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[German Version] I. Western Churches – II. Orthodox Churches I. Western Churches Footwashing as a Christian rite finds its origin in John 13:1–20, where Jesus washes his disciples' feet and commands them to wash one another's feet. The rite appears to function as a sacrament in the Johannine community and is a distinctively Christian act in 1 Tim 5:10. Evidence for the practice of footwashing can be found in every century of the church's history. The meaning of rite ranges from an expression of humble ser…

[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] I. Catholic Church It seems that there was a synagogue tradition in antiquity of lay persons undertaking the reading in public worship of lessons other than those taken from the Gospels. From the early Middle Ages, readers were given clerical status (Clergy and laity), and assigned to one of the so-called minor orders at the preparatory stage before ordination of priests. Since the reordering of liturgical services by Paul VI’s apostolic decree Ministeria quaedam (Aug 15, 1972), readers are assigned to the laity (as they were orig.), the office of read…

[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] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Sociology – VI. Systematic Theology – VII. Law – VIII. Practical Theology – IX. Judaism – X. Islam I. Religious Studies The term marriage denotes a relationship entered into between two or more persons of different sex, ritually formalized, intended to be permanent, and recognized by society. In all cultures, definitions of economic and sexual rights and the conveyance of social status to children (Child/Childhood) are part of the socially ¶ defined framework of marriage…

[German Version] I. Ptolemaic Period – II. Ancient Judaism – III. Early Church – IV. Patriarchate I. Ptolemaic Period Egypt. Rhakotis, Arab. Iskandariya, on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, established 332/31 bce by Alexander the Great west of the Canopic branch of the Nile between the sea and Lake Mareotis. Exact topography is uncertain because of later rebuilding, destruction, and changes in water level. Laid out on a rectangular grid by th…

[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] I. History and Signifiance – II. The Jugendbewegung and the Protestant Church – III. The Catholic Jugendbewegung – IV. Young Workers' Movement – V. The Orthodox Youth Movement – VI. The Jewish Youth Movement I. History and Signifiance 1. Historical context Jugendbewegung (“youth movement”) is the name by which a distinctive middle-class youth movement in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland chose to call itself. It was the focal point of a variety of youth movements extending from the end of the 19th century to the en…

[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 …

[German Version] I. Catholic – II. Orthodox I. Catholic 1. General Introduction and History The binding nature of its basic elements (Scripture reading, the breaking of bread [Eucharist/Communion]) notwithstanding, the liturgy was initially celebrated quite freely with improvised prayers by the presiding priest (Just. 1 Apol. 67). Later on, model texts (Hipp., Traditio Apostolica ) served as points of reference. From the 4th century onwards, the major ecclesiastical centers (Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, Jerusalem, Byzantium…

[German Version] (1714, Central Greece – Aug 24, 1779, Epirus), a saint in the Greek Orthodox Church, “teacher of the nation,” “apostle-equal,” and “neo-martyr,” whose feast day is August 24. He studied in Sigditsa and the Athos School, and became a monk in the Athos monastery of Philotheou with the name Cosmas (baptismal name: Constas). He was ordained to priesthood in 1759. With the permission of the monastery, he went to Constantinople, taught at the Patriarch…