Orthodox church. Light and lamps in the temple
The temple is the center of our spiritual life. The grace of God is especially felt here. When going to church, we need to set ourselves up accordingly and remind ourselves that we are entering a different world, different from the one in which we live every day. Here we appear before our Creator and Savior, here, together with the angels and saints, we offer Him our prayers. Joint prayer in church has great reviving power. When perceived consciously, this grace-filled prayer clears the conscience, pacifies the soul, strengthens faith, and warms love for God in the heart.
Temple of God in its own way appearance different from other buildings. Very often it has the shape of a cross at its base, for by the Cross the Savior delivered us from the power of the devil. Often it is arranged in the form of a ship, symbolizing that the Church, like a ship, like Noah’s Ark, leads us across the sea of life to a quiet haven in the Kingdom of Heaven. Sometimes at the base lies a circle - a sign of eternity or an octagonal star, symbolizing that the Church, like guiding star, shines in this world.
The temple building is usually topped with a dome representing the sky. The dome is crowned by a head on which a cross is placed - to the glory of the Head of the Church of Jesus Christ. Often, not one, but several chapters are placed on the temple: two chapters mean two natures (Divine and human) in Jesus Christ, three chapters - the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, five chapters - Jesus Christ and the four evangelists, seven chapters - seven sacraments, seven gifts The Holy Spirit and seven Ecumenical Councils, nine chapters - nine ranks of angels, thirteen chapters - Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles, sometimes more chapters are built.
Above the entrance to the temple, and sometimes next to the temple, a bell tower or belfry is built, that is, a tower on which bells hang, used to call believers to prayer and to announce the most important parts of the service performed in the temple.Despite the variety of forms and architectural styles used in the construction of churches, the internal structure of an Orthodox church always follows a certain canon, which developed in Byzantium around the beginning of the second millennium and has not undergone significant changes.
A traditional Orthodox church is divided into three parts: the altar, the middle part (the temple itself) and the narthex.
In ancient churches, the narthex was the place where catechumens and penitents - those who did not receive communion at the Eucharist - prayed during the service. According to the Charter, some parts of the divine service are supposed to be performed in the narthex, in particular the litiya at the all-night vigil. Memorial services (short funeral services) should also be performed in the vestibule, although in practice they are most often performed in one of the side aisles of the temple.
In many modern churches, the vestibule is either completely absent or completely merges with the central part of the temple. This is due to the fact that the functional significance of the vestibule has long been lost. In the modern Church, catechumens and penitents do not exist as a separate category of believers, and therefore the need for the vestibule as a separate room has disappeared.
The central part of the temple is the place where the laity are present during worship. In ancient times, the liturgy of the catechumens was celebrated in the center of the temple; Sermons were preached there, the bishop read prayers over the catechumens and the faithful, as well as the sick and possessed; there the deacon pronounced the litanies. In fact, it was the central part of the temple that was the place where most of the worship took place; only the Eucharist itself was celebrated in the altar. Subsequently, most church services were moved to the altar, but some parts of the service are still performed in the middle of the temple. At Matins and All-Night Vigil on Sundays and holidays in the middle of the temple, polyeleos and anointing of believers with holy oil is performed. The Gospel is also read by the deacon in the middle of the church. During the bishop's service, in the middle of the church, the meeting and vestment of the bishop takes place, as well as the entire initial part of the liturgy up to the small entrance.
In ancient temples, in the middle there was a pulpit (called a pulpit), from which they read Holy Bible and delivered sermons. Currently, such a pulpit is only available in cathedrals. The bishop stands on it in those cases when the service is performed in the middle of the church. From the same pulpit the deacon reads the Gospel during the liturgy.
As a rule, in the center of the temple on a lectern (stand) lies an icon of the temple saint or the saint or event celebrated on this day. In front of the lectern there is a candlestick (such candlesticks are also placed in front of other icons lying on the lecterns or hanging on the walls). The use of candles in church is one of the oldest customs that has come down to us from the early Christian era. In our time, it has not only a symbolic meaning, but also the meaning of a sacrifice to the temple. The candle that a believer places in front of an icon in a church is not bought in a store or brought from home: it is purchased in the church itself, and the money spent goes to the church treasury.
