Clergy Etiquette in the Orthodox Church
The following is a guide for properly addressing
Orthodox clergy. Most of the titles do not exactly correspond to the terms used
in Greek, Russian, or the other native languages of the national Orthodox
Churches, but they have been widely accepted as standard English usages.
Greeting Clergy in Person
When we address Deacons or
Priests, we should use the title "Father." Bishops we should address
as "Your Grace." Though all Bishops (including Patriarchs) are equal
in the Orthodox Church, they do have different administrative duties and honors
that accrue to their rank in this sense. Thus, "Your Eminence" is the
proper title for Bishops with suffragans or assistant Bishops, Metropolitans,
and most Archbishops (among the exceptions to this rule is the Archbishop of
Athens, who is addressed as "Your Beatitude"). "Your
Beatitude" is the proper title for Patriarchs (except for the Œcumenical
Patriarch in Constantinople, who is addressed as "Your
All—Holiness"). When we approach an Orthodox Presbyter or Bishop (but not
a Deacon), we make a bow by reaching down and touching the floor with our right
hand, place our right hand over the left (palms upward), and say: "Bless,
Father" (or "Bless, Your Grace," or "Bless, Your
Eminence," etc.). The Priest or Bishop then answers, "May the Lord
bless you," blesses us with the Sign of the Cross, and places his right
hand in our hands. We kiss then his hand.
We should understand that when the Priest or Bishop
blesses us, he forms his fingers to represent the Christogram "ICXC"
a traditional abbreviation of the Greek words for "Jesus Christ"
(i.e., the first and last letters of each of the words "IHCOYC
XRICTOC"). Thus, the Priest's blessing is in the Name of Christ, as he
emphasizes in his response to the believer's request for a blessing. Other
responses to this request are used by many clergy, but the antiquity and
symbolism of the tradition which we have presented are compelling arguments for
its use. We should also note that the reason that a lay person kisses the hand
of a Priest or Bishop is to show respect to his Apostolic office. More
importantly, however, since both hold the Holy Mysteries in their hands during
the Divine Liturgy, we show respect to the Holy Eucharist when we kiss their
hands. In fact, Saint John Chrysostomos once said that if one were to meet an
Orthodox Priest walking along with an Angel, that he should greet the Priest
first and kiss his hand, since that hand has touched the Body and Blood of our
Lord. For this latter reason, we do not normally kiss the hand of a Deacon. While a Deacon in the Orthodox Church holds the first level of the
Priesthood (Deacon, Presbyter, Bishop), his service does not entail blessing
the Mysteries. When we take leave of a Priest or Bishop, we should again ask
for a blessing, just as we did when we first greeted him.
In the case of married clergy, the wife of a Priest or
Deacon is also informally addressed with a title. Since the Mystery of Marriage
binds a Priest and his wife together as "one flesh," the wife
shares in a sense her husband's Priesthood. This does not, of course, mean that
she has the very Grace of the Priesthood or its office, but the dignity of her
husband's service certainly accrues to her. [100] The various titles used by
the national Churches are listed below. The Greek titles, since they have English
correspondents, are perhaps the easiest to use in the West:
Greek: Presbytera (Pres—vee—té—ra)
Russian: Matushka (Má—toosh—ka)
Serbian: Papadiya (Pa—pá—dee—ya)
Ukrainian: Panimatushka (Pa—nee—má—toosh—ka), or
Panimatka (Pa—nee—mát—ka)
The wife of a Deacon is called "Diakonissa
[Thee—a—kó—nees—sa]" in Greek. The Slavic Churches commonly use the same
title for the wife of a Deacon as they do for the wife of a Priest. In any
case, the wife of a Priest should normally be addressed with both her title and
her name in informal situations (e.g., "Presbytera Mary,"
"Diakonissa Sophia," etc.).
Greeting Clergy on the Telephone. Whenever you speak
to Orthodox clergy of Priestly rank on the telephone, you should always begin
your conversation by asking for a blessing: "Father, bless." When
speaking with a Bishop, you should say "Bless, Despota [Thés—po—ta]"
(or "Vladika [Vlá—dee—ka]" in Slavonic, "Master" in
English). It is also appropriate to say, "Bless, Your Grace" (or
"Your Eminence," etc.). You should end your conversation by asking
for a blessing again.
Addressing Clergy in a Letter
When we write to a
clergyman (and, by custom, monastics), we should open our letter with the
greeting, "Bless, Father." At the end of the letter, it is customary
to close with the following line: "Kissing your right hand...." It is
not appropriate to invoke a blessing on a clergyman, as many do: "May God
bless you." Not only does this show a certain spiritual arrogance before
the image of the cleric, but laymen do not have the Grace of the Priesthood and
the prerogative to bless in their stead. Even a Priest properly introduces his
letters with the words, "The blessing of the Lord" or "May God
bless you," rather than offering his own blessing. Though he can do the
latter, humility prevails in his behavior, too. Needless to say, when a
clergyman writes to his ecclesiastical superior, he should ask for a blessing
and not bestow one.
