Church traditions
require that a Divine Liturgy must be celebrated in a church on a designated
and consecrated Holy Table or at least on an antimension (Greek, ‘instead of
the table’) consecrated by an Orthodox bishop.
Antimension is a
special cloth with an image of the Lord’s Burial. It is placed on top of the
Holy Table and is mandatory for celebration of a Liturgy. If, for a certain
reason, the Liturgy has to be celebrated outside of a church, there must at
least be a consecrated antimension.
What are the
conditions that may necessitate celebrating the Liturgy outside of a church?
For instance, if a church cannot contain all the faithful on a great holiday,
it is okay to celebrate the Liturgy in the church yard. Aside from that,
portable antimensions were also used in the army (and navy!) during military
campaigns in the past, provided that nothing would inhibit the proper and
orderly celebration of the Sacrament of Eucharist.
Speaking of the
present day, there is one question that has to be moved out of our way first:
Why do we need to hold a church service outside of the church? If there’s no
Orthodox Church within reach, it’s one thing, but if it happens because a
priest just wants it, it’s absolutely unacceptable. The Eucharist is the
greatest Sacrament of the Orthodox Church, and therefore calls for utmost
respect and reverence.
By Andrei Muzolf, an associate professor
of Kiev Theological Academy
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/mozhno-li-sovershat-sluzhbu-ne-v-hrame-chto-dlya-etogo-nuzhno
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