The ambon or ambo (, meaning "

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

"; Slavonic: ''amvón'') in its modern usage is a projection coming out from the

soleas The soleas (() = meaning (“bottom, base”, as used in "sole of a shoe", cf. also the "sole" from the resemblance of fish to a flat shoe. Of uncertain origin)) is an extension of the sanctuary platform in an Eastern Orthodox temple (church buil ...

(the walkway in front of the

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

) in an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysitism, Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian ...

and

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

church. The ambon stands directly in front of the

Holy Doors The royal doors, holy doors, or beautiful gates are the central doors of the iconostasis in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The sanctuary (sometimes called the ''Altar'', which contains the Holy Table) is separated from the nav ...

. It may be either rounded or square and has one, two, or three steps leading up to it.

History

Originally the ambon was an elevated platform, somewhat variable in location within the church (but typically found toward the center of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, or somewhat forward from there), where the scriptures were read during the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

. It is still so used for celebrations of the Liturgy of St James. It is a development from the bimah in the Jewish

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. In the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, during

Hierarch An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ...

ical services, the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

will stand upon a raised platform ( ''kafedra'') in the center of the nave like the bimah of old. Originally used in both the East and West, the structure has almost disappeared in the Western Rites. In early Western churches the ambon was known also as the ''gradus'', ''lectorium'', or ''lectricium'', and from it have developed the

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

and the

. It took the form of a raised stand, approached by steps, for preaching and often for readings. In the West, there were often two ambons, one on the north (for the reading or chanting of the Gospel) and one on the south (for the

Epistle An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

) side of the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

or presbytery."Ambo"
definition, Answers.com. Remnants of the ambo may be found at the Basilica of St Clement in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and in

St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (; ), is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cath ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. In the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

the stand from which the Gospel is read is formally called the "ambo" (not "ambon"). It is normally in the form of a lectern or pulpit, and located near the front of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

Usage

The ambon is the platform from which the

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

reads the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and says the

litanies Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''wikt:litania, litania'' from Ancient Greek wikt:λιτα ...

, and the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

gives the dismissal during the Divine Services. The ambon is considered to be a part of the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

(i.e., the sanctuary), so normally only the clergy will go up onto the ambon. The exception is that the faithful will step up onto the ambon when they come forward to receive

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

. During the Rite of the

Churching of Women In Christian tradition the churching of women, also known as thanksgiving for the birth or adoption of a child, is the ceremony wherein a blessing is given to mothers after recovery from childbirth. The ceremony includes thanksgiving for the woma ...

, the newborn infant is taken by the

up onto the ambon (provided the child has been baptized by this time—otherwise, this ceremony will wait until after the baptism). If the child is female, the priest lays her in front of the

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

of the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-beare ...

; if it is a male, the priest takes the child around the Holy Table (altar). In some Greek Orthodox parishes, there is an ambo to the side (usually the Liturgical North, opposite the Bishop's throne) of the Iconostasis. It retains only a few of the functions of the ancient ambo, whereas the solea retains the other functions. The Epistle and Homily are read from this ambon (similar to a western pulpit), whereas the Gospel is read from the Solea. The practice of vesting the Bishop in the center of the nave is retained in parishes without chairs or pews. If the parish has chairs and pews, then the vesting of the Bishop occurs near the iconostasis, sometimes on the solea/ambon itself. The last public prayer of the

is the "Prayer Before the Ambon" (Greek: ''euche opisthambonos''), originally a prayer of thanksgiving said as the clergy descended the ambon at the end of the service. In ancient times, there was a large collection of Prayers Before the Ambon, written for the different

Feast Days The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of the

church year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of Christian liturgy, liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including Calendar of saints, c ...

and for those occasional services ( Weddings,

Funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

s, etc.) that called for a celebration of the Divine Liturgy. In some Orthodox Churches this more extensive collection of prayers is used. Contemporary Greek Ambon

References

External links

Ambo (in the Russian and Greek Church)
''Catholic Encyclopedia''. *
Early Christian ambo
from

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Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

* {{cite journal , last1=Kazhdan , first1=Alexander , title=A Note on the Middle-Byzantine Ambo , journal=Byzantion , date=1987 , volume=57 , issue=2 , pages=422–426 , url=http://www.jstor.com/stable/44171018 , publisher=Peeters Publishers Eastern Christian liturgy Church architecture Altars Pulpits

History

Usage

See also

References

External links