Great consecration of the temple by the bishop. Temple consecration

The appearance of an ancient Orthodox church, crowned with a massive dome or head, serves as an image of the human body, which is the "temple of the Living God" (2 Cor. 6, 16) and at the same time - an image, an icon of the mysterious body of the Church, the Head of which is Christ, and the believers are members . Therefore, in the order of the great consecration of the temple there are sacred rites that bring it closer to the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Priesthood. As in these Sacraments, water, Holy Myrrh, lamps are used here; the clergy wear white robes, there is a circular walk. Through these sacraments, the temple, built by human hands from stone and wood, acquires the spirit of life, becomes the receptacle of the shrine.

On the eve of the day of consecration, a small vespers and an all-night vigil are served in the newly built church. The service of the Renewal of the temple is being performed, for the temple from an ordinary building is being made different, new, holy. With the service of Renewal, the service of the temple is performed, that is, to the one in whose name the temple was built. The Big Ribbon indicates what service should be on the eve of the consecration of the temple on a particular day and the feast of the annual circle.

Both small vespers and all-night vigil are served before the altar with the royal doors closed and the altar curtain closed.

By the consecration of the temple, it is necessary to arrange a throne, which should be on four pillars, and if the temple is consecrated by a bishop, then in the middle there should be a fifth pillar 35 cm high with a box for placing relics in it. The throne should be about 100 cm high, as wide as the altar. At the top of the throne pillars, receptacles 1 cm deep are made for the wax-mast; on the same pillars below, 10 cm from the floor, cuts should be made to approve the verviya (rope). Notches and recesses are also made around the throne board in places where the rope will cover it. In addition, holes are drilled at the four corners of the throne board, commensurate with the thickness of the nails; at the top, the hole expands so that the nail head does not protrude above the surface of the board. In order for the nails to enter straight when driving in, the same holes are drilled in each pillar. Four nails are required to establish the throne, and as many as necessary for the altar; in addition, four smooth stones must be prepared, with which the nails will be hammered.

The following things should also be prepared for the consecration of the temple: a srachitsa put on the throne, and another one - on the altar, a rope (rope) 40 m long, signifying the bonds with which the Lord was bound when He was led to the court of the high priests, the outer garment the throne and the altar - india, depicting the glory of the throne of the Lord (india closes the throne to the floor); iliton - a quadrangular board, the size of an antimension, depicting the shroud with which the Lord was wrapped at His Nativity, and the shroud in which the righteous Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of the Lord taken down from the Cross; antimension, which is consecrated simultaneously with the temple or in advance; sheets to cover the throne and the altar; airs, boards for wiping the throne; rose water, church wine; sprinkler; curtain for the royal doors; holy Miro and pod (tassel) for anointing; four sponges for wiping the throne; lip for antimension; lip for the Holy Chalice; a metal box for placing holy relics under the throne; candles large portable in candlesticks and small - for distribution to clergy and laity; dewy and simple incense, banners. The yard around the church must be tidied up and swept.

A table covered with a tablecloth is placed in front of the royal doors, a veil is laid on top and the Gospel, the Cross, sacred vessels, a liar, a spear, linens, air, rope, robes on the throne and an altar, nails to strengthen the throne, lips are put on top. All this is covered with a veil, and four candlesticks are supplied at the corners of the table. In the same temple, in front of the image of the Savior at the royal gates, a lectern is supplied, on which holy relics are relied on a paten covered with a star. A capital is placed in an altar near a mountainous place, covered with a veil, and holy Myrrh, church wine, rose water in glass vessels, a pod for anointing with Myrrh, a sprinkler, four stones for hammering nails are placed on it.

On the very day of consecration, after the early Liturgy, the holy relics are carried with reverence to a nearby church and there they are placed on the altar, in the place where the Gospel usually lies, and it itself is placed on the upper (eastern) side of the altar, a candlestick is placed in front of the holy relics . If there is no other church nearby, then the relics remain in the consecrated church, in the same place, that is, at the royal doors, in front of the image of the Savior, where they remain until they are placed under the throne.

Before the arrival of the bishop, a wax suit is drawn up. It should include wax, mastic (it can be replaced with white incense), simple and dewy incense, aloe juice (or white resin, sulfur). All these substances are ground into powder. Then, wax is first melted in a special vessel on fire, and then all the above substances are put into the melted wax while stirring. In this case, one must be careful that when boiling the mixture does not overflow. Other incense can be added to the resulting liquid wax.

Since at the consecration of the temple there is always the sprinkling of holy water, before the consecration of the temple, a prayer service is first performed with the blessing of water. Before the consecration of water there is a chime. For the consecration of water, the head and other priests put on all priestly clothes and take candles.

At the end of the consecration of water, all the clergy put on over their clothes in a special srachitsa - a zapon, or lention. The bishop is covered with it from the front from the chest to the legs, its ends are passed under the armpits and tied on the back, and girded with a belt. Each hand of the bishop is covered with a veil, which is tied with ribbons. The co-serving priests also put on these srachits over the vestments.

According to the "New Tablet", where a drawing of this zapon is given, the bishop is girded with three belts: around the neck - for the sake of the mind and as a sign of submission to God; around the chest - for the sake of the word; around the loins - for the sake of purity and strength.

Having dressed in this way, the clergy, taking holy water in a vessel on a tray along with the Cross, as well as a table with everything necessary, bring it all into the altar through the royal gates and set the table on the right. The bishop, entering the altar, gives the staff at the royal doors to the subdeacon and, praying, overshadows those who serve on both sides. The altar also includes priests and deacons. The royal doors are closed, and all the laity exit the altar.

The deacon brings holy water to the bishop. Having taken the sprinkler, the bishop sprinkles the pillars of the throne with holy water. Then boiling wax is brought. The bishop sprinkles it with holy water and, taking a vessel with wax paste, pours it crosswise on the pillars, going around; having given the wax-mast, he again takes the sprinkler and sprinkles the pillars with holy water so that the wax-mast cools down faster, and the priests blow on the pillars for the same purpose. The wax paste depicts the fragrant ointment with which Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea anointed the Body of the Savior taken down from the Cross. Then the hierarch exclaims a prayer: "Lord God our Savior...", in which he asks the Lord for the gift of consecrating the new church without condemnation. After that, the clergy bring the board to the top of the throne. The bishop sprinkles it on both sides, and she relies on the pillars of the throne. At the same time, the 144th psalm is sung: "I will exalt Thee, my God, my King, and I will bless Your Name forever and ever..."

At the end of the psalm, the bishop proclaims: "Blessed is our God ..." When the wax coat cools down, the 22nd psalm is sung: "The Lord shepherds me, and deprives me of nothing; in a place where there is greener, raise me up, raise my soul on the water turn me, guide me in the paths of righteousness, for your name's sake..."

After that, the bishop again says: "Blessed be our God, always, now, and forever, and forever and ever." Priests: Amen. Four nails are brought, and the bishop sprinkles them. Then he puts them into the prepared holes in the board of the throne. With four stones, the bishop, with the help of the clergy, nailed the board to the pillars of the throne, affirming the holy meal. This action is reminiscent of the nailing of our Lord Jesus Christ with four nails to the Cross. Stones consecrated by such use are usually placed under the throne. Nails hammered into the throne are poured with wax, and when the latter cools down, these places are smoothed out with knives if the wax stick protrudes above the surface. At the same time, the royal doors are opened for the first time so that the faithful can see the beginning of the construction of the temple.

A carpet is laid in front of the royal gates and a head (eagle) is placed. The protodeacon proclaims: "Packs and packs, on bended knee, let us pray to the Lord." The bishop, leaving the altar, while singing “Lord, have mercy” three times inside the altar by the priests, kneels down and facing the people reads a prayer in a grand voice: “God, the Beginningless…”, in which he calls out to the Lord, who lives in impregnable light, having heaven as his throne foot of the earth, Who gave the mark to Moses for the tabernacle, to Solomon the breadth of the heart to build the temple, and to the holy apostles the grace of a new ministry in spirit and truth, and through whom He spread His Church throughout the universe to offer the Bloodless Sacrifice, in His Glory and the Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, and prays that He will not now abhor our sins and will not destroy His Covenant with us, but will send His Holy Spirit to the consecration of the temple and fill the place of the settlement of His Glory, adorn with divine gifts and make it a haven for the weak and driving away demons. He also prays that the ears of the Lord would be opened day and night to those who pray in this temple, with fear and reverence, fulfilling the prayers below, and that this New Testament altar would be glorified more than the Old Testament; Bloodless Sacrifices, ascending from it to the mental Altar of Heaven, would bring us grace from above, for we dare not to serve our hands, but to the inexpressible goodness of God.

At the end of the prayer, in which the people also participated, the bishop gets up and goes to the altar to the holy meal, and the royal doors are closed.

The protodeacon, inside the altar, pronounces the great litany with additional petitions for the temple. After the exclamation: "Thou art holy, our God, even on the honest martyrs who suffered for Thee rest..." the priests sing: "Amen." Then a pourer with warm water, red wine and rose water (rodostamna) are brought. The bishop, bowing his head, first says a prayer over water and wine secretly, asking for Jordan's blessing on it, and pours it on the throne three times, as at Baptism, saying: "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." When washing the throne, soap is also usually used. They bring four fees. The bishop, having sprinkled them with holy water and taking one of the robes, orders the rest to be taken by the co-servants. With these boards they wipe the throne while singing Psalm 83: "If Thy village is beloved, Lord of hosts ..." Then the bishop praises the Lord, saying: "Glory to our God forever and ever," the priests proclaim: "Amen." Since the Golgotha sacrifice must be renewed on the sanctified throne, and Golgotha is washed with blood and water flowing from the rib of the Savior, the wine, combined with rose water, is poured crosswise on the throne, imparting to it the purity and fragrance inherent in the shrine. The same mixture of wine and rose water sprinkles the consecrated antimensions. The same rites are performed over the antimension, and therefore, consecrated by the bishop, it replaces the consecration of the throne. Antimins made of cloth are not washed completely, but only watered for fear of damaging the image and inscription printed on them. At every sprinkling, the bishop pronounces the words of the 50th psalm: "Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." After sprinkling the throne and the antimensions, the bishop also recites the following verses of the 50th psalm: "Give joy and gladness to my ears, the bones of the humble will rejoice...", etc. to the end.

Then lips are brought, and the bishop and his co-servants wipe the throne with them. Ablution not only cleanses the holy throne, but also marks its highest spiritual significance. Washing with water is a sign of spiritual purification, a libation of rose water recalls the peace that the myrrh-bearing women brought to the Tomb of Christ, red wine is an image of the Savior's blood shed on Calvary, which foreshadowed all Christian altars.

Now the bishop proceeds to anoint the throne with holy chrism. First, he proclaims: "Blessed be our God, always, now and forever, and forever and ever." Priests: Amen. A vessel with holy ointment is brought. First, taking a pod, the bishop depicts crosses in three places on the surface of the meal, designating those places where the Gospel, paten and Chalice will stand during the Liturgy; then he depicts three crosses on each side of the throne in order to consecrate it from everywhere, and, finally, he anoints the antimension three times in the form of a cross. At the same time, the deacon, signifying the importance of the action being performed, proclaims: “Let us listen,” and the saint, depicting the purpose of consecration and expressing the delight of spiritual anointing, exclaims: “Alleluia” (thrice). The choir sings: “Behold, what is good, or what is red, but the life of the brethren together; like Miroh on the head, descending on the beard, the beard of Aaron, descending on the tassels of his clothes, like the dew of Aermon, descending on the mountains of Zion; like there is a commandment Lord bless and life forever." Then the bishop proclaims: "Glory to Thee, Holy Trinity, our God, forever and ever." Priests - Amen. The antimension is temporarily placed on a dish.

