IN modern Russia(before and throughout Orthodox world) priests wear beards - this is a good age-old tradition that is kept by the Orthodox Church. The beards of Orthodox clergy remain an important distinguishing feature.

Orthodox priests have never aspired to be like everyone else, their traditions have not changed for two millennia and are not going to change, they must be perceived as they are.

Their ministry is so detached from worldly life that it requires the preservation of external attributes as a cover from everything external. The priest is in the service, and therefore wears a uniform; The military is also required to wear a uniform.

The tradition of priests wearing beards comes from the Old Testament.

With the question “why”, it became clearer why a priest needs a beard, the answer is, Orthodox priests wear a beard, imitating the appearance of Jesus Christ.

According to the images that have come down to us, Christ wore a beard. The apostles adopted this symbol from Jesus, and then their followers and disciples, and through many generations, wearing a beard has come down to our time.

The Bible clearly says this:

“And the Lord said to Moses: tell the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them ... They must not shave their heads and trim the edges of their beards and make cuts on their bodies.”

Or elsewhere:

(Lev. 19:1,2,27-28)

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Declare to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and tell them… Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard. For the sake of the deceased, do not make cuts on your body and do not prick writing on yourself.

Jeremiah 1:30 says:

“And in their temples sit priests in torn clothes, with shaved heads and beards, and with uncovered heads.” This quote is for priests. As we can see, the beard is described in detail in the Bible, the priest should in no case shave his beard, otherwise, he is likened to pagan priests who sit "in temples ... with shaved heads and beards."

And let it not be embarrassing that all the quotations are taken from the Scriptures of the Old Testament: The Lord Himself said that He did not come to break the Law, but to fulfill it.

A beard in Orthodoxy indicates priestly status.

For Orthodox men, a beard and long hair is an attribute of masculinity, faith in God. In ancient times, church ministers did not allow shaving a beard, considering it an ear from church foundations.

Justifications for the tradition of wearing long hair among Orthodox priests found in Old Testament. These were the "rules of appearance" for God's servants, the so-called Nazarite rank. (Num. 6:5; Judg. 13:5). And as you know, in the Gospel the word "Nazarite" refers to Jesus Christ.

Shaving the beard is a big sin for an Orthodox Christian

When asked why monks don’t cut their hair and why priests don’t shave their beards, experts on Orthodoxy answer with a quote from the Old Testament.

Shaving a beard means violating the church's established ban on barbering.

(Leviticus 19:27; 2 Samuel 10:1; 1 Chronicles 19:4); introduced a ban by rules 6 Ecumenical Council(see the interpretation of the 96 rule of Zonar and the Greek Pilot Pidalion), and other sacred writings (the works of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Blessed Theodoret, St. Isidore Pilusiot) .

The condemnation of shaving the beard can be found in ancient Greek writings (creations of Nikon Chernyaya Gory, f. 37; Nomokanon, f. 174) . The priests interpret about shaving the beard as follows: each person is given by God his appearance and people have no right to change it.

The decrees of the holy Apostles:

Apostolic Ordinances. Rules of the Chief Apostles

“It should also not spoil the hair on the beard and change the image of a person contrary to nature. Do not bare, says the law, your beards. For this (to be without a beard) the Creator God made acceptable for women, and for men He declared obscene. But you who bare your beard to please, as opposed to the law, you will be abominable to God, who created you in his own image.

In the 14th century, in the vicinity of the present city of Vilnius, Christians Anthony, John and Eustathius were killed by pagans for refusing to shave off their beards.

The leader of the pagan warriors, Prince Olgerd, seeing the stubbornness with which Anthony, John and Eustathius defend their right to the burden of a beard, even after long torment, decided to let them go if they voluntarily shave off their beards. The people did not agree to this, and they were hung on a tree.

commemoration day of the saints of God Anthony, John and Eustathius, who gave their lives for the faith

The Orthodox Church attributed Anthony, John and Eustathius to the saints of God, saying that they gave their lives for their faith. These saints are remembered every year on April 27th.

