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Of Antiochian origin, “catholicos” is the title of some Orthodox or ancient Eastern archbishops (Bishop, Episcopate) who have supervision over scattered and relatively independent areas. Among the Jacobites in Persia, the term “maphrian” is also found. Where full autonomy is achieved or claimed, the title is associated with that of patriarch in the Orthodox Church of Georgia and the Assyrian Church of the East. It is used alone for the leaders of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Among the …

From the word synagō, “collect,” the synaxarion is a collection for the church year of short lives and notices of the saints (§5.1) that, in the Eastern churches, can be used either in public worship or privately (Orthodox Christianity; Orthodox Church). From the 9th century onward, the literary genus of the synaxarion has merged into that of church calendars and martyrologies (Martyrs; Martyrs, Acts of the). There are examples in Byzantium and Italy and Greece, and also in the Near East, though usually in translation from the Greek. Modern Greek usage has added the texts to the li…

1. Biblical Usage The LXX coined the Gk. word patriarchēs, which derives from patria (family, tribe). In the OT it may be used for any group leaders, but in the NT it refers specifically to Abraham (Heb. 7:4), the 12 sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8–9), and David (2:29). 2. Jewish History From the third century to the fifth, the nasi (prince), the head of the Tiberias Sanhedrin, was called patriarchēs in Greek documents. The office, which was a hereditary one in the family of the editor of the Mishnah, Judah ha-Nasi (d. ca. 220), lasted until after 415 and was recognized and supported by t…

The Acathistus (from Greek, meaning “not [sung] sitting”), a Byzantine hymn to the Virgin Mary sung while standing, takes the form of an alphabetic acrostic and is thought to have been first composed by Romanus Melodus (6th cent.). The original served as a model for many similar hymns, especially in Russia. At times having considerable influence in the West, the Acathistus has been illustrated in picture-cycles since the 14th century. See Mariology; Mary, Devotion to Peter PlankBibliography A. Chadzinikolau, “Akathistos Hymnos,” RBK  1.94–96 G. Dévai, “Akathistos–Prooemia in …

“Pentarchy” (lit. “the rule of five”) denotes the widespread theory in the Greek East that the five patriarchs of Rome, Constantinople (Byzantium), Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem are jointly responsible for oversight of the church (Church Government). These patriarchs occupy the seats that were given a special preeminence by the ecumenical councils of the fourth and fifth centuries. The theory is first found in the laws of Emperor Justinian (527–65). It was given fuller theological development by the theologians of the eighth and ninth centuries …

“Archimandrite” (from Greek roots meaning “head of a sheepfold [ mandra]”) refers to a dignitary ranking below a bishop. It was used from the 4th century for certain heads of monasteries (Orthodox or united with Rome). After the 6th century it was reserved for leaders of groups of monasteries and at first restricted to certain abbots. Since the 18th century the title has been conferred on other monks or unmarried priests only loosely connected to the monastic state (as a rhasophore, or novice), either in an honorary way or as a promotion on the way to the episcopal office. See Orthodox Church Pe…

[German Version] On the first Sunday in Lent in 843, after years of struggle, the population of Constantinople were solemnly informed that the heresy of iconoclasm had finally been condemned and defeated. In the Orthodox Church, this proclamation became the occasion of a permanent annual festival: the first Sunday in Lent, formerly dedicated to Moses and all the prophets, has been observed as the “Sunday of Orthodoxy” ever since. In all episcopal cathedrals, the Synodicon is recited on this day in a special rite: a lengthy doxology is followed by a renunciation of all…

[German Version] The pervasive social reform set in motion by Alexander II’s emancipation of the serfs in 1862 also created the conditions in Russia necessary for an Orthodox theology (Orthodox churches: IV) consistently using historical-critical methods. This new form of theology bore fruit consonant with the cultural level and the capacities of the country and its church, until the October Revolution in 1917 violently interrupted the entire life of the church, including its theological reflectio…

[German Version] (Rumanian Cernăuţi, Russian Černovcy). After the incorporation of Bukovina into the Habsburg Empire in 1775, Czernowitz became the seat of the Orthodox bishop of Radautz (Radauti); while its ancient title was retained, it was joined to the Serbian Habsburg metropolitan see of Karlowitz (Sremski Karlovci). In the spirit of Josephinism, the existing monasteries were suppressed and their assets transferred to a so-called religious endowment to the benefit …

[German Version] The pectoral cross represents a special development of the encolpion ( pectorale), otherwise usually rectangular or oval, which Christians as well as pagans and Jews used as an ornament in antiquity. Although long worn by other secular and religious notables, by the 12th century the encolpion and pectoral cross were becoming increasingly a mark of episcopal office. Since 1570 the pectoral cross has been part of the mandatory attire of bishops. Since the 18th century, priests in the Orthodox …

