Black and white clergy in the Middle Ages. Black and white clergy

The common name adopted in Russia for the lower non-monastic clergy, in contrast to the black monastic clergy.

Modern Encyclopedia. 2000 .

See what "WHITE clergy" is in other dictionaries:

In Orthodoxy, the common name for the lower (non-monastic) clergy (priests, deacons) in contrast to the black clergy (higher) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

WHITE CLERGY, In Orthodoxy, the common name for the lower (non-monastic) clergy (priests, deacons), in contrast to the black clergy (higher). Source: Encyclopedia Fatherland ... Russian history

In Orthodoxy: the general name of the lower (non-monastic) clergy (priests, deacons) in contrast to the black clergy (higher). Political Science: Dictionary Reference. comp. Prof. floor of sciences Sanzharevsky I.I.. 2010 ... Political science. Dictionary.

Secular clergy- WHITE CLERGY, the common name adopted in Russia for the lower non-monastic clergy, in contrast to the black monastic clergy. … Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

In Orthodoxy, the general name of the lower (non-monastic) clergy (priests, deacons), in contrast to the black clergy (higher). * * * WHITE CLERGY WHITE CLERGY, in Orthodoxy, the common name for the lower (non-monastics) ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

See Clergy... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

- ... Wikipedia

Secular clergy- lower (non-monastic) clergy (priests, deacons) in contrast to the black clergy (higher) ... Concise Dictionary historical and legal terms

secular clergy- A part of the Orthodox clergy that does not give vows of strict abstinence, celibacy, etc., in contrast to the black (monastic) clergy ... Dictionary of many expressions

Secular clergy- ♦ (ENG secular clergy) in the Roman Catholic tradition, those priests who are not formally associated with certain religious orders or communities. The opposite of black clergy... Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms

Books

• Religious movements in Russia in the last third of the 14th - early 16th centuries. Strigolniki and Judaizers, Alexey Alekseev. In the monograph, on the basis of a source study, a revision of the conceptual foundations for the study of heretical movements of the last third of the 14th - early 16th centuries was carried out. For the first time anti-church…

Monks (sometimes all monks) are called black clergy .

In Orthodoxy

In the white clergy, in addition to clergy (protopresbyters, archpriests, priests, protodeacons, deacons), representatives of the lower clergy are usually included: subdeacons and readers (psalm readers).

Marriage

Historically, a young man had to make a choice of his path towards the white clergy in the Russian Orthodox Church before being ordained a deacon: after graduating from a theological seminary, before being ordained a deacon, he could marry a girl of "good behavior", soon after which he was usually ordained and appointed to the parish. Unlike the laity, a widowed clergyman was prohibited from remarrying, which made the ordination of a widower impossible, although the rules made an exception for 40-year-olds. In Russian Orthodox Church Since 2011, the ordination of an unmarried person (single, widower or divorced) and not a monk has become possible under certain conditions.

estate

Widows of clerics enjoyed the rights of personal nobility, their children - hereditary honorary citizenship, widows and children of clergy - personal honorary citizenship.

Behavior

According to the ESBE, those who indulge in drunkenness or fornication, also seen in perjury and theft, cannot be in the priesthood. If the wife of a clergyman is unfaithful to him, then he must either divorce her or remove himself from the priesthood. Clerics are prohibited from engaging in trade and having their own business, dancing and watching dances, attending theaters, participating in gatherings, interfering in worldly affairs, and playing cards. Widowed clerics are forbidden to keep women in their homes, except for close relatives. Like all the clergy, they are forbidden to cut their hair on their heads and beards and are ordered to wear modest clothes, mostly dark colors (cassock and cassock).

Motley authorities

In Catholicism

In Latin Rite Catholicism, celibacy is mandatory for all priests, while the white clergy include diocesan priests who did not take monastic vows (Latin clerici saeculares), and the black priests belong to one of the monastic orders.

The white clergy include married clergy who did not take monastic vows. They are allowed to have a family and children.

When they talk about the black clergy, they mean monks ordained to the priesthood. They devote their whole lives to the service of the Lord and take three monastic vows - chastity, obedience and non-acquisition (voluntary poverty).

