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Hi, I'm new to the forum and also pretty new to the Eastern church. Could anybody explain to me what these titles mean:

Archmanidrite
Mitred Archpriest
Archpriest

Is a Mitred Archpriest and an Archpriest the same?
Is the only difference between an Archmanidrite and an Archpriest, is that a Archmanidrite is a religous and Archpriest is married?

What vestments are different between them, meaning how can you tell them all apart

Nobody can explain this to me, so I thought I would ask here

Dear Learner,
Christ is among us!
An Archimandrite is similiar to an Abbot in the Roman Church. He is celibate. Many Archimandrites are honorary. The Archimandrite typically wears a Mandyas or a form of long cape when in choir dress. He wears a special pectoral cross, have an epigonation, and may be permitted to wear a miter.

An Archpriest is an honorary title given to an eparchial priest. A Mitred Archpriest is a special honorific among Slav Byzantine Christians He receives a Miter from his Bishop. He also my wear a form of the epigonation.

I hope this helps.
Fr. V

Welcome to the forum!

you pretty much on track. The titles are honorary and bestowed upon a priest by the bishop. In times past, the archimadrite was the head of a group of monasteries and was allowed the use of the mitre, the wearing of the epigonation (the diamond-shaped vestment), and in some cases the use of staff (aka crozier in the Latin Church). This honor is bestowed upon monastics, ie, hieromonks.

The difference between the archpriest and the mitred archpriest is just that- the mitre. These honors are bestowed upon the secular, ie, eparchial priests. To them would be given the honor of wearing the epigonation and in the case of the mitred archpriest, the mitre.

You would probably not be able to tell the difference in liturgical vestments between the archimandrite and the mitred archpriest.

Greetings All,
In reference to the various titles here, I am curious as to the proper salutation to be used in writing to these gentlemen, or greeting them in person.

Michael
that sinner

Michael,

When writing the form of address would be:

The Very Reverend Father (protopresbyters and syncelli)
The Very Reverend Monsignor (we still have some)
The Very Reverend Archpriest
The Very Reverend Mitered Archpriest
The Right Reverend Archimandrite

The salutation for all would be: Dear Father
In greeting or talking with them father would be used as well.

In Christ,
Subdeacon Lance

Are all Arch-priests/mandrites mitred automatically or ex officio?

Seems to me I recall one priest was an Archpriest for a while and wore only a purple kamelavka. Then, years later, he was awared the Mitre and wore his mitre (and no longer the purple kamelavka).

And what about being "stavrophoric"? Is that a separate award or does it automatically come with something else?

Herb

ps: one way to tell an archimandrite from an archpriest is that the former wears a klobuk (indeed a klobuk with a little square of purple cloth at the bottoms of his lappets). While the Archpriest does not have a hood over his kamelavka.

Herb,

Archimandrites to my knowledge are always given the miter. Simple Archpriests receive the Epigonation (Thigh-Shield)and Gold/Jeweled Pectoral Cross. Mitered Archpriests are a recent innovation of the Slavic Churches. It was started by Catherine the Great, I believe, to honor the married priests of her court. The monks did not approve but it stuck.

There are differences by Church, also. The Melkites and Greeks do not have mitered archpriests and have only one grade of archpriest, as far as I know, and award them the Epigonation and Pectoral Cross. Simple priests do not wear the any Pectoral Cross in these traditions.

The Russians will award the Nabedrennik (square thigh-shield) first, then the lozenge-shaped Epigonation. At some point they are given the purple kamilavka as well. All priests wear a plain silver three-bar pectoral crosses this too was started by a Tsar. A gold or jeweled cross indicates an archpriest. Design of the cross can also indicate rank regardless of metal. If the cross is a single-bar cross, silver or gold, it indicates an archpriest/protopresbyter. The Russians hold Protopresbyter as the highest award for married clergy. Whereas among the Greeks and Eastern Catholics this title simply designates the equivalent of the Latin vicar forane or dean.

Officially the Metropolia recognizes Archpriests/Hegumens who get the Gold Pectoral Cross and Epigonation and Archimandrites/Mitered Archpriests who get the Miter in addition to the preceding. The Archimandrite is additionally given the pastoral staff.

In Christ,
Subdeacon Lance

Greetings!

I have another question, if an individual was to wish to send a letter to the Eparch, how would that be addressed?

I know that people are always being encouraged to write the bishop or the chancellery because of local concerns but many would not be aware of the form or protocol involved. And some individuals have an interest in transferring jurisdictions, so composing a letter to the Eparch is something that could be required of many readers here eventually.

