Terminology -

DAILY VESPERS – Daily Vespers is an abbreviated form of Great Vespers and is served on any day that Great Vespers is not appointed. Generally, Daily Vespers is served by a priest alone without the assistance of a deacon, although there is some variation in this practice. At Daily Vespers, the Small Entrance is usually… Read More

SMALL VESPERS – (Little Vespers) Small Vespers is appointed to be served only on days when there is to be an All-Night Vigil. Small Vespers is identical in form to Daily Vespers, but omits the Litany of Peace, the kathisma and the Small Litany that follows it, the Litany of Fervent Supplication, and the Prayer… Read More

LENTEN DAILY VESPERS – Lenten Daily Vespers is served on the weekdays of Great Lent, unless the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated. For Monday through Thursday evenings, the general Daily Vespers form is altered by the inclusion of special lenten apolytikia, prostrations, special lenten prayers (including the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian),… Read More

LENTEN SUNDAY VESPERS – Lenten Sunday Vespers is served on the Sunday evenings of Great Lent. The service begins as Great Vespers. After the Small Entrance, one of two lenten Great Prokeimena is chanted and the prayer Vouchsafe, O Lord is said. The remainder of the service follows the order of Lenten Daily Vespers, with… Read More

FORGIVENESS VESPERS – Forgiveness Vespers is served on the evening of Forgiveness Sunday (Cheesefare Sunday) and is the first service of Great Lent. Forgiveness Vespers follows the order of Lenten Sunday Vespers but after the Great Prokeimenon the clergy exchange their bright vestments for dark and the choir begins to use distinctive Lenten tones. Following… Read More

VESPERS OF THE SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY – Vespers of the Sunday of Orthodoxy is served on the evening of the first Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of Orthodoxy). Traditionally, this should follow the order of Sunday Lenten Vespers; however, it has become a popular custom in North America for all Orthodox parishes and missions in… Read More

VESPERS OF HOLY FRIDAY – Vespers of Holy Friday (sometimes called the Un-nailing Vespers) follows the usual order of Great Vespers, but omits the kathisma and includes both an Epistle and Gospel reading after the Old Testament readings. During this service the clergy remove the corpus (soma) icon of Christ from the cross in the… Read More

AGAPE VESPERS – ( Vespers of Love) Agape Vespers is served on the evening of Pascha. It follows the order of Great Vespers. After the prokeimenon the Gospel account of the empty tomb (John 20:19-25) is read. It is customary to read this pericope in many different languages, demonstrating the universal nature of the Good… Read More

KNEELING VESPERS – Kneeling Vespers is served on the evening of Pentecost. In this service the posture of kneeling  (a posture of penitence that is avoided during the glorious, joyful celebration of Pascha)  is reintroduced to the liturgical life of the Church. Several “kneeling prayers” are prayed by the priest while the faithful kneel.

STYLITE – A stylite is one who lives on a pillar (style in Greek). These holy saints would remove their bodies from the ground for days, months, or even years in order that they might pray and fast better. This did not mean that they were cut off from the world. On the contrary, many… Read More

STARETZ – A staretz (Russian) or geronta (Gr, pronounced yeronda, both literally meaning elder) is a holy person gifted with the charism of spiritual direction, often a monk or hermit (not necessarily a priest), in the Church. The plural of the Russian form is startsy. Russian, elder, starets, from Old Church Slavonic starts, elder, from… Read More

SLAVA – The slava, also called krsna slava and krsno ime ( literally ‘christened name’ in Serbian), is the Orthodox Christian tradition of the ritual celebration, veneration and observance of a family’s own patron saint. The family celebrates the slava annually on the patron saint’s feast day. The slava is primarily associated with the Serbs;… Read More

ROYAL DOORS – The Royal Doors  are the central doors of the iconostasis, directly in front of the altar in an Orthodox church. On the Doors there is usually a diptych of the Annunciation. Sometimes they may also have the icons of the four evangelists.  The Doors are opened at different points during the Divine… Read More

PROTECTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD – The Protection of the Mother of God is one of the most beloved feast days on the Orthodox calendar among the Slavic peoples, commemorated on October 1. The feast is celebrated additionally on October 28 in the Greek tradition. It is also known as the feast of the… Read More

PHILOKALIA – The Philokalia is a collection of writings, mostly centering on practicing the virtues and spiritual living in a monastery. In recent decades it has become an important resource for Orthodox Christians, laity and clergy alike, in personal living and in some ways has achieved status as a major secondary spiritual written resource, after… Read More

PENTARCHY – The Pentarchy consisted of the five ancient patriarchates of the undivided Church of the first millennium of her history, including the Churches  of  Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. These major centers of early Christianity, founded by the apostles, were looked to by their respective regions as leaders in Church life, and eventually… Read More

PASSION-BEARER – One of the various customary saint titles used in commemoration at divine services when remembering saints on the Church Calendar. A passion-bearer is one who faces his death in a Christ-like manner. Unlike martyrs, passion-bearers are not explicitly killed for their Orthodox faith, though they hold to that faith with piety and true… Read More

PARAKLESIS – A paraklesis is a service of supplication specifically for the living as opposed to a Memorial Service, which is a supplication for the departed. This service is most often addressed to the Theotokos, but may be used to seek the intercessions of any saint. The distinguishing feature of a paraklesis is the inclusion… Read More

PANTOCRATOR – The word Pantocrator is of Greek origin meaning “ruler of all”. Christ Pantocrator is an icon of Christ represented full or half-length and full-faced. He holds the book of the Gospels in his left hand and blesses with his right hand. The icon portrays Christ as the Righteous Judge and the Lover of… Read More

OLD BELIEVERS – In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers became separated after 1666-1667 from the hierarchy of the Church of Russia as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. Old Believers continue liturgical practices which the Russian Orthodox Church maintained before the implementation of these reforms…. Read More

NEW MARTYR – One of the various customary saint titles used in commemoration at divine services when remembering saints on the Church Calendar. The title of New Martyr was originally given to martyrs under heretical rulers (the original martyrs being under pagans), then later to the Church’s martyrs under Islam and various modern atheistic regimes,… Read More

WONDERWORKER – (1) Generally speaking, a wonderworker (also called “miracle-worker”) is someone who is known for miracles God, the source of all miracles and wonders, has worked through them.  (2) One of the various customary saint titles used to in commemoration at divine services when remembering saints on the Church Calendar.

VIRGIN-MARTYR – One of the various customary saint titles used in commemoration at divine services when remembering saints on the Church Calendar.  An unmarried, non-monastic, chaste female martyr.

VENERABLE-MARTYR – One of the various customary saint titles used in commemoration at divine services when remembering saints on the Church Calendar.  A martyred monastic.