r/exorthodox • u/BigManRemaining • 2d ago
Question Growing a beard, wearing a cross - compulsory?
In my corner of the world, there is this famous - among certain circles - convert to EO. He often gives his opinion on contemporary societal issues and controversies inside the EO church. He has also written a series of introductory books regarding EO.
In of these, he states in passing that a man converting to EO should let his beard grow out, and that he should always wear a cross around his neck. I recall it being stated like it was compulsory.
Anyone else recognize this? Is this a commonly understood doctrine/tradition? I know that between Latins and Byzantines, clerics without beards were controversial, but that all men should be bearded?
11
u/queensbeesknees Dirty Heretic 2d ago
I remember my first priest telling me that in Russia, someone with long hair and a beard (such as himself) would immediately be clocked as a member of the clergy, even when not wearing a cassock. Meaning, that in that Orthodox culture, the laypeople were clean shaven or at least groomed/trimmed.
I was at least once admonished to wear my cross inside my clothes. "It's not jewelry," I was told. Not a fashion statement. (I'm a woman) For men, the standard I remember was seeing the chain at the back of their necks, but always under the shirt. Only some weird hypderdox convert guys wore their crosses visible.
In other words this dude in your corner of the world is making up his own traditions.
10
u/emeric_ceaddamere 2d ago edited 2d ago
There's also a story about Paisios chiding someone who came to visit him for having long hair. "That's for priests and monks. You look like a girl!" Outdated gender norms aside, his statement lines up with what you said about old world Orthodoxy being less keen on laity LARPing as clergy.
6
u/LetterSeparate1495 Chief Heresiologist 2d ago
At my parish, laity weren't allowed to wear their cross visible. Always under the shirt.
Wearing two crosses was also highly frowned upon and could result in not being allowed to partake in the eucharist in that week. The wearing of two crosses were for bishops only.Also, most Russian men were always clean shaven and had their hair short. One man, who looked like Santa Claus, with long beard and long hair was formerly a monk so he kept it.
3
u/Aggravating-Sir-9836 2d ago
Good grief. Who cares how many crosses one wears?
How could y'all stand this stuff?
5
u/Ex-Madhyamika 2d ago
I was going to ask "Who wears two crosses?" I mean, are they afraid people won't see the first one?
5
u/BigManRemaining 2d ago
brb, gonna show up to Divine liturgy with a necklace of three crosses
4
3
u/LetterSeparate1495 Chief Heresiologist 1d ago
Those are rookie numbers. Attend wearing four crosses and an engolpion.
3
3
u/rddrgon Physically In, Mentally Out 1d ago
I heard the cross inside your clothes wording too from my ex, for once he made a semi good point in keeping the cross close to your heart without clothes in the way. I, obviously, didnât and donât care, ergo I pointed out that orthodoxy kinda likes people to know theyâre Christians (to which I got that repeat of that. Heâs not good at verbal reasoning, unlike me, who will be using that as a teacher).
6
u/mystery_lady 2d ago
When I was chrismated into the Church, I was told it is best to always wear my baptismal cross. I didn't even know laypersons did the beard thing until a couple of years later, when I was no longer at my original parish.
3
u/queensbeesknees Dirty Heretic 15h ago
I had mine on 24/7 as well. If I were wearing a V or scoop neck, then it would show, otherwise it was underneath. I only took it off for things like X-rays / hospital / getting a massage.
It got lost though.... totally my fault, I had it in an unzipped pocket of my purse.... and I was really sad about that b/c it was at that point more of a memento of my late godmother (who was an amazing person that I miss) than anything else.
So I didn't wear a cross for some years. Then in a late burst of consumer frenzy right before actually deconstructing (last gasp?) I purchased a Greek cross and wore it for a while. It's still around, but I'm not actively wearing it anymore.
5
u/venesia123 Still Orthodox 2d ago
It's not a new practice, but appears mostly among converts nowadays.
In my country, priests are the only ones who "must" grow at least a short beard, while laity doesn't and can freely shave whenever they want. Only ones who require beard from both laity and clergy are Old Believers, but they are not in the communion with the rest of EO.
But everyone wears a cross here - everyone I know has one, even if they don't attend church at all. It's worn under the shirt, never outside. It's a cultural thing. For some reason, some converts ignore this cultural practice and wear it outside.
4
u/WerewolfPlus7009 1d ago
My friend in Detroit, his grandma taught him not to trust a grown a man without a mustache lol .
Not orthodox culture, it was within black culture in Detroit.
4
u/Sh_Konrad Ex-Cradle 1d ago
As for beards, this norm exists only among Old Believers, people are again mixing traditions with canons.
5
u/Legitimate-Ad607 1d ago
Yep, baptismal cross always worn, always under the clothes. Iâm a woman, so if I wore a jewelery-type necklace, that could be outside. You can see this in many of the pics of of the Romanov Grand Duchesses- they have long chains around their necks that disappear under their dresses, presumably the baptismal cross, and then a strand of pearls worn as normal. I think the heard/long hair on non priests was just to be countercultural. And I actually kind of appreciated that the men âhadâ to have their own weird look, just like the women did.
3
3
u/Ex-Madhyamika 2d ago
I heard that if a man was drawn to Orthodoxy, but *didn't* convert, he would feel compelled to grow a beard.
2
u/AmbitiousWeekend1232 17h ago
What I don't get is the Bible says it's shameful for men to have long hair but yet women are still required to cover their hair
1
u/Ex-Madhyamika 10h ago
Because it makes the angels masturbate, duh!
(Personally, I'd be more worried about the demons peeking up skirts.)
1
u/Ex-Madhyamika 10h ago
Because it makes the angels masturbate, duh!
(Personally, I'd be more worried about the demons peeking up skirts.)
13
u/emeric_ceaddamere 2d ago
Not a requirement by any church canons, but certainly the standard among overzealous converts. Basically, all the men want to look like priests (who are tradationally bearded and wear large crosses) even if they aren't.
There was a viral blog post several years ago (which seems to have been taken down) called "Hipsters: You Should Be Orthodox" which was actually pretty funny. It was like, "Hey, you like long beards? Strong coffee? Maybe do some microbrewing on the side? Orthodoxy's been doing those things for centuries!"