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[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 w…

[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…

[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 …

[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,…

[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 pea…

[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.)…

[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…

[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…

[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 proce…

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[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 st…

[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] (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…

[German Version] (Papadopulos), a prominent Byzantine composer, singer, and musical theorist of the 14th century. Canonized by the Orthodox Church, his feast is celebrated on Oct 1. Almost nothing is known of his life, since only two legendary Greek accounts from the 15th to the 17th centuries exist. Some evidence suggests that he had Bulgarian origins, although he was raised and educated in Constantinople and spent his life as a monk of the Great Laura on Mount Athos. Also called Maistoros or Magistor, Koukouselis initiated a shift of style towards long melismatic melodies i…

[German Version] The Greek Orthodox monastery of St. Catherine of Alexandria on Sinai (Sinai/Sinai traditions) had its beginnings in the earliest monastic settlements in the late 4th century. Hermits lived in grottos at t…

[German Version] (patriarch of Alexandria, 1549, Chandaka [Heraklion], Crete – Sep 13, 1601, Alexandria). As an Orthodox Greek on Venetian Crete, on Zakynthos and in Italy he received a Humanist education, giving him a good knowledge of Latin theology and Scholasticism. He continued to feel this tension…

[German Version] Panagia, Greek Παναγία, “All-holy,” a title and attribute of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. In Orthodox liturgical usage, Mary is addressed by a title (e.g. Theotokos, Our Lady; Mary, Veneration of: II) instead of by name, with the adjective All-holy…

[German Version] (Sep 21, 1871, Parsas, Crete –…

[German Version] (from Gk ζωή/ zoḗ, “life”), founded in Greece in 1907 as a fellowship of Orthodox theologians; it has monastic features, but is neither a monastery nor an order. It is organized as a registered association, and is thus independent of ecclesiastical supervision; its leaders are mainly lay. It sees its task as …

[German Version] Confirmation (Catholic) takes place in all Eastern churches as a direct continuation of baptism …

[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] I. Catholic – II. Orthodox I. Catholic …

[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 …

1. EinleitungDer Begriff K., wohl erstmals in der Postille des lutherischen Pfarrers Johannes Pomarius (Magdeburg 1585) bezeugt (s. u. 4.1.), bezeichnet den Jahreslauf der christl. Feste und Feiertage. Im Rhythmus von Woche und Jahr feiert die Kirche das Gedächtnis Jesu Christi (Herrenjahr) [1], wobei der Feier der Heiligengedenktage (Namenstag) sekundäre Bedeutung zukommt (Heiligenjahr).Kern und »Ursprung« ist der Sonntag, an dem in der Feier der Eucharistie (Gottesdienst) des zentralen Ostergeschehens gedacht wird (Wochenostern). Seine weitere Ausprägung erfu…

1. Introduction The term “church year,” probably first attested (as German Kirchenjahr) in the postil of the Lutheran pastor Johannes Pomarius (Magdeburg 1585) (see below, 4.1.), denotes the annual cycle of Christian festival and holiday. In the rhythm of the week and year, the church celebrates the memory of Jesus Christ (year of the Lord) [1], with the celebration of the saints’ days (Name day) taking a secondary role (year of the saints).The core and “origin” of the year was the Sunday on which the key events of Easter are celebrated (Passion Week) in the fe…

[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] I. Catholicism – II. Orthodox Church – III. Protestantism– IV. Anglican Church I. Catholicism In the Roman Catholic Church, archbishop is the title of the metropolitan (c. 435) or of the bishop of an archbishopric that belongs to no church province (e.g. Luxembourg, Vaduz); a titular archbishop is a bishop consecrated or designated to the title of a defunct archbishopric (e.g. high officials in the Roman Curia and in the papal diplomatic corps); occasionally the title is bestowed on a meritorious bishop as a mere honorific. Karl-Theodor Geringer Bibliography W. Aymans…

1. Allgemein 1.1. AnlässeF. (von lat. festus, »feierlich«, »festlich«) unterbrechen die Routine des Alltags, zu dem sie als zeitlich und räumlich begrenzte »Anti-Struktur« in Gegensatz stehen und dessen strukturierender Bestandteil sie sind [21]. In der Nz. markierten F. die Phasen natürlicher, sozialer oder individueller Zeitfolgen, die entweder zyklischer oder serieller Natur sein konnten: Ersteres z. B. beim landwirtschaftlichen Jahreszyklus, dem ökonomischen Zyklus, dem Kirchenjahr mit seinen wiederkehrenden Heiligentagen und Jahrmärkten, Letzteres z. B. bei…

1. General 1.1. OccasionsFestivals (from Latin  festus, “joyful, festive”) interrupt the routine of the everyday world, to which they contrast as a temporally and spatially limited “anti-structure” of which they are the structuring element [21]. In the early modern period, festivals marked the phases of natural, social, or individual chronologies, which could be either cyclic or linear. Cyclic chronologies included the annual agricultural cycle, the economic cycle, the church year with its recurring saint's days (Saint), and …

[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] 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…