The meaning of sacred garments, their decoration and color

The sacred vestments symbolize, for the most part, the humiliated state of Christ the Savior, but, nevertheless, the Holy Spirit. The church adorns them with silver, gold and precious stones. By this she shows that for her there is nothing more precious, more glorious than these sufferings of the Lord. And the cross, on which the Lord endured the greatest sufferings and torments, the Holy Church imposes on all church vestments, as a sign of the Lord's victory over sin, death and hell, and thus inspires that she does not want to boast of anything else but the cross of the Lord Jesus (Galatians 6:14).

Vestments come in different colors. It has become a custom to use light colors on feast days, and dark colors on Lenten days. Now it is customary to wear golden vestments on Sundays, on the days of commemoration of the Holy Apostles and Martyrs of red color, on the days of feasts in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos of blue color, on the days of commemoration of the prophets of green color, during Great Lent on weekdays and during Passion Week, except for Great Thursday and Great Saturday of black color. From Easter to Pentecost, from the Nativity of Christ to Theophany, and on the Transfiguration of the Lord, it is white. On Holy Saturday, immediately after the reading of the Epistle during the singing of "Arise, O God," it is indicated in the Ustav to change the black vestments to light ones. At Paschal Matins, it is customary to change vestments at each new entrance to censing the entire church, which symbolizes the special triumph of the Church. The sacrament of baptism is indicated to be performed in white vestments, the funeral service, except for the period of Pentecost, in dark vestments.

While the monastics wear special headdresses, such as the klobuk, kamilavka and skufia of black color, the priests of the white clergy are given in the form of distinction, or awards, skufia, and then purple kamilavkas. The name "skoufia" comes from σκυφος = "scythos" cup, because its shape resembles a cup. The kamilavka comes from the name of the material from which it used to be made in the East and which was produced from the neck hair of a camel (καμηλος = "kamilos" camel and αυχην "auhin" = neck).

6. Sacred Acts and Ceremonies

During divine services, various kinds of sacred actions and rites are used, which are called symbolic, because behind the visible, external, way of performing them, lies and hides some sacred thought. Thanks to prayerful consecration with the performance of certain symbolic actions, ordinary material earthly objects acquire a special, new religious dignity and significance.

Such symbolic actions include: 1) Making the sign of the cross, 2) Small and great bows, 3) Blessing, 4) Lighting candles, 5) Censing, and 6) Sprinkling holy water.

The custom of making the sign of the cross during prayer dates back to the times of the Apostles. In order to depict the cross on themselves, Orthodox Christians put together the first three fingers of their right hand in honor of the Holy, One-in-Essence and Indivisible Trinity, and bend the other two to the palm as a sign of the union in Jesus Christ of the two natures, Divine and human. Fingers folded in this way are placed on the forehead as a sign of the sanctification of our mind, then on the chest, as a sign of the sanctification of the heart, then on the right shoulder, and then on the left, as a sign of the sanctification of all our forces and activities. By combining the sign of the cross with prayer, we thereby beseech God to accept our prayers for the sake of the merits of His Divine Son on the Cross. The sign of the cross must be made correctly, unhurriedly, earnestly.

Small and great prostrations. The worship we perform at the entrance to the temple of God and during prayer in it serves as an expression of our reverent feelings for God, our love, humility before Him and repentance. The Ustav strictly distinguishes between small and great prostrations.

Small prostrations are otherwise called light, or throwing. They are accompanied by the prayer: "O God, cleanse me, a sinner, and have mercy on me." Small prostrations are made in those cases where it is written in the Ustav simply: "bowing." They are performed three times at the entrance to the church, during the reading and singing of the Trisagion, "Come, let us worship" and "Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God", in other cases according to the instructions of the Ustav, and also, instead of great prostrations, when great prostrations are canceled. The Typikon characterizes the small bow in the following way: "A bow is called as long as a person can bow while standing without falling on his knees, and bow his head to the ground, and this is an image of a slight bow until he reaches the ground with his hand." The great, or prostration, is called falling to the ground with kneeling, and the one who makes such a prostration touches the ground with his forehead. According to church rules (1 Ecumenical Sob. 20 Pr.; 6 Ecumenical Sob. Pr. 90 and St. Peter's Alex. pr. 15), prostrations to the ground on Sundays and during the period of Pentecost, are completely abolished and replaced by small, or, as they are also called, "waist-length". Kneeling is not an Orthodox custom, which has spread among us only recently and was borrowed from the West. Prostration is an expression of our reverent feelings for God, our love and humility before Him. Prostration to the ground is an expression of a deep feeling of repentance, which is why prostrations are so frequent during Great Lent, when they are combined with the pronunciation of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, which also happens on some days of other fasts.

The blessing of the clergy is a sign of the bestowal of God's blessing on people. It is God's blessing, because: 1) the priest represents the image of the Savior Himself during the service, 2) he blesses the worshippers with the sign of the Cross, which is the instrument of our salvation, 3) in the very finger of the blessing hand are depicted the initial letters of the Savior's name: IS. CHOLESTEROL. The blessing of the people by the clergy has a basis, firstly, in the right that the elders have always had to bless the younger. Thus, the Old Testament patriarchs bless their children. Melchizedek, a priest of the Most High God, blessed Abraham; and, secondly, in the commandment of God given to Moses about the Old Testament priests it is indicated: "Let them put my name on the children of Israel, and the Lord will bless me" (Num. 6:27).

Lighting candles. The use of candles and lamps during divine services took place in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament it appeared from the very beginning of the Church of Christ. Necessity, which forced the first Christians to gather for divine services in the evening or at night, was the first reason for the use of lamps. But there is no doubt that very early lamps began to be used not only out of necessity, but also for greater solemnity of divine services and because of their symbolic signification. The canons of the Church prescribe the use of lamps during the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist, at baptism and burial, even if they are performed in sunlight. Lamps are used: 1) to signify that the Lord, Who dwells in the unapproachable light (Acts 20:7-8), enlightens us with the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). And the holy saints of God are lamps, burning and shining, as the Lord said about John the Baptist (John 5:35). Lamps during divine services also serve: 2) to signify that the hearts of believers are warmed by the flame of love for God and His saints (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and, finally, 3) to depict the spiritual joy and triumph of the Church (Isaiah 60:1).

For lamps, it is customary to use oil and wax, brought as a sacrifice to the temple by believers. Oil and wax, as the purest of the substances used for burning, signify the purity and sincerity of the offering made for the glorification of the name of God (Apostolic Prov. 3). Oil signifies the zeal of people, similar to the zeal of the wise virgins, who took oil with their lamps to meet the bridegroom (Matt. 25:3-4), that is, it means the desire of Christians to please God with their good works. Tree spruce is used. Wax, as gathered from fragrant flowers, signifies the spiritual fragrance of the offering, the faith and love of those who bring it. Electricity, as a dead fire, can in no way replace the living fire of the lamps received by the New Testament Church from the Old Testament Church. In the Old Testament, the Lord Himself commanded Moses that pure oil should burn in a golden lamp in the tabernacle (Exodus 27:20), for which the children of Israel had to bring oil, beaten from olives, pure without sediment. The substance for combustion, like any gift to God, must be the best.

Some of the lamps in the church are stationary, others are moved from place to place during the rite. Candles are always lit on the altar and altar, which are placed in candlesticks. Oil and candles are lit before the icons. Vessels for this purpose are called candils and lampadas. Candilas that have from seven to twelve candles are called polycandils. The seven candles signify the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Spirit; the twelve faces of the Apostles. Candilas that have more than 12 candles are called chandeliers.