In Russia, priests wear a beard according to decisions that are enshrined in the decisions of the Stoglavy Cathedral. The Stoglavy Cathedral of the Russian Church (1551) determined:

“If someone shaves his brother and dies like this (i.e., without repenting of this sin), you are not worthy to serve over him, neither sing magpies over him, nor sprouts, nor bring candles over him to church, with unbelievers it will be reckoned, from the heretic is more skillful"

(i.e., if one of those who shaves his beard dies, burials should not be served over him, nor magpies should be sung, nor marshmallows or candles should be brought to church for his remembrance; for he is considered unfaithful, since he learned this from heretics).

The Bible says about the beard:

"... the lash will not rise on your breasts"

To be clear, you can not cut your beard. If we believe in God, then we must understand that He created us the way He saw fit. Shaving means not resigning yourself to the will of God, and yet, reading “Our Father” every day, we repeat: “Thy will be done.”

The Lord divided people into two ranks - men and women, and each commanded his own: men should not change their faces, but should cut their hair on their heads, and women should not have their hair cut.

Until the time of Peter I, cutting a beard was considered a sin, punishable by excommunication from the Church.

The ban on shaving the Beard was explained by the fact that man was created in the likeness of God and, therefore, it is a sin to distort this appearance in any way by his willfulness.

(Mat. 10:30; Luke 12:7)

The hairs on the head of the disciples of Christ are all numbered with God

Now the controversy surrounding shaving the beard has diminished. Any clergyman is given freedom in choosing the shape and length of his beard.

For lay people, now wearing a beard is a tribute to fashion, than anything related to faith in God.

Sonya

Helg Samitter

ella flaksmann

Vl@d

Personal Account Deleted

Why do Orthodox priests wear long hair? Please answer seriously, what do you think (but without insults)

someone from the crowd

Figova's Witness

Poacher

Serge…

Verikosastafrullahanistan$cue

Denis Nikiforov

Alex Hristov

Yitzhak Kogan

Truth in Orthodoxy!

Sizova Rita

Video: The priest has long hair. Priest Maxim Kaskun

Does not nature itself teach you that if a husband grows his hair, then this is a dishonor for him. But if a wife grows her hair for her, it is an honor, since hair was given to her instead of a cover. And if anyone wants to argue, then we do not have such a custom nor the Church of God.

Probably to cover his face as carefully as possible. After all, a young shaved priest may seem very attractive to the female sex. And Christ walked the same way. 🙂

In imitation of Christ

Answers:

hair with energy beard - with family - GOD + ROD = beard

For greater respectability. What church, Pepper? Orthodox, right?

This ancient tradition Churches. In Leviticus 19:27 it is written: "do not cut your head round and do not spoil the edges of your beard."

This is an ancient sign of dedication to the service of God. Even in the Old Testament, there were Jeses who dedicated themselves to God for several years and did not cut their beards and hair. Now not all priests and bishops wear long hair. This is especially true for monastics.

In the Bible, in the book of Leviticus, there is a direct instruction to priests not to cut their beards." Leviticus 19:27 "Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard. "I don't know about the Slavs.

I wonder what the Bible says about whether a man should wear long hair. In 1 Corinthians 11:!4 "... if a man grows his hair, it is a dishonor to him." And in ancient Israel there were Nazarenes who did not cut their hair, but they did not drink alcohol, they were not even allowed to eat grapes, because they made wine from it. The verse from Leviticus 19:27 in another translation sounds like “do not cut your temples short” ... most likely it was impossible to cut hair very short and the beard had to be neatly cut.

Sloppiness, lice fleas

It does not depend on whether you are a Priest or not, hair is not just given to a person, if it grows, it means for something! That's when a person Evolves sufficiently, then maybe hair will not grow anywhere! Human teeth are not adapted to chew Meat, but after all, we eat and chew, and then we put fillings and crowns.

