Feasts and fasts
Old and new style
The Church keeps the Julian calendar, now thirteen days behind the civil one — which is why Christmas falls on 7 January: by church reckoning it is still 25 December.
Церковный справочник
Что означают слова, которые звучат в храме: облачения, богослужения, таинства, устройство храма.
Разделы
Sacraments
The seven sacraments of the Church: Baptism, Confession, Communion, Marriage, Unction and the rest.
Divine services
Liturgy, vigil, vespers, moleben, panikhida — what each service is and how they differ.
Vestments
Cassock, riassa, phelonion, epitrachelion, mitre — the clergy's garments and what they mean.
Parish practice
How to submit a commemoration note, light a candle, ask a blessing and prepare for confession.
The church building
Narthex, altar, iconostasis, solea, ambo, kliros — the parts of a church and their purpose.
Church utensils
Chalice, diskos, censer, lampada, antimension, epitaphios — the objects used in worship.
Clergy and ranks
Patriarch, bishop, archpriest, deacon, reader — who is who in church and how to address them.
Icons
What an icon is, how it differs from a painting, and how to recognise the most common images.
Feasts and fasts
The Twelve Great Feasts, the patronal day, the four fasts, old and new style.
Books and chant
Typikon, Menaion, Octoechos, Triodion; troparion, kontakion, sticheron, litany.
Ranks of sanctity
Martyr, hierarch, venerable, blessed — why saints are titled differently and what it means.
Found: 229
Vestments
Omophorion
The broad band on a bishop's shoulders — the chief sign of his rank, signifying the lost sheep carried home.
Feasts and fasts
One-day fasts
Fast days that stand alone: most Wednesdays and Fridays, the eve of Theophany, the Beheading of the Forerunner and the Exaltation of the Cross.
Icons
Oranta
The Mother of God with hands raised in prayer; with the Child in a medallion on her breast the image is called the Sign.
Sacraments
Ordination
The sacrament in which, by the bishop's laying on of hands, a man is made deacon, priest or bishop. It is served only at the Liturgy and only by a bishop.
Vestments
Orlets (eagle rug)
A round rug showing an eagle above a city, spread beneath the bishop's feet.
Vestments
Panagia
A small icon of the Theotokos worn on a bishop's breast, paired with the pectoral cross.
Divine services
Panikhida (memorial service)
A memorial service for the departed that may be served any number of times — on the third, ninth and fortieth day, on anniversaries and memorial Saturdays.
Divine services
Parastas
The great memorial service on the evening before a memorial Saturday — an extended panikhida at which the seventeenth kathisma is read in full.
Feasts and fasts
Pascha
The Resurrection of Christ, the feast of feasts. Its date moves between 4 April and 8 May on the civil calendar.
Ranks of sanctity
Passion-bearer
A saint killed not for the faith but innocently, usually by fellow Christians, and meeting death without resistance in imitation of Christ.
Clergy and ranks
Patriarch
The primate of a local Church: first among bishops, yet a bishop by degree; recognised by the white kukol and two panagias.
Feasts and fasts
Patronal feast
The chief day of a church — the memory of the saint or event to whom its altar is dedicated. Our cathedral keeps two, both of St Alexis of Moscow.
Vestments
Pectoral cross
The cross worn on the breast by priests and bishops, offered to the faithful to kiss.
Books and chant
Pentecostarion
The book for the paschal season, from Pascha to the Sunday of All Saints.
Vestments
Phelonion
The priest's outermost liturgical garment: a wide sleeveless mantle covering the whole body.
Vestments
Podriasnik (inner cassock)
A long ankle-length garment with narrow sleeves — the everyday dress of clergy and monastics.
Vestments
Podriznik
The priest's undermost vestment — a sticharion worn beneath the phelonion or sakkos.
Divine services
Polyeleos
The most festive part of Matins: all the lamps are lit, the clergy come out into the middle of the church, the magnification is sung and the Gospel is read.
Parish practice
Prayer rule
The prayers a Christian reads at home every morning and evening; its extent is set with one's confessor.
Clergy and ranks
Precentor (regent)
The director of the church choir, who chooses the chants and keeps the singing in step with the altar; usually a layperson.
Clergy and ranks
Priest
The second degree of priesthood: celebrates the Liturgy and all sacraments except ordination. Recognised by the epitrachelion and pectoral cross.
Ranks of sanctity
Prophet
Not a foreteller of the future but one who speaks on God's behalf. The prophets are saints of the Old Testament; the last of them is John the Forerunner.
Divine services
Proskomedia
The first part of the Liturgy: in the sanctuary the priest prepares the bread and wine and takes out particles for the living and the dead.
Clergy and ranks
Protodeacon
The title of a senior married deacon, marked by the double orarion that crosses the right side as well.
Books and chant
Psalter
The book of the 150 psalms — the most-read book in church, divided into twenty kathismata.
Church utensils
Pyx
A small ark in which a priest carries communion to the sick at home or in hospital, worn on the breast.