Before being ordained, a person who is going to take holy orders must make a choice - to marry or become a monk. After ordination, it is no longer possible for a priest to marry. Priests who did not marry before taking ordination sometimes choose celibacy instead of being tonsured monks - they take a vow of celibacy.

church hierarchy

In Orthodoxy, there are three degrees of priesthood. Deacons are at the first level. They help to conduct divine services and rituals in churches, but they themselves cannot conduct services and perform the sacraments. Church ministers belonging to the white clergy are simply called deacons, and monks ordained to this rank are called hierodeacons.

Among the deacons, the most worthy can receive the rank of protodeacon, and among the hierodeacons, the archdeacons are the eldest. Special place in this hierarchy is occupied by the patriarchal archdeacon, who serves under the patriarch. He belongs to the white clergy, and not to the black, like other archdeacons.

The second degree of priesthood is the priests. They can independently conduct services, as well as perform most of the sacraments, except for the sacrament of ordination to the holy order. If a priest belongs to the white clergy, he is called a priest or presbyter, and if he belongs to the black clergy, a hieromonk.

A priest can be elevated to the rank of archpriest, that is, a senior priest, and a hieromonk to the rank of abbot. Often archpriests are abbots of churches, and abbots are abbots of monasteries.

The highest priestly title for the white clergy, the title of protopresbyter, is awarded to priests for special merits. This rank corresponds to the rank of archimandrite in the black clergy.

Priests belonging to the third and highest degree of priesthood are called bishops. They have the right to perform all the sacraments, including the sacrament of ordination to the rank of other priests. Bishops manage church life and lead dioceses. They are divided into bishops, archbishops, metropolitans.

Only a clergyman belonging to the black clergy can become a bishop. A priest who has been married can only be elevated to the rank of bishop if he becomes a monk. He can do this if his wife has died or has also taken the veil as a nun in another diocese.

Heads local church patriarch. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is Patriarch Kirill. In addition to the Moscow Patriarchate, there are other Orthodox Patriarchates — Constantinople, Alexandrian, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgian, Serbian, Romanian and Bulgarian.

Medieval man was deeply convinced that the main thing in his life was a relationship with God, and the concern for the salvation of the souls of Christians was assigned to the clergy. Therefore, it was extremely important, much more significant than the fulfillment of any other duties, that a person's belonging to a spiritual dignity was pleasing to God.

The Christian clergy was divided into white and black. To the white clergy belonged to bishops and priests who provided for the religious needs of the laity: they ruled mass , performed church sacraments (baptism, communion, wedding, confession, etc.). The core of daily church life in Western Europe was parish , uniting residents of several villages or city blocks. The parish led Priest (steam). His assistants could be clergymen of the lowest rank (deacons, subdeacons). The parish was subordinate to the diocese headed by the bishop. Several dioceses united in archbishopric . For the church and the needs of the clergy, believers paid a tenth of their income - tithe.

Christian church had a certain hierarchical structure. At the top of the church pyramid was Pope. The second, after the pope, step in the church hierarchy was occupied by archbishops. Behind them - bishops, step down - ab-baty, and even lower - priests (parokhi).

To the black clergy belonged to monks or hermits (with Greek- loners, recluses). The first hermits appeared in the III century. in Egypt, and St. Anthony (c. 250-355) is considered the ideological inspirer of monastic life. Monks lived in deserts and caves. They strictly limited themselves in food, refused rich clothes, avoided human society. In this way, the hermits seemed to renounce everything worldly, devoting their lives to serving God. Over time, the life of the monks has changed somewhat. The first monasteries appeared - male and female. The word "monastery" in Greek means "secluded dwelling". However, the monks no longer lived only in solitude, but also in communities.

Monks and nuns at work and prayer. Medieval miniatures

6th century From the charter of St. Benedict on monastic life

It is especially resolutely necessary to uproot the thirst for property from the monastery, so that no one has the right to give or take anything, to have nothing of his own, not a thing, not a book, not a board, not a slate, absolutely nothing: because none of the brothers owns neither his body nor his will.

I think that it will be enough to offer two dishes at all meals, and if you manage to get fruits or vegetables, then serve this third dish. Everyone should abstain from the meat of four-horned animals, except for the sick.

The monastery must be organized in such a way that everything necessary: ​​water, a mill, a garden, a bakery, various workshops, are on the territory of the monastery, so that the monks do not have to go beyond its walls, because this is not very useful for their souls.

