Divine Liturgy outside of a church

[rkrispies]

How is the Divine Liturgy celebrated outside of a church? Say on a battlefield or other location for another reason. I know the Latin rite can be celebrated as an exception to the norm, and I was wondering what sorts of things need to be present for an Eastern rite DL.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[Chaldean_Rite]

How is the Divine Liturgy celebrated outside of a church? Say on a battlefield or other location for another reason. I know the Latin rite can be celebrated as an exception to the norm, and I was wondering what sorts of things need to be present for an Eastern rite DL.

Thanks!
Chris

I think you just need a makeshift altar (ie: flip a chair upside down) and the bread and wine.

 

[Aramis]

How is the Divine Liturgy celebrated outside of a church? Say on a battlefield or other location for another reason. I know the Latin rite can be celebrated as an exception to the norm, and I was wondering what sorts of things need to be present for an Eastern rite DL.

Thanks!
Chris

In general, for the Byzantine use, you need a table, a knife, a chalice and discos, a spoon and an antimension.

If possible, the two key icons (Pantocrator and Theotokion), a second table for proskomedia, the aer, the chalice and discos veils, the censor and incense, the gospel book and epistle book and vestments.

In the persecutions, I’m certain household china got used for chalice and diskos, and any household was likely to have the Pantocrator and Theotokion (possibly hidden by paintings or draperies).

In outdoor or non-parish-chapel DL’s, it is common to place the icons on stands, “creating” an iconostas’ “royal doors” by their positioning; often, no “door” nor curtain is present. It’s also not uncommon to have St John’s Icon and a parish icon (or sometimes St. Nicholas’ Icon) on stands to frame up the “deacon doors” as well.

The table is less important than the antimension used upon it.

Where possible, proper vestments and a proper chalice and diskos, with veils and aer should be used. Likewise also the ripidia (fans), candles, and processional cross, and censor and incense. The Book of the Gospels is called for by rubrics, as well.

But in the persecutions, one used what one had. If one had no gospel book and epistle book, a bible would be used; if no bible, the readings would be done from memory.

Some priests have written about saying the DL in the Gulags with wine from rasins, and scraps of bread for the prosphora, readings from memory, and a tin cup as a chalice.

 

[Brendan]

How is the Divine Liturgy celebrated outside of a church? Say on a battlefield or other location for another reason. I know the Latin rite can be celebrated as an exception to the norm, and I was wondering what sorts of things need to be present for an Eastern rite DL.

Thanks!
Chris

The very first Divine Liturgy I was ever at was celebrated at a campground. I was at a historical re-enactment and it was Sunday. I was going to get changed and go into the local town for Mass, but I was informed that one of the other re-enactors was a Catholic priest and was goign to celebrate Mass that morning.

It was done under an blue tarp awning. The priest had placed two folding tables to either side with an isle in between. On the table were icons , thus forming the iconostatis. And another folding table behind those served as the altar.

After that, it just went normally.

I was already familar with the concept of Eastern Catholicism, as about a 1/4 of the kids at my Catholic grade school came from the local Rutherian parish. But that was my first time actually AT a Divine Liturgy.