Since the earliest times, vestments have been worn by Christian clergy in the performance of both the divine services and other functions of the clergy. In one sense, vestments function as a uniform, identifying their wearer by his office and function. Their primary purpose is for the spiritual edification of

SYNAXIS (Gr. "assembly"; Sl. Sobor). A gathering of the faithful in honor of a saint or for reading passages from his biography (synaxarion). In the Orthodox Church it is customary, on the day following the Great Feasts of the Lord and the Mother of God, to remember those

This title is bestowed as a recognition of the outstanding service given by Saints in the spreading and assertion of Christianity, comparable to that of the original Apostles.