#liturgy

• To recite from the lectern — An archaic, regional, or ecclesiastical term meaning to read, recite, or sing fragments from the liturgical books kept on the analoghion during religious services. In a broader and literary sense influenced by Greek, the word could historically also mean to ponder, calculate, weigh, or carefully analyze a situation, or to make a proportional structural correlation between several elements.
• Anastasimatarion — An official liturgical book used in the Orthodox Church comprising the chants appointed for Saturday evening (Vespers) and Sunday morning (Matins) services, focused exclusively on the theme of the Resurrection of Christ and structured based on the eight tones of psaltic music. This structural work is indispensable at the cantor's stand, gathering hymns such as Dogmatika, Resurrectional Stichera, and Apolytikia from the Octoechos.
• Angelus — A Christian devotional prayer (specifically within the Roman Catholic Church) commemorating the Incarnation, named after the opening words of the Latin text: 'Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae'. The term also denotes the specific tolling of church bells that announces the times for this prayer, three times a day (morning, noon, and evening), or an artistic representation inspired by this sacred spiritual moment.
• Antependium — A piece of furniture or a movable decorative textile, made of fine cloth, precious embroidery, carved wood, or noble metal, used to cover and adorn the front face of a Christian altar. This liturgical element serves both a profound aesthetic role, reflecting the specific iconography and colors of the liturgical season, and a symbolic meaning of protection and sanctification of the sacred space where the eucharist is celebrated.
• Antiphon — A material, device, or chemical compound used for soundproofing, noise reduction, or acoustical vibration damping (especially in automotive or construction industries); in Christian liturgical music (theology), it represents a hymn, verse, or psalm sung alternatively by two separate choirs.
• Antiphonal — Insulating against noise or damping sound vibrations; pertaining to soundproofing or acoustic reduction. In liturgical or religious music (theology), the term describes a hymnal structure or a mode of vocal performance based on the symmetrical alternation and dialogue between two separate choirs.
• Antiphony — A system of musical or liturgical performance characterized by the alternate singing of two choirs or a soloist and a choir responding successively; a genre of church chant based on this dialogue structure, used since antiquity and consolidated in Byzantine and Gregorian liturgies.
• Holy water — Clean drinking water that has been sanctified by a priest or bishop within a specific liturgical ritual (agheasmă), through prayers, the sign of the cross, and blessing. In Christian tradition (especially Orthodox and Catholic), this sacred water is structurally used for sprinkling the faithful, houses, and ritual objects to drive away evil spirits, achieve spiritual purification, and obtain divine blessing.
• To consecrate liturgically — An extremely rare, altered, or dialectal phonetic variant of the liturgical verb 'artirisi' (or 'artirosi'), used in isolation within some old manuscripts or rural communities to express the ritual sanctification or blessing of the prosphora and church gifts at the prothesis table. It reflects a local phonetic hybridization process of ecclesiastical terms of Greek origin.
• To consecrate liturgically — An archaic or regional liturgical term meaning to sanctify, to consecrate, or to prepare the sacred bread (prosphora) during the proscomidia ritual; to dedicate or set aside church gifts. In ancient monastic communities, the word described the mystical and canonical action of ritually cleansing elements brought as offerings to the altar.
• To consecrate — An old phonetic or regional variant for the verb 'artirisi', meaning to sanctify ritual bread, to consecrate gifts brought to the altar, or to set aside sacred elements during Orthodox services. In transitional church writings, the term reflects early local adaptation of liturgical concepts based on the Greek root.
• To consecrate liturgically — An old, rare, or regional phonetic variant for the liturgical verb 'artirisi' (or 'artirosi'), meaning to sanctify ritual bread (prosphora), to bless church gifts brought to the altar, or to prepare mystical elements during the proscomidia. In transitional church writings, it reflects the local process of adapting and pronouncing cultured terms of Greek origin.
• To photocopy — An old phonetic or regional variant for the verb 'artirosi' (or 'artirisi'), meaning to sanctify ritual bread (prosphora), to photocopy gifts brought to the altar, or to set aside sacred elements during Orthodox services. In transitional church writings, the term reflects early local adaptation of liturgical concepts based on the Greek root.
• Axion — A solemn religious hymn of praise and glory chanted in the Orthodox Church during the Holy Liturgy, immediately after the consecration of the Holy Gifts, dedicated to the hyperdulia and delicate veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The name originates from Greek, from the first words of the liturgical chant 'Axion estin' ('It is truly meet' or 'Worthy it is'). Historically, the text is structurally formed of two distinct parts: the first being an Athonite introduction from the 10th-11th centuries, and the second an irmos composed in the 8th century by Saint Cosmas the Melodist.