www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Zapivka in E C parishes?

After one receives Communion in most (all?) Orthodox parishes one also receives zapivka bread and in Slavic parishes zapivka wine & water. (My experience in Greek and Antiochian parishes is that only blessed bread is distributed...usually distributed by altar servers. I imagine, though, the Greek term for this is different.)

My impression is that only the Russian Catholic parishes have retained this practice. Anyone know of other parishes that have retained or restored this practice?

David Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

David,

The Greek term is "antidorion" -- and in the only Russian parish I've ever attended only antidorion was offered. Now, that may be because the priest there is actually a Melkite priest. Heck, there are only three Russian Catholic parishes in the United States (two in California and one in New York).

Edward, deacon and sinner

Actually there is a distinction between zapivka and antidoron. The antidoron is blessed after the Epiklesis and distributed at the end of the Liturgy.

Zapivka is used to cleanse the mouth after receiving the Holy Mysteries. A small cup of wine and a piece of bread is offered usually on a small table to the side so people can partake after receiving the Holy Mysteries.

There is great confusion in this topic (as Diak has pointed out), between three distinct liturgical practices, all of which are unrelated to each other and also, about what customs are standard in some traditions but not in others. In my studies and interpretation, the "zapivka" after holy communion has nothing to do with Orthodox vs. Catholic or Latinized practices, but rather reflects a particular custom in the Russian recension. I have only seen the partaking of bread and wine to cleanse the palate following reception of the mysteries in churches that follow or are influenced by the Russian usage. Ukrainian parishes which have adopted this practice would seem to be borrowing it from the Russian custom, but it is extremely rare, if at all practiced in Ukrainian or Ruthenian usage traditions, which are more greatly based on the Greek version of the liturgy. I have also never seen or heard of it in places that follow the Greek recension, including those of Middle Eastern origin, although it is important to remember that many Antiochian parishes did adopt parts of Russian practice in the US, at the beginning periods of the 20th. century.

All liturgical recensions, including Greek, Antiochian, Russian and Ruthenian call for the antidoron to be distributed at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. The antidoron is an entirely different concept and is distributed to all those in the church, as the service ends. Originally, it was intended for those who did not partake of the Eucharist and so has its name, "antidoron" meaning "instead of the gifts." Today, everyone receives it. In Slavic practice, this is combined with the "veneration of the hand cross" held by the priest while a server or other minister holds the blessed bread (antidoron), while in the Greek usage, the priest himself often hands the bread to the people, while saying the words, "the blessing of the Lord be upon you." This is obviously a carryover from the "final blessing" of the liturgy which uses the same words and which generally occurs just prior to the distribution of the antidoron. Technically, the liturgikon instructs that the antidoron be distributed during the recitation of Psalm 33, which occurs before the dismissal, (and assumes that the faithful would return to their places for it), but since this Psalm is not taken in many places, thus the antidoron is transferred to after the dismissal, as the people leave the church.

Blessed bread and anointing with holy oil on major feast days is yet another custom altogether and results from the blessing of the "wheat, bread, wine and oil" that takes place during the "litija" at Great Vespers on the eves of feasts. This is often called in Ukrainian/Rusyn and Slavonic respectively, the "mirovannja" or "mirovanije" referring to the anointing with the blessed oil and is most properly given at Matins on the feast itself, or if the "vigil" is taken, which is a combination of Vespers and Matins, then on the eve. It is performed during the chanting of the "stichera at Psalm 50" just prior to the "canon" during which the faithful approach to venerate the Gospel Book, at a Matins in which there is a Gospel reading. If there is the "litija" then the anointing and distribution of blessed bread also occurs at this time.

In many parishes, the practice of "mirovannja" has long been transferred from Matins to after the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. This occurred for several reasons among which are (a) more people are in church to receive this "sacramental"; (b) Matins may not be celebrated in some parishes and (c) it easily replaces the ordinary "antidoron" but includes also the anointing with oil.