As after Baptism and Confirmation a person is clothed in white clothes, so the throne is clothed after washing and anointing with holy Chrism. The dressing of the throne is performed in accordance with its twofold meaning: the tomb of the Lord and the throne of God - the places of the presence of the Lord. First, the priests bring a scarlet, which marks the shroud with which the body of Jesus was entwined. It is sprinkled with holy water on both sides and put on by the priests at the holy meal. Then a rope is brought, sprinkled with holy water, and the priests tie it around the throne, in the image of the bonds of the Lord, in which He came to judgment to the high priests Anna and Caiaphas. The bishop and priests tie the throne in such a way that a rope cross is formed on each side of the throne. From the right side, at the first pillar, the bishop holds the end of the rope (its length is about 40 m), go along the rope around to the second pillar (counterclockwise) to the east; from the second pillar (rope) is taken down to the bottom, to the third pillar, and goes down to the fourth pillar; from the fourth pillar, the rope rises to the first pillar and connects with the end held by the bishop, then it is again carried down to the second pillar, and goes down to the third pillar; then it rises up to the fourth pillar; from the fourth pillar it is carried down to the first pillar, and forms a cross in front of the throne. From the first pillar goes down to the second pillar; from the second pillar rises up to the third pillar, and forms a cross behind the throne. From the third pillar, the rope is carried down to the fourth pillar, and forms a cross on the left side of the throne. From the fourth pillar it goes down to the first pillar and rises up to the second pillar, forming a cross on the right (south) side of the throne. Then the rope is wrapped around the throne along the top so that there are three turns of the rope along the top, and is connected to the end of the rope at the first pillar.

In order to prevent the rope from falling off when tying, cuts are made on the pillars. This takes quite a long time; the choir sings Psalm 131: "Remember, Lord, King David and all his meekness..." At the end, the bishop proclaims: "Glory to our God forever and ever." Then the priests bring the upper robe of the throne - India, like a robe, depicting with its brilliance the radiance of the Glory of God. After sprinkling with holy water, it is placed on the throne. Then they place an iliton on it, depicting the sudár (headband), with which the head of Jesus Christ was entwined in the tomb. An antimension is placed on the iliton, next to it are the Gospel and the Cross, previously sprinkled with holy water, and cover it all with a veil. The choir sings Psalm 92: "The Lord hath reigned, clothed in splendor..."

Then the altar is decorated. The bishop, commanding the head priest to decorate the offering (altar), proclaims: "Blessed is our God." But the altar is not sanctified like a throne, for only the preparation of the Sacrifice takes place on it, and not its completion. The garments worn on the altar are sprinkled with holy water. Then sacred vessels are placed on the altar, after which it is covered with a veil.

The bishop and co-serving priests remove the bands, and the royal gates open. The bishop is given a censer, and he, together with the deacon, with a candle, censes around the altar, the altar, and the entire altar. The primate sprinkles the altar, the altar and the entire altar with holy water while singing Psalm 25: "Judge me, Lord, as if I walk in my gentleness; and trusting in the Lord I will not be exhausted ..." Then the bishop, accompanied by two senior presbyters, comes out as royal gates to the church. One of the priests sprinkles the walls of the temple with holy water, and the other anoints the four walls of the temple with Holy Myrrh crosswise, starting over the High Place in the altar and further over the western, southern and northern gates.

After that, the deacon pronounces a small litany, and the bishop, taking off his miter and turning to the consecrated throne, loudly prays to the Lord of heaven and earth, who founded the Holy Church with inexpressible Wisdom and established the order of the priesthood on earth, in the likeness of the angelic ministry in heaven, to accept the prayer of His unworthy servants, according to the excellence of His goodness, the sign of which was the sending of the Son, incarnate for the salvation of the human race, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, by which the apostles established the Church and transmitted the Sacraments to her. Trusting in this, he asks the new temple and the altar for the fulfillment of the Glory of the Lord and for those who serve the uncondemned offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice for the sins of people.

When all the faithful bow their heads at the pronouncement of the deacon, the saint in secret prayer thanks the Lord for the continuous outpouring of grace that descended to him, the bishop, from the apostles and asks that on this altar (throne) the Body and Blood of Christ be mysteriously offered for the salvation of all people, and in conclusion proclaims the glory of the name of the Most Holy Trinity.

After that, the bishop himself lights the candle brought to him and places it on the High Place near the throne, as if in the very depths of the east, from where spiritual light should pour out on the entire enlightened church. He distributes the Gospel, the Cross and icons to the presbyters in the altar, to the laity - candles and banners on the pulpit, and, taking a staff and exclaiming: "We will leave in peace," he proceeds in a solemn procession from the church. The choir, following the banners, sings (a translation into Russian is given): "Thy Church, O Christ God, adorned all over the world with the blood of Thy martyrs, like purple and scarlet, with their lips cries out to Thee: bestow bounty on Thy people, grant peace to Thy dwelling and mercy to our souls."

"Like the firstfruits of beings to the Creator of all creations, the universe brings to You, O Lord, God-bearing martyrs: Many-merciful, through their prayers and the Mother of God, preserve the Church in the deep world - Your dwelling."

The bishop raises a diskos with an antimension lying on it, covered with a star, at the level of the chela. A procession begins for the holy relics lying in a nearby consecrated church. An altar (throne) was built for God, but it was not approved until the imperishable particles of holy relics were placed at its base, for the Ecumenical Church was established on the bones of the martyrs in the centuries of bloody persecutions and the first Christian sanctuaries were created over their graves. The rejoicing Church does not forget the disasters that have befallen her throughout her history and, like a warrior adorned with her wounds, she heeds the Revelation of St. John the Theologian, who saw in the spirit in heaven, before the face of God, the altar and under it the souls of those slain for the word of God and the confession of faith and wants to imitate on earth this heavenly vision.

The holy relics are prepared in the nearest church, and the paten on which they lie, covered with air, is placed on the throne in anticipation of the arrival of the bishop for them. He enters the altar without a staff and proclaims to the small litany of the deacon: "For Holy art Thou our God, even on the honored martyrs who suffered for Thee, and we send glory to Thee, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever." Choir - "Amen", Protodeacon - "Let us pray to the Lord", Choir - "Lord, have mercy." The bishop, having removed the miter, makes a prayer to the Lord, faithful in His words and not false in promises, Who granted His saints martyrs to strive for good deeds, to complete the course of piety and preserve the faith of true confession, so that He would give His unworthy servants a share in the inheritance with them and made them good imitators.

After the exclamation "By the mercy and love of Thy Only-Begotten Son..." and the secret prayer and exclamation "Be the power of Thy Kingdom...", after shaking the holy relics with incense, the bishop raises the paten on which they lie, and, supported by the presbyters, accompanied by everything the spiritual cathedral, while singing the troparion and heirmos indicated in the Ribbon, goes to the newly consecrated church and solemnly walks around it in a procession. At the same time, one of the presbyters anoints the walls of the temple with holy chrism, and the other sprinkles them with holy water. If the relics were lying in the church being consecrated in front of the image of the Savior, then the bishop performs all the prayers in the church (at this time the deacons hold ripids over them), and then walks around the church with them. Having reached the western gates of the temple, the choir performs the first two hymns that sound in the temple during the Sacraments of Consecration and Marriage:

"Holy martyrs, who suffered well and got married, praying to the Lord that our souls be saved" (twice).

"Glory to Thee, Christ God, praise of the apostles, rejoicing of the martyrs, their preaching of the Consubstantial Trinity."

After that, the singers enter the temple, and its doors are closed. The saint with the whole cathedral remains outside, puts the paten with holy relics on the table with four lighted candles in the corners and bows three times. Deacons hold ripids over the relics. The bishop puts on a miter and overshadows the clergy on both sides with dikirium and trikirium, then proclaims: "Blessed be Thou, Christ our God, always ..." Choir in the temple: "Amen." One of the most exalted and mysterious rites of our Church is performed. Just as at the Ascension of the Lord, when the heavenly gates were opened to Him, the Angels, seeing Him in human form, wondered who this King of Glory is, the bishop, having blessed the name of Christ God, as if from His face, calls out to the closed gates: "Take , gates, your princes (tops), and lift up the eternal gates, and the King of Glory will enter! From inside the closed temple, the choir answers him, as if from the depths of the sky: "Who is This King of Glory?" The bishop censes the paten with relics three times three times, as well as the Gospel, the Cross, icons and clergy on both sides.

And again the bishop cries out: "Take up, gates, your princes, and take up the eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter," and the choir again asks: "Who is this King of Glory?" The protodeacon proclaims: "Let us pray to the Lord." Singers: "Lord, have mercy." And the saint exclaims a prayer in which he prays to God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Incarnation of His Son, who gave us entrance into the Heavenly Triumphant Church, to contemplate the renewal (consecration) of this temple, built in the image of ourselves, that is, the living Church, members Body of Christ, and to establish it until the end of the age for offering in it worthy praise to the Most Holy Trinity. After the exclamation "For Thou art holy, our God...", the choir - "Amen", the bishop - "Peace to all", the protodeacon - "Bow down your heads to the Lord", the choir - "To you, Lord". The bishop secretly reads the entrance prayer, in which he prays that, along with the entrance of the clergy, the holy angels also enter the gates of the temple. And the bishop creates a sign and a cross in front of the gates of the temple with the holy relics laid on the diskos, and after the exclamation "For all glory befits Thee ..." he loudly exclaims in response to the earlier question: "Lord of Powers, He is the King of Glory!"

When the choir repeats these mysterious words inside the temple, the doors to the Lord of Forces open, and the saint proceeds to the altar, where he places the diskos on the throne. At the same time, the choir sings the troparion: “Like the magnificence of the heavens, and below you showed the beauty of the holy village of Thy Glory, O Lord…” The ark is placed on a column under the middle of the throne, the so-called base. The Holy Gospel is placed on the antimension. The bishop puts the particles of the holy relics, placed in a special bag, into the antimension and strengthens them with a wax paste, then incenses before them three times three times, and at this time the choir sings the troparion "Who is Thy martyr in all the world ...", "Glory, and now" - the kontakion "Like the first principles of nature ...", the small litany is pronounced, the protodeacon: "Let us pray to the Lord", the clergy: "Lord, have mercy", and the bishop reads a prayer in which he addresses God, who gave glory to the martyrs who suffered for Him so that their relics are sown throughout the earth in the foundation of temples, growing the fruits of healing, and through their prayers and in retribution for their suffering, may the Lord grant us salvation. The hierarch proclaims "As Yours is the Kingdom..." Priests - "Amen".

Upon the exclamation of the deacon, “Packs and packs, on bended knee, let us pray to the Lord!” the bishop kneels with all the people and prays to the Lord, the Creator of light, who has renewed us through His Son, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and who has been pleased from ancient times to renew His creation with the images of the New Testament in the Sinai tabernacle and the temple of Solomon, to look mercifully upon His servants in the new dwelling of His Glory and renew them with the Holy Spirit, to give the Orthodox victories, to the priests - peace and unanimity, to the pious builders of the temple - salvation and the remission of sins and spiritual gifts for worshiping the One God and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the prayers of the Mother of God and all the saints.

After this prayer, the litany continues: "Intercede, save, have mercy." At the end of it, the bishop, taking the Holy Cross and standing on the pulpit in the middle of the church, overshadows it three times on four sides: to the east, north, west and south. At the same time, the deacon incenses the Cross, and the choir sings: "Lord, have mercy," three times. The bishop pronounces the dismissal. Then everyone venerates the Holy Cross, and everyone is sprinkled. At this time, the singers sing for many years. After this, the reading of the hours begins, and then the first Liturgy is celebrated in the newly consecrated church. Services in it usually take seven days in a row.

The consecration, or "renewal," of the temple. A built temple can be a place for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy only after its consecration. The consecration of a temple is called “renovation,” because through consecration the temple becomes holy from an ordinary building, and therefore completely different, new. According to the rules of the Orthodox Church (IV Ecumenical Sob., 4th rights), the consecration of the temple must be performed by the bishop. If the bishop himself does not consecrate, then he sends the antimension consecrated by him to the newly created temple, where, after the establishment and consecration of the throne by the priest, the antimension is laid on him. This consecration of the temple - bishops and priests - is called great.