In a modern church, electric lighting is usually used during services, but some parts of the service should be performed in semi-darkness or even complete darkness. Full lighting is turned on at the most solemn moments: during the polyeleos at the all-night vigil, during the Divine Liturgy. The light in the temple is completely extinguished during the reading of the Six Psalms at Matins; Dim lighting is used during Lenten services.
The main lamp of the temple (chandelier) is called a chandelier. The chandelier in large churches is a chandelier of impressive size with many (from 20 to 100 or even more) candles or light bulbs. It is suspended on a long steel cable from the center of the dome. Smaller chandeliers may be hung in other parts of the temple.
In the monasteries of Holy Mount Athos, where electricity is not used during worship, the ancient customs of lighting candles and lamps at certain moments of the service are preserved. The lamps in front of the icons are lit at the beginning of the service by a specially appointed ecclesiarch monk. Candles in front of icons and candles that serve to illuminate the temple space are lit only at certain moments of the service. Under the dome of the temple there is a chandelier in the shape of a hoop: there are candles on the hoop, which are lit during especially solemn moments of the service with the help of a special torch attached to the end of a long pole. In some cases, a chandelier with candles is swung from side to side, so that the glare from the candles moves around the temple: this movement, along with the ringing of bells and especially solemn melismatic singing, creates a festive mood.
Some believe that the characteristic difference between an Orthodox church and a Catholic or Protestant church is the lack of seats in it. In fact, all ancient liturgical regulations presuppose the presence of seats in the church, since during some parts of the service, according to the regulations, it is necessary to sit. In particular, while sitting, they listened to psalms, readings from the Old Testament and from the Apostle, readings from the works of the Church Fathers, as well as some Christian chants, for example, “sedalny” (the very name of the chant indicates that they listened to it while sitting). Standing was considered obligatory only in the most important points worship, for example during the reading of the Gospel, during the Eucharistic canon. The liturgical exclamations that have been preserved in modern worship - “Wisdom, forgive”, “Let us become kind, let us become fearful” - were originally precisely the invitation of the deacon to stand up to perform certain prayers after sitting during previous prayers.
The absence of seats in a church is a custom of the Russian Church, but is by no means typical for Greek churches, where, as a rule, benches are provided for everyone who participates in the service.
The walls of the central part of the temple are usually decorated with frescoes or mosaics. In the eastern part of the temple there is an iconostasis that separates the middle part of the temple from the altar. In front of the iconostasis there is a solea - an elevation for the clergy. The central part of the solea, which is usually a semicircular protrusion, is called the pulpit. From here the sermon is preached; Some sacred rites are also performed here, for example, the small and great entrances to the liturgy; The dismissal is pronounced from the pulpit - the final blessing at the end of each service.
In the center of the lower tier of the iconostasis there are doors, in the Russian tradition called the royal doors; in the Greek tradition they are called "holy doors". The origin of the name “Royal Doors” is not entirely clear. Some believe that this name reflects the symbolism of the great entrance, depicting the way of the cross of the Savior, “King of kings” and “Lord of lords”, Who “comes to be sacrificed and given as food to the faithful.” Others believe that the central gate of the altar was called “royal” because kings and emperors entered the altar through them. Indeed, in Russian practice, emperors during the coronation ceremony entered the altar through the royal doors: in the altar they received communion together with the priests, receiving the Body of Christ in their hands and partaking of the Blood of Christ from the chalice (empresses did the same). In Byzantium, the gates leading from the vestibule to the central part of the temple, or the doors through which the emperor entered the temple, were called “royal.”
There are two side doors on the north and south sides of the iconostasis. The liturgical procession always leaves the altar through the northern doors and returns through the royal doors. The deacon also goes out to the solea to pronounce the litany through the northern doors, and returns to the altar through the southern doors.
The altar is the most sacred place of an Orthodox church - a similarity to the Holy of Holies of the ancient Jerusalem Temple. Often the altar is perceived as a kind of closed space “backstage”, where the clergy and altar servers can hide from the eyes of the faithful. This perception fundamentally contradicts the meaning of the altar as a place of the special presence of God. In the altar lives the glory of God that once filled the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple. Everyone at the altar must maintain reverent silence, interrupted only by the reading of prayers or necessary remarks during the service. Conversations on extraneous topics in the altar are unacceptable.