Further, in some parishes, the "mirovannja" is also given on the Sunday that occurs during the postfestive period of the feast on which the "litija" would have occurred. This also results for several reasons, among which are the fact that it was the opinion of many priests in earlier decades and still now, that since many people did not attend the holyday liturgies, they could benefit from this anointing on the following Sunday. Not least among considerations was also the "stipend" or "offering" that goes along with "mirovannja" in many places, which, especially during the difficult years of the Great Depression, helped many of our priests and their families to survive. If given on the postfestive Sunday, the stipend from the festal mirovannja could be significantly better. Fiscal concerns should not simply be criticized as detrimental to the liturgical custom, because as should be known, our clergy all have the need to support themselves and their families, and the transfer of the mirovannja to Sundays can certainly be understood along the lines of these serious needs of our priests.

Personally, I offer the mirovannja both on the feast itself and the postfestive Sunday, for the simple fact that it reminds the faithful, many of which, like it or not, do not attend on the holydays, that the liturgical year is occurring and feasts are still being celebrated. Besides, it cannot be wrong to extend this extra blessing to as many people as possible, especially within a postfestive time, as we commemorate the sacred events in the lives of Our Lord, the Mother of God and the Saints.

God bless you all,

Fr. Joe

Father, bless! Good points. The additional administering of mirovanija on the Sunday after the feast also has good pastoral benefit, as with our 24/7 culture many cannot get off work for the feast itself. We also have the reader read the Canon or other texts from the feast of the Vigil before/after Liturgy so these beautiful texts and deep theology can be heard on the feast and afterfeast. Matins for feastdays during the week can be tough to attend for many working people.

Dear Diak:

Exactly. It is most beneficial if the cantor sings parts of the festal liturgical texts such as the canon or stichera during these times, so that the faithful do indeed benefit from the rich theology they express, even though society's demands prohibits many of them from attending the full cycle of services.

God bless you in your ministry and dedication to His church.

Fr. Joe

Dear Father Joe,

Christ is among us!

When the Litije is celebrated in the evening of a feast with the Litije (and Matins is celebrated in the morning before the Divine Liturgy) I'm not sure what to do.

If it is a Vigil (as I suppose it should be), then the annointing with oil is given at psalm 50, and the faithful can take from the blessed wine and bread. I understand that, and the blessing (and bread) is meant to sustain you through the Vigil.

But if the Vigil is not celebrated, the wine and bread cannot be given at Matins or the fast would be broken. Could there be another option? I know it is probably not correct, but could the annointing and bread and wine be given at the end of Vespers? It seems disappointing to those who have come to Church for Great Vespers and Litije (and who may not be able to come to Liturgy in the morning) to go home without participating the Litije blessing?

Father, bless!

At one parish I assist at I have written up the prayers for the Litya to be performed before the beginning of the Liturgy on feast days. The priest travels often and simply can't be there for the Vigil and it is too far for me to come for Reader's Service.

The priest comes from the Altar, with the Holy Doors open as at Litja with Vespers. The choir sings one or more of the Litja stikhera, as the priest incenses the festal icon. The priest then intones 'Save Your people, O God' and the other prayers of the Litja.

The festal troparion is sung thrice as first the clergy and the people venerate the icon. At the conclusion of the veneration the priest sings 'Let us pray to the Lord' and performs the blessing of wheat, wine and oil.

At the conclusion of the blessing he returns to the Altar during the singing of the "Blessed be the Name of the Lord", closes the Holy Doors and intones the "Blessed is the Kingdom" for the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The oil is given as Mirovanija and the bread is distributed at the end of the Divine Liturgy. We will also sing the Velichanije before the Liturgy begins or sing it while the faithful come up for Mirovanije. The priest reads both the Matins and Divine Liturgy gospels at the reading of the Gospel.

This only adds 15 or so minutes overall to the Divine Liturgy, and the people not only get a small taste of the beauty of the Vigil Service but with the singing of the Litya stikheri during the procession with the icon as well as the singing by the reader of other texts (Canon, Velichanije, etc.) they can be exposed in a way to the beautiful liturgical corpus of our tradition.

I have this electronically if you are interested.

