Archimandrite
Encyclopedia : A : AR : ARC : Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite (Greek: ἀρχιμανδρίτης - archimandrites), primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, refers to a superior abbot who is appointed by a bishop to supervise several 'ordinary' abbots (styled hegumenos) and monasteries, or to the abbot of some specially great and important monastery.
The term derives from the Greek: the first element from ἀρχι archi- meaning "highest" or from archon "ruler"; and the second root from μάνδρα mandra meaning "enclosure" or "pen" and denoting a "monastery" (compare the usage of "flock" for "congregation").
The title has seen common use since the 5th century, but occurs for the first time in a letter to Epiphanius, prefixed to his Panarion | Panarium (ca. 375), but the Lausiac History of Palladius may evidence its common use in the 4th century as applied to Saint Pachomius.
When the supervision of monasteries passed to another episcopal official — the Great Sakellarios ("sacristan") — the title of "archimandrite" became a honorary one for abbots of important monasteries (as opposed to an ordinary abbot, a hegumenos).
Russian usage
The Russian Orthodox Church acquired the title of "archimandrite" in its later meaning. Initially in some cases it served as an extra title: for example, manuscripts of 1174 mention Hegumen Polikarp of Kiev Cave Monastery as "Hegumen Archimandrite".In 1874 the Russian Orthodox Church secularized its monasteries and ranked them each in one of three classes — and only the abbots at the head of monasteries of the second or first class gained the title of "archimandrite".
The duties of both a hegumen (abbot of a third-class monastery) and an archimandrite do not differ, but during the divine service the hegumen wears a simple mantle, while the higher-ranking archimandrite wears a mantle decorated with sacral texts, a mitre and bears a staff (палица, "palitsa").
The Russian Orthodox Church commonly selects its bishops from the ranks of the archimandrites.
Western usage
An Archimandrite who does not function as the abbot of a monastery has the style "The Very Reverend Archimandrite"; and one with abbatial duties uses the style "The Right Reverend Archimandrite".The word occurs in the Regula Columbani (c. 7), and du Cange gives 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 Hungary and Poland.
Sources and References
- This article is based on material from the public domain 1906 Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.
- the Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie (in French).
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.