О священных одеждах и облачении

If for worldly affairs on important ceremonial occasions they dress not in ordinary daily clothes, but in other, better ones (Matthew 22:11-12), then even more so when serving the Lord God they should put on special clothes that would distract from the earthly and lift up the mind and heart of both those who perform the divine service and those who are present at it. God Himself established special clothing for priestly service (Exodus 31:10), for glory and splendor (Exodus 28:2). In the Orthodox Church, each rank of clergy, such as bishops, priests, deacons, and readers, are assigned their own special clothes during divine services, which have the highest spiritual sign. The highest rank of clergy always wears the vestments of the lower ranks. The deacon, in addition to the clothes that actually belong to him, dresses in the clothes of the reader; The priest, in addition to the priestly ones, also has deacon’s robes; The bishop, in addition to the clothes that actually belong to him, has all the priestly clothes. The order in the vestments is as follows; first they put on clothes belonging to the lower rank; Thus, the priest first dresses in deacon’s robes, and then in priestly robes; The bishop first puts on the robes of a deacon, then the robes of a priest, and then those belonging to him as a bishop. The clothes are as follows: Short phelonion - The short phelonion is the first garment that is worn during the initiation of clergy. Apart from the day on which the clergyman is dedicated, it is usually no longer in use. This clothing has the appearance of a priestly phelonion (chasuble) and differs from it in that it is very short, barely covering the shoulders. It is placed on the neck of the initiate as a sign that he is passing under the yoke of the priesthood and is dedicated to the service of God. Surplice - A surplice is a straight, long garment with wide sleeves that covers the entire person. Since priests and bishops wear a surplice under other vestments they put on, their surplice changes somewhat in its shape and is called a “sub-coat.” The surplice signifies “the robe of salvation and the robe of gladness,” i.e. it means a pure and calm conscience, an immaculate life and the resulting spiritual joy in the Lord in the one who puts on the garment. The robes of a subdeacon and deacon, in addition to those indicated, are as follows: Orar - Orar is a kind of long wide ribbon, which is sometimes girded crosswise across the shoulders, and sometimes worn on the left shoulder (frame). Subdeacons and deacons have the Orarion. Lower church servants (i.e., readers, singers) are not allowed to wear an orarion. Anyone who is ordained a subdeacon will be girdled with an orarion crosswise across his shoulders. The subdeacon always wears an orarion in this way, because at the same time it is convenient for him to perform those duties in the church for which he is dedicated. During ordination (ordination) a deacon is allowed to wear an orarion. The bishop places the orarion on the left shoulder of the dedicatee. The deacon girds himself with an orarion only during the liturgy, after the “Our Father,” i.e. at the time when he prepares himself to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, at other times he usually has the orarion on his left shoulder and during prayerful exclamations of the litanies, with the words: “Let us attend,” “Bless, Master,” etc., he raises the end of the orarion, holding it with three fingers of his right hand. With this action, he either excites the people to prayer, or lets other deacons, singers and even the priest know about the time of sacred rites and singing. In ancient times, the deacon used an orarium to wipe the lips of those receiving communion. The deacons portray themselves as cherubim and seraphim. And the orarion represents angelic wings. Sometimes an angelic song is embroidered on the orar: “Holy, holy, holy.” The orarion is the deacon’s essential attire during divine services. The deacon's robes include: Handles, otherwise “sleeves”. They are used to tighten the edges of the sleeves of the lower clothing, as if to strengthen the hands, to make them more capable during sacred rites. The orders remind the one wearing them that he must trust not in his own strength, but in the right hand of the Lord, the almighty and all-good God, in His strength and help. The orders of the priests and bishops, representing Christ the Savior, remind us of the bonds with which the most pure hands of the Lord were bound. The clothes of a priest include: Epitrachelion - Epitrachelion (“navyynik”) is a garment that encloses the neck (neck) from the back and extends through the chest to the bottom. The epitrachelion is the same deacon's orarion, only wrapped around the neck. Epitrachelion signifies the sanctifying grace of the priesthood. The similarity of the epitrachelion with the orarion shows that the priest is invested with the rank of deacon and that the grace granted to him as a deacon is inalienable even after initiation into the priesthood. But placing the epitrachelion on both shoulders signifies the superiority of the priest over the deacon - the deep grace of the priesthood. A priest without an epitrachelion, like a deacon without an orarion, does not perform a single service. The belt is a kind of secular ribbon with which the priest girds himself over the vestment and stole in order to make it more convenient to perform sacred functions. Girdling with a belt signifies the granting of the power of God to the priest and bishop, which strengthens them for high service to God, instructs them in an immaculate life and helps them flee from sins with the speed of the tree. Gaiter and club - The gaiter, otherwise epigonation, or knee pad, is quadrangular, oblong, and the club, police, i.e. a small floor, also an epigonation - a quadrangular equilateral square plate that is hung on the thigh of a clergyman. The legguard is hung with two edges, and the club with one edge. The gaiter and the club have the same meaning; they signify the spiritual sword, the spiritual weapon, which is the word of God. The priest and bishop must arm themselves with this sword against unbelief, heresy, wickedness - in general, against everything sinful and vicious. The club on the clergyman, who already has a loincloth, depicts extreme zeal for the faith and the salvation of his flock. Phelon – Phelon