Dear Fr. Joe and Diak;

Do you have your cantors "read" recitando style or do they perform the appropriate tones for the canons and stichera? This requires a level of sophistication by the cantor, a skill which seems to be dying out from lack of practice.

I remember a lecture given by one of the Byzantine Catholic bishops who commented on the thought that perhaps we should simplify our chant structure so as to make these prayers more accessible to the laity. What do you think?

John

Thanks for the replies!

My experience has been that Greek and Antiochian parishes also distribute zapivka bread (I'm sure they would use a different term) but not zapivka wine. The zapivka wine seems unique to the Russian tradition.

Has anyone else observed the distibution of blessed bread during Communion time in Greek and Antiochian parishes?

David Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

Dearest Brother in Christ, Fr. Elias:

He is and shall be!

What you described is exactly what I do when I celebrate Great Vespers with the Litija. Of course, you are celebrating correctly, the cycle of services as prescribed in our recension, taking Great Vespers on the eve before a feast and Matins on the morning of. The "all night vigil" (when the faithful would actually remain in church the whole night, beginning with vespers and ending with matins in the early morning), while probably an authentic concept in the "golden days" of the Church of Constantinople, became uncommon later on, when these types of services became harder to maintain. The Russian solution was to combine both services (vespers and matins) together into one longer service on the eve, and the Greek and Ruthenian styles simply celebrate the two separately, at their prescribed times of day.

It is interesting that the rubrics for Great Vespers when the Litija is taken assume that an actual all night vigil will take place, because they begin with the "Glory to the Holy Consubstantial, Life-giving . . . . " and then immediately, "Come let us adore . . . " skipping the rest of the "nachalo obichne" or usual beginning. This beginning prescribes the priest to wear both phelon and epitrachil for the opening blessing, making the sign of the cross with the censer at the open royal doors, when proclaiming the opening blessing (Glory to the Holy . . . ). Then, the phelon is removed and vespers proceeds as usual, with Psalm 103. The shorter, but more solemn beginning assumes that the office of "little vespers" is taken immediately beforehand, or perhaps the ninth hour. So actually, in our usage, what we have is one continuous service, from Great Vespers, though the next-day Matins and Divine Liturgy, although as you mention, these are separated by "physical time."

I believe that it is pastorally prudent, for the greater benefit of the faithful, for the mirovannja with the distribution of blessed bread to be offered at the conclusion of Great Vespers as well as the next day after liturgy or during matins. Since the litija part of the "all night vigil" is concluded, I see no theological or liturgical reason why the sacramental cannot be given as a conclusion to the evening. As I said, it is also what I do when celebrating Great Vespers with Litija.

An interesting question that came to my mind is this: Technically, the blessed bread and wine are offered during Matins, at the stichera of Psalm 50 and the Canon. OK fine. This does not break any fasting (from midnight) in the contemporary Russian usage of the combined "all night vigil" of vespers and matins on the eve of the feast. But, what about when the practice was to actually remain in church all night long and Matins were taken in the early morning. Was the Eucharistic fast considered broken by the taking of bread and wine or was this allowed, for the sake of sustenance, and not considered an actual complete break of the fast since it was blessed during the course of the vigil? With today's shortened vigil completely on the night before, there would be no need for sustenence, because everyone goes home before the next day's Liturgy, so the concern for sustenance must certainly be from the times when people would remain in church all night. (Although, some say that the fast actually begins with vespers, even before midnight.) But we seem to have an example of blessed bread and wine being given before the reception of holy communion, for the sake of the physical well being of those participating. Or, is there another explanation? I've never considered this thought before, but it would seem to indicate a unique situation with regards to the Eucharistic fast.

Keep up the good liturgical work, dear Father Elias. You are certainly an example to us other priests, as to your devotion to the liturgical life of our church and tradition.

Fr. Deacon John:

My cantors sing the stichera and other texts according to the tones, although there are still some that they have not mastered. I sometimes will sing certain texts myself, especially if prescribed in a podoben or other special melody that the cantors do not know, just to have them become familiar with some of the more complicated tones.

