I am desperately trying to catch up on the 40 Days of Pastoral Blogging exercise that I promised I would do, but I am falling way behind.
The word is Hats. Now if anyone knows me they know I have a variety of hats from Liturgical to everyday wear. Hats used to be a big thing, most men would wear hats all the time, in fact I was in one Orthodox Church where there was a little clip in the pew for the men to clip their hats on. I think we need to restore this custom of wearing hats.
Orthodoxy has a wide variety of hats both for liturgical use and non-liturgical use.
There is the Skufia A skouphos (also skufiya, skufia, or skoufos) is an item of clerical clothing worn by Orthodox Christian monastics (in which case it is black) or clergy, sometimes specifically awarded as a mark of honor (in which case it is usually red or purple). It is a soft-sided brimless cap whose top may be pointed (Russian style), flat and pleated (Greek style), or flat with raised edges (Romanian style). Typically, monastics receive their skufia either when they first become novices or when they are tonsured. A monk or nun who has been tonsured to the Great Schema will wear a skoufia that has been embroidered with prayers, crosses, and figures of seraphim.
- The Klobuk
There is the Kamilavka and the Klobuk. The Kamilavka is a round hard sided hat worn by many clergy and the Klobuk is the same hat but with the monastic veil attached worn by monastics in the rank of stavrofor and by all Bishops.
The Mitre is worn by Bishops and if the cross is removed from the top it is worn by Mitred Archpriests although that rank is become awarded less and less.
So there it is, a little primer on Orthodox Hats.
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