Eastern Orthodoxy

The virgin birth of Jesus is the belief that Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother Mary through the Holy Spirit without the agency of a human father and born while Mary was yet a virgin.

The Russian True Orthodox Church is a denomination that separated from the Russian Orthodox Church during the early years of Communist rule in the Soviet Union.

The term Agape or Love feast was used for certain religious meals among early Christians that seem to have been originally closely related to the Eucharist.

"Pentarchy" (from the Greek Πενταρχία, Pentarchia from πέντε pente, "five", and ἄρχειν archein, "to rule") is a model historically championed in Eastern Christianity as a model of church relations and administration.

Faith healing is the ritualistic practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are claimed to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice.

An Orthodox church as a church building of Eastern Orthodoxy has a distinct, recognizable family of styles among church architectures.

Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of individuals who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship.

Church Slavonic or New Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine.

The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: Εὐαγγέλιον, Evangélion) is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament — normally all four.

The Hail Mary, also commonly called the Ave Maria (Latin) or Angelic Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Originally, a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family.

A pastor (UK: /ˈpɑːstə/; US: /ˈpæstər/) is usually an ordained leader of a Christian congregation.

In the Ottoman Empire, a millet was a separate legal court pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim Sharia, Christian Canon law, or Jewish Halakha) was allowed to rule itself under its own system.

Sacred tradition or holy tradition is a theological term used in some Christian traditions, primarily in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Anglican traditions, to refer to the foundation of the authority of the Church and of the scriptures.

The Eucharist /ˈjuːkərɪst/ (also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, and ) is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches.

In the Christian churches, holy orders are ordained ministries such as bishop, priest or deacon.

The Council of Jerusalem or Apostolic Council was held in Jerusalem around 50 AD.

A molében (Slavonic: молебен), also called a molieben, service of intercession, or service of supplication, is a supplicatory prayer service used within the Orthodox Christian Church and various Eastern Catholic Churches in honor of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, a Feast, or a particular saint or martyr.

The Dormition of the Mother of God (Greek: Κοίμησις Θεοτόκου, Koímēsis Theotokou often anglicized as Kimisis, Slavonic: Успение Пресвятыя Богородицы, Uspenie Presvetia Bogoroditsi) is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of Mary the Theotokos ("Mother of God", literally translated as God-bearer), and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven.

The name Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἑκκλησία, Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía, IPA: [elinorˈθoðoksi ekliˈsia]), or Greek Orthodoxy, is a term referring to the body of several Churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament, and whose history, traditions, and theology are rooted in the early Church Fathers and the culture of the Byzantine Empire.

Old Church Slavonic (pronunciation: /sləˈvɒnɪk/, /slæˈ-/), also known as Old Church Slavic (/ˈslɑːvɪk, ˈslæ-/; often abbreviated to OCS; self-name словѣ́ньскъ ѩꙁꙑ́къ, slověnĭskŭ językŭ), was the first Slavic literary language.

Panentheism (meaning "all-in-God", from the Ancient Greek πᾶν pân, "all", ἐν en, "in" and Θεός Theós, "God") is the belief that the divine interpenetrates every part of the universe and also extends beyond time and space.

A locum is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another.

The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (Russian: Святейший Патриарх Московский и всея Руси Svyateyshy Patriarkh Moskovsky i vseya Rusi), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the official title of the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions.

The Orthodox, Byzantine or Russian (Orthodox) Cross, also known as the Suppedaneum cross, is a variation of the Christian cross, commonly found in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine rite, and used widely by groups to connote the Byzantine rite.

Third Rome was the idea that some city, state, or country is the successor to the legacy of ancient Rome (the "first Rome").

Defrocking, unfrocking, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry.

In the pre-Reformation church, a parson is the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization.

The Jesus' Prayer (Greek: Η Προσευχή του Ιησού, i prosefchí tou iisoú; Syriac: ܨܠܘܬܐ ܕܝܫܘܥ ‎, Amharic, Geez and Tigrinya: እግዚኦ መሐረነ ክርስቶስ,Slotho d-Yeshu' , ) or "The Prayer" (Greek: Η Ευχή, i efchí̱ – literally "The Wish") is a short formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated especially within the Eastern churches: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite, Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite, is the liturgical rite currently used by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Byzantine Catholic Churches.

A lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.

A veil is an article of clothing or cloth hanging that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance.

Among the world's religions, views on masturbation vary widely.

A Paraklesis (Greek: Παράκλησις, Slavonic: молебен) or Supplicatory Canon in the Orthodox Christian Church and Eastern Catholic Churches, is a service of supplication for the welfare of the living.

The Ladder of Divine Ascent, or Ladder of Paradise (Κλίμαξ; Scala or Climax Paradisi), is an important ascetical treatise for monasticism in Eastern Christianity written by John Climacus in ca.

Dikaios (Greek: δικαιος, sometimes romanised as dicæus) is a title given to holy men and women of the Old Testament in Eastern Christianity.

The Synod of Whitby (664 A.D.) was a Northumbrian synod where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome, rather than the customs practised by Irish monks at Iona and its satellite institutions.

Lent (Latin: Quadragesima: Fortieth) is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, before Easter Sunday.

Blood of Christ in Christian theology refers to (a) the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby; and (b) the sacramental blood present in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, which is considered by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran Christians to be the same blood of Christ shed on the Cross.

Emmaus (Greek: Ἐμμαούς, Latin: Emmaus; Hebrew: אמאוס; Arabic: عمواس‎‎, ʻImwas) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke from the New Testament.

The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a term used in Christian theology to express the doctrine that Jesus is really or substantially present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically.

Eastern Orthodox worship in this article is distinguished from Eastern Orthodox prayer in that 'worship' refers to the activity of the Church as a body offering up prayers to God while 'prayer' refers to the individual devotional traditions of the Orthodox.

The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious institute.

Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried.