Eastern Orthodoxy

See also christianity; religion; theology.

Achephali

1. any of various Middle Eastern Christian sects in the early church that lacked or rejected theological leaders.

2. a Flagellant. —Achephalist, n.

charisticary

an official in the medieval Greek church who collected the money from a monastery or benefice.

chrismation

a sacrament corresponding to confirmation in the Western church in which a baptized person is anointed with chrism.

eparchy

a diocese. See also greece and greeks.

Euchologion

the principal service book of Eastern Orthodoxy. Also Euchology

euchology

1. the study of Eastern Orthodox ritual.

2. (cap.) Euchologion.

exarch

1. in the early church, the head of a major diocese or province.

2. a bishop inferior to a patriarch but superior to a metropolitan.

3. a deputy of a patriarch, either a priest or a bishop.

4. the head of an autonomous church. —exarchal, adj.

hegumen

the head of a monastery.

Hesychasm

the quietistic practices of a 14th-century ascetic sect of mystics drawn from the monks of Mt. Athos. Also called Palamitism. —hesychast, n. —hesychastic, adj.

iconoclasticism

1. the practice of opposing the veneration of icons.

2. the practice of destroying icons.

3. (cap.) the principles of the religious party in the 8th-century Eastern church that opposed the use of icons. —iconoclast, n. —iconoclastic, adj.

idoloclast

an iconoclast.

metropolitan

the head of an ecclesiastic province.

Palamitism

Hesychasm.

parathesis

a bishop’s prayer on behalf of catechumens. —parathetic, adj.

patriarch

the head of any of the ancient sees or the see of another principal city or national church.

Sophianism

a theological system centering on the Holy Wisdom developed by the 20th-century Russian priest Sergei Bulgakov. Also called Sophiology. —Sophianist, n.

synaxarist

one who reads the synaxarion, or brief narrative of a saint’s life, in Eastern Orthodox liturgies.