Omophorion

In the Orthodox liturgical tradition, the omophorion is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop and the symbol of his spiritual and ecclesiastical authority. Originally of wool, it is a band of brocade decorated with crosses and is worn about the neck and around the shoulders [1]. By symbolizing the lost sheep that is found and carried on the Good Shepherd's shoulders, it signifies the bishop's pastoral role as the icon of Christ.

Use

When the rubrics call for the omophorion to be removed and replaced frequently, the standard great omophorion is replaced for the sake of convenience with the small omophorion, a shorter band worn after the manner of an epitrachelion. In some places, when several bishops concelebrate, it is now the custom for the chief celebrant to use the great omophorion when called for, and the other bishops to wear the small omophorion throughout [2].

Clergy and ecclesiastical institutions subject to a bishop's authority are often said to be "under his omophorion".

The equivalent vestment in Western Christian usage is the pallium, whose use is subject to different rubrics and restrictions.

Development

The only change in the omophorion has been the augmentation of its width. We find distinct testimony to the existence of the omophorion as a liturgical vestment of the bishop in Isidore of Pelusium about 400. It was then made of wool and was symbolical of the duties of bishops as shepherds of their flocks. In the miniatures of an Alexandrian "Chronicle of the World", written probably during the fifth century we already find pictorial representation of the omophorion. In later times we meet the same representation on the renowned ivory tablet of Trier, depicting the translation of some relics. Among the pictures dating from the seventh and eighth centuries, in which we find the omophorion, are the lately discovered frescoes in S. Maria, Antiqua in the Roman Forum. The representation in these frescoes is essentially the same as its present form.

Concerning the origin of the omophorion similar theories have been put forth as in the case of the pallium. Attempts have been made to prove that the omophorion was simply an evolution of the ordinary mantle or pallium, but it was most probably derived from the civil omophorion, a shoulder garment or shawl in general use. Probably either the bishops introduced directly by a positive precept as a liturgical pontifical badge a humeral cloth resembling the ordinary omophorion and called by that name, or the civil omophorion was at first used by the bishops as a mere ornament without any special significance, but in the course of time gradually developed into a distinctively episcopal ornament, and finally assumed the character of an episcopal badge of office.

In Oriental Orthodoxy the omophorion takes a number of different forms. *The Armenian Orthodox emip'oron is similar to the Byzantine great omophorion.

• The Syriac Orthodox baţrašil or uroro rabbo ('great stole') is a straight strip of embroidered material, about 20 cm wide, with a head-hole midway along it, that hangs down a bishop's chest and back.
• Coptic bishops used to wear the omophorion wrapped around their heads like a turban: this was called a ballin.

Sources

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•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)