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What does the wide ribbon that the deacon holds in his hand mean?
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes.
This ribbon, which the deacon wears over the surplice on his left shoulder, is called the “orarion.” One end of it goes down to the chest, the other to the back so that both hang freely almost to the floor.
The word itself is consonant with the Latin orare (to pray), oris (mouth) and orarium (plate, towel). Accordingly, there are several versions of the origin of this element of the deacon’s vestment. According to one of them, the orarion was initially used exclusively in the context of worship as a call to prayer - and today we can see how at the litany the deacon, proclaiming the next petition, each time raises the front end of the orarion up with three fingers of his right hand, after which he makes the sign of the godmother a sign.
According to another version , the orarion recalls Jesus Christ washing the disciples’ feet and the official function of deacons. Evangelist John writes that during the Last Supper the Savior, taking a towel, girded himself. Then he poured water into the laver and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel with which he girded (John 13 :4-5). Jesus thus taught the apostles a lesson in serving others: if I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, then you should wash one another’s feet, He said. “For I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you” (John 13 :14-15). The word deacon literally means “servant” in Greek. The first deacons appeared in the ancient apostolic community in order to help widows and other socially vulnerable church members, distribute food, etc. They thus became the apostles’ assistants in social service and could carry a towel with them for everyday needs - then girding with it, then using it for its intended purpose.
Finally, the orarion may have originally been used by the deacon as a towel during services to wipe the lips of believers after communion. Gradually, the meaning of this part of the deacon’s vestment became exclusively symbolic, and the orarion from a towel turned into a long colored ribbon.
One of the symbolic meanings of the orarion is angelic wings, since deacons symbolically depict cherubim and seraphim during worship. That is why on some orarions the words of the angelic song are embroidered: “Holy, Holy, Holy.” On this occasion, N.V. Gogol in his “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy” wrote: “... the title of deacon is like the title of an angel in heaven, and with this he is raised with a thin ribbon, fluttering as if in the likeness of an airy wing, and with his rapid walk in the church he depicts, according to Chrysostom’s words, an angel’s flight.”
The Orarion is also a symbolic representation of the grace-filled gifts of the deacon as a clergyman, received by him in the sacrament of Ordination.
There is also a double orar , when one of the two orars is worn as usual, and the second goes from the left shoulder, goes down to the right hip and is connected here at the ends. Previously, it was worn only by archdeacons who served the Patriarch, and some protodeacons in especially important cathedrals. Today, the double orarion is a hierarchical award that is given to deacons for many years of service and is a mandatory part of the protodeacon’s vestments.
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Liturgical vestments of the bishop
We continue to acquaint our readers with the symbolic meaning of clergy vestments. Today we will talk about the liturgical clothes of the bishop.
Bishops of the Orthodox Church, in addition to liturgical priestly vestments (chassis, epitrachelion, belt, brace and club), have special ones that are appropriated only to them.
The most ancient bishop's vestment is the omophorion , which is a wide long strip of material with crosses sewn on top and stripes of a material other than the omophorion itself, running along all edges, as well as fringe on two transverse stripes at each end. Omophorion, according to St. Herman, Patriarch of Constantinople, and other interpreters, is typified in the Old Testament by Aaron's ephud with the word judgment. Instead of tablets with the names of the tribes of Israel, the omophorion has crosses, symbolizing the fullness of the Christian Church.
Blessed Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, explains the spiritual meaning of the omophorion as follows: “The omophorion means the incarnation of man for our sake and the incarnation of the Word that was from the Virgin. And therefore it is made of wool, since it depicts the lost sheep, which the Savior took on His shoulder (shoulders), that is, our nature, and that He, descending from heaven, became incarnate and, being called the Lamb, was slain for us.” This thought is also expressed by the words spoken when putting the omophorion on the shoulders: “On the frame, Christ, having taken the lost nature, you ascended, you brought God and the Father, always, now and ever, and forever and ever, Amen.”
The omophorion combines two main symbolic meanings: the bishop’s likeness to Christ in caring for the salvation of people and the special fullness of Divine grace and power given to the bishop for this.
