135. Eastern Orthodoxy

See also 80. CHRISTIANITY ; 349. RELIGION ; 392. THEOLOGY .

Achephali

1 . any of various Middle Eastern Christian sects in the early church that lacked or rejected theological leaders.

2 . a Flagellant. — Achephalist , n .

charisticary

an official in the medieval Greek church who collected the money from a monastery or benefice.

chrismation

a sacrament corresponding to confirmation in the Western church in which a baptized person is anointed with chrism.

eparchy

a diocese. See also 190. GREECE and GREEKS .

Euchologion

the principal service book of Eastern Orthodoxy. Also Euchology

euchology

1 . the study of Eastern Orthodox ritual.

2 . (cap.) Euchologion.

exarch

1 . in the early church, the head of a major diocese or province.

2 . a bishop inferior to a patriarch but superior to a metropolitan.

3 . a deputy of a patriarch, either a priest or a bishop.

4 . the head of an autonomous church. — exarchal , adj .

hegumen

the head of a monastery.

Hesychasm

the quietistic practices of a 14th-century ascetic sect of mystics drawn from the monks of Mt. Athos. Also called Palamitism . — hesychast , n . — hesychastic , adj .

iconoclasticism

1 . the practice of opposing the veneration of icons.

2 . the practice of destroying icons.

3 . (cap.) the principles of the religious party in the 8th-century Eastern church that opposed the use of icons. — iconoclast , n . — iconoclastic , adj .

idoloclast

an iconoclast.

metropolitan

the head of an ecclesiastic province.

Palamitism

Hesychasm.

parathesis

a bishop’s prayer on behalf of catechumens. — parathetic , adj .

patriarch

the head of any of the ancient sees or the see of another principal city or national church.

Sophianism

a theological system centering on the Holy Wisdom developed by the 20th-century Russian priest Sergei Bulgakov. Also called Sophiology . — Sophianist , n .

synaxarist

one who reads the synaxarion, or brief narrative of a saint’s life, in Eastern Orthodox liturgies.