Collection Publications: Reflections of the Passion (y1966-218)

Like the Catholic Church in the West, the Orthodox Church in the East upholds the doctrine of Christ's presence in the Eucharist. In the Eastern Orthodox or Byzantine rite, a large cloth covers the bread and wine as they are brought into the church. The entry with the elements acquired the significance of a funeral procession, the cloth a burial shroud , the bread and wine Christ's dead body. For this reason, around the fourteenth century, the cloth, or epitaphios, began to be adorned with an image of the dead Christ. In this example, Christ's body is covered by a small embroidery, further equating his body with the Eucharist, since both are shrouded with a ritual cloth.