A nabedrennik (

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...

: набедренникъ, "on the thigh") is a

vestment Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Anglicans, and Lutherans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; this ...

worn by some

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

priests. It is a square or rectangular cloth. Like the

epigonation The epigonation (Greek: , literally meaning "over the knee"), or palitza (Russian: , "club"), is a vestment used in some Eastern Christian churches. Description and usage In Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzan ...

, it is worn at the right hip, suspended from a strap attached to the two upper corners of the vestment and drawn over the left shoulder; however, if the priest also wears an epigonation, then the nabedrennik is worn at the left hip, drawn over the right shoulder. This vestment appeared in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 16th century and is unknown elsewhere. It is the only vestment worn by a priest that is not worn by a bishop and also the only that has no no associated vesting prayer.{{Citation , year=2003 , publication-date=2003 , title=The Priest's Service Book, Orthodox Church in America , pages=30–31 , place=

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, publisher=Diocese of the South,

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as Autocephaly, autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, commun ...

Like the epigonation, the nabedrennik is worn by certain

presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...

s to whom it has been awarded by a bishop "for long and dedicated service" to the church. The rectangular shape of the nabedrennik differs from the epigonation, which is

lozenge Lozenge or losange may refer to: * Lozenge (shape), a type of rhombus *Throat lozenge, a tablet intended to be dissolved slowly in the mouth to suppress throat ailments *Lozenge (heraldry), a diamond-shaped object that can be placed on the field of ...

-shaped. Both are believed to derive from the ancient knee guards which shielded the legs of warriors from being bruised by their swords. The

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Emperors used to award swords to their commanders and nobles; in the same way the Church awards priests who defend the faith.

References

See also