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Ambon (liturgy)
 
 
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The Ambon (Slavonic: amvón) is a projection coming out from the soleas (the walkway in front of the iconostasis
Iconostasis

In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis , also called the templon, is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church ....
) in an Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
 or Eastern Catholic church. The ambon is directly in front of the Holy Doors, and forms a platform from which the deacon
Deacon

Deacon is a role in the Christianity that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions....
 says the litanies
Ektenia

Ektenia , often called simply Litany, is a prayerful petition in the Eastern Orthodox/Eastern Catholic liturgy. The prevalent ecclesiastical word for this kind of litany in Greek is S??apt? Synapt?, Ektenia being the Greek word preferred in Church Slavonic language ....
, or the priest
Priest

A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities....
 gives the dismissals during the Divine Services. The ambon is considered to be a part of the altar
Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and votive offerings are made for religion, or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place....
 (i.e., the sanctuary), so normally only the clergy will go up onto the ambon.






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The Ambon (Slavonic: amvón) is a projection coming out from the soleas (the walkway in front of the iconostasis
Iconostasis

In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis , also called the templon, is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church ....
) in an Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
 or Eastern Catholic church. The ambon is directly in front of the Holy Doors, and forms a platform from which the deacon
Deacon

Deacon is a role in the Christianity that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions....
 says the litanies
Ektenia

Ektenia , often called simply Litany, is a prayerful petition in the Eastern Orthodox/Eastern Catholic liturgy. The prevalent ecclesiastical word for this kind of litany in Greek is S??apt? Synapt?, Ektenia being the Greek word preferred in Church Slavonic language ....
, or the priest
Priest

A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities....
 gives the dismissals during the Divine Services. The ambon is considered to be a part of the altar
Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and votive offerings are made for religion, or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place....
 (i.e., the sanctuary), so normally only the clergy will go up onto the ambon. The exception is that the faithful will step up onto the ambon when they come forward to receive Holy Communion.

Originally, the Ambon extended into the center of the nave
Nave

In Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and Church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar....
. It was the place where the clergy sat and the scriptures were read during the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine church tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches....
. It is a development from the bimah
Bimah

A bimah , almemar or tebah is the elevated area or platform in a Judaism synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading....
 in the Jewish synagogue
Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
.

The last public prayer of the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine church tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches....
 is the "Prayer Before the Ambon", originally a prayer of thanksgiving said as the clergy descended the ambon at the end of the service. In ancient times, there was a large collection of Prayers Before the Ambon, written for the different Feast Days of the church year and for those occasional services (Weddings, Funeral
Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour....
s, etc.) which called for a celebration of the Divine Liturgy.

In the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate , also known as the Orthodox Christian Church of Russia, is a body of Christianity who constitute an Autocephaly Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow, in full communion with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches....
, during Hierarchical services, the bishop
Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
 will stand upon a raised platform (kafedra) in the center of the nave like the bimah of old (see Cathedra
Cathedra

A cathedra is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran church es....
).

See also

  • Tribune (architecture)
    Tribune (architecture)

    Tribune is an ambiguous often misused architecture term which can have several meanings.The word stems from medieval Latin tribuna, from classical Latin tribunal, the elevated placing of a Tribune or other Roman magistrate's seat for official functions such as throne....
  • Templon
    Templon

    A templon is a feature of Byzantine architecture that first appeared in Christian churches around the fifth century AD and is still found in some Eastern Christianity churches....
  • Bema
    Bema

    The Bema means a raised platform. In antiquity it was probably made of stone, but in modern times it is usually a rectangular wooden platform approached by steps....