Eastern Christian vestments

thumb|right|upright|Roman statue of a veiled Vestal Virgin

The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mitres are worn in the Catholic Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (IOC), Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobites), Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, for important ceremonies, by the Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, and also, in the Catholic Church, all cardinal

thumb|First native Catholic priest in the Belgian Congo, wearing a Roman cassock with the standard 33 buttons. Early 1900s.

long narrow cloth band worn around the neck and falling from the shoulders as part of ecclesiastical dress

thumb|upright|A Roman Catholic deacon wearing a dalmatic and a biretta during a service in the Traditional Latin Rite thumb|upright|Ornately embroidered dalmatic (shown from the back with a collarin) The dalmatic is a long, wide-sleeved tunic, which serves as a liturgical vestment in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, United Methodist, and some other churches. When used, it is the proper vestment of a deacon at Mass, Holy Communion or other services such as baptism or marriage held in the context of a Eucharistic service. Although infrequent, it may also be worn by bishops above the alb and bel

thumb|right|250px|The altar in St Mary's Anglican Church, Redcliffe, Bristol, England. It is decorated with an elaborate frontal in green, a colour typically associated with the seasons after Epiphany and [[Pentecost.]] An antependium (from Latin ante- and pendēre, "to hang before"; : antependia), also known as a pulpit fall, parament or hanging, or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: pallium altaris), is a decorative piece, usually of textile, but also metalwork, stone or other material, that can adorn a Christian altar. It may also apply to the

thumb|Greek Orthodox clergyman wearing clerical kalimavkion. thumb|Russian Orthodox style kamilavka A kalimavkion (), kalymmavchi (καλυμμαύχι), or, by metathesis of the word's internal syllables, kamilavka (), is a clerical headdress worn by Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catholic monks (in which case it is black) or awarded to clergy (in which case it may be red or purple). An approximate equivalent in the Latin Church is the biretta ().

thumb|alt=Chrysostomos of Smyrna|Icon of Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna wearing a polystavrion (“many crosses”) phelonion.

distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order

thumb|Epitrachelion The epitrachelion ( "around the neck"; Slavic: Епитрахи́ль - Epitrakhíl’; often called simply a stole in casual English-language usage) is the liturgical vestment worn by priests and bishops of the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches as the symbol of their priesthood, corresponding to the Western stole. It is essentially the orarion adapted for priests and bishops, worn around the neck with two ends of equal length hanging down in front of the clergyman's body (more or less to the ankle) and with the two adjacent sides sewn or buttoned together up the center, leav

thumb|Fresco from the 14th century depicting St. [[Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia wearing a white omophorion.]] thumb|300px|Benjamin Peterson, archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Alaska, wearing an omophorion. In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the omophorion (, meaning "[something] borne on the shoulders"; Slavonic: омофоръ, omofor) is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop and the symbol of his spiritual and ecclesiastical authority. Originally woven of wool, it is a band of brocade decorated with four crosses and an eight-pointed star

thumb|Embroidered palitza (photograph c. 1911 by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii). thumb|Fresco of St [[Gregory the Illuminator wearing a gold epigonation (the half-visible rhombus behind the Omophorion) embroidered with an icon (14th century, Mistra).]] The epigonation (Greek: , literally meaning "over the knee"), or pálitsa (Russian: , "club"), is a vestment used in some Eastern Christian churches.

thumb|Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia|Catholicos-Patriarch [[Ilia II of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church, wearing a Russian-style with jewelled cross (Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia)]]

thumb|200px|Greek Orthodox deacon wearing a red sticharion and [[Orarion.]]

ecclesiastical overgarment

thumb|Greek Orthodox [[deacon in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, wearing the double orarion over his sticharion. On his head he wears the clerical kamilavka.]]

thumb|17th-century sakkos. It has 16 buttons on each side, plus 1 at the collar to make a total of 33: the traditional number of years in the earthly life of Jesus (Benaki Museum, [[Athens, Greece).]] thumb|Priest in phelonion (left) and archbishop of Prague Joachim in sakkos thumb|right|Greek Catholic Church|Greek-Catholic [[bishop wearing a sakkos. What appears to be a collar is a separate vestment, called the omophorion (Prešov, Slovakia).]]

thumb|Patriarch Alexius II of Moscow wearing an engolpion (panagia) An encolpion (also engolpion, enkolpion; , , "on the chest"; plural: , ) is a medallion with an icon in the center worn around the neck by Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic bishops. The icon is normally surrounded by jewels (usually paste) and topped by an Eastern-style mitre. It often also has a small jewelled pendant hanging down at the bottom. The engolpion is suspended from the neck by a long gold chain, sometimes made up of intricate links. A portion of the chain will often be joined together with a small ring behind

thumb|St. Theophan the Recluse wearing a klobuk. thumb|A Byzantine Rite|Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan wearing a white klobuk thumb|Klobuk of Patriarch Philaret of Moscow (1619-33), Kremlin museum

thumb|250px|Russian Orthodox [[priest holding a blessing cross. The Greek epimanikia are visible around his wrists.]] Epimanikia (; singular epimanikion (ἐπιμανίκιον)), also known as Epimanika (ἐπιμάνικα; singular epimanikon (ἐπιμάνικον)), are liturgical vestments of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. They are cuffs (Russian: нарука́вницы, по́ручи, нарука́вники - narukávnitsy, póruchi, narukávniki) made of thickened fabric, usually brocade, that lace onto the wrists of a bishop, priest, or deacon. There is usually a cross embroidered or appliquéd to the center.

a traditional costume of clerics, seminarians and religious of Christian churches

vestment; form of girdle or belt common in the ancient eastern Mediterranean

thumb|upright=1.2|13th-century Great Panagia from Yaroslavl

thumb|The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia wearing the koukolion The koukoulion (Greek: κουκούλιον; Slavonic: kukol) is a traditional headdress worn by monks and certain patriarchs in Eastern Christianity.

thumb|Russian nabedrennik (strap not visible). A nabedrennik (Church Slavonic: набе́дренникъ - nabédrennik, "on the thigh") is a vestment worn by some Russian Orthodox priests. It is a square or rectangular cloth. Like the epigonation, it is worn at the right hip, suspended from a strap attached to the two upper corners of the vestment and drawn over the left shoulder; however, if the priest also wears an epigonation, then the nabedrennik is worn at the left hip, drawn over the right shoulder.

thumb|300px|Aër covering a Chalice and Diskos on the Prothesis (altar)|Prothesis

thumb|Russian Orthodox nun wearing apostolnik.

Liturgical vestments worn by bishops

thumb|Icon of Saint [[Dimitry of Rostov, wearing a white metropolitan's .]] thumb|Tikhon of Moscow|Saint Tikhon, [[Patriarch of Moscow wearing the patriarchal koukoulion with embroidered white .]]