www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall UGC Patriarch in Small Omophorion

Forum,
This is a little pointless but this is the first time I have seen an Eastern Catholic bishop wearing the Small Omophorion (sic?)

I have seen many Orthodox bishops with it. I personally like the small ones better as opposed to the ones hanging down in the back.

http://www.brama.com/news/press/021118faminegenocide_husar-losten.html

-uc

You know, it's funny because I had the exact opposite reaction last month! An Orthodox hiearch celebrated a liturgy here at St. Vlad's and wore his great omophorion, and I though, "wow!" because I usually don't see them wearing one. I think it looks cool hanging down in the back! :-)

In Christ,

anastasios

Dear UC,

I personally like the Great Omophorion.

The Great Omophorion represents the lost sheep that is found and is thrown over the shoulders of the Shepard since the Bishop typifies Christ.

The Bishop wears the Great and Small Omophorion's because he represents the Good Shepard.

Aren't there specific times when the Great Omophor is worn and times when the Small Omophor is worn. E.g. for the first part of Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, the Great Omophor is worn, then after the Great Entrance the Small Omophor is worn?

I remember seeing I think it was the small omophor being brought out in procession in the Great Entrance.

I don't think it's merely a matter of convenience or personal taste, is it? I believe there is established custom regulating their uses, no?

Usually I see hierarchs using the small omophors when they are wearing their mantiyas. However Uk. bishops like to where the large omophors with their mantiyas, and also omit wearing their epitrakhils. Some of them think of their omophors as "stoles", I suspect.

herb

ps: What's the purple klobuk? I've never seen that? Can someone explain what is it's meaning?

Dear Herb,

The Great Omophorion is worn throughout the Liturgy and is replaced by the Small Omophorion during the Gospel reading, symbolizing that Christ Himself is present and speaking at the moment.

The purple klobuk represents a Bishops klobuk because purple is the color of royalty. ( I could be wrong. Usually Christian is better explaining klobuk's).

In Russian practice, the great omophorion is taken off during the Epistle. The small omophorion is not put on until the Great Entrance, for the removing of commemorative particles, and then the games begin: on, off, on, off, every 2 minutes. Sometimes it can be sheer craziness. And the buttons on those things can be very tricky!

The Greek practice is a little different, and I forget how it actually works out. The bishop still removes the great omophorion during the Epistle, though.

Personally, I don't like the on/off rubrics with the omophorion. But hey, I'm not a bishop, so if a hierarch wants to do it, who am I to say no?

It is also Russian practice that for certain occasions a bishop would wear his mantya, small omophorion and klobuk, and for other occasions he would wear mantya, great omophorion and mitre. How it actually breaks down, I'm not positive. Maybe Patriarch Lubomyr was following this practice, and since he was wearing a kolpak, decided to wear a small omphorion.

Or maybe he just wanted to match with Archbishop Antony.

-Dave

Talking about "omophoria"...we should take into account that there are three theories about the origin of the omofhorion as a liturgical ornament the first one (1) says that it comes from the Hebrew “tallit”, a four cornered garment with Tzitzit, ritual fringes, on each corner, worn by men during morning prayers (see http://www.sofiaclair.com/ or http://www.judaicawebstore.com/TalitotStore.asp). Hebrews use two tallitot the “Tallit gadol” (a large tallit worn during prayers. In Ashkenazi communities it is usually worn by married men only but there are different customs about this. It should be large enough to cover most of the wearer's body) and “Tallit katan” (a small tallit worn by men and boys almost always. It is usually worn under the clothing. It should be at least 16 x 16 inches in the front and in the back. This tallit is usually referred to simply as tzitzit). The second (2) theory says that it comes from the ordinary mantle “pallium” or “khiton” used by ancient Greeks and Romans. The last theory (3) says that it comes from the civil “omophorion” used by Roman and Byzantine Empire civil authorities. In the ancient Byzantine and Latin liturgical tradition only the large “omophorion” is used (there are a lot of frescoes that proves it, the shape of the Latin “pallium” also is a prove of it). During the reading of the Gospel the bishop used to remove the large omophorion or to put it around his neck in the same way he wore the stole (“epitrakhilion”), that is the origin of the small omophorion) till the end of the liturgy, when he put again the omophorion in the usual way to give the blessing. In the Armenian Church the bishop uses the episcopal ornament (omophorion included) only at the beginning and at the end of the Divine Liturgy (during the rest of the liturgy he wears only the ornaments proper of the priest). In the Greek Church (probably also in the Russian Church) the bishop removes the large omophorion before the reading of the Gospel and puts the small one during the Great Entrance. After the communion he removes the small omophorion and takes the large one. In the Greek tradition the small omophorion is also used by the bishop at the secebration of other sacraments and sacramentals and when reading the Gospel with the mandyas, the stole and the black kalymavkhion. In Rumania and Servia (?) most bishops use only the small omophorion. To use the large omophorion through all the Divine Liturgy is contrary to the Byzantine tradition (bishops should just remove it or change it for the small one).

In the past there was not a great or small omophorion - just the great one which could be taken off, folded in half and draped around the neck.

This practice has been preseved by some Old Believers.

S Bogom -
Mark, monk and sinner.