The existing ranks of the great consecration of the temple:

The temple is consecrated by the bishop himself At the same time, he also sanctifies the antimension. The rite is set out in a special book and in the Additional Ribbon (or in the Ribbon in 2 parts, part 2): "The rite of consecrating the temple from the bishop of the worker."

The bishop consecrates only the antimension. “An inquiry into how to consecrate the antimins to the bishop” is found in the “Officer of the Bishop’s Clergy”, as well as in the aforementioned “Order of the Consecration of the Temple from the Bishop of the Creator”.

The priest consecrates the temple, who received from the bishop a consecrated antimension for position in the temple. The rite of worship is found in the Big Trebnik, ch. 109: “The following is to put a consecrated antimension in a newly built church, given from the bishop to the archimandrite or abbot, or protopresbyter, or presbyter, chosen for this and skilled.”

Prayers and rites of temple consecration raise our eyes from temples made by hands to temples not made by hands, members of the spiritual body of the Church, which are all faithful Christians (2 Cor. 6:16). Therefore, during the consecration of the temple, something similar is done to what is done for the consecration of each person in the sacraments of baptism and chrismation.

The consecration of the temple, performed by the bishop, is the most solemn.

All-night vigil on the eve of the consecration of the temple. On the eve of the day of consecration, a small vespers and an all-night vigil are served in the newly created church. The service is performed for the renewal of the temple (stichera and canon) from the Big Breed Book in conjunction with the service of the temple, that is, the saint in whose name the temple was built. Both small vespers and vigil are sung before the altar with the royal doors closed.

Note.

The consecration of a temple should not be performed on the very day on which the memory of the saint or the event in whose name the church was built is celebrated, for the reason that the service of consecrating the temple should not be confused with the temple service in honor of the holiday. The consecration of the temple must be completed before the temple feast.

Temples in the name of the Resurrection of Christ are consecrated only on Sundays, because it is not appropriate to sing the Sunday service on simple (weekly) days.

The temple in the name of the Resurrection of Christ and the temples of the Lord, the Mother of God and the saints are not allowed to be consecrated on the Week (Sunday) of Forty, Pentecost, the Week of the forefathers, the father before R.H., in the Week after R.H. and after the Enlightenment, as well as on those Sundays , on which the feasts of the Lord, the Theotokos and polyeleos saints occur, “before (in these days) in stichera and in canons there is a great oppression.” For the same reason, the consecration of the temple to the saint (or saint) is not performed on all the feasts of the Lord, the Theotokos and polyeleos saints.

In Great Lent, the consecration of the temple (for the sake of fasting) is also not performed on weekly days.

Preparing for the consecration of the temple. On the eve of the day of consecration, relics are brought to the newly created temple. The holy relics are placed on a diskos under a star and a cover in front of the image of the Savior on a lectern, and a lamp is lit in front of them. A table is placed in front of the royal doors, on which the accessories of the throne are usually placed: the Holy Gospel, the honest cross, the holy. vessels, clothes on the throne and on the altar, nails, etc., and lighted candles are supplied at the four corners of the table. In the altar, closer to the mountainous place, a table is placed, covered with a veil, and holy Myrrh, church wine, rose water, a pod for anointing with Myrrh, sprinkles, stones for nailing are supplied on it.

On the very day of the consecration of the temple (before the ringing), the relics are carried with reverence to the nearby temple and placed on the throne. If there is no other church nearby, then the relics stand in the consecrated church in the same place near the local icon of the Savior. On the very day of the consecration of the temple, a prayer service is sung and a small consecration of water is performed, after which the clergy participating in the consecration of the temple put on all the sacred clothes, and on top of these clothes, for their protection, put on white protective zapons (aprons) and gird them. After vestment, the clergy bring in a table with prepared utensils through the royal doors and place it on the right side in the altar. The royal doors are closed, and the laity cannot be in the altar, in order to avoid crowding.

The rite of consecration of the temple includes:

arrangement of the throne (holy meal);

washing and anointing him;

the vestment of the throne and the altar;

consecration of the walls of the temple;

transfer and position under the throne and in the antimension of relics;

closing prayers, a brief litia and dismissal.

The device of the throne is done in this way. First of all, the bishop, having blessed his co-servants, sprinkles the pillars of the altar with holy water and waters its corners with boiling wax paste in the form of a cross, and the priests cool the wax paste with the breath of their lips. Wax, otherwise mastic (i.e., a composition of wax, mastic, crushed marble, dewy incense, aloe and other fragrant substances), serving together with nails as a means for attaching the board of the throne, at the same time marks the aromas with which the body was anointed Savior taken down from the Cross.

After a brief prayer that the Lord would grant the consecration of the temple without condemnation, the bishop sprinkles holy water on the upper board of the altar on both sides of it, and it rests on the altar pillars while singing (in chorus) the 144th and 22nd psalms. Then the bishop sprinkles four nails and, putting them into the corners of the altar, fixes the board on the altar pillars with stones, with the help of the clergy.

After the approval of the throne, for the first time the royal doors, which are still closed, are opened, and the bishop, facing the people, kneeling together with the faithful, reads a lengthy prayer at the royal doors, in which, like Solomon, he asks the Lord to send down the Most Holy Spirit and sanctify the temple and the altar this, so that the bloodless Sacrifices offered on it may be accepted into the heavenly altar and bring down upon us the grace of heavenly overshadowing from there.

After the prayer, the royal doors are closed again and the great litany is proclaimed, with petitions for the consecration of the temple and the altar attached. This ends the first part of the rite of the consecration of the temple - the arrangement of the holy meal.

Washing and Anointing of the Throne holy world. After approval, the throne is washed twice: the first time with warm water and soap, and the second time with rose water mixed with red wine. This and the other ablution is preceded by a secret prayer of the bishop over water and wine for the blessing of the Jordan and the grace of the Holy Spirit to be sent down on them for the consecration and completion of the altar. When washing the throne with water, the 83rd psalm is sung, and after washing the throne is wiped with towels. The secondary washing of the throne consists in the threefold cross-shaped pouring of red wine mixed with rose water (rhodostamnaya) on it. At each pouring of mixing, the bishop says the words of the 50th psalm: “Sprinkle me with hyssop and I will be cleansed: wash me and I will be whiter than snow,” and after the third pouring, the remaining verses are read until the end of the psalm. The priests grind the roodostamna, rubbing it with their hands on the upper board of the altar, then each priest wipes the “meal” with his lip.

After washing the meal, the bishop, with the blessing of the name of God, proceeds to the mystical anointing of it with holy chrism. First, he depicts the World with three crosses on the surface of the meal: one in the middle of the meal, and the other two - on both sides of it a little lower, designating those places where the Holy Gospel, paten and chalice should stand during the liturgy; then depicts three crosses on each side of the pillars of the throne and on the ribs; finally, on the antimension depicts three crosses with Holy Peace. At the same time, at each anointing, the deacon proclaims: “Let us listen,” and the bishop says three times: “Alleluia.” The choir at this time sings the 132nd psalm: "Behold what is good or what is red." After the chrismation of the throne, the bishop proclaims: “Glory to Thee, Holy Trinity, our God, forever and ever!”

Throne vestments. After being anointed with the World, the throne is clothed in clothes sprinkled with holy water. Since the throne marks the tomb of Christ and the Throne of the King of Heaven, then two clothes are laid on it: the lower one is “srachitsa” and the upper one is “inditiya”. Having put on the lower garment (“srachitsa”) on the throne, the clergy three times encircle the throne with a rope (rope) so that a cross is formed on each side of it. When girdling the throne, the 131st psalm is sung. After putting on the throne in underwear, the bishop proclaims: "Glory to our God forever and ever." Then the outer garment of the throne (inditiya) is consecrated, and the throne is clothed with it while singing the 92nd psalm: “The Lord reigns, clothed in splendor”, then they put on the throne after sprinkling with holy water the iliton, antimens, the Gospel, the cross and all this is covered with a veil.

Having rendered glory to God (“Blessed be our God…”), the bishop orders the elder presbyter to clothe, sprinkled with holy water, the altar in sacred garments, place consecrated vessels, covers on it, and cover them with a shroud. The altar is only a place for the preparation of the sacrifice, and not for its consecration, and therefore it is not consecrated like a throne. When the altar is dressed in clothes and when vessels and covers are placed on it, nothing is said, only holy water is sprinkled, and then everything on the altar is covered with a veil. The zapons from the bishop and priests are removed, and the royal doors open.

After the consecration of the throne, the whole temple is also consecrated by incense, prayer, sprinkling with holy water and chrismation of the walls. The bishop, after burning incense in the altar, goes out and incenses the whole church, preceded by the protodeacon with a candle, and the bishop is followed by two elder presbyters, one of whom sprinkles the walls of the church with holy water, and the other anoints them crosswise with Holy Myrrh, first over the high place, then over gates - western, southern and northern. During this circumambulation, the choir sings the 25th psalm (“Judge me, Lord, for I walk with my gentleness”), in which the royal prophet pours out his joy at the sight of the splendor of the house of the Lord.

After the return of the spiritual cathedral to the altar, a short litany is pronounced, and the bishop, having removed the miter, reads a prayer before the throne, in which he asks the Lord to fill the new temple and the altar of glory, holiness and splendor, so that a bloodless Sacrifice is offered in it for the salvation of all people, “for forgiveness voluntary and involuntary sins, for the management of life, for the correction of a good life, for the fulfillment of all righteousness. After this prayer, the bishop, at the bow of the head of those present, reads a secret prayer in which he thanks the Lord for the continuous outpouring of grace that descended to him from the apostles. After the exclamation, the bishop lights the first candle with his own hands and sets it on a high place near the throne, and until that time not a single candle was lit in the altar.

Transfer and position under the throne of holy relics after the consecration of the temple. From the church being consecrated there is a solemn procession to another church for the relics, if they were placed in the nearest church. If the holy relics were in the consecrated church, then the bishop, having distributed the Gospel, the cross, holy water and icons on the altar to the presbyters, and the candles on the pulpit to the laity, after the incense of the holy relics and litanies, raises the holy relics to the head, proclaiming: “In peace Let's leave, ”and they all go with crosses and banners around the whole temple while singing troparia in honor of the martyrs:“ Who is Thy martyr in all the world ”and“ Like the first principles of nature ”.

When the relics are being carried around the consecrated church, the troparion is sung: “Whoever built Your Church on the rock of faith, O blessed one.” During this procession, one of the priests, going forward, sprinkles the walls of the temple with holy water. If the terrain does not allow the relics to be carried around the temple, then they are carried around the throne.

Upon completion of the procession, when they come to the western gates of the temple, then the singers sing the troparia: “Holy Martyrs” (twice) and “Glory to Thee, Christ God” (once), and go to the temple, the western gates are closed behind the singers, and the bishop with priests remains outside in the narthex, puts the diskos with the relics on the prepared table, worships them, overshadows the priests standing with the Gospel and icons at the table in front of the doors, facing west, and after the exclamation: “Blessed be Thou, Christ our God”, exclaims "Take up the gates, your princes, and take up the eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter." The singers inside the temple sing, "Who is this King of glory?" The bishop, after incense of the shrine, again repeats these words and the singers again sing the same words. Then the bishop, having removed the miter, reads a prayer aloud, in which he asks the Lord to confirm the church being consecrated unwaveringly until the end of the age in order to bring worthy praise to the Most Holy Trinity in it. Then, at the head bow of all, he secretly reads the entrance prayer, which is read at the liturgy at the entrance with the Gospel.

