Icons
The icon corner
The place for icons at home — usually the east-facing corner with a lamp; a place to pray, not a shelf for a collection.
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
Icons
The iconographic canon
The rules by which an icon is painted — reverse perspective, light without a source, conventional space — and why an icon is not meant to look like a painting.
Icons
The Image Not Made by Hands
The face of Christ on a cloth — by tradition the first image of the Saviour, not made by a human hand.
Feasts and fasts
The Nativity Fast
A forty-day fast before the Nativity, 28 November – 6 January, also called St Philip's Fast after the day on which it begins.
Feasts and fasts
The Paschalion
The rule by which the date of Pascha is found — the first Sunday after the first spring full moon — and the tables that set out that rule for centuries ahead.
Clergy and ranks
The three degrees of priesthood
Deacon, priest and bishop are the only three degrees; archpriest, hegumen and metropolitan are titles within them, not further degrees.
Feasts and fasts
The Twelve Great Feasts
The twelve chief feasts of the year after Pascha: nine fall on fixed dates, three are counted from Pascha.
Books and chant
Tone
Not pitch but a set of melodies. There are eight tones; they change weekly and repeat every eight weeks.
Books and chant
Trebnik (Book of Needs)
The book of rites served on request: baptism, marriage, funeral, memorial and blessings.
Books and chant
Troparion
A short hymn of a few lines — the main chant of the day, stating in two phrases what is celebrated.
Books and chant
Typikon
The book of rules: what to serve when, and how the other liturgical books fit together. It contains no prayers of its own.
Sacraments
Unction
The sacrament in which the sick are anointed seven times with blessed oil, with prayer for healing and for forgiveness of forgotten sins. It is not only for the dying.
Ranks of sanctity
Unmercenary
A sainted physician who healed without payment — the word means literally 'without silver'.
Ranks of sanctity
Venerable
A sainted monastic. The Slavonic word means 'most like' — one who has recovered the likeness of God in which man was created.
Ranks of sanctity
Venerable Martyr
A monk or nun who died a martyr's death — not the same as a hieromartyr, where the mark is holy orders rather than monastic tonsure.
Icons
Veneration of icons
The Church honours icons but does not pray to the board: the honour given to the image passes to the one depicted. Worship as such belongs to God alone.
Divine services
Vespers
The first service of the church day, served in the evening; its themes are the creation of the world, the fall, and the waiting for the Saviour.
Vestments
Vestments
The garments worn for divine service. Deacon, priest and bishop each have their own set, so the vestments show at a glance who is serving.
Books and chant
Znamenny chant
The old Russian monophonic chant written in neumes («hooks»); rarely heard in parishes today.