Origins of Orthodox Vestments: Ancillary Vestment Pieces
Having surveyed the origins of the most significant
pieces of Orthodox liturgical vesture, it now remains to consider a few
auxiliary garments.
Zone (Belt)
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| Zone(Belt) |
The first of these is the zone, or belt,
presently used by both presbyters and bishops. It is likely to remain
impossible to establish this garment's precise time and place of origin since
in any visual representation a zone would be hidden by over garments and it is
rarely mentioned in any early documents. This is an understandable omission,
for such a small detail of clothing, while practical and necessary, is easily
overlooked. However, we can presume the zones early usage due to the fact that
many ancient forms of the tunic had folds held in place by some kind of girdle
or belt, a necessary measure for the management of a voluminous garment. The
zone almost certainly came into use as a practical garment but in time it took
on symbolic significance. 
Its theological meaning was firmly rooted by the time
of St Germanos (Patriarch of Constantinople from 715-730) who states, "The
belt signifies that [the priest] wears the mortification of the body and
chastity, having girded his loins with the power of truth: The humble zone
stands as a perfect example of how practical garments came to be imbued with
theological symbolism in their evolution from daily wear to liturgical usage.
Epimanikia (Cuffs)
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| Cuffs from set of blue vestments for priests |
With the epimanikia, or cuffs, we find yet again a
lack of precise information as to initial usage. We do know that they were
first used by bishops who in later centuries then awarded the dignity of their
use to presbyters and deacons. They were perhaps a fairly late addition as they
are not mentioned in St. Germanos' On the Divine Liturgy (eighth century) or
any earlier documents; their first mention as a liturgical garment is not until
1054 in a letter written by Peter of Antioch. However, this absence of mention
may simply be due to the fact that unadorned cuffs could have been used in much
the same way as the zone, that is to contain the voluminous sleeves of the
tunic for practicality and, so may have not been considered a specialized
garment associated only with vestments until they began to assume a highly
embellished and decorative form which was more suitable to the character of an
award piece. 
In the mosaics of San Vitale, Justinian is shown with bands around
the sleeves of his tunica talaris, which could either be a decorative element
of the actual tunic itself or removable cuffs worn to narrow the sleeves.
Christ is depicted with similar bands, as is Melchizedek and the Evangelist
Mark. In fact, it is interesting to note that in the mosaics of San Vitale,
every single figure, whether male, female, or angelic, is depicted wearing some
kind of banding at the wrist to gather in the full sleeves of their tunics (the
only exception is the depiction of the four angels in the apse). At Sant' Apollinare
in Classe the titular saint is shown with the same bands as those at San Vitale
and the Emperor Constantine IV wears a more elaborate version of the cuffs that
more closely resemble the epimanikia in use in modern times.
Epigonation
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| Epigonation from a red set of vestments |
As with the omophorion, the origins of the epigonation
have been a subject of much debate among scholars. Many authors trace its
origins to a handkerchief or to the maniple of the West, but this appears
unlikely. All evidence points to the consistent use of the epigonation as an
award piece, given as a mark of service or favor. The piece was originally
referred to as an encherion. From the earliest depictions of epigonatia in
iconography, they are shown to be highly embellished, usually by heavy gold and
metal embroidery and the use of jewels. This lozenge shaped, stiff, lavishly
ornamented piece is far removed from any square, limp handkerchief. Additionally,
the purpose of a handkerchief or napkin does not readily suggest its adoption
as a garment that is to be granted specifically as an award. We find a very
compelling alternate theory of the origins of the epigonation, however, if we
consider the garments of the Byzantine court, specifically the cloak-like
garment of courtiers, called the paludamentum, which was worn in the sideways
fashion of the ancient pallium, resting upon the left shoulder and fastened at
the right with a fibula. On this paludamentum was an often elaborate piece of
decoration in the form of a lozenge situated over the right hip of the wearer,
called the tablion, which was an integral feature of Byzantine
male court dress from the fifth to tenth centuries.
The most exquisite and
elaborate decoration of the courtier's costume was often reserved for the
tablion and in this the tablion exactly corresponds to the epigonation's use
among the Church's vestments as that of a highly ornamented award piece. Due
to its limited size and its use as an award piece, some of the finest examples
of Orthodox embroidered iconography are found on epigonatia, many of which are
on display in museums and monasteries to this day. Central motifs can include
Christ, the Theotokos, or any of the Great Feasts, and surrounding this primary
motif are often intricate vine work and floral designs. It seems certain that
the epigonation was first bestowed upon bishops and "had become a regular
item of liturgical dress...." and then much later, most likely after
the eleventh century, was awarded to presbyters for distinctive service. Its
modern usage underscores this ancient practice in that it is awarded to
presbyters in various Orthodox jurisdictions for either the completion of
formal theological training, the blessing of hearing confession, or in recognition
of a lengthy and distinguished period of priestly service. 