Thanks,
Michael

Archimandrite is a specifically monastic title, but some archimandrites (such as Archimandrite Robert Taft) receive the title as an honor and not because he is over several monasteries or the hegumen of a very prominent monastery. It is technically distinct from archpriest or mitered archpriest because of the monastic focus, but in reality in both Catholic an Orthodox churches it has taken more of an honorary nature for celibate priests than a hierarchal promotion of abbots of monasteries.

An Archpriest would not wear any veil behind the klobuk if he is married clergy. The veil is reserved for monastics. An Archpriest, mitred or not, can always wear a purple skufya or kamilavka (sans veil) outside of services he is presiding at.

Also a priest can be given the right at least in the Russian tradition to wear the nabedrennik without being mitered. Some archimandrites in the past have also been given the right to use the dikerion and trikerion. In times of necessity with blessing of the bishop an archimandrite or archpriest can tonsure readers.

Unlike archpriests who may or may not be mitered depending on rank the miter is automatic when set aside as archimandrite.

Here's a little trivia. Mitred (non-monastic) archpriests did not exist before Catherine II who started the custom by bestowing her private chaplain, Ioann Panfilov, with the miter. She would not have her royal personal chaplain, a married priest, outdone by the many archimandrites who frequented the Kremlin churches and had their own ornate miters.

It was strictly Catherine's initiative based on her percieved royal dignity of his office and not an action of the Synod. And when one priest got the award, others wanted in on it also...

The less formal way to address a letter to the Eparch is simply Bishop John of Nowheresville, followed by the postal address. If one wishes to be more formal, one address The Most Reverend John, Bishop of Nowheresville, followed by the postal address. The formal salutation is "Your Grace"; the informal salutation is "Dear Bishop John". If you wish to use the traditional style of the ethnic group which he serves, you may do so; that would mean "Saidna" in Arabic, "Vladyko" in Church-Slavonic or Ukrainian, and so forth. We have no exact equivalent of such a word in English. There are only two Byzantine Catholic Metropolitans in the USA: Metropolitan Stephen of Philadelphia and Metropolitan Basil of Pittsburgh; each is properly saluted as "Your Eminence", though either or both is capable of saying coyly "oh, you shouldn't call me that!". Incognitus

I thought that in Western terminology "Your Excellency" is for the Bishop, "Your Grace" for the Archbishop, "Eminence" for Metropolitan or Cardinal, and "Beatitude" for Patriarch.

Hello All:

The rank of Archimandrite does not automatically come with the mitre. There exist two ranks of this position - mitred and non-mitred. Depending on the usage of the particular church, they are normally referred to as:

The V. Rev. Archimandrite (Archimandrite without the mitre) and;
The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite (mitred)

Among the Greek and Arabic churches, as has been stated, no priest receives the mitre, so an Archimandrite cannot automatically be considered to be a mitred one.

In the ritual for elevation to the rank of Archimandrite (considered a type of ordination in some viewpoints, although not equivalent to a separate "order" of the clergy), there is a laying of on hands accompanied by a prayer. The candidate would normally be given the epigonation and jeweled pectoral cross at this time. The rite states that "if the mitre is to be bestowed, the bishop simply places it on the candidate's head, exclaiming 'Axios' . . . " As has been discussed, an Archimandrite can also be given the pastoral staff and sometimes, albeit rarely, given the privilege of blessing with the trikerion and dikerion.

Diak is correct is stating that, "I thought that in Western terminology "Your Excellency" is for the Bishop, "Your Grace" for the Archbishop, "Eminence" for Metropolitan or Cardinal, and "Beatitude" for Patriarch."

Among Eastern churches, these titles tend to differ somewhat, according to the particular church. In America, according to the Russian and some other Slavic usages, the common practice has generally been: (a) "Your Grace," for a "regular" bishop; (b) "Your Eminence" for Archbishops and (c) "Your Beatitude" for Metropolitans. "Your Holiness" is always reserved for Patriarchs.

However, among the Greeks and Arabs, "Your Eminence" is proper for Metropolitans and/or Archbishops; and "Your Beatitude" is reserved for Patriarchs.

Furthermore, in American Eastern Orthodox practice, the titles, "Rt. Rev." and "Most Rev." generally apply to bishops and archbishops respectively. Some of this usage originated in an imitation of common Anglican or Episcopalian practice, to whom the Russians were quite close at the beginning of the 20th. century. Today however, in some places, all bishops will sometimes be referred to as "The Most Reverend."

