This document summarizes the historical development of commemorations made during the Orthodox Christian ritual of proskomidia. It describes how commemorations began simply but grew over time to include more individuals and groups. Specifically: - Commemorations originally honored only the Mother of God but later came to include saints, the living, and the dead. - By the 11th century, saints were commemorated with particles of bread placed on the diskos. - The number of loaves used corresponded to the number of commemorations until standardized at five loaves in the 14th century. - The order of commemorations reflected the ancient practice of diptychs and came to follow the Mother of

1. THE FIRST COMMEMORATION
Continuing with the rite of preparatfon, or proskomidia, the priest
takes another prosphora in his hands, 1
and conmzemorates the
Mother of God, sayi,ng :
In honor and in memory of our Most Blessed Lady, the
Mother ofGod and ever-virgin Mary, through whose prayers,
0 Lord, accept this sacrifice upon your own altar in heaven.
He cuts out a small particle from the prosphora and p'faces it on the
diskos to the right of the holy bread (the priest's left, however, as he
stands/acing the diskos); as he does this, he says:
At your right hand stood the Queen dressed in golden
vesture adorned with many colors (Ps. 44:10).
This is the first of many commemorations made with the particles
of bread. Appropriately, it is in honor ofthe Mother of God. The
practice ofcommemorating the Mother ofGod, the saints, the living
and the dead in the intercessions of the anaphora is indeed ancient;
it dates back to the fourth century at least. 1
Even older is the
offertory practice of " naming" the living and the dead " at the
altar with the oblation. " 1
In other words, a small loaf of bread
was presented for the sacrifice by each family or individual in their
-0wn name; relatives and friends of the deceased also offered a small
loaf in the name of the departed who had died in communion with
the Church. The '' naming," commemorations, and intercessions
were done immediately before the offertory, during the preparation
of the gifts of bread and wine. At some point before the eighth or
1
If only one prosphcra is available, the small particles or hosts are cut from it.
1
E.g., Sarapion's Euclwlogian (cf. above, p. 95); Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat.
mystag., V, 9 (Quasten, Mon., 102), etc.
• E.g., Cyprian, Ep., LXV, 2 (edit. Ante-Nicene Fathers, p. 367 [Oxford edit.,
Ep., I]); Ep. XVI, 2 (CSEL, 3, 519); Council ofElvira, Canon 29 (Hefele-Leclercq,
I, 237); Ps.-Dionysius, De hierarchia eccl., 3, ii (PG 3, 425); the ancient Liturgy
of SS. Addai and Mari (Brightman, LEW, pp. 275-281); Narsai (Connolly, The
Liturgical Homilies of Narsai [Cambridge, 1909), pp. IO-II), etc. For detailed
history, see below, pp. 518, 527. 625.

2. ninth century, the preparation of the gifts was shifted from its
original position to the beginning of the Divine Liturgy," but the
" naming" and commemorations remained in their original place.
In the ninth century, however, commemorations for the living and
the dead were included also in the proskomidia : a whole loaf was
offered for each group. This much we know from the implicit
testimony of Nicephorus I, Patriarch of Constantinople (A.D. 8o6-
815). 5
By the eleventh century, saints were also being commemorated
in the proskomidia of the Greco-Byzantine Church, with a corre-
sponding offering of bread. 6
The number of loaves, then, would
depend on whether or not any commemorations were made for the
dead and/or a saint. About the same time, the Patriarch of Con-
stantinople, Nicolas Grammaticus (1084-nn) prescribed at least
four loaves. The first was the" Lamb"; the second commemorated
the Blessed Virgin; the third, St. Michael and Gabriel and the other
angels; the fourth, the Precursor, the apostles, prophets, and holy
pontiffs, the saint of the day, and all the saints. If any commem-
oration ofthe living or of the dead were to be made, a loaf was to be
offered for each. What is not clear, however, is whether all or only
part of these breads were to be consecrated. 7
Such practice was
far from uniform, as is evident from the various documents of the
times. 8
' Codex Barberini, gr., 336 (Brightman, LEW, pp. 309-310).
