www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Ukrainian Catholic omophorion

The following was moved from a post in another thread (my apologies, but the capability to copy a text and have it appear under the poster's name doesn't exist):

Please note the correct spelling of omophorion.

It is not particularly surprising to note variations in the designs of the various vestments; one may easily note several such variations.

However, the omophorion that you mention noticing among Ukrainian (and "Ruthenian") Greek-Catholics is something of an exception: it is often cut and sewn to be more "convenient" and preclude the traditional folding and buttons. This is sheer laziness.

Fr. Serge

Possibly, Fr. Serge you could provide an explanation in regards to the number of horizontal bars [3 for bishops; 4 for metropolitans; 5 for the patriarch] as found on the Ukrainian Catholic omophoria? This does not seem to be the Orthodox practice. From whence does this "uniate" custom come?

As an aside, the omophorion worn by most Ukrainian Catholic bishops reminds me of the clip-on neck tie: very handy for those who must get dressed up but can't be bothered to wear the real item.
With thanks.

Our previous UGCC bishop used to wear a real Omophorian with all the buttons on although he wore it differently from Orthoodox bishops. More like a very large pallium. Our current bishop I dont think actually owns a real omophorion. Only those imitation ones from what I have seen. Then we are very low church over here.

Did the original Omophorion then have buttons?

Liturgical vestments get stylized, sometimes poorly sometimes not. Is the epitrachil, pre-buttoned or sown an abuse for convenience, another clip-on tie? What of those orars -- sown in a most novel manner to lay flat at the hip (and said to be the joining of two orars!) -- sometimes worn by protodeacons?

What is the history and origin of the small omophor? Is it the real thing?

I'll respond to the omophorion question. Traditional omophoria come in two genearal flavors: Russian style and Greek style. The Russian style buttons onto loops on the bishops saccos, also in a few places the the Russian style omophor buttons to itself to help hold the garment in place. The Greek style omophor does not button to the saccos at all, it has three button/loop connections that hold it 'together.' The Greek omophor is further anchored into place by the chains of the bishops panagia and cross, the chains are placed on top of the omophor, wheras with the Russian style the panagia chains are slipped behind the omophor. Now, on to the small omophor, yes, it indeed is "the real thing. In the hierarchical liturgy, the bishop is vested in the "Great omophor" (the one that looks like a great big pallium) prior to the start of liturgy - this is a pretty complex vestment and the bishop needs the help of subdeacons to get vested. At the great enterance (if i recall correctly - I'ts been a long time since I've 'subdeaconed')the subdeacons remove the Great omophor and vest the bishop with the small omophor (which looks like a short fat scarf, or prayer shall that simply rests on the shoulders, both ends hanging down in front). I would guess this development arose probably because it is less likely to get in the bishop's way during anaphora, ordinations, etc. Editorial: I can understand why a bishop may want to dispense with the traditional 'great omophor' from time to time, it is complex, and if your subdeacons don't know thier stuff you are bound for trouble! But, if that is the case, then simply wear the small omophor from start to finish of liturgy - it is a traditional vestment (and I see Antiochian bishops do exactly that on many occasions).

It's not a "uniate" custom at all; bishops of the early Kyivan period can be seen depicted in portraits and icons with bars at the end of the omophorion. This icon of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Kyiv is a good example:
[Linked Image]

St. Peter, Metropolitan of Kyiv:
[Linked Image]
and Kyprian, Metropolitan of Kyiv:
[Linked Image]

This is yet another case in what is assumed to be a "uniate" practice is actually an adherence to a much older tradition by the Kyivan Church. More bars depicting higher rank has been the norm in military and civil attire since the ancient Greeks, so seeing something like this in ecclesiastical garb should not be so surprising. The standard convention currently is three bars for a bishop, four for a metropolitan, and five for the Patriarch.

Thanks for the iconological examples; they are very helpful. They all have 3 bars which is the usual custom on the great omophorion. This evidence supports my position. My "uniate" comment is in regards to the 4 and 5 bar omophoria. Can you kindly provide icons or scholarly print material that supports your position that the 4 and 5 bars are part of the "early Kyivan period"? Granted that your speculation in regards to civil and military practice might be correct - how do you substantiate the speculation? I am looking for texts or icons.
With thanks,
David, Protodeacon

I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a "clip-on" tie. The overbarred omophorion is purely a Slav Uniate invention. In theory I suppose a Hungarian Metropolitan might wear one (although the present Hungarian Bishop certainly would not!), but there is no Hungarian Metropolitan. The Greeks, Melkites, et al. wouldn't even know what it was.

Fr. Serge

Thank you so much Fr. Serge. And a blessed feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.

I apologize for not reading your question more thoroughly; I mistook the questioning of bars on the omophorion (of whatever number) as a general "uniatization" when responding with evidence from the early Kyivan period. You are correct that three is generally the norm for iconography or illustrations of this period. Regarding the 4th and 5th I noted this to be "standard convention currently", which does appear, as you have concluded, to be a post-Union modification.

There are examples of less than three bars, for example St. John Chrysostom in a Greek icon [Linked Image]
Patriarch Nikon is depicted in two:
[Linked Image]

While it certainly does appear that the 4th and 5th are post-Union of Brest vintage, three does not seem to be a completely fixed number given the available iconographic corpus, as other icons depicting omophoria sometimes have one or no bars. I'll not disagree with the "overbarred" comment of the previous poster.

Thank you Fr. Deacon for the examples.

On a not unrelated tangent, the "bib" or "rapid deployment" omophorion does appear to be entirely a uniate creation. Unfortunately this thing has spread to multiple jurisdictions including some outside of the Byzantine ritual family, as even several Armenian Catholic bishops (including the Catholicos) have worn this on occasion.

Yuck!
I still don't see why EC bishops don't simply use the small omophor if they want to avoid the complexities of the great omophorion. I have a question. I've seen (some) Ruthenian and UGCC bishops wearing rather odd looking miters. I thought I read somewhere that these were 'collapsible' miters that could be folded flat and easily stored for travel. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Some of the Bishops do have mitres that fold down; I know that Metropolitan Basil, of blessed memory, had a few that he would take with him.