What is the difference and difference between a temple, a church, a cathedral, a chapel and a monastery

Orthodox people are often asked what is the difference between a temple and a church and is there any? People are interested in the life and rules of the Orthodox Church out of curiosity or trying to understand and comprehend the faith.

In any case, a Christian should know how to answer this question and explain in detail what the difference is between a temple and a cathedral, a chapel and a monastery. Knowing this difference will not save the soul, but it determines the education of a person in the teaching in which he finds himself.

Temple

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A temple is a building for performing divine services and sacraments, among which the main one is the liturgy (communion of believers).
The sacraments are performed on the altar with the throne and on the altar - the main attributes of the temple. The temple can be a separate building or located inside a large house and called a “house”. In ancient times there were cave temples.

What is the difference between a church and a monastery: a brief comparison

Every person, even those who do not believe in God, knows exactly how a monastery differs from a church. The differences between these buildings are very large.

• Dimensions. A church is a small building located on a small piece of land. The monastery is a very beautiful building in appearance. It is powerful, quite high, and can be located over a large area.
• Sexual difference. Both men and women attend the church at the same time. A monastery can be for either men or women. Men cannot enter a nunnery, and women cannot enter a monastery.

The difference between a church and a monastery

• Job titles, responsibilities . Ordinary townspeople, people who have lost everything, can serve in the church. The Bishop is considered the head of the church. Either nuns or priests can serve in a monastery.
• Accommodation . People live in the monastery as if they were in a permanent place of residence. You can only pray in the church, and therefore visiting citizens are prohibited from living here.
• God's Power. The monastery has a strong and powerful aura. People come here when their hearts are heavy. The Church has a weaker aura.

Church

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Church (translated from Greek as “house of the Lord”) is a word with several meanings:

1. The first Christians held meetings led by Jesus Christ. They did not have a specific meeting place, but wherever they met, they were called church.
2. Today this word has approximately the same meaning. This is a community of people who believe in Jesus Christ. They have their own hierarchy or structure.

In essence, the church is not a building, but a meeting. This is what modern Christians like to say, who are right in their definition of this word. A gathering of two or three Christians dissecting the Word of God or praising the Lord can safely be called a church, since this is a gathering. A Christian temple is also called a church.

Architecture Features

The status of the church can be determined by the number of domes with crosses. If there are 3, 5, 7, 11 or 12, 13 domes rising above the Lord’s house, then most likely this is a temple. If there are less than three domes, then it is a church. Temples are usually located in iconic places in the city. The temple, as a rule, looks more majestic than the church. The interior of the temple reflects the history of the universe.

Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Listy

Cathedral

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The cathedral is a temple, but it is large and the main one in the city. The cathedral may be located at the monastery. What makes it different from the simple temple described above? The fact that it has a bishop's chair - a special large chair standing behind the throne. At certain moments of the service the bishop sits on it. Sometimes, instead of such a seat, there is simply a central elevation.

A simple priest will not be able to perform services in the cathedral. Only the patriarch, metropolitan, archbishop, and bishop are allowed to do this.

What is a temple and church, cathedral, monastery, church, mosque, chapel: definition

The most common term is temple.

• Any religious building of any direction can be called a temple. For example, a Muslim mosque, a Catholic church, a cathedral. The word “temple” is a Church Slavonic concept that was formed thanks to the word “mansions”.
• Previously, people called huge, spacious buildings this way. From here the concept of “royal mansions” also arose.

Definition of Church Buildings
Cathedral, church, and chapel are the terms used for Christian places of worship.

• The term "Cathedral" also has Slavic origins. Just listen to how it sounds like “to collect” or “to gather.” In Rus', people also called a cathedral a meeting or congress, when church representatives and representatives of other organizations gathered.
• A cathedral is a large temple. People are also accustomed to calling a temple located on the territory of a city a cathedral.

A chapel is a small building where people pray. There are 2 possible origins of this term:

• The chapel had a bell that rang every 1 hour
• “Hour” is a type of service when prayers were read simultaneously with psalms. These readings were usually called “hours.”

How the term “church” originated, no one can still say for sure. The church is very similar to a cathedral. But they still have some differences.

Chapel

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The chapel is also a temple, but small and without an altar. Due to the lack of the last attribute, liturgies are not held there. But services such as a memorial service or prayer service are often organized in the chapel, and hours - short services - are also held.

The chapels are located:

• at holy springs;
• at the cemetery;
• in places with the appearance of miraculous images.

What is the difference between a church and a cathedral: a brief comparison

• A church and a cathedral are two architectural structures built to conduct religious ceremonies and services.
• A cathedral , as mentioned above, is a religious building located either on the territory of a city or on the territory of a monastery
• Church is a minor religious building

The cathedral and the church differ in the number of altars. There are several of them in the cathedral, and therefore several services can be held at once. The church has one single altar. Consequently, there is only one service held here.

What is the end result?

It turns out that understanding the concepts of “temple”, “church”, “cathedral” and “chapel” is not at all difficult. The temple and the cathedral can to some extent be considered synonymous - services are held in both buildings and the sacraments are performed. However, the cathedral is a temple with great privileges and a special status. It contains the relics of saints. Church is a twofold concept, which, on the one hand, means a building for holding services, and on the other hand, a simple meeting of believers in any place, not even suitable for prayers and singing. The chapel differs more than all other buildings from the temple, cathedral and church. This is a small building in which there is no altar or throne, where liturgy is not served, but prayers, memorial services and hours are held.

