The Sakkos is a vestment

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...

 worn by Orthodox and Greek Catholic

Greek Catholic Church

The Greek Catholic Church consists of the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition and are thus in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.-List of Greek Catholic Churches:...

 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 instead of the priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

's phelonion

Phelonion

The phelónion The phelónion The phelónion (Greek: (plural, , phailónia; Latin paenula) is a liturgical vestment worn by a priest of the Eastern Christian tradition. It is worn over the priest's other vestments and is equivalent to the chasuble of Western Christianity.- Origin :...

. The garment is a tunic

Tunic

A tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...

 with wide sleeves, and a distinctive pattern of trim. It reaches below the knees and is fastened up the sides with buttons or tied with ribbons. It is similar in form to the western dalmatic

Dalmatic

The dalmatic is a long wide-sleeved tunic, which serves as a liturgical vestment in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and United Methodist Churches, which is sometimes worn by a deacon at the Mass or other services. Although infrequent, it may also be worn by bishops above the alb and below...

, which is similarly derived from Byzantine dress

Byzantine dress

Byzantine dress changed considerably over the thousand years of the Empire, but was essentially conservative. The Byzantines liked colour and pattern, and made and exported very richly patterned cloth, especially Byzantine silk, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and...

. The sakkos was originally worn by the Emperor as an imperial vestment, symbolizing the tunic of disgrace

Passion (Christianity)

The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...

 worn by Christ during his trial and mockery.

The sakkos is usually made of a rich brocade

Brocade

Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and with or without gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli," comes from Italian broccato meaning "embossed cloth," originally past participle of the verb broccare...

 fabric and may be intricately embroidered. There is normally a cross in the center of the back, which the bishop kisses before it is placed on him. Buttons or loops are sewn on the back, by which the bishop's omophorion

Omophorion

In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the omophor is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop and the symbol of his spiritual and ecclesiastical authority...

 (either great or small) may be attached. Traditionally, bells are attached to the sakkos, following the biblical directions for the vestments of the Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 High Priest

Kohen Gadol

The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...

 .

History

Originally, all bishops wore a phelonion similar to the one worn by priests, but woven or embroidered with a multilayered cross pattern called the polystavrion ("many-crosses"). The use of the sakkos was a privilege bestowed by the Basileus

Basileus

Basileus is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. It is perhaps best known in English as a title used by the Byzantine Emperors, but also has a longer history of use for persons of authority and sovereigns in ancient Greece, as well as for the kings of...

(Emperor) upon individual patriarchs as a sign of his personal favor. The first literary evidence for the garment is found in the writings of Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...

 (ca. 1130–1140). By the 13th century it worn by all the patriarch

Patriarch

Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...

s and a few high-ranking 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...

s—but only on Pascha

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 (Easter) and the Great Feasts of Pentecost

Pentecost

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

 and Nativity

Nativity of Jesus

The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....

; other bishops continued to wear the polystavrion. After the fall of Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 (1453) it came into general use by bishops. The sakkos is now worn by all Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic bishops, regardless of rank. Unlike Western pontificalia which may be worn by prelates who are not bishops—provided they have the privilege

Privilege

A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...

 of doing so—the sakkos may only be worn by a bishop.

Use

The bishop wears the sakkos when he vests fully to celebrate the Divine Liturgy

Divine Liturgy

Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...

, at the Great Doxology

Great Doxology

The Great Doxology is an ancient hymn of praise to the Trinity which is chanted or read daily in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches.At each of these hymns, the words “Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin,” will be altered to correspond with the time of day:*At Matins:...

 at Matins

Matins

Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...

 when there is an All-Night Vigil

All-Night Vigil

The All-Night Vigil , Opus 37, is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff,written and premiered in 1915. It consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement and "the greatest musical...

, or on specific other occasions when called for by the rubrics (for instance, at the bringing out of the Epitaphios

Epitaphios

Epitaphios may refer to:* Funeral oration or epitaphios logos* Epitaphios or epitaphion, a cloth icon used during Holy Week in churches that follow the Byzantine rite...

 on Great and Holy Friday, or the cross

Christian cross

The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...

 on the Great Feast of the Exaltation

Feast of the Cross

In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus....

). At other services, he will wear the episcopal Mantle (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

: Μανδύας, Mandýas, Old Church Slavonic

Old Church Slavonic

Old Church Slavonic or Old Church Slavic was the first literary Slavic language, first developed by the 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius who were credited with standardizing the language and using it for translating the Bible and other Ancient Greek...

: Mantiya). When the bishop is vested, the sakkos is presented to him on a tray. He blesses it with both hands, and two 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:...

s lift it off the tray, hold it for him to kiss the cross on the back, place it on him and button the sides (as shown here). The epigonation

Epigonation

The epigonation , or palitza , is a vestment used in some Eastern Christian churches.-Description and usage:...

, which was placed on the bishop first, is lifted up as the sakkos is buttoned, so that it remains visible on the outside. During the vesting with the sakkos, the protodeacon

Protodeacon

Protodeacon derives from the Greek proto- meaning 'first' and diakonos, which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning "servant", "waiting-man," "minister" or "messenger." The word in English may refer to various clergymen, depending upon the usage of the particular church in question.-Eastern...

 swings the censer

Censer

Censers are any type of vessels made for burning incense. These vessels vary greatly in size, form, and material of construction. They may consist of simple earthenware bowls or fire pots to intricately carved silver or gold vessels, small table top objects a few centimetres tall to as many as...

 and says the Prayer of the Sakkos:

Thy high priests shall by clothed in glory, and Thy saints shall rejoice with joy, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

This prayer is identical to that used by a priest when he vests in the phelonion, except that instead of saying "Thy high priests", a priest says simply, "Thy priests".

In some traditions, a bishop may choose to celebrate the Liturgy "as a priest"; meaning he does not vest in full episcopal vestments, nor does he make use of the dikirion and trikirion (episcopal candlesticks). Instead of the sakkos he wears a priestly phelonion

Phelonion

The phelónion The phelónion The phelónion (Greek: (plural, , phailónia; Latin paenula) is a liturgical vestment worn by a priest of the Eastern Christian tradition. It is worn over the priest's other vestments and is equivalent to the chasuble of Western Christianity.- Origin :...

, with only the small omophorion

Omophorion

In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the omophor is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop and the symbol of his spiritual and ecclesiastical authority...

 on his shoulders and the epigonation

Epigonation

The epigonation , or palitza , is a vestment used in some Eastern Christian churches.-Description and usage:...

 at his side. The bishop will in this instance, as always, wear his Panagia enkolpion, and will stand on the eagle rug. Moreover, certain ceremonial practices are not observed as they would be for a full hierarchal service.

External links

• Vatican Sakkos Byzantine (Constantinople or Thessalonike), 14th century
• Saccos (sakkos) of patriarsh Nikon, 1654
• http://www.kreml.ru/window.asp?ID=5156&lang=en "Kolomensky" Sakkos of Patriarch Nikon.
• http://www.kreml.ru/window.asp?ID=5161&lang=en Sakkos of Patriarch Joachim.
• http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/catherines5-13.htm Sakkos at St. Catherine's Monastery in Mount Sinai.