In shape, the throne is a cubic-shaped structure (table) made of stone or wood. In Greek churches, rectangular altars are common, shaped like an oblong table placed parallel to the iconostasis; the upper stone plaque of the throne rests on four pillars-columns; the interior of the throne remains open to the eye. In Russian practice, the horizontal surface of the throne is, as a rule, square in shape and the throne is completely covered with indium - a vestment that matches it in shape. The traditional height of the throne is an arshin and six vershoks (98 cm). In the middle, under the upper board of the altar, a column is placed into which, during the consecration of the temple, the bishop places a particle of the relics of a martyr or saint. This tradition goes back to the ancient Christian custom of celebrating liturgies on the tombs of martyrs.
The space behind the throne, in the eastern part of the altar, is called the high place: the throne of the bishop is located here, on the sides of which there are benches for priests. The bishop's throne, according to the charter, must be in a high place in any church, not just a cathedral. The presence of this throne testifies to the connection between the temple and the bishop: without the blessing of the latter, the priest has no right to perform divine services
tion in the temple.On the left side of the throne, in the southern part of the altar, there is an altar, which in appearance resembles a throne, but is often smaller in size. The altar is intended for the preparatory part of the liturgy - proskomedia. The Holy Gifts are placed on the altar at the end of the liturgy, after
and the deprivation of the laity. According to the tradition of the Russian Church, a seven-branched candlestick is placed on the eastern side of the altar in the altar - a lamp with seven lamps, resembling a Jewish menorah in appearance. There are no seven-branched candlesticks in the Greek Church. The seven-branched candlestick is not mentioned in the rite of consecration of the temple, and it was not the original accessory of the Christian temple, but appeared in Russia in the Synodal era as a reminder of the lamp with seven lamps that stood in the Jerusalem temple (see: Exodus 25, 31-37). The seven-branched candlestick is the only object in the altar that does not perform direct liturgical functions.During non-liturgical times, as well as at some moments of the service, the central entrance to the altar (royal doors) is closed with a curtain called katapetasma. In modern Russian practice, katapetasma is a rectangular canvas extending from the upper edge of the royal doors to the floor. Usually the veil is dark red or corresponds to the color of the holiday, and a four- or eight-pointed cross is embroidered on it. In ancient times, richly embroidered catapetasmas were also used.
The numerous light sources in the temple have great liturgical and mysterious significance. They come in three types: windows, lamps and candles. The Liturgical Charter, which is now not strictly observed in relation to lamps, provides for in some cases the lighting of all lamps, in others - only a certain part, in others - the complete extinguishing of almost all lamps and then lighting again.
In the altar behind the throne, lamps or candles (seven-branched candlesticks) are lit in a special lamp; a lamp or candle in a candlestick is placed on the High Place, on the throne, on the altar; lamps can also be lit at individual icons in the altar.
In the middle part of the temple, lamps are usually lit near all icons, and several lamps are lit near especially revered icons; in addition, large candlesticks with cells for many candles are placed so that believers can place the candles they bring to these icons here. A large candlestick is always placed in the center of the temple on the eastern side of the lectern, where the icon of the day lies. A special candlestick with a large candle is brought out at the small entrances during vespers and liturgy, at the great entrance after the liturgy, and also in front of the Gospel when it is brought out at the entrances or for reading. This candle symbolizes the light of Christ's preaching, Christ Himself, as Light from Light, the true Light. The candle in the candlestick has the same meaning, with which, together with the censer during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the priest blesses the people with the words “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone.” Candles in bishop's dikirias and trikirias have special spiritual significance. During the censing of the church in statutory cases, the deacon precedes the priest performing the censing with a special deacon’s candle, which marks the light of the apostolic sermon preceding the acceptance of faith in Christ among the peoples, that is, as if preceding Christ coming to people. Lighted candles are held in the hands of priests in the cases of worship provided for by the Charter. The priest uses a special lamp with three candles to bless the people during Easter services. In the central part of the temple, a large lamp with many lights descends from the dome downwards, lit in appropriate cases - a chandelier or chandelier. From the domes of the side aisles, similar smaller lamps, called polycandiles, descend into the temple. Polikandils have from seven to twelve lamps, chandeliers - more than twelve. Before considering the symbolic meanings of individual lamps, let us turn to the basic spiritual meanings of light in the temple.