After the prayer, the bishop, taking the diskos with the holy relics on his head, marks the gates of the temple with them in a cruciform manner and says in response to the inquiring choir: “The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.” The choir repeats these words. The temple opens, the bishop with the clergy enters the altar, while the singers of the troparion sing: “Like the firmament of splendor from above,” and lays the diskos with holy relics on the throne. Having rendered honor to the holy relics with veneration and incense, the bishop anoints them with holy chrism, and places them in an reliquary with wax-mask, as if at burial. This reliquary, with the blessing of the bishop, is supplied under the altar in the middle pillar as at the base of the altar.

After the position of the relics under the throne, the bishop, having anointed a particle of the relics with the Holy Myrrh, puts it in the antimension and strengthens it with wax. After reading the prayer: “Lord God, Izhe and this glory,” the bishop with kneeling reads a prayer for the founders of the temple (with kneeling and all the people). In these prayers, petitions are raised so that the Lord sends down on us the grace of the Holy Spirit, gives everyone unanimity and peace, and forgiveness of sins to the creators of the temple.

Closing prayers, brief litany and dismissal. After this prayer, a small litany is pronounced, after which the bishop with the clergy proceeds to the cloudy place (or to the saline). The protodeacon pronounces a short special litany. After the exclamation, the bishop overshadows those who come on all four sides three times with the cross, and the protodeacon on each side proclaims before the fall (standing before the bishop): “Let us pray to the Lord, with all the people,” and incense to the cross. The choir sings: "Lord, have mercy" (three times). This is followed by the usual prayers preceding the dismissal, and the dismissal, which the bishop pronounces on the pulpit with a cross in his hands. The protodeacon proclaims many years. The bishop sprinkles holy water on the temple (on all four sides), the clergy and the people.

After the consecration of the temple, the (3rd and 6th) hours are immediately read and the Divine Liturgy is performed.

In the newly consecrated church, the liturgy should be celebrated for seven days in a row for the sake of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who from now on always abides in the church (Simeon of Thessalonica). Newly consecrated antimensions must also remain on the throne in the temple for 7 days.

Archpriest Gennady Nefedov. MYSTERIES AND RITUALS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

Chapter: Chapter X

1. The history of the formation of the rank

Since ancient times, the Holy Church has established special sacred rites for the consecration of the newly created temple, in which the altar and the throne of the Living God are erected. The dedication of the temple to God and its consecration took place in the Old Testament period. Patriarch Jacob, after the appearance of the Lord to him, twice erected stone altars in His Name and consecrated them by pouring oil on them (Genesis 28:18; 35:14). Moses, having built by the will of God a tabernacle at Mount Sinai, solemnly consecrated it to God by means of a mystical consecration. And God revealed in her a visible sign of His presence and favor: “A cloud covered the tabernacle of the meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses could not enter the tabernacle of meeting, because a cloud overshadowed it” (Ex. 40, 9, 16, 34, 35). Solomon consecrated the temple of the Lord, built in place of the tabernacle in Jerusalem, with great splendor, and the feast of consecration lasted seven days in the presence of all the people (2 Chron. 7, 8-9). After the captivity of Babylon, "the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and others" consecrated "the house of God with joy" (Ezra 6:16). After the cleansing and consecration of the temple, defiled during the persecution of Antiochus, an annual seven-day celebration of the renewal of the temple was established. In the Old Testament Church, the consecration of the tabernacle and the temple was accomplished through the introduction into them of the Kivot of the Covenant, the singing of sacred songs, sacrifice, the pouring of sacrificial blood on the altar, anointing with oil, prayer and folk festival (Ex. 40; 1 Kings 8).

The ancient custom of consecrating the temples of God was inherited by the New Testament Church. The beginning of the consecration of proper Christian churches for worship is indicated by the Savior Himself, at whose command His disciples prepared in Jerusalem for the Last Supper “a large upper room, lined, ready” (Mark 14:15), and in a special upper room “in prayer and supplication” unanimously abided and received the Holy Spirit promised to them” (Acts 1, 13-14, 2, 1).

In times of persecution, Christians built churches in remote places, usually over the tombs of martyrs, with which churches were already consecrated. Mentions about the rites of consecration of temples are found in church writers of the 1st-3rd centuries. Because of the persecution of the persecutors and the danger of the destruction of temples, the rites of consecration were not performed as solemnly and openly as in subsequent centuries.

Having gone through a difficult three-century test, the Church finally triumphed and from the 4th century, in her outward attire, she achieved goodness as the bride of Christ. Church historian Eusebius writes: “After the end of the persecution of Christians, a touching sight opened up. Feasts of renewal and consecration of newly built churches began in the cities. On Mount Golgotha, Emperor Constantine founded a magnificent church of the Resurrection of Christ, for the consecration of which he invited in 335 the bishops, presbyters and deacons who were present at the Tire Cathedral. The celebration of consecration lasted seven days, on this occasion many Christians from different places gathered in Jerusalem. On the day appointed for the consecration of the newly created house of the Lord, the service began at sunset and lasted all night. The temple in Antioch, founded by Constantine and completed by his son Constantius, was consecrated by the fathers of the Council of Antioch in 341. Starting from the 4th century, the custom of the solemn consecration of churches spread throughout the Christian world.

The most important elements of the order of the consecration of the temple in the New Testament Church from ancient times to the present day are:

1) arrangement of a holy meal;

2) washing and anointing her;

3) dressing the meal;

4) anointing the walls with holy myrrh and sprinkling them with holy water;

5) putting the relics of the holy martyrs on the throne;

6) reading prayers and singing psalms.

The full rite of the great consecration of the newly built temple took shape no later than the 9th century. There is not always historical information about the time of the emergence of individual sacred actions and prayers that are part of the rank, since the beginning of its formation dates back to ancient times.

The rite of washing the throne is one of the most ancient. The cleansing of the temple of God and the altar was prescribed in the Old Testament (Lev. 16:16-20), it was performed by the ancient Jews through washing (Ex. 19:10; Lev. 13:6, 15; Numbers 19:7). In the early Christian Church, when the churches themselves did not differ in appearance from ordinary houses, the greatest Mystery of the Eucharist was celebrated on a simple table. The importance of the performed secret action required a preliminary cleansing sacred action - the washing of the throne - for the consecration of a true brush on it. Saint Chrysostom says: “We wash the church with our lips, so that in a pure church everything will be added” (4 moralizing on the last, to Ephesus).

Equally ancient is the rite of chrismation of the holy throne and the walls of the temple. God Himself instituted these sacred rites, commanding Moses to consecrate the altar in the tabernacle he built, all the accessories of the tabernacle and the tabernacle itself with “anointing oil” (Ex. 40, 9-10). The Christian Church, having assimilated some of the Old Testament rites, consistent with the spirit of the New Testament, preserved this rite unchanged during the consecration of the temple. The anointing of the holy throne with chrism is mentioned by Dionysius the Areopagite. Blessed Augustine, in one of his conversations on the consecration of the temple, says: “We are now celebrating the consecration of the throne, rejoicing with dignity and righteousness, we are celebrating a feast this day, on which the stone is blessed and anointed, on which the divine mysteries are performed for us” (Demon . 4). The expression "blessed and anointed is the stone" clearly indicates the chrismation of the holy throne, which at that time, as now in the West, was usually built of stone.

It is also known that during the consecration of temples, not only the throne, but also the walls of the temple were anointed with holy myrrh in ancient times. “The Church then becomes venerable,” writes Blessed Augustine, “when it has walls consecrated and anointed with holy myrrh.” Theophanes testifies that Athanasius the Great, during his stay in Jerusalem, performed the consecration of prayer houses there through prayers and anointing them with holy chrism.

In the early period of the existence of the Church, the rite of vestment of the holy throne also arose. The feeling of reverence for the holiness of the Eucharist prompted Christians to cover the throne with the lower altar cloth - “srachica”. Optatus of Milevitus, Bishop of Numidia (384), speaks of the universally accepted custom of covering the throne with a clean linen: “Which of the faithful does not know that the tree is covered with linen and that during the performance of the Sacraments themselves, you can only touch the cover, and not the tree?” Origen, who lived in the 3rd century, quotes about decorating the throne with precious outer clothing. According to the testimony of Blessed Theodoret, Constantine the Great, among other gifts, sent to the Jerusalem temple the royal veils for the holy throne. John Chrysostom has clear indications of the decoration of the holy thrones with expensive clothes. In one of the conversations, disapproving of those who only care about decorating temples and leave the deeds of mercy unattended, Chrysostom says: “What is the use of acquiring His (Jesus Christ) meal with golden-woven headdresses, and refusing Him (in the face of the poor) And in the right attire? Clothing Him in silk garments in the temple, do not despise Him outside the temple from the smoothness and nakedness of the afflicted” (Bes. 51 on Matt.).

Antimins (αντίμίσίον - “instead of the throne”) is a quadrangular linen or silk cloth, which depicts the position of Christ in the tomb; an image of the four evangelists is placed in the corners, and a particle of relics is sewn in on the top.

The use of antimensions dates back to the first centuries of Christianity, most likely to the times of persecution. Because of constant persecution, Christians could not have firm thrones consecrated by bishops in all prayer meetings, and the Apostolic Tradition forbade the presbyters to consecrate them. The antimensus replaced the episcopal consecration of the throne and in the early Church had the advantage over the solid throne in that it was easier to protect it from reproach and desecration of the infidels. In antiquity, according to Patriarch Manuel of Constantinople (1216), antimensions did not have to rely on consecrated thrones. “There is no need,” the patriarch wrote, “to put anti-minses on all thrones, but it is necessary to put them only on those about which it is not known whether they were consecrated or not; for antimensions take the place of consecrated thrones, therefore, there is no need to place them on such thrones, which are known to be consecrated. 304 On the thrones that received the grace of bishop's consecration, antimensions were not placed even in the time of Simeon of Thessalonica (Ch. 126). In Greek and in our ancient breviaries, it is also prescribed that the holy antimensions, after the consecration of churches, lie on the throne for only seven days, during which the Liturgy should be performed on them. After seven days, the antimensions were removed and the Liturgy was celebrated on one iliton.

The antimension has become a necessary attribute of any throne in the Russian Church since 1675, when at the Moscow Cathedral under Patriarch Joachim it was decided to put an antimension on the thrones consecrated by the bishop himself - only without holy relics. As can be seen from the ancient breviaries, the antimension relied under the upper garment of the throne and was sewn to the srachica, and the Gifts were consecrated on the iliton. Iliton is thus known from the earliest times of Christianity. St. Chrysostom mentions it in his Liturgy, indicating the time when it should be opened.305 In our days, according to the Rule of the Church, the Gifts are consecrated on an antimension, which is usually wrapped in an iliton.

The custom of placing the remains of the holy martyrs under the throne has existed in the Christian Church since ancient times. It was restored and forever approved by the Seventh Ecumenical Council after the times of iconoclasm, when holy relics were thrown out of churches and burned. Ambrose of Milan, in his letter to Marcellina, describing the uncovering of the relics of the holy martyrs Gervasius and Protasius, says the following about this custom: “This (Jesus Christ) on the altar - Who suffered for all, and those (martyrs) - under the altar redeemed by His blood."

In the era of persecution, altars, on which the sacrament of the bloodless sacrifice was performed, were placed mainly on the tombs of the martyrs. When the persecution ceased, the Christians, not wishing to forget their former calamities, began to build churches over the tombs of the holy martyrs. But since the tombs of the martyrs were not everywhere, and as the number of Christians increased, so did the number of churches, Christians began to bring sacred remains from distant places to their churches and place them under the holy throne.

The transfer of the remains of the holy martyrs and other saints of God has been honored by the Holy Church since ancient times with processions of the cross. Initially, the holy relics were solemnly transferred to new temples from their usual places of burial. Over time, the only repository of the holy remains was the holy temples, so already from the 6th century, the holy relics were transferred to the newly built temple from the nearest temples. In 558, during the consecration of the Church of the Holy Apostles, there was a procession from another church. Patriarch Mina rode in an imperial chariot, holding three arks with the relics of the holy apostles Andrew, Luke and Timothy.

