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Orthodox church words explained: a plain-English glossary

Liturgy, Theotokos, prosphora, koumbaros, Pascha. Over sixty Orthodox church words explained in plain English, grouped by where you will hear them.

By Orthodate Editorial10 minute read

The short answer

What do Orthodox church words like Liturgy, Theotokos and Pascha mean?

Liturgy is the main Sunday service. Theotokos means the mother of God, and it is a title for the Virgin Mary. Pascha is Orthodox Easter. Most Orthodox words are Greek or Slavonic words that were never translated. They sound hard, but each one usually stands for a simple thing you can point at. This guide explains over sixty of them in everyday English.

You are at an Orthodox church, or you are dating someone who grew up in one, and every third word is new. Nobody means to shut you out. The words are just old and were never swapped for English ones. Here is what they mean.

At a glance

Key takeaways

  • Most Orthodox church words are plain Greek or Slavonic words that were kept rather than translated. Theotokos just means God-bearer, and Pascha is simply the old word for Passover and Easter.
  • Ten words carry most conversations: Liturgy, icon, Theotokos, Pascha, fasting, confession, Communion, priest, parish and feast. Learn those first and pick up the rest as you meet them.
  • If you are dating an Orthodox Christian, the words worth knowing early are the ones about marriage: betrothal, crowning, koumbaros or koumbara, and the difference between a church wedding and a civil one.

1. The ten words to learn first

If you only learn ten, learn these. They cover most of what gets said on a normal Sunday.

  • Liturgy. The main Sunday service. Short for Divine Liturgy. It lasts about ninety minutes.
  • Icon. A painted image of Christ, Mary or a saint. People kiss them and light candles in front of them.
  • Theotokos. A title for the Virgin Mary. It means the one who gave birth to God.
  • Pascha. Orthodox Easter. The biggest feast of the year, bigger than Christmas.
  • Fasting. Days when Orthodox Christians eat no meat and no dairy. Common on Wednesdays and Fridays and in four longer seasons.
  • Confession. Telling your sins to God with a priest present, and being forgiven.
  • Communion. Bread and wine received at the Liturgy. Orthodox Christians believe it is the Body and Blood of Christ.
  • Parish. A local church and the people who belong to it.
  • Feast. A day the Church celebrates something, such as the birth of Christ. Feasts have their own services.
  • Jurisdiction. Which worldwide Orthodox church a parish belongs to, such as Greek, Russian or Serbian. Same faith, different leadership.

2. Words for parts of the building

Walk in the front door and work forwards. These are the words for what you are looking at.

  • Narthex. The entrance area, just inside the door. Candles are usually sold here.
  • Nave. The main room where people stand. In many Orthodox churches there are few or no pews.
  • Iconostasis. The screen covered in icons that stands between the nave and the altar area.
  • Royal Doors. The central doors in the iconostasis. Only clergy go through them.
  • Altar or sanctuary. The area behind the iconostasis. The holy table stands there.
  • Analogion. The slanted stand that holds an icon or a book. The festal icon usually sits on one near the front.
  • Ambo. The step or platform in front of the Royal Doors where the Gospel is read.
  • Choir or kliros. Where the singers stand. Orthodox services are sung, usually without instruments.
  • Cupola or dome. The rounded roof, often with an icon of Christ looking down from inside it.
  • Candle stand. A metal stand of sand or holders where people place lit candles and pray.

3. Words you will hear during a service

These come up in the service itself, or in a conversation about one.

  • Divine Liturgy. The full name of the Sunday morning service.
  • Vespers. The evening service, usually on Saturday night or the eve of a feast.
  • Matins or Orthros. The morning service that comes right before the Liturgy.
  • Vigil. A longer service that joins Vespers and Matins together, often on Saturday night.
  • Litany. A set of short prayers where the priest or deacon says a request and everyone answers "Lord, have mercy".
  • Trisagion. A short prayer repeated three times: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us."
  • Creed. The statement of belief said out loud at the Liturgy. About two hundred words, unchanged for centuries.
  • Troparion. A short hymn about the day or the saint being remembered.
  • Censer. The metal container on chains that holds burning incense. The priest swings it around the church.
  • Prosphora. The small round loaves of bread baked for the Liturgy. Part becomes Communion.
  • Antidoron. Blessed bread handed out at the end of the service. Anyone may take it, Orthodox or not.
  • Dismissal. The final blessing. After it, people come forward to kiss the cross.

4. Words for people

Who is who, and what to call them. If you are unsure, "Father" works for almost any priest.

  • Priest. Leads the parish and serves the Liturgy. Usually called Father. Orthodox priests may be married, if they married before ordination.
  • Presbytera, matushka or khouria. The priest's wife. Which word is used depends on whether the parish is Greek, Russian or Arabic.
  • Deacon. Assists at the service, leads the litanies and reads the Gospel. Also called Father.
  • Bishop. Oversees many parishes. Addressed as Your Grace or Your Eminence. Bishops are not married.
  • Patriarch. The senior bishop of one of the ancient churches, such as Constantinople or Moscow.
  • Monk and nun. Men and women who live in a monastery under vows.
  • Abbot and abbess. The head of a monastery.
  • Godparent or sponsor. The person who stands with you at baptism and takes on a lifelong role.
  • Catechumen. Someone preparing to become Orthodox. It is an official status, not just an intention.
  • Reader and chanter. Lay people who read the epistle and sing the services.
  • Laity. Everyone who is not clergy. Most of the church.

5. Words for the church year

The Orthodox year has its own shape. These words tell you where in it you are.