The light in an Orthodox church is primarily an image of heavenly, Divine light. In particular, it signifies Christ as the Light of the world (John 8:12), Light from Light (Creed), the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world (John 1:9). This is a special, immaterial, uncreated Trinity light, different in essence from this Divine light from the external, natural, material.
Ancient Byzantine-Russian churches had very narrow windows, creating twilight, darkness in the temple even on the brightest day. But this is not darkness, not a complete absence of light. This means earthly human life, immersed in the darkness of sin and ignorance, in which, however, the light of faith, the light of God, shines: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). This dim glow of light in the darkness is very precisely due to ancient architecture temples. The fact that the windows of ancient temples were not only simple conductors of natural, external light, but immediately, from ancient times, had a symbolic meaning is evidenced by their number and location. As a rule, three and two windows were made in each wall of the temple, which thus meant the uncreated Trinity light and the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, cognizable in two natures. It is debatable that the level and features of ancient construction technology did not allow the creation of wide windows. But even if we agree with this opinion, then the technical circumstance is by no means the main, but only an accompanying, external reason for the fact that the windows in the churches were made small: the darkness in the temple is an image of that mental spiritual darkness, the veil with which the mysteries of God are generally surrounded. The small narrow windows of ancient temples, symbolizing the sources of light of the Divine, therefore created an environment in the temples that exactly corresponded to the quoted words of the Gospel and correctly reflected the nature of things in the spiritual realm of life.
External light was allowed inside the temple only as an image of immaterial light, and in very limited quantities - this is the most important conclusion from the consideration of ancient church architecture. This helps to understand the attitude of the Church to external, natural light. Light in the proper sense for the church consciousness is only Divine light, the light of Christ, the light of future life in the Kingdom of God.
This determines the nature of the interior lighting of the temple. It was never intended to illuminate the temple premises in the ordinary sense, that is, to make it light. Temple lamps have always had a spiritual and symbolic meaning. They are also lit during the day, during daytime services, when there is enough light from the windows for general illumination. In statutory cases, church lamps during evening and night services can be lit in very small quantities, and when reading the Six Psalms at the all-night vigil, all candles are supposed to be extinguished, except for the candle in the middle of the temple, where the reader stands, in front of the icons of Christ, the Mother of God and the temple in the iconostasis. The darkness in the temple becomes very thick. But there is never complete darkness: “The light shines in the darkness.” But during holiday and Sunday services, all the lamps are lit according to order, including the upper chandeliers and chandeliers, creating an image of that full light of God that will shine for the faithful in the Kingdom of Heaven and is already contained in the spiritual meaning of the celebrated event.
Church services in Orthodox churches in Jerusalem
Sorokoust about repose
The everlasting psalter
Church note
Prayer for health
Sorokoust about health
Temples and monasteries where services are held
The symbolic nature of light in the church is also evidenced by the design and composition of burning candles and lamps. In ancient times, wax and oil were offerings of believers to the temple as voluntary sacrifices. Liturgist of the 15th century. Blessed Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, explaining the symbolic meaning of wax, says that pure wax means the purity and innocence of the people bringing it. It is offered as a sign of our repentance for perseverance and readiness to continue to obey God, like the softness and pliability of wax. Just as wax produced by bees after collecting nectar from many flowers and trees symbolically means an offering to God as if on behalf of all creation, so the burning of a wax candle, like the transformation of wax into fire, means deification, the transformation of earthly man into a new creature through the action of fire and warmth of Divine love and grace.
Oil, like wax, also signifies the purity and sincerity of a person in his worship of God. But oil also has its own special meanings. Oil is the oil of the fruits of olive trees, olives. Even in the Old Testament, the Lord commanded Moses to offer pure oil without sediment as a sacrifice to God (Ex. 27:20). Testifying to the purity of human relationships with God, oil is a sign of God’s mercy towards people: it softens wounds, has a healing effect, and approves of food.