Recitando for these texts would be ok, if that was all that could be done, but I believe that it does an injustice to our revered system of tones and melodies. I think that whatever bishop made the comment that our system of chant should be further simplified also did not pay due homage to our venerable tradition. I believe ours to be actually one of the easier systems to learn. All chant traditions have the custom of varying tones, including also, Gregorian chant, which uses different "modes." They were designed for a reason, to give both variety and deeper meaning to important texts. In my opinion, if these were "simplified" to some very plain or monotonous melody, our entire tradition would not only begin to completely die out, but the liturgy would loose much of its rich flavor. In some traditions, the "ordinary parts" of the liturgy are already quite plain and to carry this over to the sacred texts themselves would seem to make the whole service one long monotone chant.

I do realize that there is a dire need of trained cantors in our church today and that the likes of our "professors" of the past are very rare, our esteemed Administrator being one of the exceptions. But, it is not impossible for people today to learn the system of eight tones, in all of their varieties and above all, we, both clergy and faithful must encourage those with the aspiration and God-given talent, to take on the study of our chant as a ministry. If we loose our chant tradition completely, we will be all the poorer for it and the liturgy in our churches will greatly suffer. It is not an easy task, but it is possible. Bishop Pataki, himself the son of a cantor and a good cantor as well, once remarked that the learning of our chant is a "labor of love and of tears" meaning that it is at the same time difficult, but also most fulfilling and rewarding. Just as we call men to holy orders of the priesthood and diaconate, we must also call those who are "ready and willing" to the ministry of cantor, ordained when at all possible, to professionally render our divine services. Without a good cantor, it is almost impossible for the priest himself to properly celebrate the services. Trying to "do it all oneself" is both taxing for the celebrant (who cannot focus on his prayers) and contrary to the make-up of the liturgy itself. I do agree that the lack of trained cantors is very frightening in our church today. There is a lot at risk. Pray for vocations to the ministry of cantor in our parishes and let us hope that our leadership will recognize the need to ensure that there is the means for those who are called, to learn and perfect their service.

In Christ,

Fr. Joe

Dear Father Deacon John, it depends on what you are talking about. Talk about a loaded question... We always chant psalms for the Hours either with one reader recto tono or two readers/choirs A and B in plain chant.

For the Litya I usually sing the stikhera alone as the Bulgarian tones are my favorites and I take any chance I can get to do these. And our cantors don't know them (yet). You can also do them in samohlasni, but these ideally should be Bulharski.

We usually try to do everything in the "proper" tones, but since I know Galician and Kyivan/Obikhod much better than prostopinje, this is what we usually use for proper stikhera, aposticha, etc. when I am leading.

For the canons of Matins or a moleben we sing the irmosi and troparia recto tono by one reader with a two note congregational refrain, such as "Most holy Theotokos save us"

You can find all of the canons, sidalni, hypakoi, etc. set to music in the Irmologion but many of these are fairly intricate melodies and many have not been transposed from Slavonic to English texts. There are absolutely beautiful Irmologion melodies including podobnis and samopodobnis but as you say this is truly a lost art in most places.

In researching this tonight I came across these links which show that receiving blessed bread (but not wine) at Communion time is customary in Greek usage.

http://www.transfigcathedral.org/faith/QandA/05.shtml

http://www.stconstantinehelen.org/traditions.html

http://www.stmichaelgoc.org/pages/716721/

So, apparently this would indicate that receiving blessed bread at Communion time is not just a Russian thing, right?

David Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

Dear Fr Joe,

I have to admit that at times, being alone and sometimes very tired, I end up splitting the vespers and matins of the vigil, purely because I can't physically cope with the length of the vigil, which is long in my Tradtition.

The use of vigils in the New Rite is far more numerous than in the Old Rite. A glance at the calendar in the back of the Erie Old Rite prayerbook will show that the days on which vigils are appointed are actually few, compared to modern usage.

Spasi Khristos -
Mark, monk and sinner.

Apparently, the Greek and Antiochian parishes here in the US distribute zapivka bread at Communion (although I'm sure they use a different term for it than that.)

Is that also the case in Greece and the Middle East? Anyone know?

David Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com