Epanokamelavkion
Encyclopedia
Clerical clothing
Clerical clothing is non-liturgical clothing worn exclusively by clergy. It is distinct from vestments in that it is not reserved specifically for services. Practices vary: clerical clothing is sometimes worn under vestments, and sometimes as the everyday clothing or street wear of a priest,...
worn by Orthodox Christian
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
monastics who are rassophor or above, including bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s. It is a cloth veil
Veil
A veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face.One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space...
, usually black, which is worn with a kamilavkion.
The epanokamelavkion is attached to the front of the kamilavkion and extends over the top to hang down the back, with lappet
Lappet
A lappet is a decorative flap or fold in a ceremonial headdress or garment. They were a feature of women's headgear until the early 20th century. They remain strongly associated with religion. A bishop's mitre has two lappets sewn to the back of it. The most famous usage of lappets occurs on the...
s hanging down on each side. In some traditions, monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s leave the lappets hanging over the shoulders, but nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s bring them together and fasten them http://www.svots.edu/Events/Orthodox-Education-Day/2004/images/DSC_0157_jpg.jpg behind the apostolnik
Apostolnik
An apostolnik or epimandylion is an item of clerical clothing worn by Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catholic nuns. It is a cloth veil that completely covers the head , neck, and shoulders similar to the hijab worn by Muslim women, it is usually black, but sometimes white...
.
In the Russian tradition
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
, the kamilavkion covered by its epanokamelavkion is collectively referred to as a klobuk
Klobuk
thumbA klobuk is an item of clerical clothing worn by Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic monastics and bishops, especially in the Russian tradition...
.
Hierodeacon
Hierodeacon
A Hierodeacon , sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a monk who has been ordained a deacon...
s (i.e., monastic deacons) will remove the epanokamelavkion when they are vested
Vestment
Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially among Latin Rite and other Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans...
and serving at liturgical services; if they are not serving, however, they will wear it whenever attending services. Monks who have been ordained to minor orders
Minor orders
The minor orders are the lowest ranks in the Christian clergy. The most recognized minor orders are porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte. In the Latin rite Catholic Church, the minor orders were in most cases replaced by "instituted" ministries of lector and acolyte, though communities that use...
(subdeacon
Subdeacon
-Subdeacons in the Orthodox Church:A subdeacon or hypodeacon is the highest of the minor orders of clergy in the Orthodox Church. This order is higher than the reader and lower than the deacon.-Canonical Discipline:...
, reader, altar server
Altar server
An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian religious service. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell and so on....
) do not wear the kamilavka when vested. Hieromonk
Hieromonk
Hieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
s (monastic priests) always wear the epanokamelavkion whenever they wear the kamilavkion.
In the Russian tradition, the epanokamelavkion of an archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
has a jewelled cross stitched to the front of it near the crown of the kamilavkion. A metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
wears a white epanokamelavkion with the same jewelled cross. The Patriarch of Moscow's epanokamelavkion is often richly embroidered with seraphim or other symbols on the lappets and is attached to a conical kamilavkion called a koukoulion
Koukoulion
The Koukoulion is a traditional headress worn by monks of the highest degree in the Eastern Orthodox Church....
.
The Patriarch of Bulgaria wears a white epanokamelavkion with small cross. The Patriarch of Romania wears a white epanokamelavkion.
On Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, particular practices may vary from monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
to monastery, but generally speaking—in the Greek monasteries, at least—the epanokamelavkion is not attached to the kamilavkion, but is merely laid over it. The reason for this is that the Athonite typicons call for the it to be removed from the kamilavkion and laid over the shoulders at certain moments during the services.