Since ancient times in sacred history, the fir tree and the olive, from the fruits of which it is obtained, have turned out to be signs of spiritual truths. The dove released by Noah from the ark brought him a fresh olive leaf (Gen. 8:11), as evidence that the flood had ended, dry land had appeared, that the wrath of God had ceased and was replaced by mercy. Since then, the olive branch has been a symbol of peace between God and people, a symbol of peace and reconciliation in general.
In the New Testament, the imagery of oil and olive is often used by the Savior and the apostles. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Lord says that the Samaritan poured oil and wine on the wounds of a man who had suffered from robbers (Luke 10:34). This secretly indicates the saving actions of God in relation to spiritually wounded humanity, onto which the ineffable mercy of God is poured out, giving the Only Begotten Son so that He would wash away the sins of people with His Blood. In the parable of the ten virgins, the Savior speaks of the abundance of oil in the lamps of the wise virgins and the lack of it in the foolish ones. Oil here, according to the interpretation of St. Seraphim of Sarov, denotes the oil accumulated during life through faithful service to God from pure love to Him the grace of the Holy Spirit of God. Finally, the mountain on which the Savior preached and often visited His disciples and from which He ascended to Heaven is called Olivet: historically because its slopes were planted with gardens of olive trees (olives), and spiritually because the name of this mountain means the pinnacle of mercy towards the people of God, elevating human nature to the heavenly palace of glory and eternal life.
IN Orthodox Church One of the seven sacraments is the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing, that is, the special consecration of oil with which people are anointed for healing from illnesses. According to the meaning of the sacrament, oil contains in this case the mercy of God towards a sick person, expressed in the remission (forgiveness) of his sins, the grace of the Holy Spirit, cleansing and spiritually regenerating a person, and the healing power from bodily and mental illnesses.
The candles that believers buy in the temple to place in candlesticks near the icons also have several spiritual meanings: since the candle is bought, it is a sign of a person’s voluntary sacrifice to God and His temple, an expression of a person’s readiness to obey God (the softness of the wax), his desire to deification, transformation into a new creature (burning a candle). A candle is also evidence of faith, a person’s involvement in the Divine light. A candle expresses the warmth and flame of a person’s love for the Lord, the Mother of God, an angel or a saint, at whose faces the believer places his candle.
Church lamps are different. Candlesticks of all types, in addition to their practical purpose, symbolize that spiritual height, thanks to which the light of faith shines on everyone in the house, on the whole world. The chandelier, descending from above into the central part of the temple, and the polycandile, located in the side chapels, with their multitude of lights signify the Heavenly Church itself as a meeting, a constellation of people sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, enlightened by the light of faith, burning with the fire of love for God, abiding inseparably together in the light Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, these lamps descend from above into that part of the temple where there is a meeting of the earthly Church, called to spiritually strive upward, to its heavenly brothers. The Heavenly Church illuminates the earthly Church with its light, drives away darkness from it - this is the meaning of the hanging chandeliers and chandeliers.
The burning of wax and oil in church lamps is intended to signify Divine light, different from the light that is used for simple illumination in the world, for the Church is a Kingdom not of this world (John 17, 14, 16; 18, 36).
Irina Redko
Photo by Andrey Radkevich and from the archive of Andrey Anisimov
Lamps and candles in the temple are not only lighting devices, but also a symbol of prayer. Why are the lights often turned off during the all-night vigil, but never during the liturgy? Why do they swing the khoros, the main lamp of the temple, during the Cherubic Mass in the Greek Church? The archpriest and rector of the temple spoke about what the light in the temple symbolizes Life-Giving Trinity in Golenishchev (Moscow), and the chief architect of the Partnership of Restorers, corresponding member of the Academy of Architectural Heritage Andrei Anisimov.
