The Proskomedia (Preparation of the Gifts)

The service before the service. At a side table the priest cuts the Lamb from the first prosphoron with a lance, pierces it, pours wine and water into the chalice, and then sets particles on the diskos: one for the Theotokos at the right of the Lamb, nine for the ranks of the saints at the left, then particles for the living and for the dead by name, as many as are asked for. What stands on the diskos by the end is the whole Church gathered around Christ, the living and the departed together and no distinction drawn between them. Those particles are not communion and are never given to anyone; at the end of the Liturgy they are placed into the chalice with the words that ask the Blood of Christ to wash away the sins of all who have been remembered.