The epitaphios is a liturgical
ornament which is used today in the Good Friday service. During Vespers it is
brought in procession out of the sanctuary and placed under a canopy –or on a
simple table on Mount Athos– which stands in the centre of the church, for the
veneration of the faithful. In the course of Matins of Easter Eve, after it has
been carried in procession outside the church, at the end of the Te Deum, it is placed on the altar,
where it remains until Ascension Day. The
epitaphios of Vatopaidi belongs to the purely liturgical type which is
derived from the large aer. Its decoration shows the dead Christ, depicted as a
eucharistic allegory of the Lamb of God, King
of all things, attended by the angelic powers – to quote from the Great
Entrance. In the worship offered by the angelic powers the community of the
faithful, which, in the vision of Revelation is shown gathered round the altar
on which is the Lamb, who was, and is,
and is to come, participates through the Liturgy. As in the Revelation, the
Christ of the aer also has an eschatological meaning: it is the image of the
Coming which will take place before the host of men and of angels. It is this
theology which is encapsulated in the Vatopaidi epitaphios. Angel-deacons are
shown ministering with the flabella in the four corners of the ornament, and
all the angels stood around the throne,
where the Lamb stood … as it had been
slain. But the heavenly powers will also be present at the Second Coming.
The dead Jesus, the king of Glory, who lies on the altar, is at the same time
the Saviour who has sacrificed Himself, and the Judge ■
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario