Mantle
Encyclopedia
In the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and the Eastern Catholic churches, the mantle is a monastic garment worn by bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s, hegumen
Hegumen
Hegumen, hegumenos, igumen, or ihumen is the title for the head of a monastery of the Eastern Orthodox Church or Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the one of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called hegumenia or ihumenia . The term means "the one who is in charge", "the leader" in...
s, archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
s, and other monastics in processions and while attending various church services, such as Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
or Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
; but not when vested to celebrate the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
. Unlike the Western cope
Cope
The cope is a liturgical vestment, a very long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour....
, the mantle is worn only by monastics. The klobuk
Klobuk
thumbA klobuk is an item of clerical clothing worn by Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic monastics and bishops, especially in the Russian tradition...
is worn over the mantle.
History
The mantle was originally a cape worn simply to ward off the cold. The mantle was first mentioned in the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, as a garment worn by several prophets including Elijah and Elisha
Elisha
Elisha is a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic.-Biblical biography:...
. In , the mantle passing from Elijah the prophet, to Elisha, his successor, symbolizes the passing of prophetic authority:
- And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
- And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
- He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
- And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
Depictions of monks on icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s show the mantle in use from the earliest Christian times. The original monastic mantle was of simple material: black, brown or grey, depending on what was at hand. As time went on, the use of mantles of a particular color and style came to be established as specific monastic vesture. Over the years distinguishing colors and ornamentation came to be applied to the mantle to distinguish monastics of higher positions within the church, while still reminding them of the need for monastic humility.
Monastics
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s and nuns of the Lesser Schema and Great Schema. In the Greek practice the use of the mantle by those of the Lesser Schema is less common. (It is not worn by Rassaphores). The mantle worn by a simple monk or nun is black (black being the traditional monastic color, symbolizing mourning over one's sins and a reminder of the vow of poverty), joined at the neck and hanging down to the feet. In the Russian tradition, the mantle is usually pleated (33 pleats for the number of years in the earthly life of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
). It may or may not have a train. Over the centuries, much symbolic meaning has come to be attributed to the mantle:
"[The] mantle is a monastic vestment, which covers the whole person with the exception of the head. Its freely flowing lines typify the wings of the Angels; hence it is called "the Angelic vestment." The folds of the Mantle are symbolical of the all-embracing power of God; and also of the strictness, piety and meekness of the monastic life; and that the hands and other members of a monk do not live, and are not fitted for worldly activity, but are all dead."
"[The mantle] is called 'the garment of incorruption and purity' [in the text of the Tonsure
Tonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
ceremony], and the absence of sleeves is to remind the monk that he is debarred from worldly pursuits. The mantle is given him in token of the 'exalted angelic state' which he assumes"
The mantle is bestowed upon a monk when he becomes as Stavrophore (Lesser Schema), for which reason this rank of monk is sometimes referred to as a "mantle monk". The mantle is bestowed a second time if he becomes a Schemamonk (Greater Schema).
An Hegumen
Hegumen
Hegumen, hegumenos, igumen, or ihumen is the title for the head of a monastery of the Eastern Orthodox Church or Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the one of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called hegumenia or ihumenia . The term means "the one who is in charge", "the leader" in...
(Abbot) or Hegumenia (Abbess) wears the simple monastic mantle.
When an Orthodox monk or nun dies, they are vested in their religious habit
Religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...
. A strip of cloth is torn from the bottom of their mantle and is used to bind their body three times: around the chest, around the waist, and around the feet.
Archimandrites
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
with crosses
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
. The tablets symbolize the fact that the Archimandrite will guide the brethren according to the commandments of God. The four tablets being symbolic of the Old and the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
s, and of the Four Gospels.
When an archimandrite dies, his mantle is laid on his coffin in place of a funeral pall.
Bishops
There is also an episcopal mantle which is not worn with the other episcopal vestments while celebrating the Divine LiturgyDivine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
, but when the bishop formally enters the church beforehand, or when a bishop is formally attending (i.e., presiding over) a service in which he is not serving. Instead of black, bishops use other colors: red or purple for bishops; purple for archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
s; blue for metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
s; and green for patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
s in the Russian tradition.
In the Russian tradition, the episcopal mantiya is characteristically decorated with red and white horizontal ribbons, called "rivers" or "streams" (Greek: ποταμοί, potamoí; Slavonic: Istochniki), symbolizing the word of God going out into the entire world . Among the Greeks, these rivers are normally gold.
The tablets on the Bishop's mantle may be more finely embroidered or made of more costly material than those on the mantle of an archimandrite. The upper tablets (those at the neck) may be embroidered with icons; those at the feet may be embroidered with the bishop's monogram. The episcopal tablets symbolise the four Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s which must be the focus of a bishop's teachings. The episcopal mantle always has a train on it, and may have small bells attached as well, recalling the bells attached to the Robe of the High Priest
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
.
In general, when a bishop celebrates any service other than the Divine Liturgy (or when he is attending, but not celebrating Liturgy), he will wear the mantle with Epitrachelion
Epitrachelion
The Epitrachil is the liturgical vestment worn by priests and bishops of the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches as the symbol of their priesthood, corresponding to the Western stole...
, Cuffs
Epimanikia
Epimanikia are liturgical vestments of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. They are cuffs made of thickened fabric, usually brocade, that lace onto the wrists of a bishop, priest, or deacon...
and Omophorion
Omophorion
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the omophor is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop and the symbol of his spiritual and ecclesiastical authority...
(the latter being worn outside the mantle). He will also stand on an Orlets
Orlets
An Eagle rug, is a small rug, usually round, upon which Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic bishops stand during divine services.-Appearance:...
.
When a bishop dies, his mantle is laid on his coffin in place of a funeral pall.
External links (photos)
- Simple monastic mantle
- A Schemamonk and Hieromonk in mantles
- Archimandrite Panteleimon in mantle
- Bishop Benjemin entering church in mantle
- Several Bishops seated in mantles during Hours
- Bishop in Greek-style mantle (Church of the Holy SepulchreChurch of the Holy SepulchreThe Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
) - Mantle worn by Armenian monks (Church of St. James in Jerusalem)