They are trying to hipp little by little. :)

Answers:

Wearing long hair is a shame for a man. The Orthodox cover up this wearing by law for the Levites and Nazarenes, but by and large they do not fulfill it. For example, this law says that a Levite should not even be in the same room with the deceased - he will be unclean. And they even perform funerals and touch them during the “sealing” process, and this is not the only violation of the law. So dressing up in a woman's attire (very much different from the clothes of the same Levites) and wearing long women's hairstyles is just a cover - a candy wrapper, and everything is in it as it is written in Matthew 23:27-28

A beard is a sign of a pious person. From time immemorial, men have worn beards.

mow under the gnomes ...

Why do you need this, you are in a totalitarian anti-social sect. Why do you insult representatives of a religion that is foreign to you? Why sow inter-religious strife?

1. The beard is an antenna in connection with God. And long hair - to maintain balance, so that the aforementioned beard does not pull the entire carcass forward.2. A beard makes a person look older, which means smarter. The same applies to carcass weight. Who will listen to the shabby holy father?

Hmm. There is no Orthodox image maker on them. A trendsetter and he is a former carpenter, although a Jew 🙂

this is really an ambush. . several times a year. . People deceived by the priests take me for the same deceiver. . an extremely uncomfortable situation arises. . fucked up brats even beard ..

what does the priests have to do with it and what does the masquerade have to do with it ... God so created ... that a mature man grows a beard. . and what Tvlrets conceived, then there is good and harmony ... but man remakes everything in his own way, opposes God... so excuse me that Orthodox priests do not oppose God ...

27 Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard. 28 For the sake of the deceased, do not make incisions on your body and do not prick writing on yourself. I am the LORD. towards them, for they were greatly dishonored. And the king commanded to say to them: Stay in Jericho until your beards grow, and [then] return. I am a Nazarite of God from my mother's womb; if you cut me, then my strength departs from me; I will become weak and be like other people. (Judg. 16:17)

1 Corinthians 11:14: "Does not nature itself teach you that if a husband grows his hair, then this is a dishonor to him."

in the nomocanon: "he who erects a cut on his beard and his mustache be damned and burn in hell" short hair- a symbol of humility and subordination ... it was not for nothing that the slaves were shaved bald. . shaved head- a complete renunciation of the world ...

human hair is an antenna that connects us to the cosmos and accumulates information, both positive and negative, so women are advised to cover their heads with a scarf, so believers prefer not to shave, but Buddhists, on the contrary.

are you bald?

the essence is the same as in S. I. Orthodox wear beards and long hair - so that everyone can see and understand who it is - just as it can be seen from afar that I. witnesses are coming - in a suit with a tie and a daddy or briefcase, some also consider this masquerade.

Answers:

Such is the custom.

For visual identification, here...

Civilization.

some are just storytellers, while others also have a beard!))))))

Should they be different somehow?

long hair interferes with the guillotine.

It's stile baby...

I don't understand myself. It seems that the bible says that men need to get their hair cut. Yes, figs knows why.)

Yes, because they are so unpleasant to each other that even the similarities are removed.

1 Corinthians 11:14 Doesn't nature itself teach you that if a man grows his hair, it's a dishonor to him

does it matter what people do? in the New Testament, Jesus did not command how to dress disciples, followers, ministers .... Christians ... it is generally said that if a man grows long hair, then he shames his head .... as for the ministers of religious cults, perhaps they dug something out in the Old Testament, which no longer works as it is given New Testament... Jesus and his disciples usually dressed decently and as is customary among the people ... so did the first Christians in the early apostolic church ... then the invention of people began ...

...but everyone wears skirts

Answers:

At the Liturgy, the priest is the "image of Christ", so they try to match ....

Mikhail Belostotsky

Suffering

poison ivy

Raspberry Rolex

Standartenführer Stirlitz

Midved Blessed

The Osiris

Ara Araratyan

I am

Shimon

Inna Allyanova

Dmitry Prikhodko

pontifex minimus

samba das

Why do many religions have priests with beards and long hair on their heads?

