Hardly anyone knows that a wine strainer was considered a liturgical utensil in the 4th century, too. It was made of silver or other valuable stuff and used to pour wine into the Chalice.
Treasure found in the Zion Monastery: chalices, censers, a tabernacle, and a wine strainer in the front row
Christians used to bring their own wine and their own baked bread for the Liturgy. The wine wasn’t always high-quality and clean enough. That is why they needed a strainer to filter out possible admixtures.
Hmm … Makes some sense. I’d wondered about flies. That’s what I was taught the pall (placard that goes over the chalice in the western rites) was for, to keep bird shit and flies out of the chalice while the prayers were being said.
I did a quick google
https://catalog.obitel-minsk.com/blog/2019/03/when-and-why-did-the-tradition-of-giving-communion-on-a-spoon-arise
Hmm … Makes some sense. I’d wondered about flies. That’s what I was taught the pall (placard that goes over the chalice in the western rites) was for, to keep bird shit and flies out of the chalice while the prayers were being said.