  • Pascha. Orthodox Easter. Everything in the year is measured from it.
  • Great Lent. The seven-week fast before Pascha. The strictest season.
  • Clean Monday. The first day of Great Lent.
  • Holy Week. The week before Pascha, with services almost every day.
  • Bright Week. The week after Pascha. No fasting at all.
  • Nativity Fast. The forty-day fast before Christmas.
  • Theophany. The feast on 6 January remembering the baptism of Christ. Water is blessed.
  • Dormition. The feast on 15 August remembering the death of the Virgin Mary, with a two-week fast before it.
  • Name day. The feast of the saint you are named after. In many Orthodox cultures this matters more than a birthday.
  • Julian and Revised Julian calendars. Two calendars used by different churches. They put fixed feasts like Christmas thirteen days apart. Pascha is worked out the same way in all of them.

6. Words for the sacraments

A sacrament is something the Church does in which it believes God acts. There are seven commonly listed.

  • Baptism. Being joined to Christ, done by full immersion in water, usually three times.
  • Chrismation. Being anointed with holy oil right after baptism. It is how most adults are received into the Church.
  • Eucharist. Another word for Communion.
  • Confession or penance. Confessing sins and receiving forgiveness.
  • Marriage. The wedding service. The Church treats it as a sacrament, not a contract.
  • Ordination. Making someone a deacon, priest or bishop.
  • Holy Unction. Anointing with oil for healing, often served in Holy Week.
  • Myrrh or chrism. The scented holy oil used at chrismation. It is blessed by a patriarch.

7. Words you will meet at a wedding

If you are dating an Orthodox Christian, these are the ones worth knowing early.

  • Betrothal. The first half of the wedding service, where the rings are blessed and exchanged.
  • Crowning. The second half, where crowns are placed on the couple. This is the heart of an Orthodox wedding.
  • Crowns or stefana. The crowns themselves. They stand for joy, for witness and for a new household.
  • Common cup. A cup of blessed wine the couple share during the service.
  • Dance of Isaiah. The couple and the priest walk three times around a table. It is the first walk of the marriage.
  • Koumbaros or koumbara. The wedding sponsor, often the same person who was a godparent. A real role, not a decoration.
  • Ecclesiastical divorce. Permission from a bishop for an Orthodox Christian to marry again in church after a divorce.
  • Impediment. Something that stops a wedding going ahead, such as a close family relationship or an earlier marriage.

8. Words you will hear outside church

These show up in ordinary conversation, in text messages, and at the dinner table.

  • Blessing. Permission or approval from a priest. "I asked for a blessing" means "I checked with my priest".
  • Spiritual father. The priest someone confesses to and takes advice from. Not always their parish priest.
  • Prayer rule. The set prayers someone says each morning and evening.
  • Prayer rope. A knotted rope used for repeating a short prayer. Often worn on the wrist.
  • Jesus Prayer. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The most repeated prayer in Orthodoxy.
  • Icon corner. A corner of the home with icons and a candle, where the family prays.
  • Panagia. Another title for the Virgin Mary. It means all-holy.
  • Cradle Orthodox. Someone born into the faith.
  • Convert. Someone who joined the Church later in life.
  • Memory eternal. What Orthodox Christians say when someone has died.
  • Many years. A greeting on a name day, a birthday or an anniversary.
  • Axios. Greek for "he is worthy". Shouted when someone is ordained.

How to pick these up without studying

Nobody learns a glossary by reading it once. Here is how people actually pick these words up.

  1. Step 1

    Keep one word a week

    When you hear something you do not know, write it down and look it up later. One word a week is fifty words a year, and you will remember them because you met them first.

  2. Step 2

    Ask in the moment, quietly

    Turn to the person next to you and ask. Orthodox Christians get asked these questions constantly and most enjoy it. The worst outcome is a short answer.

  3. Step 3

    Learn the wedding words before you need them

    Betrothal, crowning, koumbaros, common cup. If your relationship is getting serious, knowing these four means you can follow the conversation about your own wedding.

  4. Step 4

    Notice which language your parish uses

    A Greek parish says koumbaros and presbytera. A Russian one says matushka. An Arabic one says khouria. Same roles, different words. Knowing which set is used where saves confusion.

  5. Step 5

    Do not pretend you understood

    Nodding along is the one habit that slows you down. Saying "sorry, what does that mean" costs five seconds and nobody thinks less of you for it.

Common questions

Why are so many words still in Greek?

Because the services were written in Greek and much of the Church has never seen a reason to change them. Some words, such as Theotokos, carry a precise meaning that an English version would blur. Many parishes now serve mostly in English and keep only a handful of Greek or Slavonic words, usually the ones people are attached to.

Is it rude to ask what a word means?

No. It is one of the easier questions to ask, and most Orthodox Christians are pleased to be asked. Avoid interrupting during the service itself, but before or after it, ask freely. Priests in particular are used to explaining the same ten words every week.

What is the difference between Pascha and Easter?

They are the same feast. Pascha is the older word, taken from the Hebrew word for Passover, and it is what most Orthodox Christians say. Orthodox Pascha often falls on a different Sunday from Western Easter because the date is worked out using an older method.

Do Greek and Russian parishes use different words for the same thing?

Often, yes. The priest's wife is presbytera in a Greek parish, matushka in a Russian one and khouria in an Arabic one. The role is identical. The same goes for koumbaros, which other traditions may simply call the sponsor or the witness.

What should I call a priest the first time I meet him?

"Father" is correct almost everywhere, with or without his first name. If you are unsure of the name, "Father" alone is fine. For a bishop, "Your Grace" is safe. Nobody will take offence if you get it slightly wrong, and most clergy will tell you what they prefer.

Sources and further reading

Pastoral practice can vary by diocese and jurisdiction. For questions about your circumstances, speak with the priest responsible for your pastoral care.