The historical evidence of the sprinkling of holy water on the walls and accessories of the temple is first found in St. Gregory the Dialogist, although there is no doubt that this rite was established much earlier, because the use of holy water was known among Christians even before the time of St. Gregory - from the apostolic period.

If the consecration of churches dates back to the moment the Church itself arose, then just as long ago prayers were also used in the consecration of churches, since they are an indispensable attribute of any Christian worship. From the 4th century to our time, the prayer of Ambrose of Milan for the consecration of the temple has been preserved, similar to the current prayer, pronounced during the consecration of the temple after the establishment of the throne. Concerning other prayers pronounced in the rite of consecration of the temple, no historical traces have been preserved.

2. Scheme of the order of the consecration of the temple by the bishop

I. Affirmation of the holy meal

Sprinkling holy water on the pillars of the throne and wax

The libation of wax on the throne pillars

Sprinkling Holy Water on the Pillars of the Throne

Prayer: "Lord God the Savior ..."

Sprinkling Holy Water on the Throne Board

Placing the plaque on the pillars of the throne with the singing of Psalm 144

"Blessed be our God..."

Sprinkling holy water on nails and stones

The affirmation of the holy meal

"Packs and packs, on your knees..."

Kneeling prayer "God without beginning ..."

II. Washing and anointing with the Holy Peace of the meal

Great Litany

Secret prayer over the waters and wine Sprinkling with holy water at the roodostam Washing the throne with singing Psalm 83 Doxology

The libation of water and wine on the throne, the sprinkling of the antimension with the reading of verses from Psalm 50

Psalm 50 (end)

Rubbing the lip of the holy throne

"Blessed be our God..."

Anointing of the Throne and Antimension with Holy Chrism

Psalm 132

III. Vestments of the Throne and the Altar

Robe of the Throne with Psalm 131

Decoration of the throne with the singing of the 92nd psalm "Blessed is our God ..."

Vestments and decoration of the altar

Sprinkling the altar with holy water

Incense of the throne, the altar, the altar and the whole temple with the singing of Psalm 25

IV. Sprinkling with holy water and anointing the whole church with Peace

Sprinkling with holy water and anointing with myrrh of the inner walls of the temple "Glory" Small litany

Prayer "Lord of heaven and earth..."

Secret prayer "We thank Thee, Lord God of hosts..."

V. Procession with holy relics

Procession to another temple for the holy relics with the singing of the troparions “Who is thy martyr in the whole world ...” and “Like the first principles of nature ...”

Small Litany

"Lord have mercy"

"Thou art holy, our God...", Trisagion

Prayer: "O Lord our God, faithful in thy words..."

Secret prayer "O Lord our God..."

Incense of holy relics

Procession with holy relics with the singing of troparions “Whoever built Thy Church on the rock of faith, Blessed...”, etc. to the consecrated temple

Procession around the temple

Sprinkling with holy water and anointing with myrrh on the outer walls of the temple

Singing of the troparions “Holy Martyr...” (twice) and “Glory to Thee, Christ our God, praise to the apostles...” (once) in front of the great church gates

"Blessed art thou, O Christ our God, always, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages"

"Who is this King of glory?"

Incense of relics, icons, Gospel, Cross, clergy

"Take the gates of your princes..."

"Who is this King of glory?"

“Let us pray to the Lord”, “Lord, have mercy”

Prayer "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ..."

The secret prayer of the entrance "Lord, Lord, our God ..."

"The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory"

Entrance with the relics to the temple while singing the troparion “Like the highest, make the splendor, and below you showed the beauty of the Holy Village of Thy glory, Lord,” and the laying of the diskos with the relics on the throne

VI. The position of the holy relics under the throne and in the antimension

censing of relics

Anointing of relics with holy chrism

Laying under the throne of the ark with relics

The investment of relics in the antimension

Prayer: "Lord God, who is also this glory ..."

Small Litany

Prayer: “O Lord our God, who created creation with a single word ...” “Thou art holy ...”

Litany: "Have mercy on us, O God..."

Bishop's blessing with a cross on four sides

Longevity to the patriarch and sprinkling with holy water

3. The liturgical meaning of the sacred rites and prayers of the rite of consecration of the temple

The appearance of an Orthodox church topped with a dome, or dome, serves as an image of the human body, which is “the temple of the Living God” (2 Cor. 6:16). In addition, in its outward appearance, the temple is an image or icon of the mysterious spiritual body of the living Church, the members of which are the assembly of believers, and the head is Christ Himself.

According to the church charter, the Liturgy cannot be celebrated in an unconsecrated church. The consecration of the temple is not considered by the Church only as a way of expressing grateful feelings to God for the construction of the temple. This is a sacramental rite, the mysterious meaning of which is to communicate to the temple a special grace that transforms it from a simple building into the house of the Lord, the receptacle of the Incapacitated. The consecration of the temple is called "renovation" because it becomes holy, a place of manifestation of the glory of God. Secret actions are performed over him as over a person who is clothed in Christ through Baptism and Confirmation. Therefore, in the order of the consecration of the temple there are sacred rites and prayers that bring it closer to the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, as well as the Priesthood, for it is consecrated by the Church for the eternal service of the Lord. As in these Sacraments, in the rite of consecrating a temple, water, holy myrrh, and lamps are used; the clergy are dressed in white robes, circular censing is performed. Through sacraments and prayers, the temple, built by human hands from stone and wood, acquires the spirit of life in Eternity.

On the eve, for consecration in the newly created church, a small vespers and an all-night vigil are performed according to a special charter of the service for the renewal of churches. Since at the consecration of the temple there is always the sprinkling of holy water, before the consecration, a prayer service is first performed with the blessing of water, which is preceded by a chime, announcing to Christians about the upcoming joyful event.

In the order of the consecration of the temple, all sacred actions are performed mostly over the holy throne, and the order itself consists of three parts in its structure:

a) arrangements of the throne;

b) consecrating it and

c) the investment of holy relics under it. By the beginning of the consecration of the temple, the necessary preparations must be made. A table covered with a tablecloth is placed in front of the royal doors, a veil is laid over the tablecloth and the Holy Gospel, the Cross, holy vessels, vestments on the throne and the altar, nails to strengthen the throne and other accessories that will be used in the performance of the rites are placed. Another table is placed in the altar at the high place, holy myrrh, church wine, rose water in glass vessels, sprinkler, four stones for hammering nails are supplied to it.

After the consecration of water is completed, the bishop and other clergy participating in the consecration of the temple are dressed in sacred clothes, over which they put on a white tunic (a special srachitsa - “zapon”). The bishop goes through the royal doors to the altar, and after him the clergy bring in a table on which lie the Cross, the Gospel, vessels, and everything necessary for consecration.

The dispensation of the throne takes place with the royal gates closed. In the very sanctuary of the Christian temple - the altar - the throne is the most holy place, it is the true tomb of our Savior and at the same time the true throne of Him - the King of Heaven. According to ancient custom, it is arranged in the middle of the altar on four approved pillars, which, according to the interpretation of Simeon of Thessalonica, signify the prophets and apostles, "having Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone" (Eph. 2, 20). The holy meal is four-sided, because all the ends of the earth are fed from it.

The bishop sprinkles holy water on the four pillars placed at the base of the altar according to the four cardinal directions. Then, going around the pillars, he pours wax paste crosswise on each of them - fragrant mastic for attaching the upper board to the corners of the throne, which is a symbol of that precious ointment with which Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea anointed the body of the Savior taken down from the cross (John 19, 39-40 ). After a short prayer, in which the bishop prays that the Lord, the Creator and Builder of our salvation, would grant to consecrate the new temple without condemnation, the clergymen place the plaque on the altar pillars. Previously, the bishop sprinkles it on both sides with holy water. All the priests present at the altar sing Psalm 144 “I will exalt Thee, my God, my King, and I will bless Your Name forever and ever and ever”, praising the greatness of the King of Heaven, Whom the throne is arranged.

After the exclamation of the bishop, “Blessed is our God,” psalm 22 is sung, which mentions the prophet’s contemplation, through the shade and the Old Testament rites, of the New Testament cup of salvation, which is being prepared on the altar being built to the glory of the Lord. After that, the bishop once again says: "Blessed is our God," the clergy say: "Amen." The bishop sprinkles four nails and puts them into the prepared holes in the board of the throne. With four stones, with the help of the clergy, the bishop nailed the board to the pillars of the throne, affirming the holy meal. This action marks the nailing of our Lord Jesus Christ with four nails to the cross. The affirmation of the throne spiritually means the indwelling of the Lord and Shepherd among the faithful, for their sanctification.

The royal doors, previously closed from the eyes of the uninitiated, are opened so that the faithful can see the beginning of the construction of the temple. The saint, turning to face them, for they themselves form the already consecrated Church, and kneeling with them, reads a lengthy prayer of the temple building, composed in part from the words of Solomon on the foundation of the temple of Jerusalem by him. He humbly prays to the King of Heaven, who lives in unapproachable light, who has heaven as his throne and the earth as his foot, who gave the command and the mark for the creation of the tabernacle, which was the image of truth, who erected the ancient temple under Solomon, who renewed the service in spirit and truth under the holy apostles, and in that who planted His Saints Churches all over the earth, asking God for the foundation of a newly created temple, for its fulfillment with everlasting light, for its election to the place of the settlement of His glory, to the haven of the overwhelmed, to the healing of passions; he prays that the New Testament altar will be glorified more than the Old Testament one; so that the Bloodless Sacrifices, ascending from it to the mental Altar of Heaven, would bring us grace from above, for we dare not to serve our hands, but to the inexpressible goodness of God.

All the people pray together with the bishop. At the end of the prayer, the bishop rises from his knees and goes to the altar to the holy meal, the royal doors are closed. After the great litany with additional petitions for a church, the saint proceeds to the consecration of the arranged altar. Having blessed in secret prayer the warm water brought to him, asking for Jordan’s blessing on it and pouring it three times at the meal, the bishop, as in the Sacrament of Baptism, says: “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen". Then, together with the clergy, the bishop wipes the meal with towels while singing Psalm 83 "If Thy village is beloved, Lord of hosts." The washing of the throne by the power and action of the Holy Spirit acquires the meaning of grace-filled sanctification. As Simeon of Thessalonica says, it "is in two ways": sensual and rational, "may the meal be clean after being washed, and sanctified with water, receiving cleansing by the Holy Spirit" (ch. 107).

The subsequent second washing of the throne has only a mysterious meaning. On the sanctified throne, the Calvary sacrifice must be renewed. Wine, mixed with rose water and poured crosswise by the bishop at the meal, forms the all-sanctifying blood of the God-man, which flowed from His most pure rib along with water (John 19:34) and watered Golgotha - the archetypal altar.

The same sacred rites are performed over the antimension as over the altar; therefore, the consecration of the antimension by the bishop replaces the consecration of the throne. Antimensions, made of matter, are not washed completely, but only sprinkled on them for fear of damaging the sacred image imprinted on them. At every sprinkling, the bishop pronounces the following verses from Psalm 50: “Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I’ll be cleansed; wash me, and I’ll be whiter than snow,” and having finished sprinkling antimensions, he reads Psalm 50: “Give joy and gladness to my hearing, the bones of the humble will rejoice.” » - and further to the end. Then lips are brought, and the bishop, together with the clergy, wipes the throne with them.

After washing, the throne is anointed with chrism. Confirmation, according to Dionysius the Areopagite, constitutes the beginning, essence, and consummatory power in the rite of consecration of the throne. The fragrant composition of the world contains the life-giving fragrance of spiritual gifts - through the mysterious anointing of the throne with holy myrrh, the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit overshadows and sanctifies it.