The bishop's omophorion can be large or small. a large omophorion from the beginning of the Liturgy until the reading of the Apostle. When reading the Gospel, the bishop stands completely without an omophorion. After this, the bishop is put on a small omophorion, similar to the large one, but much shorter. The small omophorion is worn over the shoulders around the bishop's neck and lowered with both ends onto the chest, which is reminiscent of the ancient epitrachelion in the form of an orarion, enclosed around the neck of the priest, but the small omophorion does not replace the stole.
In the small omophorion, the bishop continues the celebration of the Liturgy. At the great entrance, the small omophorion is removed, and the bishop meets the offered Holy Gifts at the royal doors, as if Christ himself was coming to his free passion. In the small omophorion, the bishop calls upon the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. When the Sacrament has been completed and Christ Himself is present on the throne in the transubstantiated Gifts, the omophorion is again removed from the bishop. Then, at the deacon’s exclamation “Vonmem,” the small omophorion is again put on the bishop, and he remains on it until the end of the Liturgy.
An explanation for these actions is given by St. Isidore Pelusiot (4th-5th centuries): “The bishop, representing Christ, by his very clothes shows everyone that he is an imitator of that good and great Shepherd, who wanted to bear the infirmities of the flock, therefore, when with the revelation of the Gospel the true Shepherd Himself, the bishop, appears He immediately takes off his robe of imitation, letting everyone know about the presence of the Lord and the leader of the shepherds.” The same should be applied to other cases of removal of the omophorion: as soon as the special presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is designated in church ceremonies, the bishop lays aside the sign of his likeness to the Heavenly Bishop and becomes one of His disciples and servants.
In the 11th-12th centuries. Byzantine emperors began to grant the patriarchs items of royal vestments, in particular, sakkos . The very name “sakkos” (from the Hebrew sakk - rags, sackcloth) shows that this garment was taken from the ancient Jewish environment, where it was the same as the phelonion of the most ancient form, but was made from the coarsest hair shirt, being a garment of sorrow and repentance , a special fast. Such clothing was a large rectangular piece of material with a cutout for the head in the middle, so that when put on, it covered the entire person's body from front to back. The sackcloth had no sleeves. But by the time of the earthly life of Christ the Savior, in the Roman environment there was clothing similar in shape to the sakkos, the so-called dalmatic. The red dalmatic, made of expensive fabric, richly decorated, with short sleeves, was part of the attire of emperors. It was this kind of scarlet robe, similar to a royal robe, that Christ was dressed in when he was humiliated. Out of great respect for this clothing, the patriarchs initially put on it only three times a year: on Easter, on the Day of Pentecost and on Christmas Day. Since the sakkos was likened to Christ’s scarlet robe, was given as outer clothing and replaced the phelonion of the patriarchs, it was given the same meaning as the phelonion.
By the 14th-15th centuries. the sakkos pass from the patriarchs of Constantinople to the patriarchs of other regions and to the metropolitans. In the 17th century sakkos in the East becomes the property of all bishops, and in the Russian Church sakkos appears in the 15th century. like the attire of only a metropolitan. With the establishment of the Patriarchate in Russia in 1589, patriarchs also wear sakkos. In the 17th century it is awarded to some archbishops. In 1702, Peter I granted sakkos to bishops as a merit, and from 1705 it was established that all bishops should wear them.
Throughout its history, sakkos acquired some additions. At first it was sleeveless, but already in the 15th century. sakkos also appear with short sleeves, later they lengthen somewhat, the hem widens downward, bells appear as a sign of the similarity of the bishop's clothing of the New Testament to the ancient Aaronic clothing of the Old Testament.
To date, all this has been preserved. The sakkos in general appearance resembles a deacon's surplice, but instead of buttons it has bells. A symbolic strip made of a different material than the sakkos itself, signifying on the surplice and phelonion the bloody traces of the Savior’s scourging, has on the sakkos the shape of a smooth curve, covering the top of the sakkos along the chest, shoulders and back. Along the hem and along the edge of the sleeves there are the same stripes with the meaning of the fetters of Christ. Sakkos spiritually means the same thing as phelonion. Therefore, there is no special prayer when putting it on. The archdeacon reads: “Your bishops, O Lord, will be clothed with truth...”
The front and back halves of the sakkos, connected by loops and bells, symbolically signify the inseparable, although not mixed, succession in Christ of the priesthood of the New and Old Testaments, as well as the dual nature of the bishop’s ministry - to God and people.