[German Version] Basically, liturgical vestments derive from the festal and official garb of antiquity; as secular fashions changed, they became the distinctive liturgical attire of the clergy and identified their various ranks (Clothing and vestments: II). All clergy wear an alb (sticharion), a full-length garment with sleeves. The stole (stola) serves as a mark of ordination; it is a strip of cloth worn over the left shoulder by deacons (orarion), over both shoulders by priests and bishops (epit…

[German Version] (c. 1025, Constantinople – after 1100, near Antioch), important encyclopedist and canonist of the Chalcedonian patriarchy of Antioch. After a military career in Byzantine service, Nikon was a monk on the “Black Mountain” near Antioch and a monastic teacher appointed by the patriarchate. In this role he gathered and critically evaluated in three works what seemed genuine and normative to him in legal, liturgical, and ascetic traditions (I: Explanations of the Commandments of the Lord [῾Ερμηνεῑαι τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ κυρίου], also called the Pandects; II: Little Book [Μικρ…

[German Version] James, Liturgy of Saint, is the indigenous eucharistic liturgy of the Holy Land, named after the Lord's brother, James, verifiable as the foundation for the fourth and fifth mystagogical catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem or John of Jerusalem; passages are also already evident in Eusebius of Caesarea and in the eucharistic prayer in Origen. In terms of content, the sequence, formulated strictly in accordance with salvation history, of post-sanctus, words of institution, anamnesis, and epiclesis, and the extraordinary scope of the intercessions are n…

[German Version] Troparion, name of a special chant in Byzantine Orthodox worship; its origin and original meaning are disputed. Over the centuries, the characteristics of a troparion have been subject to considerable variation. As a hymnographic genre, a troparion is hard to distinguish formally from a sticheron and a kathisma. Originally a troparion appears to have been a short text serving as a refrain, framing and/or subdividing the recitation of a psalm. Such troparia have been preserved in c…

[German Version] In principle any language capable of supporting a literature is suitable as a liturgical language. All languages in which liturgy has been recorded in writing turn out to be potential literary languages or have become such through the translation of biblical and liturgical texts. Not unlike liturgical vestments, liturgical languages that differ significantly from languages in daily use, spoken or written, have arisen through the exclusion of the liturgical domain from processes of change and development, as well as from potential replacement of spoken idioms. The …

[German Version] The two brothers were born in Palestine c. 775 as sons of a priest named Jonas. Like their father, they became monks in the Sabas Monastery. Probably while traveling in the service of Patriarch Thomas I of Jerusalem (807–820), they were detained in Constantinople and became involved in the turmoil of the Iconoclastic controversy (Veneration of images: VI), which had flared up against in 815 under Emperor Leo V (813–820); in the course of it, as declared iconodules, they were forced to have their foreheads branded (γραπτοί/ graptoí) with satirical verses. Theophanes …

[German Version] The monastery was established between 483 and 490 by St. Sabas alongside the Kidron Valley nine km southeast of Jerusalem. It was founded as a laura, consisting of individual caves in the rock with a communal building as its center. Despite its deep involvement in the Origenist controversies, by the time of the Persian invasion in 614 it had already experienced an initial spiritual and intellectual flowering (Cyril of Scythopolis); it played an essential role in the development of…

[German Version] (759, Constantinople – Nov 11, 826, island of Prinkipo [modern Büyükada]) (feast day Nov 11), influential reformer of monastic and liturgical life, ecclesiastical politician, prolific writer and poet. His family moved in the highest social circles. Led by his uncle Platon, in 781 he along with his parents, siblings, and other family members turned the family estate of Sakkudion in Bithynia into a monastery; he was ordained to the priesthood in 787 and served as abbot after 794. In…

[German Version] (Aug 1, 1836, Berezovskij, district Bel’sk – Feb 3, 1912, Tokyo), founder and first archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Japan. In 1860 he graduated from the seminary in St. Petersburg (II); he worked in Japan from 1861, first as priest of the Russian consulate in Hakodate and, after the granting of religious tolerance in 1873, as missionary; from 1880, as bishop. He achieved an exemplary inculturation of the Orthodox Church in Japanese language and mentality. A minority church wa…

[German Version] (c. 1340, Veliky Ustyug – Apr 26, 1396, Moscow), important early Russian missionary. Around 1365 he entered the monastery of Gregory the Theologian in Rostov Velikhy. There besides Greek he learned the language of the Finno-Ugrian Zyrians (Komi), for whom he devised a new alphabet and translated biblical and liturgical texts. In 1383 he was consecrated bishop, so that he was able to conduct a successful missionary campaign among them. He found an outstanding biographer in his fellow student Epifany the Wise. Peter Plank Bibliography Source: Svjatitel’ Stefan Permsk…