Father David Moser]

I always thought that the whole construction (sorry, I don't find a better word for it) with the handles and the flowers is called Epitaphios and that the icon is just a part of it. So is there a term for this construction as a whole?


The "whole construction" as you say is more of a Byzantine thing. In my experience you don't see it very much in Russian pairshes, but more often in Greek or Arabic parishes. I have heard the "whole construction" called a "bier" or even just a "tomb". The cloth with the icon is the epitaphios which, being the representation of the crucified Christ is placed on the bier or into the tomb and carried in procession to the grave.

An additional note. The epitaphios/plashchinitsa is removed from the tomb in he middle of the Church right before Paschal Matins and taken into the altar where it is placed on the Holy Table. The Divine Liturgy of Pascha - and all the way through to Ascension - is performed on top of the epitaphios. (Now you can see how difficult it would be if the "whole construction" was the epitaphios and had to be set on top of the Holy Table...)

Fr David Moser

[Dimitris]

The "whole construction" as you say is more of a Byzantine thing. In my experience you don't see it very much in Russian pairshes, but more often in Greek or Arabic parishes.
I see. I wonder, if the Russian Church doesn't know the bier, if there are nevertheless processions with the Epitaphios on Great Friday evening. And if, how the Epitaphios is carried.

Thank you for your patience,
Dimitris

[Father David Moser]

the epitaphios is carred by itself, with someone holding each corner and the priest walking underneath with the Gospel. Sometimes it will be mounted on a board to stiffen it.

Fr David

[Olga]

Fr David's comments on the Slavic plashchanitsa compared to the Greek epitaphios are quite correct. However, there are instances where some Slavic communities have used a structure very similar to a Greek epitaphios for their Great Friday procession, in much the same way as many Greek communities in the past (and present?) used crowns during the wedding ceremony instead of the stephana more familiar to us.

There is a famous and evocative painting by the 19th-century Russian master Ilya Repin called "Procession in Kursk" which shows this very well.

[Demetra S.]

Dear Father,

Thank you for your answer. Your explanations are very interesting for me, because I didn' know that the Epitaphios itself is the icon. I always thought that the whole construction (sorry, I don't find a better word for it) with the handles and the flowers is called Epitaphios and that the icon is just a part of it. So is there a term for this construction as a whole?

Dimitris


The "structure" that is usually decorated with flowers and scented with myrrh on Great Friday is called a kouvouklion. The epitaphios is placed inside (after the apokathelosis sp?) and later hoisted and carried outside with the choir and congregation following. On the return the kouvouklion pauses outside the front door of the church and everyone passes underneath to enter. As children we were brought up to the kouvouklion before the beginning of the service and crawled beneath it once each way to form a cross. I've been to several GO churches in New England and we all seem to do it the same way (except for the kids crawling - you see that more in congregations that have more recently come from Greece).