Thus, the full episcopal liturgical vestment corresponds to the seven Sacraments that are performed by the bishop, and contains seven main items: the vestment (podsakkosnik), epitrachelion, armbands, belt, club, omophorion and sakkos.
The headdress of bishops during divine services is the miter . Ancient church sources testify that John the Theologian and James, the brother of the Lord, as priests of Christ, wore on their heads “withered” - a bandage with a gold plate. It was a liturgical headdress. Such a bandage was reminiscent of the turban - the headdress of Aaron, the Old Testament high priest, as well as the sudar (bandage) with which the Savior's head was tied during burial and which then served as evidence of His Resurrection from the dead (John 20:7). In Revelation, John the Theologian sees Christ the Pantocrator wearing a golden crown and a headdress that looks like many tiaras, that is, many royal crowns. The modern miter is a tall, solid cap, richly decorated with brocade embroidery, velvet, beads, precious stones and icons, gradually tapering to a rim around the head. The miter acquired such shape in the 18th-19th centuries. Before this, Russian miters were similar to the different forms of the crown of the Byzantine emperors of the last period of the empire. Sometimes the rim of the miter was a geared crown.
When putting the miter on the bishop, it reads: “Put, O Lord, on your head a crown and from the precious stones, you asked for life, and He will give you length of days, always, now and ever, and forever and ever.” The same chant is sung during the celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage. The miter and the wedding crown are similar in external outline, since both are arranged in the image of a royal crown. Indeed, the miter, being an image of those golden crowns with which the righteous will be crowned in the Kingdom of Heaven at the wedding feast of the union of Christ with the Church, completes the symbolism of the liturgical vestments of the clergy as an image of those wedding garments spoken of in the Gospel and Revelation of John the Theologian.
The bishop's mantle is the attire of the bishop during solemn processions and ceremonies at the entrance to the temple, after which it is soon removed, as the bishop dresses in liturgical clothes. Only some services can a bishop perform in a mantle and stole. The bishop's robe is purple (for the patriarch it is green). On both sides of the front slit, quadrangular plates with trim along the edges and images of crosses or with icons inside the upper rectangles are sewn onto the mantle at the top, at the shoulders, and at the bottom, at the hem. These sewn boards are called tablets and signify, according to Blessed Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, the Old and New Testaments, by which the bishop should be guided and draw wisdom from the teaching of the Church, for he is the teacher of the Church. The teaching grace of the bishopric is symbolically depicted on the mantle by springs or streams - long sewn ribbons of a different material than the mantle itself, crossing it in front in three rows, two stripes in each. The first row runs under the upper tablets, the second - in the center of the mantle, the third - above the lower tablets. Further, all rows of stripes pass along the sides of the mantle to the back, bending around the mantle on all sides. Blessed Simeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, assimilates from these sources the meaning of the grace of the teaching of bishops, which always flows from the Old and New Testaments. Three rows of sources also signify the deep grace of the Most Holy Trinity, surrounding, as if covering the bishop on all sides.
In the ancient Church there was no bishop's robe. It appeared in Byzantium as an honorary gift from the emperor to the Patriarchs of Constantinople, from whom it then passed on to other bishops.
The bishop's cross and panagia are signs of the highest authority in the Church. These images spiritually mean the same thing as the altarpiece Cross and the icon of the Mother of God, namely: The economy of the salvation of people in the Church is carried out by the grace-filled power of the feat of the cross of the Son of God Jesus Christ and the intercession of the Mother of God as the Mother of the Church. The bishop's cross and panagia remind us that a bishop must always have in his heart the Lord and Representative before Him - the Ever-Virgin Mary, that for this he must have a pure heart and a right spirit, and from the excess of heart purity and truth his lips must utter only good.
Another symbol of the bishop's authority is the crozier . In everyday life, bishops carry staffs that are different from the staffs they use during divine services. Bishops' daily staffs are usually long sticks with a frame and a thickening at the top made of carved bone, wood, silver or other metal. Everyday staves have a much more ancient origin than liturgical staffs.
The liturgical bishop's staff differs from the ordinary everyday staff of bishops because, according to canonical rules, bishops and other clergy are prohibited from decorating themselves with expensive and bright clothes and household items. Only during divine services, where the bishop must show people the image of the glory of the Heavenly King, does he put on specially decorated vestments and headdresses and take a splendid staff in his hands.
Priest Maxim Kurov
