Archimandrite

The titlearchimandrite(/ˌɑːrkɪˈmændraɪt/;Greek:ἀρχιμανδρίτης,romanized:archimandritēs), used inEastern Christianity,originally referred to asuperiorabbot(hegumenos,Greek:ἡγούμενος,present participle of the verb meaning "to lead" ) whom abishopappointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots andmonasteries,or as the abbot of some especially great and important monastery.

An archimandrite wearing his full habit, holding hispastoral staff,and minimally vested in anepitrachelionandepimanikia.Hismitrestands on the table to his right.

In theEastern Orthodox Churchand theEastern Catholic Churches,"archimandrite" is most often used purely as atitle of honor(with no connection to any actual monastery) and is bestowed on ahieromonkas a mark of respect or gratitude for service to the Church. This title is only given to thosepriestswho have been tonsured monks, while distinguished non-monastic (typically married) priests would be given the title ofarchpriest.

History

The termarchimandritederives from the Greek: the first element fromἀρχι-archi-meaning "highest" or fromarchon"ruler"; and the second root fromμάνδραmandrameaning "enclosure" or "corral", "pen" and denoting a "monastery" (compare the usage of "flock" for "congregation" ).

The title has been in common use since the 5th century, but is mentioned for the first time in a letter toEpiphanius,prefixed to hisPanarium(c. 375), but theLausiac HistoryofPalladiusmay evidence its common use in the 4th century as applied to SaintPachomius.

When the supervision of monasteries passed to another episcopal official—the GreatSakellarios( "sacristan")—the title of archimandrite became an honorary one for abbots of important monasteries (compared to an ordinary abbot, ahegumenos).

Byzantine usage

TheEastern OrthodoxandByzantineCatholicchurches commonly select theirbishopsfrom the ranks of the archimandrites.

As abbots, the duties of both a hegumen and an archimandrite are the same; however, during theDivine Service,a hegumen wears a simplemantle,while the mantle of an archimandrite is decorated with sacral texts; an archimandrite also bears a pastoral staff (pateritsa).

Kiev Metropolis

Initially, in some cases it served as an extra title: for example, manuscripts of 1174 mentionHegumen PolikarpofKiev Cave Monasteryas "Hegumen Archimandrite".

Russian usage

ArchimandriteMartin Marek Krupicafully vested with mitre

In 1764, theRussian Orthodox Churchorganized its monasteries and ranked them in one of three classes, awarding only the abbots at the head of monasteries of the second or first class the title of archimandrite. Abbots of third class monasteries were to be styled "hegumen".

In the Russian tradition, an archimandrite wears amitre.

Greek usage

Churches under the spiritual jurisdiction of the four ancient Eastern Orthodox Patriarchates generally require that such a monastic priest possess a university degree intheologybefore he is elevated to the rank of archimandrite. Sometimes, the requirement is waived if the priest can show outstanding achievement in other academic fields, such as the humanities or science.

Western usage

An archimandrite who does not function as an abbot has the style "The Very Reverend Archimandrite" whilst one with abbatial duties uses the style "The Right Reverend Archimandrite".

The word occurs in theRegula Columbani(c. 7), anddu Cangegives a few other cases of its use in Latin documents, but it never came into vogue in the West; yet, owing to intercourse with Greek and Slavonic Christianity, the title sometimes appears in southern Italy and Sicily, and in Croatia, Hungary and Poland.From 1979, there is at least one exemplar in Britain.

Bibliography

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:"Архимандрит".Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary(in Russian). 1906.
• Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie(in French)

Further reading

• Plank, Peter (1999), "Archimandrite", in Fahlbusch, Erwin (ed.),Encyclopedia of Christianity,vol. 1, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, pp.118,ISBN0802824137

External links

• The dictionary definition ofarchimandriteat Wiktionary