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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. 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…

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. 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.…