In the Russian tradition awards are given to priests for exemplary service.
I believe the first is the nabedrennik, the second is the purple skufya, the third is the purple kamilavka, and the fourth is the gold cross. The fifth is to become an archpriest, sixth is epigonation, 7th is the jeweled cross and 8th is to be made a mitred archpriest.
Is this correct? Does anyone have pictures of all of the above?
Let me do some of the picture part as I went online googling to find these.
Purple Kamilavka & Skoufia are headgear. The Skoufia is a soft, conical, hat, the kamilavka is a stiff hat which is slightly wider at the top:
the Nabedrennik, or thigh shield is a stiffened, rectangular cloth. It is hung on the right hip from the shoulder by a strap fastened at two upper corners; the nabedrennik signifies a spiritual sword. Similar to the nabedrennik, is the palitsa or in Greek use, the epigonation, which is a diamond-shaped cloth. It is worn on the right hip, while the former is worn on the left. It also represents the spiritual sword, the Word of God, with which the celebrant must battle disbelief and irreverence:
I think Gold cross and jeweled cross are self-explanatory.
Archimandrites the miter and in exceptional cases a ruling bishop can grant the more worthy archpriests the right to wear one in place of the kamilavka. ome say it signifies the crown of thorns which was placed on the head of the Saviour, others, that it represents the Gospel of Christ to which the bishop always remains subject:
This is good to know however.
and dont worry methodius, at least you knew the terms to begin wiht.....whether they were greek or russian... i dont know any of those words so i just learned something new tonight