Formal Address
Deacons in the Orthodox Church are
addressed as "The Reverend Deacon," if they are married Deacons. If
they are Deacons who are also monks, they are addressed as "The Reverend
Hierodeacon." If a Deacon holds the honor of Archdeacon or Protodeacon, he
is addressed as "The Reverend Archdeacon" or "The Reverend Protodeacon."
Deacons hold a rank in the Priesthood and are, therefore, not laymen. This is
an important point to remember, since so many Orthodox here in America have
come to think of the Deacon as a kind of "quasi—Priest." This is the
result of Latin influence and poor teaching. As members of the Priesthood,
Deacons must be addressed, as we noted above, as "Father" (or
"Deacon Father").
Orthodox Priests are addressed as "The Reverend
Father," if they are married Priests. If they are Hieromonks (monks who
are also Priests), they are addressed as "The Reverend Hieromonk."
Priests with special honors are addressed in this manner: an Archimandrite (the
highest monastic rank below that of Bishop), "The Very Reverend
Archimandrite" (or, in the Slavic jurisdictions, "The Right Reverend
Archimandrite"); and Proto-presbyters, "The Very Reverend
Protopresbyter." In personal address, as we noted above, all Priests are
called "Father," usually followed by their first names (e.g.,
"Father John").
Bishops in the Orthodox Church are addressed as "The
Right Reverend Bishop," followed by their first name (e.g., "The
Right Reverend Bishop John"). Archbishops, Metropolitans, and Patriarchs
are addressed as "The Most Reverend Archbishop"
("Metropolitan," or "Patriarch"). Because they are also
monastics, all ranks of Archpastors (Bishops, Archbishops, Metropolitans, or
Patriarchs) are addressed by their first names or first names and sees (e.g.,
"Bishop John of San Francisco"). It is not correct to use the family
name of a Bishop—or any monastic for that matter. Though many monastics and
Bishops use their family names, even in Orthodox countries like Russia and
Greece, this is absolutely improper and a violation of an ancient Church
custom.
All male monastics in the Orthodox Church are called
"Father," whether they hold the Priesthood or not, and are formally
addressed as "Monk (name)," if they do not have a Priestly rank. If
they are of Priestly rank, they are formally addressed as "Hieromonk"
or "Hierodeacon" (see above). Monastics are some-times addressed
according to their monastic rank; for example, "Rasophore—monk
(name)," "Stavrophore—monk (name)," or "Schemamonk
(name)." The Abbot of a monastery is addressed as "The Very Reverend
Abbot," whether he holds Priestly rank or not and whether or not he is an
Archimandrite by rank. Under no circumstances whatsoever is an Orthodox monk
addressed by laymen as "Brother." This is a Latin custom. The term
"Brother" is used in Orthodox monasteries in two instances only:
first, to designate beginners in the monastic life (novices or, in Greek,
dokimoi ["those being tested"]), who are given a blessing, in the
strictest tradition, to wear only the inner cassock and a monastic cap; and
second, as an occasional, informal form of address between monastics themselves
(including Bishops).
Again, as we noted above, a monk should never use his
last name. This reflects the Orthodox understanding of monasticism, in which
the monastic dies to his former self and abandons all that identified him in
the world. Lay people are also called to respect a monk's death to his past.
(In Greek practice, a monk sometimes forms a new last name from the name of his
monastery. Thus a monk from the Saint Gregory Palamas Monastery [Mone Agiou
Gregoriou Palama, in Greek] might take the name Agiogregorites.)
The titles which we have used for male monastics also
apply to female monastics. In fact, a community of female monastics is often
called a "monastery" rather than a convent (though there is nothing
improper, as some wrongly claim, in calling a monastery for women a
"convent"), just as the word "convent," in its strictest
meaning, can apply to a monastic community of males, too. Women monastics are
formally addressed as "Nun (name)" or "Rasophore—nun (name),"
etc., and the Abbess of a convent is addressed as "The Very Reverend
Abbess." Though traditions for informal address vary, in most places,
Rasophore nuns are called "Sister," while any monastic above the rank
of Rasophore is called "Mother." Novices are addressed as
"Sister."
There are, as we have noted, some differences in the
way that Orthodox religious are addressed. What we have given above corresponds
to a reasonably standardized vocabulary as one would find it in more
traditional English—language Orthodox writings and among English—speaking
Orthodox monastics. The influx of Latin converts into Orthodox monasticism and
the phenomenon of "monasticism by convenient rule, instant tradition, and
fabrication," as Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna has called it, are things
that have also led to great confusion in the use of English terminology that
corresponds more correctly to the vocabulary of traditional Orthodox monastics.
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