The bishop proceeds to anoint the meal with holy chrism after the exclamation: “Blessed be our God, always, now, and forever, and forever and ever,” the priests say in response: “Amen.” The mysterious seal of chrismation is placed in three places on the surface of the meal (as well as on the antimension, if it is consecrated together with the throne), exactly where the Gospel, paten and chalice should stand during the Liturgy; he also relies on the pillars of the throne, in the middle and on the ribs, so that it can be sanctified from everywhere. At each cruciform anointing performed by the bishop, the deacon, signifying the importance of the action being performed, proclaims: “Let us attend,” and the saint exclaims: “Alleluia” (thrice), expressing praise and thanksgiving to God for spiritual anointing. The choir sings Psalm 132: “Behold, what is good, or what is red, but let the brethren live together; like a chrism on the head that descends on the beard, the beard of Aaron.” Then the bishop says: "Glory to Thee, Holy Trinity, our God, forever and ever," the priests say: "Amen." The antimension temporarily relies on a dish.

As after baptism and chrismation a person is clothed in white clothes, so the throne is clothed after washing it and anointing it with holy chrism. In accordance with the dual meaning of the holy meal (the coffin and the throne), a double garment is laid on her: the lower, white, in commemoration of the shroud with which the body of the buried Savior was entwined (Mark 15:46), and the upper, precious, depicting the garments of His everlasting glory .

The lower garment - a srachica, sprinkled with holy water and laid on the throne, is girded three times with a rope, signifying the bonds in which the Lord was taken to the high priests Anna and Caiaphas (John 18, 24). The throne is girded in such a way that a cross of rope is formed on each side of it, for the cross is both the instrument by which the Sufferer was brought down to the tomb, and at the same time the Ladder, which elevated Him, as the God-man, to the height of heavenly glory. At the time when the bishop and priests are performing these sacred rites, the choir sings Psalm 131 “Remember, Lord, David and all his meekness,” in which David’s pious zeal for building the temple of God is praised. On top of the lower garment they lay the upper garment of the throne - the indium, which marks the presbyter's robe, depicting with its brilliance the radiance of the glory of God. During the solemn singing of the 92nd psalm: “The Lord reigns, clothed in splendor”, praising the Lord, clothed in majesty and power, an antimension is placed on the throne in a lithon as in grave wraps, or a sudara (bandage), which was entwined in the tomb catch of Jesus Christ. The antimension is the image of the tomb of Christ or the shroud in which the body of Christ was laid. Then, on the newly consecrated throne, the Cross is also placed, as the instrument of our salvation, and the Gospel, as the word and image of Jesus Christ Himself. Then the throne is covered with a veil as a sign that the mysteries performed on it, as well as those that will henceforth be performed on it, are hidden from the eyes of a person and incomprehensible to his mind.

After the arrangement and consecration of the throne, the altar is also clothed. It is intended for the preparation of the Gifts for the mystical consecration and forms, according to the explanation of Herman and Simeon of Thessalonica, the nativity scene in which the Savior was born, and Golgotha, the place of the Lord's suffering, because during the proskomedia, circumstances are reproduced (remembered) on the altar, associated with the birth and suffering of the Savior. But the altar is not sanctified like a throne, for it is the place of the preparation of the Sacrifice, and not of its terrible fulfillment. The clothes in which the altar is put on are sprinkled with holy water, sacred vessels are placed on it, after which it is covered with a veil.

After the arrangement of the altar, the bishop takes off his white tunic, and the clergymen also take off their ties after him. The royal doors open, and the bishop burns incense around the altar, then the altar and the whole altar. The altar is filled with incense, the clouds of which signify the grace of the Holy Spirit, which once hovered in the form of a cloud over the Old Testament sanctuary (Ex. 40, 34; 1 Kings 8, 10), and now invisibly overshadows and covers the holy throne. Then the bishop censes the whole temple as a sign that the same omnipotent grace, which is communicated to the temple, is also served to the whole universe. During the incense, the choir sings Psalm 25, which says that only the holiness of deeds and pure service to the Lord can make the voice of praise audible and proclaim all His wonders. Of the two senior presbyters accompanying the bishop during incense from the church, one sprinkles the walls of the church with holy water, and the other anoints the four walls of the church with holy myrrh crosswise, starting from the high place in the altar and further over the western, southern and northern gates. According to Simeon of Thessalonica, the chrismation of the temple is performed as a sign that the Lord, through the perception of the flesh, sanctified our entire nature with Divine grace, which after Him the apostles passed on to the whole world.

After the deacon pronounces a small litany, the bishop, removing the miter and turning his face not to the people, as before, but to the throne, reads the prayer: “Lord of heaven and earth,” which completes the consecration of the temple. In it, the saint asks the Lord, who founded the Holy Church and established on earth the rank of priesthood in the image of angelic service in heaven, the fulfillment of the glory of the Lord to the new temple and the altar, and to those who serve in it - the uncondemned offering of a bloodless Sacrifice for the sins of people. When all the faithful, at the exclamation of the deacon, bow their heads, the saint reads the secret prayer: “We thank Thee, Lord God of hosts,” in which he thanks the Lord for the continuous outpouring of grace that descended to him from the apostles, and prays to Him that on the consecrated altar a great Mystery took place for the salvation of all people.

After this prayer, proclaiming the glory of the Name of the Holy Trinity, the hierarch, as a sign of spiritual enlightenment, as at Baptism, kindles a lamp from the censer for the first time in the new temple and places it on a high place, near the throne in honor of the meal, because it has become the altar of Christ and now forms the Church of Christ, shining with the light of grace and giving light to the world.

After the consecration of the temple, the procession begins to another temple for the holy relics. An altar (throne) was built for God, but it was not approved until the imperishable particles of holy relics were placed at its foundation, for the Ecumenical Church was established on the bones of the martyrs and the first Christian sanctuaries were created over their graves. The transfer of holy relics from another temple means that the grace of consecration passes and is taught through ancient temples. This rite is performed, in addition, so that the new temple is protected by the shield of prayers of the previously built temple.

The bishop distributes the Gospel, the Cross and icons to the presbyters in the altar, to the laity - candles and banners on the pulpit and, taking the staff, proclaims: “We will leave in peace”, opening the solemn procession from the church. The choir sings troparia in honor of the martyrs: “Who is thy martyr in all the world” and “Like the first principles of nature.”

In the nearest temple, the holy relics were prepared and the diskos, on which they lie, was placed on the throne. The bishop enters the altar without a staff, venerates the holy relics and overshadows those who come. The protodeacon in front of the royal doors pronounces a small litany, the priests standing outside the altar sing: "Lord, have mercy." Standing before the holy throne, the bishop exclaims: "Thou art holy, our God." Then they sing Tris-vyatoe. The bishop pronounces the prayer: “Lord, our God, faithful in Thy words,” in which he asks the Lord, who granted the holy martyrs to strive for good deeds, preserving the faith of true confession, so that He would give His unworthy servants a share in the inheritance with the martyrs and made worthy imitators of their exploits. Then the saint reads a secret prayer for the affirmation of the newly consecrated church.

Then he incenses the holy relics, raises the diskos with the relics and carries it on his head, supporting it with both hands, accompanied by the whole cathedral, he goes with the procession to the newly consecrated church. The choir sings troparia about the creation and establishment of the Church by the Savior: “Whoever built Your Church on the rock of faith, Blessed,” “Holy Martyr,” and so on. Having reached the newly consecrated church, they solemnly walk around it, as a baptized and anointed one walks around the font. This circular procession marks the dedication of the temple to God and the entrustment to his intercession and prayers of that saint whose relics are carried by the bishop. During the procession of the cross around the temple, one of the presbyters sprinkles the outer walls of the temple with holy water, like the Old Testament sprinkling (Heb. 9, 19-22), and the other priest anoints them with holy myrrh.

If there is no other church nearby near the church being consecrated, then the holy relics, placed in the evening in the church being consecrated on a lectern in front of the image of the Savior at the royal gates, remain there until the beginning of the procession. When the time comes to go for the relics, the bishop comes out through the royal doors, stands in front of the relics on the eagle and, having prayed, overshadows the co-servants. Then he takes a censer and censes the holy relics “three times three times” (that is, three times and each time three times). The chanters sing the troparion: "He is a martyr in the whole world" and the kontakion: "Like the first principles of nature." This is followed by a litany and the prayers mentioned above, after which the bishop takes the holy relics on his head, and the procession begins.

After the procession, the procession stops in front of the western gates of the temple. The bishop removes the diskos from his head and places it on the table in front of the church gates, while the chanters go inside the temple and close the doors behind them. The following then sacred rites and prayers reproduce (mark) the event that took place when the Son of God and the Eternal God, incarnated in human flesh, ascended from us to heaven. How then the heavenly powers were commanded to open the vaults of the heavenly temple before the King of glory, the Son of God, the Lord of Heaven and earth, and the heavenly Powers, seeing their Lord in human form, asked in horror and bewilderment: “Who is this King of glory?”310 - the same thing is happening now here. The bishop, standing in front of the holy relics, on which, like on a cherubic chariot, the glory of the Crucified Christ rests, on behalf of Himself - the King of glory, calls out to the closed gates: “Take the gate, princes of yours, and take the eternal gate, and the King of glory will enter” . From the closed temple, as from the depths of the sky, a voice quietly asks: “Who is this King of glory?” With the words of Psalm 23, the Church inspires that the temple of God is heaven on earth and the procession to the temple is an image of the ascension of the King and the faithful with Him into heaven itself.

The protodeacon says: "Let us pray to the Lord", the choir answers: "Lord, have mercy." The bishop reads the prayer “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”, in which he asks the Lord to confirm the consecrated temple unshakable until the end of time, and then reads the secret entrance prayer: “Vladyka, Lord our God”, which is read at the entrance with the Gospel at the Liturgy.

Taking the paten with holy relics, the bishop makes a cross for them in front of the gates of the temple, and in response to those who ask: “Who is this King of glory?” - loudly exclaims: "The Lord of hosts, the same is the King of glory." The same words are sung by the choir. The gates of the temple are opened and the bishop, having raised the diskos with the relics on his head, goes along with the clergy to the altar, where he places the relics on the holy throne. After worshiping them and chanting before them, the bishop will anoint them with holy ointment as a sign of the close union of the martyrs with Christ - the true Peace, then he will put them in an antimension, in a special small reliquary, like in a coffin. The reliquary is covered with fragrant mastic and placed under the middle of the altar on a column, as a base, because the relics are indeed the foundation, and without them the sacred rites of the Liturgy cannot be performed. The investing of relics in the anti-mins and placing under the throne is performed in accordance with the words of John the Theologian, who in revelation in heaven saw an altar in front of God's face and under it "the souls of those who were slain for the word of God and for the testimony that they had" (Rev. 6, 9). Thus, the saints, being participants in the death of the Savior, become participants in the glory of the Lord (Rom. 6:5). The Holy Church on earth repeats this heavenly vision.

The mysterious rite of consecration of the temple ends with two kneeling prayers, in the first of which the saint asks for the founders of the temple, making a prayerful call to God so that, through the prayers of the martyrs, He would grant us salvation. In the second prayer, in which, as in the first, the people, together with the bishop, kneel before the Lord, contains petitions for the granting of victories, peace, unanimity to the priests, salvation and forgiveness of sins for the pious builders of the temple.

So once Solomon, having built a magnificent temple to the God of Israel on the heights of Jerusalem, with the Levites and priests ascended Mount Zion, to the city of his father. There, from the ancient desert tabernacle, they raised the Ark of the Covenant, arranged by Moses, and while singing the psalms of David, which foreshadowed this spiritual triumph, with the offering of countless sacrifices, they brought in an impregnable shrine, a pledge of God's covenant with Israel. And suddenly the whole temple was filled with a cloud of the glory of the Lord, unbearable for the Levites themselves, so that they left their sacrifices, and Solomon called before all the people to the God of his fathers (1 Kings 8, 1-64). on the ambo and at the pronouncement of many years, the patriarch is overshadowed by the Life-Giving Cross in all four directions of the world. According to ancient custom, it is customary in a newly consecrated temple to perform seven days of uninterrupted divine service. “I think,” says St. Gregory the Theologian, “that in honor of the number of seven, for seven days after consecration, the priest exercises in uninterrupted worship (Ex. 29:35), the leper is cleansed (Lev. 13:50) and the temple is consecrated (2 Chron. 7, 9) ”(Word for Pentecost).

