A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism. A hieromonk can be either a monk who has been

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood or a priest who has received monastic tonsure. When a married priest's wife dies, it is not uncommon for him to become a monk, since the Church forbids clergy to enter into a second marriage after ordination. Ordination to the priesthood is the exception rather than the rule for monastics, as a monastery will usually only have as many hieromonks and hierodeacons as it needs to perform the daily services. In the church hierarchy, a hieromonk is of higher dignity than a hierodeacon, just as a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

(i.e., married) priest is of higher dignity than a deacon. Within their own ranks, hieromonks are assigned order of precedence according to the date of their ordination. Ranking above a hieromonk are a

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

and an archimandrite.

Forms of address

The proper title for a hieromonk is, "the Reverend Hieromonk ('' religious name'')". The form of address is, "Hieromonk (''name'')", "Father Hieromonk (''name'')", "Father (''name'')", or, informally, "Father". As with all Eastern Catholic and Orthodox monks, a hieromonk is not addressed by his family name, but only by his religious name. In writing, if it becomes necessary to use his family name—for instance, to distinguish him from another hieromonk with the same religious name—the family name should be placed in

parentheses A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

. Example: "Hieromonk John (Smith)". In cultures where a

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

is customary, monks are never addressed by their patronymic, but only by their religious name.

In other countries and Western Christianity

In some countries, married clergy are referred to as "white clergy", while monastic clergy are called "black clergy" because monks should always wear black clothing but married clergy in many parts of the world typically wear white (or gray, blue or some other color) cassocks and rasons. In Western Christianity, a priest who is also a monk is termed a "religious priest" or " regular clergy", i.e., living under a

monastic rule A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practic ...

(Latin: ''regula'').

Notable people

Hieromonk Makarije Hieromonk Makarije ( sr, Јеромонах Макарије; 1494–d. after 1528) is the founder of Serbian and Romanian printing, having printed the first book in Serbian and the first book in the territory of Walachia (part of modern-day Rom ...

(fl. 1494–1528), Serbian Orthodox, printer *

Hieromonk Pahomije Hieromonk Pahomije ( sr-cyr, Пахомије; 1496–1544) was a Serbian Orthodox hieromonk and one of the first printers of books in the Serbian language. He learned his printing skills from Hieromonk Makarije at the Crnojević printing house in ...

(fl. 1496–1544), Serbian Orthodox, printer *

Hieromonk Mardarije Hieromonk Mardarije ( sr-cyr, Јеромонах Мардарије; 1552–66) was a Serbian Orthodox hieromonk and one of the most important early Serb printers. Mardarije was the first Belgrade printer and last great printer of srbulje books. ...

(fl. 1552–66), Serbian Orthodox, printer * Mojsije Dečanac (fl. 1536–45), Serbian Orthodox, printer * Seraphim Rose (1934–1982), American Russian Orthodox, translator

References

*{{efron Eastern Orthodox clergy Ecclesiastical titles Eastern Christian monasticism Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices

Forms of address

In other countries and Western Christianity

Notable people

See also

References