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.

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:

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