Diptych (liturgy)
The diptychs (singular diptych , Latin libri vivorum et mortuorum ) read out in the liturgy, immediately before or during the prayer , contained the names of the dead and living who were considered members of the Church. Their use has been attested since the third century. They were in use in the Western Church until the 12th century, in the Eastern Church until the 14th century, and are used there to a limited extent up to the present day.
The diptychs of the living contained the names of the patriarchs , bishops , high-ranking personalities and benefactors of the Church. To these names was added that of the Virgin Mary , martyrs and other saints . The diptychs of the dead contained the names of deceased bishops as well as of priests and lay people who had died in the reputation of holiness.
The diptychs only contained the names of persons who were in communion with the church reading them: the names of heretics and excommunicated members were not inserted or deleted. To be removed from the diptychs was a very serious ecclesiastical sanction, which amounted to an excommunication and which could affect even the highest episcopal or imperial dignitaries.
See also
literature
- Robert F. Taft: A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Vol. 4. The Diptychs (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 238). Pont. Inst. Stud. Orientalium, Roma 1991. Without ISBN.