In the epigonation may also be found the origins of
the Russian nabedrennik , another presbyteral award piece, similar in size but
in a horizontal, rather than trapezoidal, orientation and usually lacking the
elaborate decoration that may adorn the epigonation. J.W. Legg, in his Church
Ornaments and their Civil Antecedents, is the only author I have found that
argues for the origin of the epigonation in the tablion. While Legg's view is
considered by one respected scholar "an intuitive leap without
underpinnings from visual or textual sources" (Warren Woodfin, "On
Late Byzantine Liturgical Vestments and the Iconography of Sacerdotal
Power," doctoral dissertation, 1999, p. 30), as a tailor I find Legg's
argument
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| Preview vestments from the sewing workshops of St. Elisabeth Convent |
cogent and compelling given the
perfect correspondence in size and usage between the epigonation and tablion,
especially given the fundamental design differences between a garment that is
supposed to drape (e.g., a handkerchief) and one that is supposed to be rigid
(e.g., a tablion or epigonation). Draping and rigidity are completely opposed
tailoring goals and require very different modes of construction.
Further Development of Bishops' Vestments
The last,
significant piece of Orthodox Christian vesture that needs to be examined in a
study of the origins of Church vestments is the bishop's sakkos. Up until the
Middle Byzantine period (AD 867-1204) the bishop was vested in sticharion,
epitrachelion, zone, epimanikia, epigonation, phelonion, and omophorion.
Sometime around the eleventh to twelfth century, the episcopal phelonion underwent
a new development and began to be made from polystavros material, a woven
fabric with a geometric design of crosses ("polystavros" means
"many crosses" in Greek). The use of this fabric for phelonia was the
exclusive right of bishops, and, originally, only for the bishops in the sees
of Caesarea, Ephesus, Thessaloniki, and Corinth. By the fifteenth century, St
Symeon of Thessaloniki refers to use of the polystavros as a privilege of all
metropolitans and from that point its use trickles down to all bishops
and then, eventually, to presbyters as well. With this extension of the
polystavros phelonion from certain episcopal sees to the entire episcopacy and
thence to the entire presbyterate, we see how the award of vestments takes
place and why, over time, vestments that originally were the prerogative of the
episcopacy are now worn even by deacons (e.g., epimanikia).
Regarding the sakkos, sometime during the same period
there comes a fascinating shift, which results directly from the political fate
of Byzantium. During the Middle Byzantine period the power of the emperors
began to decline due to various socio-political developments, and the populace
of Byzantium began to place more emphasis upon the power of heaven than upon
the earthly power of the emperor. The idea of the court of Byzantium as a
mirror image of the Heavenly Court became widespread and there was a freer
interchange of symbology between earthly and heavenly. It was during this time
that the garment previously exclusive to the emperor, the sakkos, began to
replace the phelonion in the episcopal liturgical attire, first of patriarchs,
then gradually of all bishops. Just like the polystavros phelonion, there was a
trickle-down effect: at first, only the patriarch was allowed the wearing of
the sakkos, as is mentioned by Theodore Balsamon in the twelfth century, but by
the fifteenth century, St Symeon of Thessaloniki recounts that all archbishops
were allowed its use. 
All of the other historic garments such as the
sticharion and epitrachelion continued to be worn by the bishop, but the
phelonion was laid aside in favor of the imperial sakkos with its connotations
of spiritual authority now eclipsing even the highest earthly authority. In
construction, the bishop's sakkos is a highly ornamented colobium. It is similar to the deacon's sticharion, but is worn
shorter, most likely a necessary feature due to its use of heavy and ornate
fabrics and also possibly so that any ornamentation on the sticharion and
epitrachelion might be seen, an example of the layered fashion much beloved of
the Byzantines. The sleeves of the bishop's sakkos are often shorter as well,
the better to display the elaborately embellished epimanikia worn on the
sleeves of the sticharion underneath. Today, we most commonly see a bishop
attired in sakkos with omophorion, now referred to as the "great"
omophorion to distinguish it from an abbreviated form, the "small"
omophorion. In the course of the Divine Liturgy, the bishop removes the great
omophorion and replaces it with the much shorter small omophorion so that he is
less encumbered for the Anaphora prayers and Communion. These two omophoria are
nearly always matching in fabric and decoration since they are essentially
two forms of the same garment. The episcopal miter, the heavily ornamented
crown featuring metal-thread embroidery and iconographic depictions, was a
quite late addition to Orthodox Christian practice. Originally, the use of
headgear during a liturgical service was reserved as a special right of the
patriarch of Alexandria and the use of the miter was only taken up by other
bishops when the patriarch of Alexandria was translated to Constantinople in
the seventeenth century. |
| Mitre from the workshops of St.Elisabeth Convent |
Conclusion
With this overview of ancient garment history,
culminating in the standardization of Orthodox liturgical vesture in the early
Byzantine Roman Empire, we clearly observe a methodical and ordered
development, particularly in the transformation of Roman imperial, ceremonial
garments into Orthodox ecclesiastical garments. Contrary to popular and some
scholarly opinion, Orthodox Christian vestments did not emerge from a random
evolution, but rather are the result of a focused development stemming from a
conscious endeavor to redeem the garments of the pomp of the world and
transform them into the glorious, heavenly garments of salvation. Our beautiful
vestment tradition is no mere accident of history but rather an important facet
of the story of salvation and, as such, can not be relegated to the realm of
aesthetic preference, but must take its proper historical and spiritual place as
a visible testament to our theology, an expression of the love and mercy of
God, and the proper adornment of the Church of Christ.
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/zjbobic/history-of-vestments
Photo source:From the Sewing workshop of St.Elisabeth Convent