Creation

Lillian

Jaspis

Bastet

Why do priests have beards?

heureux

Pokemon

Answers:

Tanya Sarbash(Ostrivnaya)

Having a beard is not a law. This is the church tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church. The custom of Orthodox priests to wear beards goes back to the Old Testament tradition. The Bible clearly states this: “And the Lord said to Moses: Declare to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them ... They must not shave their heads or trim the edges of their beards” (Lev. 21:1, 5). It was forbidden not only to shave, but to trim the beard, as this was part of the pagan mourning rites.

Listopadnichek

Tradition. In the image and likeness of the source. As it is made, so it is worn.

Marina V

Priests observe the Biblical institution: the Old Testament. The third book of Moses. Leviticus. “Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard. » (Lev. 19, 27)

TAL

not all young priests often do not wear a beard

Vadim Mansurov

Answers:

Mikhail Morozov

Having a beard is not a law. This is the church tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church. The custom of Orthodox priests to wear beards goes back to the Old Testament tradition. The Bible clearly states this: “And the Lord said to Moses: Declare to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them ... They must not shave their heads or trim the edges of their beards” (Lev. 21:1, 5). It was forbidden not only to shave, but to trim the beard, as this was part of the pagan mourning rites.

pastor Alexander Lapochenko

At the Liturgy, the priest symbolizes Christ, so they try to match the image.

Tatyana \ Cat drana

trying to be like Christ at least outwardly

Midved Blessed

I think that this is the usual laziness according to the canons.

Vishnujana das

save money on hairdressing

An Kar

Perhaps a tradition that goes back to a time when everyone wore beards and mustaches.

Loki Viking 1964

It's just that the poor-minded sheep of the flock of the Lord would not see their cunning and contented faces.

Oleg Nagorny

Well, some people like this tradition, because it disciplines, recalling the peculiar "nazarite" of the priestly service... However, not all:

Andrey Tereshchenko

This is the BYZANTINE TRADITION. Catholics and Protestants do not grow beards and Jesus has nothing to do with it, it is strange that some “pastor” there does not know this

Verikosastafrullahanistan$cue

Bogomaz

Andrew 8888888

God does not see people - he sees the light of people's souls... and what kind of beard is there - shaved or green to him, to be honest on the beard ....

Olga Ruzavina

so glamorous

Denis Litvinov

you can’t force yourself to shave = an unpleasant thing and in accordance with religion they don’t force themselves = they don’t shave, but shortening their hair is easy and many trim themselves without a hairdresser ... . Probably something like this...

Answers:

den!$

The tradition of wearing a beard goes back to Christ himself. There is a legend that the Lord was brought up in the Nazirite community, an offshoot of the Jewish religion. The Nazirites were distinguished by the fact that they did not cut their hair - neither beard nor head. This image was adopted by monastics in the first centuries of Christianity - in imitation of the Savior. Rus', when it adopted religion from Byzantium, adopted the church charter, originally written for monks. Along with the charter came to us the custom not to cut hair - at first only monastics followed this rule, then priests. In almost all nations, a man without a beard was perceived as an immature youth. On the contrary, a man with a beard is a person who has life experience, which means that he deserves respect and authority. This, most likely, is the reason why our fathers wear beards. The beard distinguishes the clergyman from the rest of the people. As a priest, I can say that wearing a beard and long hair brings certain inconveniences, but at the same time it brings great benefits. What? You are always identified as a priest, they look at you as the Church of Christ. Realizing this, you try to behave in such a way that your behavior does not disgrace the name of God. But not all priests wear beards. If you see a priest without a beard, don't let that bother you. Saint Nicholas, for example, was neatly tonsured, he even had a special gumenzo shaved on his head, which at that time was a sign of belonging to the holy dignity.

