Religious glossary

Also called: side altar

The stone or wooden table on which the Eucharist is celebrated, visible to all; Catholic churches often have side altars too.

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Also called: blessed bread

The pieces of blessed bread given to the faithful at the end of the Liturgy; it is not Communion.

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A cloth consecrated by the bishop, showing the burial of Christ; the Liturgy cannot be celebrated without it.

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Also called: font

The large vessel in which children are baptised; in Catholic and Protestant churches often a stone basin near the entrance.

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Also called: lumânărar

The faithful light candles on entering the church: separately for the living and for the departed.

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Also called: thurible

The metal vessel on chains in which incense burns; the priest censes the icons and the faithful.

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Also called: caliciu

The consecrated cup, usually of precious metal, holding the wine for the Eucharist.

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Also called: diptych

The list of names of the living and the departed given to the priest to be remembered at the Liturgy.

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Also called: confession box

The wooden booth in which a Catholic priest hears confession through a grille.

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Also called: paten

The consecrated plate on which the bread for the Eucharist is placed.

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Also called: shroud

The cloth depicting the burial of Christ, brought out on Good Friday and carried in procession.

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Also called: altar table

The table in the middle of the sanctuary on which the Eucharist is celebrated; the Gospel, cross, tabernacle and antimension rest on it.

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Also called: agheasmă

Water blessed by a priest; the Great Blessing is done at Epiphany, the Lesser at any time.

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Also called: holy water

The basin at the entrance of a Catholic church where the faithful dip their fingers and cross themselves.

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Also called: wafer

The thin, round unleavened bread used for the Eucharist in the Latin rite.

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Also called: frankincense

Aromatic resin burned in the censer; its smoke symbolises prayer rising to God.

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Also called: boiled wheat

Sweetened boiled wheat decorated with a cross, brought to church for memorials of the departed.

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Also called: Old Believer prayer rope

The leather, ladder-shaped prayer rope of the Old Believers.

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Also called: Communion table

The plain table before the pulpit in Protestant churches, where bread and wine are prepared for the Lord’s Supper.

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Also called: seven-branched candelabrum

The seven-branched lampstand of the Temple in Jerusalem, one of the oldest Jewish symbols.

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The small case fixed to the doorpost of Jewish homes and synagogues, containing the "Shema" prayer.

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Also called: ostensorium

A gilded, sun-shaped vessel in which the consecrated host is displayed for adoration and carried in processions.

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Also called: eternal light

The lamp that burns continuously before the Torah Ark.

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Also called: organ loft

The pipe instrument used at services in Catholic and Protestant churches, often in a gallery above the entrance.

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Also called: prostration mat

The small mat Old Believers place their hands on when making prostrations.

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Also called: seccade

The small rug on which a Muslim prays, so that the place of prayer is clean.

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Also called: prescură

The round leavened bread stamped with "IC XC NIKA", brought by the faithful for the Liturgy.

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Also called: holy relics

The bodies or parts of the bodies of saints, kept with honour in reliquaries.

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Also called: mătănii catolice, Sfântul Rozar

The string of beads with a cross used by Catholics to pray the Rosary.

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Also called: wooden board

A long wooden board (or metal plate) struck rhythmically to call people to prayer, especially in monasteries.

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The locked, often gilded cabinet in which the consecrated hosts are kept; a red lamp always burns beside it.

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Also called: artophorion

A metal casket, often shaped like a church, on the Holy Table, in which Communion is kept for the sick.

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Also called: misbaha

The string of 33 or 99 beads used by Muslims to count invocations of God.

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Also called: phylacteries

Two small leather boxes containing Torah verses, bound on the arm and forehead at weekday morning prayer.

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Also called: Holy Ark

The ornate cabinet on the Jerusalem-facing wall of the synagogue in which the Torah scrolls are kept.

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Also called: oil lamp

A small vessel with oil and a wick that burns before icons in church and at home.

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