• Cf. Nicephorus I, Canon I I (PG lOO, 856). The necessity of defining that
it was no fault to offer only one loaf of bread for three persons proves the custom
of offering as many loaves as there were commemorations.
• When the question was asked whether or not it was lawful to use only one
loafin celebratingthe Divine Liturgy, Peter Chartophylax (c. l09l-III8) answered:
" Unless a commemoration of a saint be made or that of a deceased person, there
is nothing which would hinder (one from celebrating the Divine Liturgy with
only one loaf)" : 'E()(t)-ri)µ1noc in G. A. Rhallis-M. Potli, l:uvrocyµoc W;v Bdwv xocl
le:pC>v xocv6vwv, Vol. V, p. 369.
' Cf. Nicolas Gramm.aticus, Ile:pl -rou 7t'Wf,; oipe:LM:t 7t'Ote:Lv 6 ~pe:u.:; Tfiv 7t'pOaxoµt8'1'jv
(edit. A. S. Pavlov, Nomokancn pry bol'shem trebnyku [Moscow, 1897], pp. 410-412).
• E.g., six loaves at least are prescribed in the Typikon given by Alexis
the Studite, Patriarch of Constantinople, to a monastery he founded (c. 1025-
1043); cf. MS. of Synodal Library of Moscow, N. 380 (formerly 330), fol. 228 v,
in A. Gorsky-K. Nevostrujev, Opysanie slavianskikh rulwpisej Moskovskoj Synodal'-
noj biblioteky, Vol. III (Moscow, 1859), i, p. 266. Seven are prescribed in the
Typikon of Irene Augusta (p. n18), chap. 34 (PG 127, 1056 BC); again, these
are in the nature of special obligations imposed on the monastery by the empress

3. A semblance of uniformity was achieved in the Greco-Byzantine
Church in the fourteenth century after promulgation ofthe Constitu-
timz ofPhilotheus. We know, however, that in the thirteenth century
another practice was taking root in some places : the large host or
" Lamb " was to be cut out of the first prosphora, or loaf, and placed
on the dislws; whether the other loaves were to be offered whole or
whether particles were to be cut out from them is unknown. I)
Philotheus, the Patriarch of Constantinople (1351-1378), issued his
Constitution prescribing five loaves (npompopcf), from which one or
more particles could be cut out. This was the origin ofthe present
standard practice. xo
From all the extant documents dating from the eleventh to the
fourteenth centuries, it is evident that the number ofloaves depended
on the number of commemorations. At first, in addition to the
" Lamb, " loaves could also be offered for the living and the dead;
when the commemoration of saints was introduced into the pro-
skomidi.a, it was placed before the commemorations ofthe living and
the dead. This order is another indication that the ancient custom
of reading the diptychs provided the inspiration for including
who founded it rather than a standard usage in Byzantine churches. Indirectly,
however, these prescriptions do indicate the type of commemorations which
could be made in the Byzantine Church at the time : " Each day seven loaves are
(to be) offered in the Divine Liturgy: one, the Lord's (i.e., the" Lamb"); another
(in honor) of our Blessed Lady and Mother of God; another (in honor) of the saint
of the day; another for the expiation and remission of sins both of my most gracious.
emperor (i.e., her husband Alexis Comnenus) and my own; another for the deceased
monks; another for our deceased parents and the rest of those close to us; another
for our living children, relatives and the rest of those close to us. After our death,.
the aforementioned loaf is to be offered singly for the remission of our sins, and
this is to be made in perpetuum. If one of us two dies before the other, one
separate loaf is to be immolated for the living, another for the deceased; however,.
after the death of the one who had outlived the other, one loaf is to be offered for
both (of us)." Our translation from the Greek in PG 127, ro56 BC. Another
prescription, quoted by A. Dmitrievsky (Opysanie liturgicheskikh rukopisej khrania-
schikhsia v bibliotekakh pravcslavnago vostoka, Vol. I, Typika [Kiev, 1895], p. 768),
from the Typikon given to the monastery Twv 7j'A!ou ~<UµCw (or T(;')v ~'Aeyµ(;')v) by
a certain Nicolas the Mystic (written some time between u43-n79) has: "In all
the Liturgies celebrated in the church, one oblation is to be immolated in my
name; the same should also be done after my departure to the Lord...• " See
also A. Dmitrievsky, op. cit., p. 647.
