Lamb (liturgy)

The Lamb (Greek: άμνος, amnos; Old Church Slavonic: Агнецъ, agnets) is the square portion of bread cut from the prosphora in the Liturgy of Preparation at the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Church and in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church. The Lamb is placed in the center of the diskos. The prosphoron from which the Lamb is cut is a loaf of leavened bread, formed in two layers to symbolize the hypostatic union of the human and divine natures of Christ. It must be made only from the finest flour, yeast, salt and water, and is stamped on top with a seal forming a Greek cross and the Greek letters IC, XC, and NIKA (which stand for, "Jesus" "Christ" and "Victory"), indicating that through the Cross and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has gained the victory over sin and death. The portion of the loaf demarcated by the seal will be cut out as the Lamb.

Liturgy of Preparation

When the priest cuts the Lamb from the prosphoron, he uses a liturgical knife called a "spear", with a blade shaped like a spearpoint to recall the spear used at the crucifixion to pierce Jesus' side. As he cuts along the four edges of the seal, the priest says the words from Isaiah 53:7-8, which St. Philip interprets as referring to the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross (Acts 8:32-33). The priest repeats a phrase from the prophecy as he cuts along each of the four sides of the seal:

Lamb

Lamb or The Lamb may refer to:

Film, television, and theatre

Literature

Lamb (2015 American film)

Lamb is an American drama film, written and directed by Ross Partridge. The film was adapted by the novel of the same name, by Bonnie Nadzam. The film stars Ross Partridge, Oona Laurence, Jess Weixler and Tom Bower.

The film had its world premiere at the SXSW film festival on March 14, 2015. The film was released in a limited release on January 8, 2016, before being released through video on demand on January 12, 2016 by The Orchard.

Plot

The film opens with David Lamb (Ross Partridge) visiting his sick and dying father Walter Lamb (Ron Burkhardt). After visiting his father, David goes to his motel room, where he is currently living. He talks to Linny (Jess Weixler) who tells David she has heard at her workplace, his ex-wife Cathy has kicked him out, and he is living in a motel room. Lamb tells Linny that's untrue, however, he is actually living in the motel. David is then shown at Walter's grave, implying that he has died. After attending his father's burial, Lamb ends up in a parking lot smoking, where Tommie (Oona Laurence) is asked by her friends to ask David for a cigarette. Lamb gives her a cigarette, and Tommie shows her friends. Lamb asks Tommie to scare her friends by pretending to kidnap her. Tommie says no, but ends up in David's truck. Lamb tells Tommie she should know better, and so should her friends. David brings Tommie home.

Lamb and mutton

Lamb, hogget, and mutton (UK, India, South Africa, Canada, Nepal, New Zealand and Australia) are terms for the meat of domestic sheep (species Ovis aries) at different ages.

A sheep in its first year is called a lamb, and its meat is also called lamb. The meat of a juvenile sheep older than one year is hogget; outside North America this is also a term for the living animal. The meat of an adult sheep is mutton, a term only used for the meat, not the living animals. The term mutton is sometimes used to refer to goat meat in the Indian subcontinent.

Lamb is the most expensive of the three types, and in recent decades sheep meat is increasingly only retailed as "lamb", sometimes stretching the accepted distinctions given above. The stronger-tasting mutton is now hard to find in many areas, despite the efforts of the Mutton Renaissance Campaign in the UK. In Australia, the term prime lamb is often used to refer to lambs raised for meat. Other languages, for example French and Italian, make similar, or even more detailed, distinctions between sheep meat by age and sometimes by gender, though these languages don't use different words to refer to the animal and its meat.

Liturgy

Liturgy (Greek: λειτουργία) is the customary public worship performed by a specific religious group, according to its particular beliefs, customs and traditions.

The word, sometimes rendered by its English translation "service", may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy (Greek: Θεία Λειτουργία), Catholic Mass, the Eucharist or Mass (Anglican Communion) or a daily activity such as the Muslim salah and Jewish services. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a communal response to the sacred through activity reflecting praise, thanksgiving, supplication, or repentance. Ritualization may be associated with life events such as birth, coming of age, marriage and death. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, as well as with other participants in the liturgy. Methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities.

Etymology

The word liturgy, derived from the technical term in ancient Greek, leitourgia, signifies the often expensive offers of service to the people, and thus to the polis and the state. Through the leitourgia, the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours. The leitourgia became both mandatory and honorific, supporting the patron's standing among the elite. The holder of a Hellenic leitourgia was not taxed a specific sum, but was entrusted with a particular ritual, which could be performed with greater or lesser magnificence. The chief sphere remained that of civic religion, embodied in the festivals: M.I. Finley notes "in Demosthenes' day there were at least 97 liturgical appointments in Athens for the festivals, rising to 118 in a (quadrennial) Panathenaic year." Eventually, under the Roman Empire, such obligations, known as munera, devolved into a competitive and ruinously expensive burden that was avoided when possible.

Liturgy (disambiguation)

Liturgy is a Christian term with several meanings:

Liturgy may also refer to:

Liturgy (ancient Greece)

The liturgy (Greek: λειτουργία or λῃτουργία, leitourgia, from λαός / Laos, "the people" and the root ἔργο / ergon, "work" ) was in ancient Greece a public service established by the city-state whereby its richest members (whether citizens or resident aliens), more or less voluntarily, financed the State with their personal wealth. It took its legitimacy from the idea that "personal wealth is possessed only through delegation from the city". The liturgical system dates back to the early days of Athenian democracy, but gradually fell into disuse by the end of the 4th century BC, eclipsed by the development of Euergetism in the Hellenistic period.

Principles and types

The liturgy was the preferred mode of financing of the Greek city, to the extent that it allowed them to easily associate each public expense with a ready source of revenue. This flexibility makes it particularly suited to the unpredictability of the period. This also explains its widespread use, including in undemocratic cities such as Rhodes. However, no strict uniformity is found in the specific practices of these liturgies, either geographically (from one city to another) or over time (as changing times and circumstances confront the Greek cities).