Repentance and Rejoicing
Everyone who attends a service has noticed that at different moments of the service the temple is lit differently: sometimes all the lamps are on, sometimes only half, then all the lamps and even the candles are extinguished. Archpriest, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Trinity-Golenishchevo explains: “The all-night vigil is a penitential service that prepares us for the liturgy, when, having confessed our sins, we can accept the forgiveness and mercy of the Lord and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. And when a person repents, he should not be brightly lit.” According to the Rule, the light at the all-night vigil is extinguished at the sixth psalm, when David’s penitential psalms are read. On Athos, it is generally customary to serve the all-night vigil in complete darkness - this is the most convenient way to pray. Only one or two candles are burning, and then in the vestibule. The lamps there are lit only at the icon above the Royal Doors and at the central icon. And only on great holidays at the all-night vigil is the chandelier - the main lamp of the temple - lit with all the candles, and only at a certain time: at the polyeleos (when believers are anointed with consecrated oil), at the psalms of praise (psalms sung in the last part of matins: “Every breath is given praises the Lord") and in the singing of magnification. According to Rev. Sergius Pravdolyubov, “the word “polyeleos” has several meanings. Sometimes it is translated as “many oils” - “many lit oil lamps.” But the “many-merciful” option is closer to me, and it is this meaning that is reflected in the refrain heard repeatedly during the polyeleos: “For His mercy endures forever. Hallelujah." Until the third song of the canon, read after the polyeleos, all the lamps and chandeliers shine, but by the third song the candles and lamps are extinguished. Prot. Sergiy Pravdolyubov: “This is not because the holiday is over, but because, according to the Charter, at this moment there is a festive reading from the holy fathers or the history of the holiday. A change in the person’s state occurs: he “switches” to listening, and then everyone returns to prayer again, the reading of the canon continues, but the candles are lit only when the Theotokos hymn begins - “My soul magnifies the Lord.” The lighting of candles and lamps at this very moment is a sign of our veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos.”
During the liturgy, the light is never extinguished: “Liturgy is the most solemn, the greatest service,” explains Archpriest. Sergiy Pravdolyubov. - According to the Charter of Rev. Sava the Sanctified Liturgy is quite short in time, no more than an hour and twenty. But here we must take into account that the liturgy ended the service, which lasted all night. If we serve the all-night vigil from eight in the evening - we did this in church - and finish at ten in the morning, then the liturgy is perceived as a short solemn chord at the end of the entire prayer. And the end of the prayer is full of sounds, full of triumph, full of light; the liturgy deserves such light because Christ is Light, “the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God.” The liturgy is never sad; even during Lent it is joyful and solemn.”
Joy and jubilation festive liturgy on Athos it is expressed by swinging the main lamp - khoros. This happens on major holidays during the singing of the Cherubic Song. “Khoros,” says architect Andrei Anisimov, “is the ancient form of the main lamp in the temple. Khoros is a large ring on which lamps or candles stand. (In Russia, in recent centuries, the choros has been replaced by a chandelier, on which candles or light bulbs are arranged in tiers.) The choros itself looks simpler than a chandelier, but when the whole system, consisting of several chandeliers, begins to work, it is beauty, fireworks, celebration, rejoicing.” .
He Who Brings Light
According to Andrei Anisimov, “light and organizing the space of a church with the help of light is the task of a church architect.” The temple consists of three parts: the vestibule, the central part and the altar. In the narthex the initial bows are made, repentance begins, worldly cares and concerns are put aside. “Therefore, it is customary to make the vestibule dimly lit, without large windows and with a minimum number of lamps and candlesticks for candles,” says the architect. — In ancient churches (for example, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin), in the central part of the window there are located no lower than the second tier of the wall and in the drum of the dome. This is due to the fact that the temple in the vertical dimension is divided into several levels, they are clearly visible in the painting: saints, a number of angelic ranks, the image of Christ Pantocrator. And the light in an Orthodox church can only come from a transfigured person, angels and God, therefore the windows are made no lower than the level of paintings of saints, angels and the Lord.” In addition, as Andrei Anisimov explains, ancient temples had very thick walls. The light penetrating through the narrow windows above was reflected from the huge slopes (in ancient architecture they were called sunrises) and was scattered throughout the temple much better than if it came from the windows below.
The second source of light in the temple is the altar. The altar is an image of paradise, it faces east, symbolizing the coming of Christ, from where the sun rises. “However,” Andrei Anisimov clarifies, “the ancient temples are not oriented strictly to the east. If you look at the plans for excavations of the Kremlin, Novgorod, any ancient city, you can see that all the temples are located differently. The reason is not that there was no compass. In most cases, the rationale for the location of the altar is the sunrise on the patronal feast day. After all, the place of sunrise changes depending on the time of year. Therefore, they built it so that on the patronal feast the sunrise in the east would fall on the side of the altar. It turned out that the churches, whose patronal feast day falls in the summer, are shifted to the north, and in the winter - to the south.”