• Cf. A. Dmitrievsky, op. cit., Vol. III, p. u7.
1• Constitution of Philotheus, cf. A. Dmitrievsky, op. cit., Vol. II, Euchologia
(Kiev, r90r), pp. 820-82I. A slightly different usage is recorded in Nicolas.
Cabasilas (r371), Liturgiae expositio, Io (PG 150, 385 D-387 A).

4. similar commemorations in the same place in the proskomidia.
Ancient diptychs contained not only the names ofthe living and the
dead, but also those of the saints, who were mentioned first. It
became necessary to categorize the saints in the order of their
greatness. The intercessory prayer of the anaphora served as an
example.
The Blessed Mother of God headed the list, the Precursor John
the Baptist followed, then the Apostles, the saint of the day, etc.
(see below, pp. 631). The origin of such a list in the proskomidia
may traced to the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries (cf.
pp. 280, above). During the next two centuries, although usages
still differed in many churches, the series ofsaints was being enlarged.
For instance, after the particle in honor ofthe Baptist, the thirteenth-
century Euchologion preserved in MS. 719 of Patmos, adds other
particles " in honor of the holy and glorious, all-laudable apostles,
-of our holy and God-bearing fathers Basil the Great, John Chrys-
ostom, Athanasius, etc. " 11
A manuscript dated 13o6, at the
Esphigmenon monastery of Mount Athos, lists the Blessed Mother,
St. John the Baptist, the prophets, the apostles, the holy, God-
bearing fathers, priest-martyrs, wonder-workers and "unmerce-
naries" (see p. 295, for meaning), holy men and women, then the
living and the dead and, finally, the celebrants of the Liturgy. 11
A fifteenth-century manuscript inserts, after the commemoration
()f the apostles, that " ofthe glorious, holy hierarchs and ecumenical
doctors Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom,
and all the holy hierarchs, " and continues with commemorations
~'of the holy, glorious and great martyrs George, Demetrius,
Theodore and all the holy martyrs, of our holy fathers filled with
11
Published by A. Dmitrievsky, op. cit., Vol. II, Euchologia (Kiev, 1901),
pp. 171-172. There is here no mention of the living or the dead.
11
Cf. A. Dmitrievsky, op. cit., pp. 263-264. Another founeenth-century
manuscript, Grottaferrata r.B. ill, immediately after the commemoration of the
Mother of God, lists those in honor " of the incorporeal Powers of heaven, of the
prophet, forerunner and Baptist John, of the holy, glorious and all-celebrated
apostles, of our father among the saints and hierarch Basil, of our father among
the saints Chrysostom, of our father among the saints Gregory the Theologian,
-0f our father among the saints Nicholas; and we also remember all the saints
through whose intercession may God look down upon us••.• " The commemora-
tions of the living and dead follow. Cf. Brightman, LEW, Appendix Q, p. 548.
Our translation from the Greek in Brightman.

5. God, Anthony, Euthymius, Sabbas and all the venerable fathers, of
the holy, glorious and great physicians working without fees, Cosmas
and Damian and of all the holy umnercenaries, of the holy and just
parents of God [Joachim and Anne], and of saint N-- whose
memory we keep and of the holy saints through whose intercession
may God accept this sacrifice upon his heavenly altar..., " etc. 13
Comparisons between the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century commem-
orations and those ofthe twelfth and thirteenth illustrate the growth
of such lists. Finally in 16oo, when the Venice· edition of the
Euchologion was published, the series was completed and, except
for a few minor variations, is identical with that of today.
