antimension
In Eastern Orthodox liturgical traditions, the antimension is a decorated piece of cloth that rests on the altar while the eucharist is being celebrated. Meaning, in Greek, “instead of the table,†the eucharist can be celebrated on an antimension even in the absence of a consecrated altar. The cloth itself represents both the swaddling clothes and the burial shroud of Jesus, and the most prominent image on it is of Jesus’s burial. A relic of a saint is always sewn into the antimension, conferring a living holiness. No one is permitted to touch it except a clergyman.