www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Why do so few BC Priests wear beards?

It would seem very appropriate for them to do so. Is the lack of beards an accomodation to the West? Should we watch to see when our Bishops and priests wear beards? Will this be a barometer that we have finally stopped being intimidated by the Roman Catholics?

Dan Lauffer, A long time beard wearer.

I've met a good number of Orthodox Priests who are beardless (in fact, my Metropolitan is beardless). I think it has more to do with culture than religion. Just my 2 cents.

Only if we really have nothing better to do.


Who is this "we"? I know of no Greek Catholic who is intimidated by Roman Catholics, and find the suggestion rather objectionable. Where are you getting these ideas?

djs

Dan,

I am happily married and I would like to keep it that way, therefore, no beard. :p

Sarcasm is good.

I know some old Ukrainian Hutsuls that still think men without beards are, well, you know, they don't like girls. Many of the Ukrainian Catholic priests wear beards. Patriarch Lubomyr has a great one. The Melkites often wear them as well. My problem is that more and more grey keeps showing up in mine. :rolleyes:

Diak,

Not only is my beard almost all white but my family even accuses me of thinning hair. Can you imagine?

Dan Lauffer

I have never heard of men "WEARING" beards. I do know that there are men that HAVE beards.

Unless the men who WEARS beards...are the fake beards that they can just put on along with their vestments for Divine Liturgies???

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

Spundas,

You may have hit on something here. I like our priests to have beards. But not all priests like to grow them. In our age of economic uncertainty we could develop a line of stylish (?) Orthodox beards and sell them to our priests. We might even rent them to some who were not sure of their vocation. Then these beardless priests could put them on for Divine Liturgy and remove them afterwards.

I think I'd better go to confession.

Dan Lauffer

St. Dilbert, pray for us....

Sharon

It's good to laugh.

Dan Lauffer

Slava Jesu Kristu,

Well, the next question is whether or not to trim the Beard. I believe that according to Eastern Tradition, the clerical beard is not to be cut. If our priests wear (read grow) beards, how authentic should they be? In fact, when Peter the Great ordered that Russian beards be trimmed if not cut off entirely, it created just as big a scandel as the one we are having now both in and out of the Church.

Dmitri

Dmitri,

You do raise a serious impediment to our Capitalistic venture. If Orthodox beards can't be trimmed where, o, where are we going to get the beard material for our artificial beards? We could go bankrupt before we get started. Sigh...

Dan Lauffer

spdundas


Sure, it's what those Antiochians do when they are visited by other Priests; they don't want to scandalize them you know

If you're going to have a real beard though, I say go for the full-fledged can-be-mistaken-for-a-monk type. Of course, wives might have something to say about that.. . .

When I was teaching in Ukraine last summer, I was told that my goatee was the perfect "Greek Catholic beard" since it comes half way between Roman (ie., beardless) and Constantinopolitan (ie., full beards) traditions! This seems a happy compromise to me, my fianc�e, and my Church!