Vladimir Kovalkov

save on soap

Answers:

Julia Tarasenko

What happened before and what is now are two different things, the Nazarenes had long hair when they lived according to the Old Testament, they used to drink wine all the time, but now why is it a sin? Because earlier, firstly, wine was diluted several times with water, like 1/5, but I don’t remember exactly, secondly, they drank wine to disinfect the stomachs, and now to get drunk and be a drunken creature incapable of thinking and behaving normally. But about the long hair of a man now it’s definitely a shame. The Bible does not forbid this, there are only instructions and advice, it says “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is useful.” So everyone chooses for himself.

Linda 1

I guess not, as many priests have long hair.

Birjuk

NO. What a dumb question.

ding

All priests and priests of Orthodox churches wear long hair.

his name is Legion

No. But at the same time, you can’t be like women - make a braid or tail

drug drug

The Bible forbids Does not nature itself teach you that if a husband grows his hair, then this is a dishonor to him,

Anton Kuropatov

Priests can, they wear long hair and beards, like the Old Testament Nazirites.

Local Angel

Anastasia Belogortseva

no, it is forbidden for clergy to wear short

Gendalf

does not welcome only short skirts….

I'm still a micha

judging by the icon of Christ, this version does not make sense to live

Black Raven

It is forbidden to sin.

Andrew Kramer

Well, as if Jesus is depicted with long hair on the icons. This question is killing me. Jesus is an icon for believers, how can long hair be banned? Then such a question, not forbids the church to be bald. For some reason, this question does not arise from anyone. And what is the church, is it the law for you??? All churches are commercial organizations.

Lena

HAIR is an organ of perception and accumulation of subtle energies. The longer a person's hair, the more spiritual power he receives, because this power feeds all his bodies and shells. The Vedic scriptures say: "Cutting a man's hair and shaving off his mustache and beard is the same as killing him." But with special need and mastery of certain skills, a person can bring negative energy into his hair and cut it, thus freeing himself from the energies that interfere with his development - this is the meaning of the rite of “monastic vows” . The Slavs cut their children for the first time only when they are 7 years old, and the cut hair is hidden under the ridge of the roof or matitsa (the main ceiling beam of the hut). If a child's hair is cut before the age of 1, the development of his speech stops, if before the age of 7, the development of mental abilities slows down. A woman who cut her hair is called a karna (named after the goddess Karna, responsible for the implementation of the law of cause and effect) - that is, she is the one that Karna punished. Hence - “to cut off”. BEARD - hair on the face of a man. It serves to accumulate vital and spiritual strength (“bo” - wealth, “kind” - belonging to a family). In each varna, a beard is worn in its own way: sorcerers do not cut their beard, but take care of it, as the focus of their spiritual strength; knights wear short beards, as it is convenient for combat; Vesi wear full-bodied (large, but trimmed) beards as a sign of solidity, gravity, and significance. Smerds do not understand the true purpose of a beard and do not know how to use it, even if they grow it. Those of them who wanted to look like women began to shave.

Elena

The priests themselves sometimes wear long hair. But the Bible forbids this.

Answers:

Nadezhda Bogdanova

A Catholic priest does not personify Christ during the service. He is rather equated with his parishioners. Catholicism is heavily influenced by Roman, more secular traditions. The ancient Romans, who finally accepted Christianity in a difficult struggle with pagan idols, considered shaving the face an obligatory hygienic procedure for any civilized person.

Bearded men in ancient Rome were considered barbarians. Such Roman legionnaires met in the northern lands, where they often went for new slaves and riches. The noble Roman patrician always carefully looked after his face and certainly shaved off excess vegetation, so as not to become like commoners and slaves. This tradition was fixed later in Catholicism. The clean-shaven face (in some monastic orders and the head) of a priest is considered a special symbol of holiness.

In connection with the tradition of shaving the beard in the Middle Ages, an unusual ritual arose. In the ninth century, the holy papal throne in the Vatican was rumored to have been occupied by a woman. The legendary Popess Joanna called herself John VIII. She felt such a strong desire for piety that she hid her true gender in order to lead the church. All the priests shaved their faces, so no one was surprised at the beardless and effeminate father of the church.

