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[English Version] . Das griech. orth. Kloster der hl. Katharina von Alexandrien auf dem Sinai hat seine Anfänge in ersten Mönchssiedlungen Ende des 4.Jh. Am Fuß des sog. Moseberges wohnten Eremiten in Felshöhlen im Umkreis einer »Gottesmutterkapelle am Dornbusch«. Als ein Rückzugsturm nicht mehr genügte, ließ Kaiser Justinian I. um 550 eine Schutzmauer und eine Basilika mit einem Mosaik der Verklärung bauen. Nach der arab. Eroberung 633 siedelte der Bischof des Sinai von Pharan/Raitho ins Kloster …

[English Version] vom Sinai; Hegoumenos (Mönchtum: III.) des Klosters des hl. Dornbuschs, aber kein Bischof, lebte nach sinaitischer Tradition im 9.Jh., wahrscheinlich jedenfalls vor 1100. Als geistiger Schüler des Johannes Klimakus und geprägt vom sinaitischen Hesychasmus schrieb er über die monastische Spiritualität und erlangte große Bekanntheit. Seine 40 n̆ηπτικα` κεϕα´λαια/nēptika´ kepha´laia, »Kap. über die Nüchternheit«, fanden Aufnahme in die Sammlung geistl. Schriften, die Philokalia. Ihn beschäftigte die praktische Askese, die durch…

[English Version] Sticheron, Pl. Stichera, poetische Hymnenstrophe im Stundengebet (: IV.) der orth. Kirche, abgeleitet von στι˜χος/stíchos, »Vers«, weil sie im Wechsel mit fortlaufenden Psalmversen gesungen werden. In der Vesper folgen sechs bis zehn S. zu den letzten Versen der Pss 141/142, im Orthros zu den Laudespsalmen 148–150. Zu weiteren Psalmversen gibt es in beiden Gottesdiensten Aposticha. Die S. thematisieren täglich wechselnd den jeweiligen Festtag oder das Heiligenfest und am Sonntag die Aufersteh…

[English Version] Trembelas, Panagiotis (23.10.1886 Stemnitza-Peloponnes – 19.11.1977 Athen), griech.-orth. Theologieprof. 1918 wurde T. a.o. Prof. für Dogmengesch., 1939–1957 o. Prof. für Praktische Theol. (Katechetik, Liturgie, Homiletik) in Athen. T. war einer der fruchtbarsten Theologen seiner Zeit und vf. eine Vielzahl theol. Werke zu exegetischen, liturgischen, homiletischen und dogmatischen Themen und über 2000 Art. in allen verbreiteten theol. und rel. Zeitschriften Griechenlands. Als führe…

[English Version] (von griech. ζωη´/zoē´, »Leben«), 1907 in Griechenland als orth. Theologen-Bruderschaft gegründet, die zwar monastische Elemente hat, aber weder Kloster noch Orden ist. Sie ist als eingetragener Verein organisiert, also unabhängig von kirchl. Aufsicht, und wird v.a. von Laien getragen. Als ihre Aufgabe sieht sie die rel. Erweckung und Evangelisierung des griech. Volkes, insbes. durch Predigt, flächendeckende Sonntagsschulen, Ferienfreizeiten, Fürsorge und immenses Schrifttum mit v.…

[English Version] Neilos Sinaita, Vf. einer sinaitischen Erzählung, wohl noch Ende 4.Jh. In dieser romanhaften Autobiogr. mit detaillierten Ortskenntnissen erzählt er, wie er mit seinem Sohn Mönch am Mosesberg wurde und in einen Sarazenenüberfall geriet. Da Neilos von Ankyra (Ende 4.Jh. – um 430) in einem Brief (ep. IV 62) in einer Verherrlichung des hl. Platon von einem ähnlichen Ereignis berichtet, hat man beide identifiziert und diesen Mönch aus Galatien fälschlich Sinaites genannt. N. von Ankyra ist in seinen monastischen und…

[English Version] Panagia, griech. Παn̆αγι´α, »Allheilige«, Titel und Attribut Marias. Üblicherweise wird Maria im orth. liturgischen Sprachgebrauch anstatt mit ihrem Namen mit einem Titel (Gottesgebärerin [Theotokos], Herrin u.a.; Marienverehrung: II.) angeredet, wozu v.a. das Adjektiv »Allheilige« hinzugefügt wird. Am gebräuchlichsten ist »Panagia Theotokos«. Das Adjektiv P. hat sich im Laufe der Zeit verselbständigt und wird wie ein Titel und Eigenname verwendet. Auch der männliche griech. Vornam…

[German Version] (c. 1020 – c. 1101) came from Asia Minor near Nicea and became a young monk on Mount Olympus there. In 1043, he became acquainted with the Cluniacensian reform (Cluny) in Rome. In a tumultuous and dangerous time, he lived in several monasteries on the Jordan, in the Anatolian Miletus, on Mount Latros, on the island of Cos, and in Thessalia. Finally, in 1088, he received the island of Patmos as a gift from emperor Alexios I, to found the Monastery…

[German Version] (born on Cyprus – c. 620, Cyprus), feast day Nov 12. John was married and had children, but after the death of all the members of his family he withdrew to asceticism and, in 610, became patriarch of Alexandria as John V. With him, the imperial church, unpopular in Egypt since the Schism, gained strength, particularly since Heraklios had become emperor and Sergius patriarch of Constantinople at the same time. John gained a reputation especially for his extraordinary benevolence – hence the epithet Ἐλεήμων/ Eleēmōn, the “almsgiver” –, which extended to all church …