In reference to the distinctions between the large and small omophorions, it has been the case that bishops of the "Ruthenian Recension" (all groups using it), did not make use of the small one until recently. Only now are we seeing some Greek Catholic bishops begin to use it, in the attempt to conform to contemporary Orthodox practice. It is my thesis that it is really not necessary to do this, since the large omophorion represents an older and original use.

Whatever the origin of the vestment in civil terms, it would appear that the small omophor came about much later. What Fr. Mark says about the "large omophor only" rule among Old Believers makes perfect historical sense and lends credence to the belief that the small one came into use in imitation of the fact that (beginning at some time in history), during the Gospel, bishops would drape the large omophor over their shoulders, thus giving the appearance of today's small omophor. Historical reckoning would also support the idea that even the "draping" of the omophor was probably not done originally and the vestment simply remained on the entire time.

The particulars of the Ruthenian Recension share a number of similarities to certain Old Believer practices. In both cases, this usually indicates some "pre-Nikonian" usages, changes in which both churches did not accept - the Old Believers because they opposed the reforms of the patriarch Nikon, wishing to retain historical Russian liturgy and the Ruthenians because of the particular area in which they lived and the isolation it provided from the rest of the Eastern Byzantine world. In both cases, a study of some of the liturgical differences from contemporary Orthodox Byzantine practice indicate a more ancient and pristine liturgical style.

In much of Rus' where the "Ruthenian Recension" is practiced, it is generally agreed upon also, that the liturgical style is closer in some ways to the Greek usage than to current day Muscovite liturgics (including style of vestments, the choice of the antiphonal system in the Divine Liturgy, chant and more . . . ). However, while conforming much to the contemporary Greek usage, those particulars which do not agree with this but differ, again mostly reflect more ancient and pre-Nikonian practice. The Ruthenian liturgy is a good example of a Greek liturgical style that did not reflect later changes.

As I've said many times, the use of the "large omophorion only" by the Ruthenians is an indication of the later origin of the small omophorion. The change in types of omophors during the liturgy itself was most likely not done originally and the symbolism of the large omophor as pointing to the "Good Shepherd" which the bishop embodies is certainly a scriptural and meaningful metaphor which deserves preservation. I personally believe that rather than criticize the Ruthenian use of the "large omophorion only" it should serve as an example of both an older practice and a rich symbolic vestment.

Also, while a few bishops of the Ruthenian Recension may omit the "epiktrachil" underneath the mantia and wear only the large omophor over it, this is not universal at all and in fact, an exception rather than the rule. Almost always, our bishops put the epitrachil on beneath the mantia and then, depending on circumstances, wear the large omophorion on the outside, and at times, simply wear only the epitrachil. You will see Ruthenian bishops do both, but almost always, they will have the epitrachil on, for all services, since it is the vestment considered most indicative of the priestly office and necessary to perform any divine service or blessing. I do not think that any (or surely not many) of our bishops consider the large omophor to be their "stole."

Just some references from my own study and experience as to the use of the large and small omophoria.

Fr. Joe

Dear UC, it is in many of the later Kyivan and Moscow trebniks that if a bishop is performing a service outside of the Divine Liturgy, Vespers, Matins, Hours, etc. he is to wear the small omophorion.

I suppose for those paraliturgical services outside the church for which an abbreviated vesting service is to take place the small omophor over the mantiyas came into use.

I have an old black and white photo of Patriarch Josyp in Rome after his release (probably mid-1960s) and he is wearing one at some paraliturgical service in Rome. In the recent blessing of the cornerstone for the new Patriarchal Sobor in Kyiv he was also wearing the small omophor and his protodeacon was wearing the kamilavka.

It sure beats birettas, red skull caps, pallium and red sashes that some of our hierarchs wore in the not so distant past.

Thank God our hierarchs are witnessing their identity as Eastern Catholic hierarchs regardless of the omophor. Eis Polla Eti, Despota! Mnohaya Lita Vladyko!

Father, bless! Father Mark, I saw the Old Rite bishop of the ROCOR wearing a small omophorion once. That must have been something picked up from the post-Nikonoian ROCOR practice and not the general Old Believer practice ?

As I said, the practice has been preserved by some Old Believers, not all. The small omophorion is not a Nikonian thing, just a more recent development.

Spasi Khristos -
Mark, monk and sinner.

Steven,

Bishop Basil (Losten) wears a purple kobluk because he is Bishop Basil . A kobluk is usually black, though certain Slavic archbishops and patriarchs wear white. Kobluks are monastic headgear, and as bishops are chosen from the ranks of monastics, bishops get to keep their hats.

I've seen Bishop Basil wearing a purple riassa (also not standard) as well as a panagia in the shape of a Byzantine eagle. You might call him an ecclesial fahion innovator.

Make of this what you will.

Andrij

Dear Friends,

Now that we know of Bishop Basil's famous fashions (the Stamford School of Ecclesial Design?) ,we can consider why Patriarch Lubomyr is wearing a Red Hat. Because he is a Cardinal? Because Bishops get to make the rules?

John
Pilgrim and Odd Duck

...because he is not sure what to do. "Do I wear a white koukoulion and get called a Muscovite, or do I wear a bini and get called a Latin?" He can never win.

Daniil