The monastery was a closed cycle economy, fully self-sufficient. The monks cultivated the land themselves, grew orchards and vineyards, built mills, and made tools. Their achievements were used in their households by feudal lords and peasants. The monasteries quickly grew rich due to the generous gifts and donations of pious people. Therefore, during the VIII-X centuries. many monasteries turned into a kind of feudal lords, served by dependent peasants. material from the site

In the scriptorium. Miniature. 1025

However, life in the monastery was not as calm and pious as it might seem at first glance. Here they received kings and noble lords, arranged feasts and hunts. In the monasteries, people pursued by the authorities, adventurers, beggars, cripples could also find shelter.

The monasteries made a significant contribution to the development of medieval education and science. Many able monks changed the plow and hoe for the stiletto and stylus. At the turn of the VI-VII centuries. at the monasteries there were scriptoria - special workshops for rewriting, designing and creating books. Indeed, in medieval society, the book was considered of great value. Books were kept like real treasures in the monastic libraries. In some places, schools were opened at monasteries. Often monasteries were a haven for talented, thinking people, in their thoughts and actions ahead of the usual course of history.

Abbot (abbess) - the abbot (abbot) of the monastery; comes from the Hebrew word "abba", meaning "father".

Diocese - the territorial unit under church government bishop. Catholics use the Latin term - diocese.

Bishop (from Greek - overseer) - a Christian clergyman of the highest sacred rank, as a rule, the head of the diocese (dioceses). The bishop had spiritual authority over the priests and laity of his diocese.

Mass is the main daily service in the Catholic Church.

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On this page, material on the topics:

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What is the difference between white clergy and black clergy?

In the Russian Orthodox Church there is a certain church hierarchy and structure. First of all, the clergy are divided into two categories - white and black. How do they differ from each other? © The white clergy include married clergy who did not take monastic vows. They are allowed to have a family and children.

When they talk about the black clergy, they mean monks ordained to the priesthood. They devote their whole lives to the service of the Lord and take three monastic vows - chastity, obedience and non-acquisition (voluntary poverty).

Before being ordained, a person who is going to take holy orders must make a choice - to marry or become a monk. After ordination, it is no longer possible for a priest to marry. Priests who did not marry before taking ordination sometimes choose celibacy instead of being tonsured monks - they take a vow of celibacy.

church hierarchy

In Orthodoxy, there are three degrees of priesthood. Deacons are at the first level. They help to conduct divine services and rituals in churches, but they themselves cannot conduct services and perform the sacraments. Church ministers belonging to the white clergy are simply called deacons, and monks ordained to this rank are called hierodeacons.

Among the deacons, the most worthy can receive the rank of protodeacon, and among the hierodeacons, the archdeacons are the eldest. A special place in this hierarchy is occupied by the patriarchal archdeacon, who serves under the patriarch. He belongs to the white clergy, and not to the black, like other archdeacons.

The second degree of priesthood is the priests. They can independently conduct services, as well as perform most of the sacraments, except for the sacrament of ordination to the holy order. If a priest belongs to the white clergy, he is called a priest or presbyter, and if he belongs to the black clergy, a hieromonk.

A priest can be elevated to the rank of archpriest, that is, a senior priest, and a hieromonk to the rank of abbot. Often archpriests are abbots of churches, and abbots are abbots of monasteries.

The highest priestly title for the white clergy, the title of protopresbyter, is awarded to priests for special merits. This rank corresponds to the rank of archimandrite in the black clergy.

Priests belonging to the third and highest degree of priesthood are called bishops. They have the right to perform all the sacraments, including the sacrament of ordination to the rank of other priests. Bishops manage church life and lead dioceses. They are divided into bishops, archbishops, metropolitans.

Only a clergyman belonging to the black clergy can become a bishop. A priest who has been married can only be elevated to the rank of bishop if he becomes a monk. He can do this if his wife has died or has also taken the veil as a nun in another diocese.

The patriarch heads the local church. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is Patriarch Kirill. In addition to the Moscow Patriarchate, there are other Orthodox patriarchates in the world - Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgian, Serbian, Romanian and Bulgarian.

Alina Kleshchenko
AiF

Steps on the way to the top of the church hierarchy
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In Orthodoxy, only men can have holy orders. The clergy make up three degrees of priesthood: deacon, priest (priest) and bishop (hierarch). The clergy is divided into white (deacons and priests, who must be married) and black (monks who have taken a vow of celibacy). Only a member of the black clergy can become a bishop