After a scandalous incident during one of the ceremonies, when the Popess allegedly gave birth to a baby, this shameful fact was forever erased from Roman history. catholic church. Whether all this was true or hearsay is now difficult to ascertain. And yet it was after that incident that the ritual of determining the sex of the future pontiff was established.

The applicant sat in a special Sella chair, in which a small hole was cut. The empowered holy father simply put his hand under the seat and literally groped for physical evidence of the masculinity of the future head of the church. In the case of Orthodox priests, such problems never arose. A thick or not very thick beard clearly indicated the gender of the priest.

Facial hair was considered a sign of barbarism by Catholics.

Roman popes are always clean-shaven, and our priests, as a rule, are distinguished by long beards. Both those and others do not adhere to fashion at all, but to religious traditions that go back to the distant past.

What gender is this dad?

In modern Catholicism, there is no hard and fast rule that priests cannot grow beards. But even in ancient Rome, men with abundant facial hair were equated with barbarians. It has been so since the time when the Roman legionnaires went for slaves and gold to the northern lands.

In addition, shaving the face for an aristocrat was considered an obligatory hygienic procedure. Taking care of hair in ancient times was difficult, so the commoners were left with beards, and the patricians flaunted smooth faces. And, of course, a clergyman, who was supposed to be a model, had no right to look like a slob.

In addition, a Catholic clergyman, unlike an Orthodox one, does not fulfill himself with Christ with the help of a beard and mustache. On the contrary, he seems to strive to be closer to his parishioners.

By the way: Among some Western and European monks, tonsure, or gumenzo, is also accepted - hair cut in a circle on the top of the head, symbolizing the crown of thorns.

However, from 1511 to 1700 there was a period when popes grew beards: from Julia II and ending Pope Clement XI. But even earlier, according to the legend, there was a scandalous incident that could well have influenced the tradition of shaving the beard. Allegedly in the 9th century, the head of the church in the Vatican fraudulently became the woman Joanna, who called herself John VIII.

Since then all the monks shaved, for some time no one paid attention to the effeminateness of the “Pope”. And then John during one of the ceremonies gave birth to a child.

Whether this story is true or fiction is unknown. However, in Catholicism, a ritual appeared to determine the gender of the future Pope: the applicant sat in a special chair with a hole, and the other holy father was convinced of the “masculinity” of the candidate, so to speak, with his own hand.

Pope Benedict XVI. Photo: pixabay.com

In the image and likeness

In Orthodoxy, on the contrary, wearing a thick beard makes the image of a believer look good - after all, Jesus himself gives us an example. Barbering was forbidden in the Old Testament and was considered a sin. In the Book of Leviticus there are such words: "Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard" (chapter 19, verse 27). Actually, the Bible says a lot about it. Here is another quote from Holy Scripture: "... the veil will not rise on your breasts."

Barbering, according to Orthodox Church, a person expresses dissatisfaction with the appearance that the Lord gave him, shows disrespect to him.

In 1347, in the city of Vilna (modern Vilnius), pagans cheered three Orthodox Christians - Anthony, John And Evstafiya- for refusing to shave off his beard. They were asked to either die or be barbered and thereby save their lives. The martyrs chose the first and were canonized by the Church as saints.

In imperial Russia, up to Peter I, shaving a beard and mustache was punishable by excommunication and was compared to adultery. In 1551, the Stoglavy Cathedral of the Russian Church even decided that a funeral service could not be held over a dead person who shaved his beard during his lifetime, he could not be buried and light candles for him in the temple.

And, for example, the Old Believers still believe that only beard bearers are allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. A shaved person is forbidden to enter even an Old Believer church. And if the Old Believer shaved, but did not repent of it on his deathbed, then he will be buried without a proper rite.

IN modern society priests can choose any shape and length of beard. Just like not growing it at all.

By the way: The ancient Arabs shaved their temples in honor of pagan god Orotala. The Jews believed that long hair helped drive away pagan superstitions. In India, there is a religious community in which people are forbidden not only to shave their hair, but also to comb it!