The light entering through the windows of the altar also illuminates the temple. Those praying see the sun's rays cutting through the clouds of incense. “In the ancient church, the window to the east was never blocked with stained glass, and the icon of the Resurrection of Christ was never illuminated with electric light! - says Archpriest. Sergiy Pravdolyubov. - Sunlight should pass unhindered through the eastern window of the temple and illuminate not only the Throne, but the Shroud, which is located in the middle of the temple during Holy Week. After the night burial service, in the morning, during the liturgy, when the Lenten black vestments are changed to white, - at this time the sun's rays pierce the altar through the clouds of incense and fall on the Shroud. The Saturday Gospel is read and “Rise, O God...” is sung. Nothing can replace the participation of sunlight. I served the night service on Holy Saturday for about eighteen years, and we were all very glad that our window was not blocked by a stained glass window and that the sun was participating in our service.”
At the all-night vigil, the exclamation “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light” was associated precisely with the sunrise. “One traveler in the 19th century went to Athos,” says Archpriest. Sergius Pravdolyubov, - and wondered why there were so many clocks around that chimed the time. It turns out that on Mount Athos the clock is measured differently every day - from sunrise to sunset. And if the all-night vigil was served too quickly and there was time left before sunrise, stichera were specially added. According to the Charter, at this time a chant is sung, which is called “fotagogikon” - “luminous” in Russian. “Photagog” means “He who brings light.” A singer comes out in the middle of the temple and begins to sing in a special tune, exapostilary, which is another name for photogogikon. And at this time the sun rises, whether over the sea or over the rocks. And when the sun has fully risen, the priest raises his hands and says: “Glory to You, who showed us the light!”
Candle or light bulb?
Chandelier or khoros are the main lamps of the temple. In the Russian tradition, it is customary to depict a cross on a chandelier. On Athos, ancient Christian symbols such as a fish, a ship, a sail, an anchor, and a cross in a boat are still used to decorate chandeliers. All these symbols represent Christ, the Church. “The chandelier (from the Greek polykandēlos - consisting of many lamps) symbolizes the whole world, the whole cosmos,” explains Archpriest. Sergiy Pravdolyubov. “A lit chandelier is a sign of the participation of the entire people, all Orthodox Christians in the celebration.”
In addition to the large chandelier, there are also side chandeliers, icon lamps and candlesticks with lamps, standing separately. The tradition of hanging lamps is different everywhere: among the Greeks, lamps hang above the face of the saint, in ours - below. There are various candlesticks: brass, wooden with sand... Ancient candlesticks were wooden, elegantly painted.
Today, in addition to natural lighting - the sun, candles and lamps - the temple is sanctified by electricity. Andrey Anisimov: “Of course, in electric light there is no such mystery as in solar or from candles, but it is all the more important to organize electric lighting delicately, without theatricality. When we design electricity, the priests and I figure out how they want to control the light. There is a variant of rheostats, when the light fades smoothly and lights up smoothly. There is an option for turning off the lights in stages: half power, a third of power, a quarter of power. We make choirs with light bulbs or lamps with LEDs - if the lamp is colored, it looks quite delicate. There are options for combined choirs: there are electric “candles” on the ring, and pendants with multi-colored lamps hang below. But the main thing is to remember that the light in the temple is not just an official function, but a symbol of joy and repentance, triumph and victory over darkness.”
It combines several lamps of different designs and purposes. The largest chandelier in the temple is the chandelier - the central lamp. It is decorated with crystal, which helps enhance the light of the candles.
For an ordinary parishioner, a church chandelier is nothing more than a chandelier. Before the onset of the 17th century. in Russia, the central chandelier in all churches was called a khoros, which was made of metal or wood and looked like a horizontally oriented wheel with candles or lamps. Choros in the church were suspended under the dome on chains, or attached to the side walls.