The title, "Your Excellency" seems to be used almost exclusively by the Latins, and its origin can be traced to titles of civic leaders such as mayors, governors, presidents, etc. Nevertheless, it has become common in American usage English to use "Your Excellency" to refer to bishops of the Roman Church and perhaps in rare instances, to Eastern bishops also. Of course, prior to the last decade, "Your Excellency" was used by Greek Catholic bishops in the US almost unilaterally, in conformity with Roman practice. In these times, only a patriarch or major-archbishop used the title "Beatitude" and "Eminence" was seen as a proper designation only for "Cardinals of the Roman Church." Metropolitans in this time period sometimes used the title, "Your Grace" as did Metropolitan Stephen J. Kocisko, of blessed memory. This would be in line with Latin Rite custom.

It is important to remember that much of this discussion about titles and ways of addressing hierarchs is particular to the English language. In Church Slavonic, Ukrainian and other Slavic tongues, there is not an exact equivalent to what we use in English. The term "Preosvyashchenishi" or "Vysokopreosvyashchenishi" are common terms applied to the hierarchy, which loosely can be equated with our English title, "Most Reverend." Literally, these words would mean "most priestly" or "highly most priestly" which in English translates well into "Most Reverend." "Right Reverend" seems to be an exclusively English term to which I cannot see an equivalent in another language. While its origin is clearly Anglican, does anyone know of the particular origin of the term or what it means to be "right reverend?" An interesting question.

Also, the Slavonic terms, "Blazhenishi" and "Svyatishi" translate as "Blessed" (Beatitude) and "Holy" (Holiness) respectively and are used by the Slavs, as mentioned above, for Metropolitans and Patriarchs. In Eastern Catholic churches, "Svyatishi" or "Holiness" is used for the Holy Father exclusively. This is most likely the reason that our Metropolitans today choose to use the Greek "Eminence" rather than the Slavic "Beatitude," in order to save the latter for patriarchs/major-archbishops and to use "Holiness" only for the Pope (as again, is also practiced by the Greeks and Arabs, who reserve "All-Holiness" for the Patriarch of Constantinople).

I hope this adds something to this well throughout discussion. There are many, many variants in usage of all these various titles and forms of address and a mixture of several usages also sometimes occurs. God bless you all.

Fr. Joe

So, what is generally the Ruthenian practice?

As was said, Greeks and Arabs don't award mitres to any priests. Interestingly, the OCA, which almost always follows Russian/Muscovite practice, pretty much did away with mitred archpriests, protopresbyters and archimandrites (unless the archimandrite will be elevated to the episcopacy). I recall one OCA priest saying something like "We should bring back mitred archpriests... even the Uniates still have them!!!"

Dave

Klobuks? Kamalavkas? Lappets? Vysokoprewhat? As another newcomer to the Eastern Church and this forum may I suggest that you all not answer an inquiry with undefined, confusing terminology?
In my Roman days I used to see the same thing: a convert would ask a question and be transformed from merely puzzled to completely baffled.
By way of introduction, I had long loved icons and about a year and a half ago finally had the opportunity to take a class in icon painting. While there I attended the Byzantine liturgy daily and by the end of the week I had a completed icon and a deep love for the Divine Liturgy. When I returned home I continued to attend Eastern liturgies regularily- Melkite, Romanian, Ukranian and Ruthenian - and recently joined a Ruthenian parish. I have also completed around twenty icons.
I deeply love the Eastern church but I feel like one of those Protestant converts: it is not just a faith but a whole culture as well. Those of you who are born to the culture or are further along would do well to remember us novices and make sure you are not talking over our heads in your "explanations" of things.
peace and good, Daniel

dear Daniel n:

Your request is our command!

Let's start simple:

basic byzantine headgear:

1. Kamelavka
-- cylindrical hat, black
- Greek style with a roof (for married clergy)
- Slav style: with flat top, a bit wider on top

2. Klobuk
-- take the Kamelavka and throw the monastic hood over it (over the years the hood is now made with lighter material and is sometimes referred to as a 'veil', but it is actually the monastic hood)

3. Lappets
--the 2 long strips of cloth that hang down the from the monastic hood (aka 'veil') on a klobuk

4. Vesokowhatever
-- I think that is explained in the next phrase of the sentence wherein the term is offered.

any thing else we miss? You have only to ask!

Herb

ps:

if you want photos, you can try...

the St. Elias website: http://www.saintelias.com/

or one of the Orthodox church goods supplies on-line stores.