5. Small consecration of the temple

The hierarchical and priestly rites of consecration are called the "great consecration" of the temple. This consecration is performed not only over a newly built temple, but also in those cases when, for any reason, the throne is damaged or moved.

If the throne was not moved from its place or damaged, however, the inviolability and sanctity of the throne were somehow violated, then, with the blessing of the bishop, there is a special renovation of the church with prayer and sprinkling with holy water so that, according to the Moscow Metropolitan Cyprian, "offensive service in the temple" was performed. This renewal of the temple is called the "small consecration" of the temple.

The small consecration of the temple is performed, firstly, in the event that an unconsecrated person touches the throne, its sacred utensils and clothes (for example, in case of a threat of fire or other disaster). In the Old Testament, Nadab and Abihu were punished with death for having put wonderful fire into their censers (Lev. 10:1). Uzzah was smitten with death for touching the Kivot of the Covenant (2 Kings 6:6-7). As in the Old Testament Church, only the elect can touch the throne in an Orthodox church (Lev. 10:3).

At a small consecration, they usually perform prayer singing to the saint in whose name the temple was built, i.e. the canon of the temple feast is sung. Prayer is performed in the middle of the temple. After the small consecration of the water, two “prayers for the renewal of the temple” are read (Trebn. Bolshoy, ch. 93), accepted as a small consecration of the temple from the Patriarch Kallistos of Constantinople, who lived in the last half of the 14th century. The first of these prayers, “Lord, our God,” is the same one that is read during the initial consecration of the temple.

Secondly, a small consecration of the temple is performed after the desecration of the temple from heretics and pagans. If, in general, an uninitiated person is not allowed, according to the charter of the Church, to enter the altar and especially to touch the shrine of the altar, then the shrine is all the more defiled by the touch of heretics and pagans (Numbers 3, 10, Ps. 78, 1), when they forcibly take possession of the temple, trample it feet, touch its utensils, or perform their service in it. In this case, during the consecration of the temple, special prayers are read "for the opening of the temple",309 namely the prayer "for the rejection of the church, which has been defiled by heretics" (Great Treb., ch. 41) and the prayer "for the rejection of the temple, defiled by tongues, yet and from heretics” (Bolshoy Trebn., ch. 41). The rite of consecrating churches from desecration by heretics and pagans was compiled by the holy fathers Nikephoros the Confessor and Tarasius, patriarchs of Constantinople in the 8th century, champions of Orthodoxy against iconoclasts.

Thirdly, a small consecration of the temple occurs after its defilement by the violent death of a person in it or human blood, the birth or death of an animal in it, according to the law of Moses, unclean and non-sacrificial. For death is a consequence of sin, and birth, as a conductor of sin, is unclean and defiling (Numbers 19, Lev. 12). The Big Ribbon contains a special prayer (ch. 42) “for the opening of the temple, in it it will happen that a person will die in need” (ie, a violent or sudden death). The same prayer is read, as stated in the Ribbon, when "the church is defiled by the death or the birth of an animal in it." About this prayer in the Ribbon it is said that it "is spoken at the entrance before the usual", i.e. is pronounced at the entrance to the temple before prayers, usually pronounced by the priest at the entrance to the temple before the celebration of the Liturgy.

The Holy Church considers any desecration of the temple to be a punishment for our sins, and therefore, when the temple is being renovated, it asks for mercy on us and renew our spirit.

6. Consecration of temple accessories

At the great and small consecration of the temple, all the accessories of the temple are also consecrated. When new or renewed church things and accessories come to the temple, there is a special consecration of them. The Supplementary Ribbon outlines the rites for the consecration of service vessels - all together or separately - diskos, bowls, stars, spoons, covers, as well as a kivot for the Holy Gifts, iliton, inditia, priestly robes, the Cross, icons of the Holy Trinity, Christ the Savior, the Virgin, feasts of saints, church vessels - censers, anaphora dishes, a casket for relics, etc.

Consecration takes place in the temple. A covered table is supplied in front of the church gates, on which objects intended for consecration are relied. A priest in an epitrachelion and a phelonion exits the altar through the royal gates with a censer. Having doused the cross-shaped things, he begins with the exclamation “Blessed be our God”, then he reads “O Heavenly King”, the Trisagion according to “Our Father”, “Lord, have mercy” (12 times), “Glory, and now”, “Come, let us worship” (thrice), and at the consecration of each kind of things, special secret prayers and the corresponding psalms are read.

As stated in the Ribbon of the Kyiv Metropolitan Peter Mohyla, the consecration of the Cross and icons is done by "prayer, sprinkling of holy water, worship and kissing." During the consecration of the Cross, prayers are said in which the Church, calling the life-giving Cross the tree of life, thanks God that instead of the tree of disobedience, by eating from which the all-evil serpent expelled our forefathers from paradise and with them the whole human race subjected to death, he gave His Church the sign of the life-giving Cross, on which the Only Begotten Son of God, nailed, died and trampled down death with death, - with an invincible weapon, sanctification, cover and affirmation in faith, and asks you to graciously look at this sign of the cross, bless and sanctify it and fulfill the powers and blessings of the tree on which it is nailed was the pure body of the Lord. With the blessing and consecration of the icons of the Lord, a prayer is offered to the Lord, who once forbade Himself to create images and likenesses for the deliverance of the chosen Israel from the charm of idolatry and for a relentless stay in the knowledge and service of the true God and commanded to build in the tabernacle and temple Solomon's likenesses and images of cherubim and honor them with worship censing and prayer, and later sent His Only Begotten Son, Who, having taken the form of a servant and being in the likeness of a human, depicted the likeness of His most pure image miraculously and sent it to Abgar, the king of Edessa, to bless and sanctify the icons of the Lord and give them healing power and fulfill them blessings and fortresses of the Image Not Made by Hands.

With the blessing and consecration of the icons of the Mother of God, a prayer is read to the Lord, who was incarnated from the Ever-Virgin Mary and by His birth from Her made her an intercessor, helper and prayer book for all the faithful, for the blessing and consecration of Her icon in honor and memory of Her and giving her the strength and strength of miraculous action.

With the blessing of the icons of the saints, a prayer is said for the blessing of the images in honor and memory of the holy friends of God, addressed to the Lord, who commanded in ancient times to create the likeness of cherubim and now the images and likeness of the saints, so that the faithful, looking at them, glorify God, who glorified them, and strive to imitate the life and their deeds, - the Lord, who created man in His image and likeness, by disobeying the primordial corrupted, and by the incarnation of Christ, who took the form of a slave, renewed him (man) and brought him (man) into the first property in His saints, whose images we piously honor, saints, who are the image and likeness of God, and honoring the saints, we also honor God as the Antitype.

According to the order of the consecration of the Cross, psalms 131, 59, 98 are read; during the consecration of the icon of the Holy Trinity, 66 psalms are read, the icons of the Savior - 88, the icons of the Virgin - 44, the icons of the saints - 138. When consecrating the vessels, it is prescribed to read psalm 22, the kivot - 131, the iliton - 110, priestly robes - 132, inditi - 92, church vessels - 25. After reading the psalms, "Glory" is pronounced, and now, "Alleluia" (three times).

Then the priest sprinkles each of the consecrated objects with holy water, saying at the same time: “This (name of the object) is consecrated (this) by the grace of the Most Holy Spirit, by sprinkling this water sanctified in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.” After that, during the consecration of the icons, troparia and kontakia are sung in honor of the one depicted on the icon (holiday or saint) and there is a dismissal.

Prayers are not required at the consecration of the Gospel, for it is holy as the Word of God. However, the newly made or renewed salary (binding) to it is consecrated according to the order of consecrating the icons of the Savior and the saints.

For the consecration of the srachica to the throne and girdling it with a new rope, there is no special rank. The new srachica is consecrated according to the order of the consecration of the indium, with the difference, however, that it is not psalm 92 “The Lord reigns, clothed with beauty”, laid down at the consecration of the indium, but 131 “Remember, Lord, David, and all his meekness”, which sung when putting on the srachica on the throne during the consecration of the entire temple. The dressing of the throne in a new srachica is accompanied by a simple girdling of its rope, as indicated during the consecration of the temple by a priest, and not by cruciform tying, even if earlier, during the episcopal consecration of the temple, the throne had been wrapped around the rope crosswise. The dressing of the throne in a new srachica can be done only with the blessing of the bishop.

7. The history of the rites of the small consecration of the temple and its accessories in the Russian Church

Our ancient Russian liturgical practice knew several successions of minor consecration of churches. The number of such rites according to the Old Russian Ribbons exceeds the listed number of ranks of the "small" consecration of the temples of the modern Trebnik. These rites are as follows: “The charter of the shaken holy meal”, “The order for the opening of the church from the defiled heretic”, the rites and prayers for the opening of the temple “in it, if a person dies a needy death” or “an unclean animal must die or give birth” and, finally , "the rite for the consecration of the temple when the dog jumps up." The marked rites and prayers are included in the composition of Trebniks of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The charter that happens about the shaken holy meal

During the repair and renewal of the temple, when the throne is damaged or moved from its place, the full consecration of the temple is required according to the order of “great consecration”. But the ancient Russian liturgical practice of the 16th century required only a certain part of the great consecration, concerning the actual establishment of the holy meal. In the 17th century, the early printed Breviaries (Filaret, 1624-1633, Joasaph 1639 and Joseph 1651) carried out a new view and said that “the rite of the shaken holy meal” should be used only in cases where it was possible to make the necessary amendments to the throne without removing clothes off him." The rite itself was to be preceded by a prayer service to the saint of the temple, combined with a small consecration of water. In the newly corrected Nikon Trebnik of 1658, this rank was not included. Instead of it, two prayers "For the renovation of God's temple" were printed (Big Book of Treaties, ch. 93).

Chin in the rejection of the church from the defiled heretic

Handwritten. The 16th-century breviaries point to this incident with several prayers taken from the Greek Euchologies: the first - by Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople, the second - by Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople. They joined the small consecration of water, after which the sprinkling of the altar and the entire temple took place. In the Ribbon of Metropolitan Peter Mohyla, this rite is rather complicated. It is inscribed with the name of Nicephorus the Confessor, but it can also be considered a product of the liturgical creativity of Peter Mohyla. Under the conditions of the historical life of the southwestern Church of the 17th century, this rite was widely used, but was not included in the additional Kiev Trebnik.

To answer these questions, we should start with the most obvious, it would seem... Any first-grader will tell us that an Orthodox church is a place where people pray to God.

The Lord granted us to live in those times when the domes of churches can be seen in every district of the city, especially in the center, and moreover, the entrance to these churches is free for everyone. “But wait,” some will object to us, “is it really necessary: to go to church, to stand among the crowd that crowds you and at certain moments ask everyone for the same thing? I’m calmer at home, sometimes I’ll light a candle there in front of the icon, pray in my own words about one thing, about another - God will hear me anyway ... ”.

Yes, quite right, the Lord hears everyone who calls on Him in truth, as the words of the Apostles say, but there is a huge difference between these two things.

The Monk Joseph Volotsky in his work “The Illuminator” writes: “It is possible to pray at home - but to pray as in a church, where there are many fathers, where singing is unanimously exalted to God, where there is unanimity, and consent, and the union of love, is impossible.

At this time, O beloved, not only people cry out with a trembling voice, but also angels fall down to the Lord, and archangels pray ... And Peter was delivered from prison by a prayer: “Meanwhile the church prayed diligently to God for him” (Acts 12, 5). If church prayer helped Peter, how can you not believe in its power, and what answer do you hope to receive?

