Features of Awarding Liturgical and Hierarchical Distinctions to Employees of the Spiritual Educational Institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church: The Experience of the XIX Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the practice of awarding hierarchical distinctions to clergymen who worked in the system of spiritual education in the XIX century. The purpose of this study is to study the circumstances and conditions of awarding academic clerics with liturgical distinctions in the considered chronological period. To do this, the activities of the representatives of the learned clergy of this time are analyzed, their works are evaluated, biographies and service records are studied. Introduction to the award system of the Russian Orthodox Church of the XIX century. It showed that the teachers of educational institutions in the holy order represented a very special category of clergy, the award of which often depended not on the length of service, but on the contribution to the development of church science. Rectors, inspectors, librarians, and distinguished teachers were awarded in ecclesiastical educational institutions. Usually, representatives of the administration in academies and seminaries received the rank of archimandrite, abbot or archpriest. Ordinary teachers could be awarded the right to wear a loincloth, skufya, kamilavka or a pectoral cross for their hard work. In addition, similar distinctions were awarded to teachers of other educational institutions, if their activities were related to religious education and enlightenment.