[German Version] Metéora Monasteries, named after the rock formations of Metéora in Greek Thessaly, which rise steeply like pillars above the Pineios Valley. Probably because of its safe and protected location, hermits began settling there from the 11th century, hiding on the steep rock pinnacles and in caves. The first written evidence is the mention of a Mother of God Monastery from 1336, referring to an originally loose community of hermits which, as a sect of Stagon, stood under the authority …

[German Version] (Gk) is a cloth on the altar on which plate and chalice are placed in the Orthodox liturgy for consecration. It is understood as a symbol of Christ's burial. The antimension was also originally an eileton with relics and a portrayal of the burial sewn in for use in celebrations of the Eucharist on unconsecrated altars. Today the eileton is used as a cover for the antimension. Martin Petzolt Bibliography S. Heitz, Mysterium der Anbetung, 1986, 359 A. Kallis, Liturgie, 1989, 88, 90, 251.

[German Version] (Oct 23, 1886, Stemnitsa, Greece – Nov 19, 1977, Athens), Greek Orthodox pro-¶ fessor of theology. In 1918 Trembelas was appointed associate professor of the history of dogma in Athens; from 1939 to 1957 he served as full professor of practical theology (catechetics, liturgics, homiletics). He was one of the most prolific theologians of his generation, publishing a great number of theological works on exegetical, liturgical, homiletic, and dogmatic topics, as well as more than 2,000 articles i…

[German Version] (Gk κομποσχοίνι/ komposchoíni, Russ. čëtki) is used in Orthodox churches when reciting the Prayer of the Heart (Heart, Prayer of the). It is intended to aid concentration and help keep count of repetitions, for instance during more intense exercises including bows or prostrations (metanies). A prayer cord is made from a twisted cotton cord, with 100, 50, 300, or 33 knots along its length, often with pearls set between. The two ends come together in a cross, with a tassel attached. The…

[German Version] Greek monasteries emerged in the 1st millennium ce mainly in Asia Minor, particularly in Cappadocia, Palestine, Egypt and Constantinople. The monasteries in modern-day Greece were founded from the 10th century onwards: Hosios Lukas (1st half of the 10th cent.), Athos (963), Daphni (11th cent., but dates from the 6th cent.) Kaisariani and other small monasteries in Attica (11th cent.), Nea Moni on Chios (mid-11th cent.), the Monastery of John on Patmos (1088), Kechrovouni on Tinos (12th c…

[German Version] Philotheus was the hēgoumenos (“superior”; Monasticism: III) of the monastery of the burning bush (Sinai, St. Catherine’s monastery), though not a bishop. Local tradition dates him to the 9th century; in any case he probably lived before 1100. As a spiritual disciple of John Climacus informed by Sinaitic Hesychasm, he wrote on monastic spirituality and achieved great renown. His 40 νηπτικὰ κεφάλαια/ nēptiká kephálaia (“chapters on sobriety”) were incorporated into the Philocalia, a standard collection of works on spirituality. He was concerne…

[German Version] (1770, Constantinople – Jan 5, 1859, Constantinople) was the nephew of the Sinai bishop Cyril II and officiated as archbishop of Sinai from 1804 until his death in 1859. He studied at Constantinople, Iaşi, and Kiev, and was afterwards known as “the Byzantine” on account of his education. In 1795, he became a Sinai monk in Cairo and, in 1797, abbot of the subsidiary monastery in Kiev. In 1804, he was appointed archbishop of Sinai as Constantius II…

[German Version] (Gk) is a large cloth, embroidered with the burial of Christ, as an icon. In the Orthdox Good Friday vespers, the epitaphios is displayed for veneration in the middle of the church on a table, a symbolic grave decorated with flowers. In the evening service of mourning, it is borne around the church in a procession and in some places also through the streets. During the Easter season, it…

[German Version] one of the Princes' islands in the Marmara Sea opposite Istanbul (Constantinople). With the establishment of Chalki Theological College in Holy Trinity monastery in 1844, Chalki became an important training center for monks, bishops and professors. In 1971 the Turkish state closed the accommodation, the grammar school and the theological college, which through its guest students had in the meantime become a place of ecumenical encounter.…

[German Version] pl. stichera, a poetic hymn strophe in the daily office (Liturgy of the Hours: IV) of the Orthodox Church. It is derived from στῖχος/ stíchos, “verse,” because it is sung in alternation with consecutive psalm verses. At Vespers six to ten stichera follow each of the final verses of Psalms 141/142; at Orthros or Matins, they are used with the Lauds Psalms 148–150. In both services, there are aposticha with other psalm verses. On weekdays the stichera focus on the particular feast or saint’s day; on Sunday…

[German Version] was the author of a Sinai story, probably from the end of the 4th century. In this autobiography, which reads like fiction, with detailed topographical references, he tells how he and his son became monks on Moses’ mountain, and fell under Saracen attack. Since Nilus of Ancyra (end of 4th cent. – c. 430) in a letter ( Ep. IV 62) reports a similar event in a eulogy of St. Platon, the two have been identified as one and the same person, and this monk from Galatia was wrongly named “Sinaites.” In his monastic and exegetical writings, Nilus …