Therefore, the temple is a place of special presence of God. Yes, we are talking about the Creator in prayer to the Holy Spirit, that He “abides everywhere and fills everything with Himself” (“... who is everywhere and fills everything ...”), however, it is obvious that His presence in the hypermarket, where distracting music is constantly playing, tangibly different from the presence in the temple, where a great praise is performed to Him.

“Let Your eyes be open to this temple this day and night, to this place, about which You said:“ My name will be there, ”King Solomon once prayed, having built the Lord’s first temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:29). The same words are pronounced aloud by the bishop during the rite of the great consecration of the temple. During this sacrament, something very reminiscent of the holy Mysteries performed by God over man takes place.

The gates of the altar are closed and not a single candle in the temple is still burning. The clergy prepare the altar behind the Royal Doors and, just as nails were driven into the hands and feet of Christ, so they drive them into the four corners of the altar, pouring after that a fragrant composition that quickly hardens in the air.

The future throne is washed with water and wine, consecrated by the prayer of the bishop, mixed with incense, as a sign of memory that from the Wound of Christ, when He was pierced on the Cross by the centurion Longinus, Blood and water flowed ...

The throne is anointed with chrism - the same chrism through which the Holy Spirit descends on all Christians immediately after Baptism. The acquisition of the Holy Spirit, according to the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov, is the goal of the Christian life. Such chrismation is performed in the future also over the walls of the temple. It is surprising that myrrh, prepared exclusively for the performance of the Sacrament over a person, is used here, consecrating inanimate objects. It is this sacrament that gives rise to that inexpressible difference between an ordinary building and a temple, the house of the Almighty Lord. Thanks to him, even churches that are dilapidated and defiled by years of atheism retain this atmosphere of prayer that was once performed in it ...

An important point is that a piece of the martyr's relics is necessarily laid at the foundation of the throne. This is continuity from antiquity: for the first three centuries after the Nativity of the Savior, being persecuted, Christians performed their most important sacred act - the Divine Liturgy - in catacombs, underground burials.

And they certainly did this over the tombs of those who, with their lives, even before death, testified about the incarnate Savior that He conquered death. After all, this is how the word martyr was originally translated from the ancient Greek language - a witness.

The logic of the ancients was surprisingly simple and elegant: there is no more worthy place on earth for the Body and Blood of the Lord to reside than the relics of those who suffered for Him. That is why, to this day, the sacred Liturgy is celebrated on the relics of the martyrs, embedded in the foundation of the throne, and it is precisely for this reason that before the moment of the service, when the Cherubic Hymn will be sung and the bread and wine will be transferred from the Altar to the Throne, the priest fully opens the antimension - a special plate lying on the throne, which also contains a piece of the relics of the martyr of Christ. It is here that bread and wine will become the Body and Blood of God incarnate.

The relics, before being laid at the foundation of the throne, are solemnly worn out by the bishop together with all the clergy from the church, and a procession is made around the newly consecrated church.

The procession stops on the street in front of closed gates, behind which there is only a church choir - these people represent the angelic army, which, seeing Jesus Christ on the day of His glorious Ascension to Heaven, wondering about the mystery of the Incarnation, asked with the words of the Psalm: “Who is this King of glory? » and heard the answer: "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory!" Such a dialogue is also taking place here, between the bishop and the choristers, in memory of those events.

And only at the end of the sacrament, the bishop lights the first candle in the temple, the fire from which spreads to all the other candles. Then the first liturgy is performed, after which the temple begins to live a new liturgical life.

As we can see, the consecration of the temple is not only a symbolic action, it also has a very important spiritual significance. The very place where people gather in the name of the Lord becomes partaker of the grace of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, just as a person, through the Sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation, according to the word of the Apostle Peter, is chosen to be the inheritance of the Lord (1 Pet. 2:9), so the Orthodox church becomes a special place for the presence of God on Earth.

Deacon Daniel Maslov

Photo by Antony Topolov/ryazeparh.ru

How a person in the sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation casts off the old man, is sanctified, becomes a part of the spiritual body of the Church, i.e. a completely new person, a Christian, so the building becomes a temple, a place of the special presence of God on earth only after its consecration. No wonder this rite is also called the “renovation” of the temple: through ancient prayers and rituals, the building becomes holy, and therefore completely different, new. A man, a temple not made by hands, and a temple created by his hands, are both dedicated to God, become His dwelling, therefore, much is done during the consecration of the temple, similar to what is done during the consecration of a person.

Just as at Baptism a person descends into consecrated water, puts on white clothes, is anointed with myrrh, so is the throne of the temple, its main place, the center of the altar, on which the most important sacrament is performed at the Divine Liturgy - a bloodless Sacrifice is offered from all and for all people by the laying of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, is washed, clothed, and anointed with ointment. Even the appearance of the temple, topped with a dome, or head, serves as an image of the human body. And not only the throne, but the whole of it is sprinkled with holy water and anointed with myrrh during consecration.

On the eve of the day of consecration, an all-night vigil is served in the newly built church. The service is performed for the renewal of the temple (stichera and canon) in conjunction with the service of the temple, that is, of the saint in whose name the temple was built. The All-Night Vigil is served before the altar with the Royal Doors closed.

On the eve of the day of consecration, relics are brought to the newly created temple. The holy relics are placed on the diskos under the star and the cover in front of the image of the Savior.

On the day of the consecration of the temple, a prayer service is sung and a small consecration of water is performed.

The clergy participating in the consecration of the temple, put on all the sacred clothes, and on top of these clothes, for their protection, they put on white protective zapons (aprons).

The rite of consecration of the temple includes:

The device of the throne (holy meal);
Washing and anointing him;
The vestment of the throne and the altar;
Consecration of the walls of the temple;
Transfer and position under the throne and in the antimension of relics;
Closing prayers, brief litia and dismissal.

1. The device of the throne in the altar, when the upper board is nailed to the prepared base with four nails and attached with a wax paste (composition of wax, mastic and fragrant substances), which marks the nailing of the Savior to the cross and the anointing of His body removed from the Cross with fragrant aromas.

After the approval of the throne, the royal doors, still closed, are opened, and the bishop, facing the people, kneeling together with the faithful, reads a prayer at the royal doors, in which, like Solomon, he asks the Lord to send down the Most Holy Spirit and sanctify the temple and this altar, so that the bloodless Sacrifices offered on it would be accepted into the heavenly altar and would bring down on us the grace of heavenly overshadowing from there.

Water, as a sign of the grace-filled sanctification of it by the power and action of the Holy Spirit, and a mixture of rose water and red wine, poured crosswise, which mysteriously forms the all-sanctifying blood of the Lord, which flowed from His side along with the water on the Cross.

The washing of the throne is preceded by a secret prayer of the bishop over water and wine for the blessing of the Jordan and the grace of the Holy Spirit to be sent down on them for the consecration and completion of the altar.

After the throne is anointed with the world as a sign of the outpouring of the grace of God; the fragrant composition of the world marks the life-giving fragrance of spiritual gifts.

3. Dressing the Throne and the Altar in special clothes; since the throne has a double meaning - the tomb and the throne of the glory of God - a double garment is placed on it: the lower, white, signifying the shroud in which the body of the Savior was wrapped for burial, and the upper, decorated, depicting His eternal heavenly glory.

Having put on the lower garment (“srachitsa” from the Slavic “shirt”) on the throne, the clergy three times encircle the throne with a rope (rope) so that a cross is formed on each side of it.

Then the outer garment of the throne (inditiya) is consecrated, and the throne is clothed with it while singing the 92nd psalm: “The Lord reigns, clothed in splendor”

Then liturgical objects are placed on the throne: a menorah, a tabernacle, a monstrance, a cross, the Gospel.

4. Consecration of the walls of the temple censing, sprinkling them with holy water and anointing with myrrh. The incense of the temple depicts the glory of God, which covered the Old Testament tabernacle in the form of a cloud; the anointing of the walls with myrrh marks the consecration of the temple by the grace of God.

After the return of the spiritual cathedral to the altar, a short litany is pronounced, and the bishop reads a prayer before the throne, in which he asks the Lord to fill the new temple and the altar of glory, holiness and splendor, so that a bloodless Sacrifice is offered in it for the salvation of all people, “for the forgiveness of voluntary and involuntary sins , for the management of life, for the correction of a good life, for the fulfillment of all righteousness. The bishop also reads a secret prayer in which he thanks the Lord for the continuous outpouring of grace that descended to him from the apostles, and then lights the first candle with his own hands.

A lit candle indicates that the throne has become the true altar of Christ, and depicts the Church of Christ, shining with the light of grace and giving light to the whole world.

5. Transfer by procession and position under the throne and in the antimension of relics

From the church being consecrated there is a solemn procession to another church for the relics, if they were placed in the nearest church. If the holy relics were in the church being consecrated, then the bishop raises the holy relics to the head, exclaiming: “We will leave in peace,” and everyone with crosses and banners goes around the whole church while singing troparia in honor of the martyrs: “Who is thy martyr in all the world” and "Like the first principles of nature."
When the relics are being carried around the consecrated church, the troparion is sung “Who on the stone of faith created Your Church, Blessed.”

During this procession, the outer walls of the temple are sprinkled with holy water.

The transfer of the relics to the newly consecrated temple means that the grace of sanctification is transferred and taught through the first temples, and that the new temple is dedicated to the patronage and protection of the holy intercessors of the former temple. So in the Old Testament, at the consecration of the temple of Solomon, the kivot of the covenant was transferred from the tabernacle and placed in the holy of holies. Enclosing the relics (or an antimension with relics) means the dedication of the temple to the Most High forever, and bringing them into the temple marks the entry into the newly created church of the King of Glory Jesus Christ Himself, the resting saint.

Before bringing the relics into the temple, the bishop places the diskos with the relics on a special table in front of the closed gates of the temple and proclaims: "Take up the gates, your princes, and take up the eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter." The singers inside the temple sing, "Who is this King of glory?"

These words of the psalm, according to St. Justin Martyr and St. John Chrysostom, are related to the circumstances of the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. When Christ ascended to heaven, then the higher ranks of the angels, established by God, were commanded to open the gates of heaven, so that the King of glory, the Son of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, would enter and, ascending, sit at the right hand of the Father. But the Heavenly Forces, seeing their Lord in a human form, asked in horror and bewilderment: “Who is this King of glory?” And the Holy Spirit answered them: "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." And now, when at the entrance to the consecrated temple, which marks the sky, with holy relics or an antimension, these words are pronounced, before the eyes of Christians, the same event, witnessed by the celestials, seems to be repeated. The King of Glory enters the temple with holy relics, on which, according to the faith of the Church, the glory of the Crucified, "resting in the saints" invisibly rests.

The holy relics are brought into the altar and placed under the altar, or in antimensions, on the grounds that in the first three centuries Christians celebrated divine services on the tombs of the martyrs, by whose blood the Church was founded, established and strengthened throughout the world. At the Seventh Ecumenical Council, it was determined that churches should be consecrated only with the placement of the relics of the martyrs in them.

Upon completion of the procession, the bishop reads a prayer in which he asks the Lord to confirm the church being consecrated unshakably until the end of time to bring worthy praise to the Most Holy Trinity in it.
Further, the bishop with kneeling reads a prayer for the founders of the temple (with kneeling and the whole people). In these prayers, petitions are raised so that the Lord sends down on us the grace of the Holy Spirit, gives everyone unanimity and peace, and forgiveness of sins to the creators of the temple.

6. Closing prayers, litiya (short funeral service) and dismissal

After the consecration of the temple, immediately performed Divine Liturgy.

In the newly consecrated church, the liturgy must be served seven days in a row, for the sake of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who from now on always resides in the church.

Materials used: Hermogenes Shimansky "Liturgy. Sacraments and Rites" from the site "Pravoslavie.ru"

"Why should a temple be consecrated?" from the site "Tatyana's day"

Photos by Vsevolodov Nikolai, Fomin Ivan, Zakharova Larisa, Vorobyov Maxim

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