The older women in the Early Church
The article contains the analysis of the term «the older women» (πρεσβύτιδες, presbyterae) in the Early Christian Greek-speaking and Latin traditions. In Eastern communities the older women have been honored since apostolic times for their pious life and advanced age, which brought them closer to th...
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| Language: | Russian |
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St. Tikhon's Orthodox University
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви |
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| Online Access: | https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7716 |
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| author | Andrey Posternak |
| author_facet | Andrey Posternak |
| author_sort | Andrey Posternak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The article contains the analysis of the term «the older women» (πρεσβύτιδες, presbyterae) in the Early Christian Greek-speaking and Latin traditions. In Eastern communities the older women have been honored since apostolic times for their pious life and advanced age, which brought them closer to the position of church widows. Perhaps the old women and widows in general represented one order of women who received material assistance from the Church, catechized young women, prepared them for baptism. The name of the older women «presbytides» did not become, unlike the concepts of «deaconesses» and «widows», the designation of women’s institutional ministry although there was a tendency to this, as it was evidenced by the controversial 11th canon of the Laodicean Council. In the Early Church women’s ministry was considered as a whole one, but in the areas it was called differently as the min-istry of the older women, widows and deaconesses. That is, it was outside the established terminology, also because it was not closely connected with the liturgical functions of women. It is not completely clear what women’s ministry in Western communities was, since in cases which we are talking about older women («presbyterae»), early medieval Western authors have already definitively confirmed that this was either the wife of a presbyter, or a woman of a strict lifestyle, in fact a religious who watched over the order and cleanliness in the church, as well as baked wafers for Communion. The evolution of wom-en’s ministry in the Church, primarily in its western part, demonstrated the impossibility of its further institutionalization and convergence with liturgical ministry. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2a41d6c8a9474c599f577fd64e588914 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1991-6434 2409-4811 |
| language | Russian |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | St. Tikhon's Orthodox University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви |
| spelling | doaj-art-2a41d6c8a9474c599f577fd64e5889142025-08-20T03:17:42ZrusSt. Tikhon's Orthodox UniversityВестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви1991-64342409-48112022-12-011041041126http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturII2022104.11-2612The older women in the Early ChurchAndrey Posternak0St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities; 6/1 Likhov pereulok, Moscow 127051, Russian FederationThe article contains the analysis of the term «the older women» (πρεσβύτιδες, presbyterae) in the Early Christian Greek-speaking and Latin traditions. In Eastern communities the older women have been honored since apostolic times for their pious life and advanced age, which brought them closer to the position of church widows. Perhaps the old women and widows in general represented one order of women who received material assistance from the Church, catechized young women, prepared them for baptism. The name of the older women «presbytides» did not become, unlike the concepts of «deaconesses» and «widows», the designation of women’s institutional ministry although there was a tendency to this, as it was evidenced by the controversial 11th canon of the Laodicean Council. In the Early Church women’s ministry was considered as a whole one, but in the areas it was called differently as the min-istry of the older women, widows and deaconesses. That is, it was outside the established terminology, also because it was not closely connected with the liturgical functions of women. It is not completely clear what women’s ministry in Western communities was, since in cases which we are talking about older women («presbyterae»), early medieval Western authors have already definitively confirmed that this was either the wife of a presbyter, or a woman of a strict lifestyle, in fact a religious who watched over the order and cleanliness in the church, as well as baked wafers for Communion. The evolution of wom-en’s ministry in the Church, primarily in its western part, demonstrated the impossibility of its further institutionalization and convergence with liturgical ministry.https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7716older women πρεσβύτιδες presbyterae widows deaconesses women’s church ministry early churchcтарицы пресвитиды – πρεσβύτιδες пресвитеры – presbyterae вдовы диакониссы женское церковное служение древняя церковь |
| spellingShingle | Andrey Posternak The older women in the Early Church Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви older women πρεσβύτιδες presbyterae widows deaconesses women’s church ministry early church cтарицы пресвитиды – πρεσβύτιδες пресвитеры – presbyterae вдовы диакониссы женское церковное служение древняя церковь |
| title | The older women in the Early Church |
| title_full | The older women in the Early Church |
| title_fullStr | The older women in the Early Church |
| title_full_unstemmed | The older women in the Early Church |
| title_short | The older women in the Early Church |
| title_sort | older women in the early church |
| topic | older women πρεσβύτιδες presbyterae widows deaconesses women’s church ministry early church cтарицы пресвитиды – πρεσβύτιδες пресвитеры – presbyterae вдовы диакониссы женское церковное служение древняя церковь |
| url | https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7716 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreyposternak theolderwomenintheearlychurch AT andreyposternak olderwomenintheearlychurch |