Subsequently, the chandelier became a more advanced lamp in the church. It entered church life from the 17th century. Church chandeliers began to be made, among other things, multi-tiered, focusing on individual numbers - three, seven, nine, or twelve. But there is no definite meaning for the number of tiers of a church chandelier, because there is no exact number of ranks of divine celestial beings, whose hierarchy is symbolized by tiered placement.
In a church, the chandelier is suspended under the central dome and, as a rule, has more than twelve lamps. But there are varieties of chandelier (called polycandila). They are located in side chapels or in small parishes and have seven to twelve lamps. Externally, the chandelier resembles a tree, in which brackets with lamps diverge from the central trunk (or rod). At the bottom of the chandelier is crowned a sphere called the golden apple - it seems to grow directly under the branches of the chandelier's base and symbolizes the fruit of heavenly wisdom and grace.
It turns out that the design of the chandelier unites the virtues of all the highest ranks belonging to the angelic army - Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. Each of the church chandeliers is unique in its design and structure. Tiered rings can be decorated, for example, with designs consisting of leaves, flowers and shoots, or with figures of angels and saints. Moreover, each of the structural elements carries within itself sacred meaning and therefore is carried out especially carefully during work. Today, the main materials used in the manufacture of church chandeliers are copper alloys (usually bronze), as well as crystal, ivory, or natural stone.
Production and sale of chandeliers for churches
Chandeliers in churches always play a big role, because they are a source of light. In our workshops today you can order chandeliers of any size, which are sure to become a worthy decoration for a temple or small village church. Experienced craftsmen are ready to make chandeliers from various materials, both according to standard designs and according to sketches drawn by the customer. When creating, we pay great attention to the quality of every detail, so our chandeliers will last a long time, delighting parishioners with their sophisticated appearance and compliance with church canons.In our company you can purchase ready-made church chandeliers created by the most experienced craftsmen. Their production uses traditional casting technologies, which allow us to make chandeliers that can decorate large temples, chapels, and small village churches. We offer customers chandeliers of various sizes, created taking into account the canons and traditions. They are designed for different numbers of lamps, different models can organically complement each other. All chandeliers are created based on the best samples that decorate famous churches in our country today.
All temple visitors admire the majestic beauty that the chandelier radiates. But not everyone is familiar with the meaning of this attribute. The center of each Orthodox church is decorated with a special candlestick called a chandelier, which can be bronze or brass. The huge chandelier acquired the name “chandelier” from the Greek word, translated as “many candles.”
The existence of this tradition was not interrupted in modern world. The number of candles for which the chandelier is designed depends on the size of the cathedral: the larger it is, the more candles are needed. Here in the Zadonsk Trinity Cathedral there were three chandeliers, one of which was designed for thirty candles, and the other two for twelve. However, chandeliers can hold both fewer and more candles.
Today, the chandelier for the temple is a support for many candles and lamps. The main symbolic meaning that the chandelier carries is the Heavenly Church. This is how a semblance of Spiritual illumination is created, which awaits believers on the path to the Kingdom of the Lord. Everyone who has received the grace of the Holy Spirit gathers around the chandelier.
In ancient churches, the area under the dome had a round shape, around which church candles were placed. In this composition, the candles represented the stars, and the area under the dome was considered a fortress and was called “khoros”. Most often, the khoros was made of bronze or copper.
It is noteworthy that in the middle of the khoros there was usually an architectonic cross, which was identified with the New Jerusalem.
The use of chandeliers was gradually switched over. This was mainly facilitated by the development of Christianity and architecture. Initially, the chandelier had twelve lamps, which corresponded to the number of apostles. It is worth noting that an architectonic cross was often installed in the center of the khoros, identifying the New Jerusalem.
In the modern world, the production of church utensils also includes the production of chandeliers, which are intended for different numbers of lamps. Often, large temples or ceremonies of solemn services require massive chandeliers, during which multi-candle lights create a festive glow. For example, during services on Mount Athos, chandeliers are swung from time to time, which ensures greater solemnity. It is interesting that during divine services, at certain moments the priest in the temple swings this attribute, thus enhancing the solemnity of the moment.
Such chandeliers have a unique design and can decorate and give a solemn atmosphere to any temple. You can choose an original chandelier for the temple on the website: http://www.lampada-m.ru/panikadilo-dlya-xrama/.