Antimensia

An antimension is a consecrated liturgical cloth showing the scene of Christ’s burial. It is placed on the altar table and is required for celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox tradition.

Antimensia were made by printing sacred images and special texts (an engraving on fabric). A tiny pouch holding a particle of a saint’s relics, mixed with wax, incense and other aromatic substances, was sewn onto the reverse. The bishop signed the finished cloth by hand on the front, naming the church, the date and his own name, and gave it its final consecration. Only then did the antimension become a permission to celebrate the Liturgy.