In the Byzantine-Slav Church, the proskomidia had undergone
similar evolution and development. At first, the rite of preparation
was as simple as in the early Greco-Byzantine Church. The Litur-
gikon ofAnthony the Roman (1147),for example, states that the priest
is to prepare the first loafby dividing it into four at the beginning
of the Liturgy and merely " offer " the others. 14 The Liturgikon
of Barlaam of Khutinsk (1102) prescribes the preparation of only
one prosphora, and this by the deacon. 16
It seems quite certain,
however, that the general practice ofthe Russian Church at the time
was the use ofmore than one prosphora. 18
This would also indicate
that there may have been commemorations conjoined to the
prosphory.
Later, the Slav proskomidia parallels the growth ofthe same ritual
in the Greco-Byzantine Church. Thus, a thirteenth-century
manuscript prescribes the use of five prosphory with the following
commemorations : the first, was the " Lamb, " the second honored
"From the MS. Paris Gra!4c•• 2509. fol. 226 v. Our translation from the
Greek in Brightman. LBW, Appendix Q. p. 550. Our bracketed material supplied
for clearer meaning.
u The Synodal Library of Moscow, Coda 342; cf. A. Gorsky-K. Nevostrujev,
op. cit., Vol. III, i. pp. l ff.
11
The Synodal Library of Moscow, N. 343; cf. A. Gorsky-K. Nevostrujev,
op. cit., Vol. III, i, pp. 5 1!.
10 Cf. Reply of Bishop Niphont of Novgorod (u30-u56) to Kirik, a monk,
who had asked if it were permissible to celebrate the Divine Liturgy with only
one prosphora. He answered that it was not allowed unless it were the only one
available; cf. Vprashanie Kirilwvo jerze vprasha Episkopa N()f)gorodskavo Niplwna
i inikh, Pamjatniky Rossijskoj Slovenosti XII vika, p. 194.

6. the Blessed Virgin, the third was for saints, the fourth for the living
and, finally, the fifth for the dead. 11
The Slav churches, with some
exceptions, favored the use of five prosplwry in the fourteenth
century. 18 This practice was confirmed by the introduction of the
Constitution of Philotheus by Metropolitan Cyril of Kiev (1376-
1406). 19
Complete uniformity was not achieved. Some of the fifteenth-
century Liturgika began to prescribe the use of six prosplwry and
even seven. 10
This lack of uniformity was perhaps greater in the
churches of Russia than it was in the churches of the Ukraine. 21
When the Slav edition of the Nom.okanon was published in 1620 at
Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves) at Kiev, its text fully
agreed with its Greek counterpart and prescribed the use of five
17
Codex 524, fol. 4, of Sophia Library; cf. A. Petrovsky, Histoire de la redaction
slave de la liturgie de S. Jean Chrysostome, XPYCOCTOMIKA, pp. 873-874;
also, Krasnoseltsev, Materialy dlja istorii chinoposlidovania liturgii sv. Joanna
Zlatoustago (Kazan, 1889), p. 20.
18
So Codex 522, fols. !)-12, and Codex 523, fols. 7-12, of Sophia Library but
Codex 526, fols. 4-6, of same Library prescribed only four prosphory (of which
the second was in honor of the saint of the day, the third for the living, and the
fourth for the dead). Three loaves, according to several fourteenth-century MSS.
(Codices 1053, fol. 28, and 1054, fol. 23, of same Library), were sufficient if the
Divine Liturgy was for a sick person. Cf. A. Petrovsky, op. dt., p. 882; and
Krasnoseltsev, op. cit., pp. u-13. The fourteenth-century Molyunmyk-Sluzhebnyk
(edit. Kowaliv [New York, Ig6o]), pp. 5-7, also mention.a five prosphory.
10 The fourteenth or fifteenth century Ustav in Metropolitan Isidore's Liturgikon
also prescribes five prosphory; cf. MS. Vat. Slav., N. I4, pp. n5-u9.
to Thus, Codices 528, fols. 86-90; 529, fols. 36-40; 531, fols. 4-8, etc., of Sophia
Library; cf. A. Petrovsky, op. dt., pp. 898-899. When seven loaves were used,
the " Lamb " was cut out from the first; the particle in honor ofour Blessed Mother,
from the second; that in honor of the saints, from the third; that for the bishop,
from the fourth; that commemorating the emperor, from the fifth; that for the
superior of the monastery and for the living, from the sixth; finally, that for the
dead, from the seventh.
