A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( gr, μετόχιον, metóchion or gr, μετόχι, metóchi; russian: подворье, podvorie) is an ecclesiastical
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...
church within
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
tradition. It is usually from one
autocephalous
Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...
or
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
church to another. The term is also used to refer to a parish representation (or dependency) of a monastery or a
primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...
.
Ecclesiastical Embassy Church
In the former case, the local territorial church grants a plot of land or a church building for the use of the foreign church being represented, and the location is then considered to belong canonically to the foreign church. Services held there are often in the language appropriate to the church being represented, and the congregation is often made up of immigrants or visitors from the nation associated with that church. Typically, a ''metochion'' presence on the territory of an autocephalous church is limited to only a few parishes at most.
Dependency of a monastery
In the case of a monastic ''metochion'', such a parish church is a dependency of a particular monastic community, perhaps receiving clergy from that community or other forms of support. During 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 ...
era, a monastic ''metochion'' may have been property granted to a monastery for income purposes.
''Metochion'' is currently employed, as well, to refer to a dependent
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...
,
skete
A skete ( ) is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, a ...
,
kellion (cell) or monastic society that is being given the blessing and support to develop into an
autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
monastery, skete, kellion or society. For an example, ''Wawasinno Ki'chi Wa Mali'i Waabanowigaan''—the ''
Hesychastic Society of the
Most Holy Mary''—is a Canadian Orthodox hesychastic society founded for (but not to be exclusively of) Aboriginal Orthodox, and which is classified as a metochion of th
Monastic Society of St. Silouan the Athonite(
OCA,
Archdiocese of Canada).
["On 22 March 2009, the Archbishop ( Seraphim (Storheim) of Ottawa) blessed the establishment of the Hesychastic Society of the Most Holy Mary (an aboriginal brotherhood), as part of the Monastic Community of St Silouan the Athonite." (]
CANADIAN ORTHODOX MESSENGER
'' Summer/Ité 2009. p.18.)
See also
*
Metohija, which takes its name from this form of monastery.
Notes
Sources
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Eastern Orthodox monasteries
Eastern Orthodox Church
Baroque architecture in Russia
Russian Revival architecture
Greek words and phrases
