www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Tonsure and Married Candidates

Do married ordinands receive the tonsure when entering the clerical state or is the tonsure reserved solely for celibates.

Also, do you simply snip a lock of hair or actually shave the scalp?

in Christ,
Marshall
Ecclesia Anglicana: Canterbury Tales of an Orthodox Anglican [taylormarshall.blogspot.com]

All candidates receive tonsure. In the Eastern tradition it is simply snipping some hair in the form of a cross.

Edward, deacon and sinner

In the Orthodox churches, one can be married or unmarried at the time of tonsure to the order of reader/lector. If not already married, one can also get married after this tonsure.

Also, receiving this does not mean that the tonsured aspires to or will become a priest or any "higher" clerical rank. A reader may serve as such his whole life, and that is perfectly acceptable.

Regarding the style of tonsure, as Deacon Ed said, it is simply snipping some hair in the form of a cross. Nothing drastic. There was a time when a full tonsure was common in the East (whether for clerics or monks I do not know) but this has not been the situation for a looong while.

Dave, Reader

This question of Tonsure reminds me of the time several years ago when our metropolitan was tonsuring a candidate that he didn't particularly like and didn't trust terribly...but because it is usually the rector of the church who requests it and he's the one who must work with the person...Vladyka did it. So when it came time to Tonsure him, he took four HUGE bunches of hair off the candidate's head (so much so that the man had to get it cut close after the tonsure). After the Liturgy we priests were eating with His Eminence and we asked him, "Vladyka,why did you cut so much of his hair off at tonsure?" And Vladyka looked VERY seriously and said VERY firmly, "Just so he should REMEMBER and NEVER forget!"

In His Holy Name,
+Father Archimandrite Gregory

Dear Fr. Archimandrite, Your post reminded me of a situation many years ago at St.Tikhon's Seminary, during my junior or senior year.There was an elderly Russian gentleman who had been an Anglican cleric for some years.At an advanced age(he was well past 60, possibly past 70), he decided to return to the Orthodox Church of his youth and accept ordination. He was tonsured Reader, and ordained Subdeacon and Deacon the same day.The candidate was totally bald and clean shaven, except maybe for a small moustache, and a few days "growth" of hair on what part of his head retained any hair.I remember the late Archbishop Kiprian hunting desperatly with the scissors for anything to cut.I don't remember now if he finally clipped some eyebrow or moustache hairs or if he just gave up.In any event, the man was later ordained to the priesthood and reposed some years later.Just thought I'd share this . In Christ, Fr. Andrei

I recall reading that tonsure did not originate with the call to orders, but as a visible sign of a change in one's life. As such, candidates for the Mysteries of Initiation received tonsure. Additionally, a man and a woman who were to receive Crowning were tonsured. Of course what is left today is the tonsure that accompanies the call to minor orders for men, and the monastic tonsure for both men and women. Both are definately a sign of the change in one's life.