., One would strongly suspect that lack of uniformity was the principal reason
why the Synod of Moscow (1551) did not clearly define the number of prosphory
to be used in celebrating the Eucharistic Liturgy. Its acts (collected in the Stoglav,
chap. 9, " Ukraz borzestvennia slurzby kako dostoit sviaschenniku iii s diakonom
slurzititai jedinomu" [3rd edit., Kazan, 1912], p. 46) states that the large bread,
the " Lamb " is to be cut out from the first prosphoru; the small particle in honor
of the Blessed Mother, from the second; that in honor of the Baptist, from the
third, and from the " remaining prosphory " those for the whole Orthodox
episcopate, for the emperor, for the princes, and for all Christian.a, both living
and dead. The various Russian Liturgika (missals) printed betWeen 1583 and
1617, however, prescribe seven prosphory.

7. prosphory. n The Moscow editions of the same by Patriarchs
Joasaphat I (1639) and Joseph (1651, increased the number from
five to seven. as
Unifo1mity finally came to the whole Slav Church with the
liturgical reform of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (1652-1658), when
the Nomokanon was again edited. The use of five loaves was
prescribed once more. Thousands of priests and laymen objected
to this and other reforms and broke away from the Orthodox Church.
They became known as the Raskolniky (Schismatics), the Starovery
(Old Believers) or the StarolJriadtsy (Old Ritualists). To this day,
they use seven loaves.
Such is in brief the history of the proskomidia in the Byzantine
Church.
For several hundred years, the commemoration of the Mother
of God has appropriately come first after the ahnets, the " Lamb"
itself. In today's rite of preparation, not only does it come first :
it is even in a category of its own, since the particle representing her
is in a place of honor on the diskos-on the right side of the ahnets
representing the Son of God (at the priest's left). The Constitution
of Philotheus prescribed that it be on the left of the " Lamb, " not
beneath it as other documents placed it. 24 The practice of placing
it at the right seems to have originated when the particle was given
a distinctive shape and verse l l of Psalm 44 was introduced. 2
• A
distinctive triangular shape began to be used in the fifteenth century
as a special mark of honor. 28
As Mary was close to Christ at the
foot of the cross on Calvary, so now by her honored position on the
diskos she is taking a more intimate share than the rest ofthe human
race both in the sacrifice ofthe altar and in her Son's glory in heaven.
11
Cf. A. Pavlov, Nomokanon pry bol'shom Trebniku (Moscow, 1897), pp. 4o6-
407.
11 This change is attributed to the archpriest Avvakum, a colorful figure in
these stormy years of Russian church history. Cf. A. Pavlov, op. cit., pp. 408-409.
"'Krasnoseltsev, op. cit., pp. 43 ff.
11
E.g., Cod. Esphigm., N. 120 (Dmitrievsky, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 955) and Cod.
525 of the Holy Sepulcher at Constantinople (Dmitrievsky, op. cit., p. 818).
.. The first document which prescribes a triangular shape for this particle
seems to be Cod. 425 of the Holy Sepulcher at Constantinople (Dmitrievsky,
op. cit., p. 818), though Cod. Esphig., N. 120 of the next century differentiates
this particle merely by stating that it should be " large. "

8. Mary's prerogative as the Mediatrix is expressed in the accom-
panying words : " through whose prayers accept, 0 Lord, this
sacrifice upon your own altar in heaven. " While placing this
particle on the diskos, the priest recites the tenth verse of Psalm 44 :
" At your right hand stood the Queen dressed in golden vesture,
adorned with many colors. " It refers to the Church as the bride
of Christ, but is applied here to the Blessed Virgin. In the Latin
Rite, Psalm 44 is recited at Matins on feasts of the Blessed Virgin.
Verses 10 to 16 are applied to her as the Spouse of the Holy Spirit
and the Queen of Heaven.