means all-covering clothing. This is a long and wide sleeveless garment covering the entire body, in which there is a hole for the head. The phelonion is put on top of other clothes and covers them. Phelon depicts the mantle in which the Jews (soldiers) who mocked Him clothed the Lord, and reminds the priest that in his service he portrays the Lord, who offered Himself as a justification for the people, and therefore must clothe himself with righteousness in all his deeds and rejoice in the Lord. Omophorion - An omophorion is a garment worn on the shoulders, on frames, an “amice.” This is a long and wide cloth, decorated with crosses and placed on the shoulders of the bishop, in addition to other clothes. The omophorion, lying on the shoulders of the bishop, lowers its ends in front and behind. Omophorion means a lost sheep, i.e. the lost human race, and the saint, dressed in this robe, bears the image of Christ the Savior, Who, like a good shepherd, took the lost sheep on His shoulder and brought it to those who were not lost, i.e. to the angels, to the house of the heavenly Father (Luke 15:4–7). Nanedrennik, or panagia - Nanedrennik, otherwise encolpius, i.e. “thimbleb”, or panagia, i.e. “All-Holy” is a small round icon of the face of the Savior or the Mother of God. Panagia is worn on the bowels, chests, chests by bishops and some archimandrites. The nadrennik, worn by the bishop on his chest, reminds that the bishop must constantly have in his heart the Lord and the intercessor before God, the Mother of God. Cross – At baptism, a cross is placed on every Christian as a sign that he is a follower of Christ. This cross is usually worn under clothing. The clergy have a cross on top of their clothes, for constant remembrance that they must not only wear in their hearts, but also confess the crucified Lord before everyone, and the Rules indicate that they should kiss the cross on their toes. Miter means a bandage, a diadem, a crown; in liturgical books the miter is called a “hat.” The miter is a royal decoration and is given to the clergyman because he portrays King Christ in his ministry. The miter also serves as a sign of the power granted to a servant of the Church. At the same time, the miter recalls the crown of thorns that was placed on the head of the Savior of the world, and the crown that was wrapped around the head of the buried one (John 20:7), but who rose from the tomb of Christ the Life-Giver. The mantle, otherwise known as pali, is a monastic robe that covers the entire body except the head. The mantle, with its free development, depicts the wingedness of angels and is therefore called angelic clothing. The mantle covers the entire body; this expresses the all-covering power of God, as well as the severity, reverence and humility of monastic life and the fact that the monk has neither his hands nor other members that live and are incapable of worldly activities, but are all dead. In addition to bishops, archimandrites and ordinary monks wear the mantle. The bishop's robe has the peculiarity that it is not black, like the monastic robe, but purple or something else, and the so-called “tablets” and, mainly, “sources” are sewn on it. There are also tablets (mats) on the mantle of archimandrites. Tablets are quadrangular plates of colored material sewn to the upper and lower edges of the mantle. They represent the Old and New Testaments, from which the clergy must draw their teaching. Sources are called ribbons of different colors (mostly white and red), which are sewn along the mantle and depict the streams of teaching that flow from the lips of the bishop. There are bells on the bishop's robe. They were also on the outer clothing of the Jewish high priest (Ex. 28:33). The rod, otherwise the staff, is a sign of pastoral authority over the flock and fatherly care for them (Ezek. 20:37: Jer. 48:17; Ezek. 19:11–14). Therefore the rod is called “paterissa”. The rod is presented to the bishop as the bishop of well-known God-saved cities as a sign that he must shepherd the Church of Christ in them. In addition to the bishop, the rod is also given to the archimandrite or abbot as a sign of spiritual authority over the monastery in which he is appointed chief. The staffs of bishops, archimandrites, abbots are arranged with a transverse crossbar at the top - with horns. Sometimes snake-like heads are depicted on the horns, signifying the wisdom of pastoral power (“you will be wise like a serpent” - Matthew 10:16). The top of the staff is crowned with a cross, reminding us that in the name and glory of Christ His flock must be shepherded. On the staff of a bishop, sometimes an archimandrite, a sulok, or a small quadrangular gold-embroidered cloth, is hung at the hilt, with which the top of the staff is wrapped to decorate it and to make the staff softer and easier to carry. The Charter of the Church does not prohibit elderly people from having batons with them, so that, leaning on them, they can ease the difficulty of standing, especially during long services. But there is a time during divine services during which, due to the special importance of reading, singing, and sacred rites, the Church Charter requires that everyone stand without staffs; it is in Chapter 26 of the Typikon that it is said that one should not stand with staffs at Matins - during the reading of the Six Psalms, during the poetry “Magnifies My Soul” and at “Worthy”; at the liturgy - during the reading of the Gospel, during the singing of the Cherubic Song and in the revelation of the Holy Mysteries. Orlets - Orlets are small round carpets with the image of a single-headed eagle, with a radiance around its head, soaring above the city. The appearance of the city on the eagle indicates the bishopric in the city, and the eagle indicates the height and purity of the theological teaching of the bishop, the radiance above the head of the eagle is the light from the bishop’s teaching. During divine services, for the most part, people dress in light clothes, but there are days when they dress in dark (black) clothes, otherwise called Lenten ones. Thus, the Charter prescribes dressing in dark clothes during Holy Week, in which the suffering and death of Christ are remembered. On Holy Saturday at the liturgy, when the reader sings the prophetic verse: “Rise up, God, judge of the earth,” “therefore, the priests and deacons are stripped of their clothes and clothed in white.”