Question about vestments

[Daniel]

Does any one know off hand, or where to find, a history of Orthodox vestments?

Or at least be able to explain how the Russian Phelons got the high backs?

Daniel

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

I don't have your answer Daniel, but I would like to comment that there are some very ancient vestments (1300's) at the "Byzantine" Museum in Athens. If not for their deterioration, you would not be able to tell any difference with what is worn today by the Greeks - unless you examined the fabric. Therefore, I would guess the high back is a Russian addition.

I have some pictures, although most of my electronic copies got wiped out with a computer crash a few years ago.

Since I looked for the picture, I uploaded a few of my surviving ones...

http://ecclesiagoc.org/1.jpg
This is a picture of my second cousin in his small church in the mountain where he is a priest. The town is Ayios Sophia (pop 125), where my paternal grandfather is from, and it seems everyone has my last name.

http://ecclesiagoc.org/2.jpg
The trip up to the vineyard with my cousin. The picture doesn't show it, but three feet off the road is a 200ft. fall. And he drives 50 mi/hr!

http://ecclesiagoc.org/3.jpg
The outside of his church

http://ecclesiagoc.org/4.jpg
The grave of my great-great grandfather, which was updated when my great grandmother was buried on top.

I have a few more electonic pictures but I didn't want to totally take your question of topic, sorry.

[Daniel]

Thanks for the links to the pictures. I am very fond of very small Greek Churches.

I've just always been curious how vestment got from what you see in icons of say St. Basil the Great to what we have now.

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

Daniel,

exactly what do you see in the icons of St. Basil that you don't see today? Is there a link or is it from a real icon - now I'm curious.

[Daniel]

OOD,

I just found this at the OCA website:

They also wear a large garment called a phelonion which covers their entire body in the back and goes below their waist in front. This vestment was probably developed from the formal garments of the early Christian era and, under the inspiration of the Bible, came to be identified with the calling of the priestly life. When putting on his phelonion, the priest says the lines of Psalm 132:

Thy priests, O Lord, shall clothe themselves in righteousness, and the saints shall rejoice with joy always now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

The bishops traditionally probably also wore the phelonion over which they placed the omoforion, the sign of their episcopal office as leading pastor of the local church. When the Christian empire was captured by the Turks in the fifteenth century, however, the Christian bishops of the East were given civil rule over all Christians under Turkish domination. At that time, since there was no longer a Christian empire, the bishops adopted the imperial insignia and began to dress as the Christian civil rulers used to dress. Thus, they began to wear the sakkos, the imperial robe, and the mitre, the imperial crown

That sort of explains the difference in the ‘style’ of vestments in the following icons.

Here is one of St. Basil http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-35.jpg
St. Ignatius the God-bearer http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-282.jpg
St. Blaise http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-250.jpg

Compare those to:
St. Gregory Palamas http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-250.jpg
St. Dimitry of Rostov http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-46.jpg
St. Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople http://htmadmin.phpwebhosting.com/images/a-100.jpg

[Julianna]

Don't the non-EPOC Greeks on Athos use highbacks too?

[Daniel]

I've been told that some one like the Tsar sent some vestments to Athos, but I don't know much beyond that.

I have seen some photos of priests in Father Ephrem's monasteries wearing Russian Phelons.