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Zeon
(143 words)

[German Version]

(Gk τὸ ζέον, “something hot, boiling”), hot water mixed with the consecrated wine immediately before communion in the Byzantine liturgy (VI), to warm it to the temperature of life-giving blood. The ceremony is one of the few that was never based on a practical need. First attested in Constantinople in 582, it was in use even earlier in the Syrian church. Nikolaos Kabasilas saw it as representing the descent of the Holy Spirit on the church. This interpretation (probably secondary) is based on the formula in the textus receptus of the Divine Liturgy that is recited wh…

Cite this page
Felmy, Karl Christian, “Zeon”, in: Religion Past and Present. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1877-5888_rpp_SIM_026504>
First published online: 2011
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004146662, 2006-2013



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