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Religious buildings: meanings, functions and differences

The temple is a place where the presence of the Lord is felt. This is a specially organized platform for worshiping God and performing rituals.

Any believer can pray here, ask for intercession, repent of what they have done, and communicate with like-minded people.

In an architectural sense, the church has the same purpose and the same possibilities.

But as an organization, as a community of worshipers, it also plays the role of teacher and teacher of human faith.

What are the rules in the chapel and for its creators?

For those who build a chapel, there are essentially two rules (and even then these are not rules in the worldly sense, but self-evident actions).

1. consecrate it in honor of some saint. For example, in the Catherine Park in Moscow there is a chapel in honor of Saints Alexander Nevsky and John the Warrior. Prayer services are served there weekly and on the days of remembrance of these saints.
2. a cross should be erected on the chapel. We are not talking about the presence of icons inside - this is obvious. Although, how many there should be - there are no rules for this - everything is decided by possibilities.

As for the rest, the chapel can be either from the point of view of architecture or from the point of view of decoration. Another thing is that until recently the architect designing the chapel tried to adhere to the spirit of national traditions. Church buildings are not places for self-expression. Any self-expression or “innovation” in the chapel can ultimately distract the parishioners and the creator of the building from the main purpose. Therefore, they try to make the chapel really, in one way or another, resemble a tiny temple externally, and internally too.

Project of a chapel on Station Square in Barnaul

Some chapels in pre-revolutionary times (and even now) were built according to standard designs. Page from the atlas “Atlas of plans and facades of churches and chapels during buildings in villages” of 1911

Orthodox chapel in Greece. A good example when architecture is completely in tune with the times, but does not destroy the Christian spirit.

It is difficult to talk about rules for parishioners, because they are all dictated either by traditions or by the person’s own attitude to spiritual life. People enter the chapel for one purpose - to pray, to be alone with the spiritual part of themselves. Everything else follows directly from this.

There are no strict rules regarding, say, headscarves for women or shorts for men in the chapel. Although, it would be inappropriate to participate in a prayer service or funeral service in “loose clothing” - for a number of reasons.

Councils in different directions of Christianity

The three main directions of Christianity are Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism. Historically, these directions differ both in interpretation and views, and in the construction of churches.

Orthodoxy

The Orthodox church has three parts:

1. Altar;
2. Naos (or middle part under the dome);
3. Narthex (entrance inside).

At the same time, in Orthodox churches the altar is covered with an iconostasis. Also one of the main differences is the architectural shape of the domes. If Catholics built buildings in the Gothic style, then Orthodox churches and temples have light colors and rounded domes.

Catholicism

As mentioned above, Catholic churches are built in the Gothic style, that is, they are large in scale, built of dark stone, great detail, sharp towers stretch upward, giving an intimidating appearance. During construction, Catholics tried to emphasize how God rises above people. There are also benches inside and parishioners listen to the service while sitting.

Protestantism

The architecture of Protestant buildings is dominated by minimalism and laconicism. Their interesting feature is that local culture can be woven into this style. For example, in the east, a Protestant church can be made in the form of a mosque, in the Baltics it can be built in the form of a wooden frame.

Table

So, let's summarize what is the difference between a monastery and a church. The table below shows the differences between them. The “Church” column provides information for a church in the meaning of “religious building.”

Missionary department of the Moscow diocese

This publication was created based on materials from the “Pastor” website based on the results of the pastoral seminar “Church parish and church community: conditions for creation.”

“Church parish” and “church community” - what is the difference? Is it normal for a parish to exist without a community?

Metropolitan Longin of Saratov and Volsk, Saratov:

Most often these words are used as synonyms. Both the word “parish” and the word “community” mean the Eucharistic meeting of Church members who are united around a particular church. A parish is also a legal concept that designates the primary structural unit in the civil Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Bishop of Orekhovo-Zuevsky Panteleimon , rector of St. Demetrius Church at 1st State Clinical Hospital in Moscow:

When we address our parishioners from the pulpit, we say: “brothers and sisters.” These words are not just an established form of address, like “comrade” in Soviet times or “master” before the revolution, or “ladies and gentlemen.” This is a designation of the essential relationships between parishioners. And if they are brothers and sisters, then it is assumed that they are not just people who gather in the temple only for worship, and immediately after go home and have nothing in common. Brothers and sisters are one parish family, one community.

But in different churches the church community can be actualized in different ways. It happens that the temple houses some kind of shrine that is significant for many, or the temple itself is a local landmark, or it is the cathedral of the city - in such churches, of course, there are a lot of people from outside, and communities do not always arise in them. Although we know very well that even in such parishes communities are created if the priests think about it and care about it.

Therefore, here we are talking rather about different levels, as it were, of a person’s involvement in church life. There is a core parish community; there are people who are on its periphery; and there are those who come to the temple and do not even know about the existence of such a family in the temple.

Archpriest Evgeniy Popichenko , rector of the Assumption Church on VIZ in Yekaterinburg:

A parish differs from a community in much the same way as a group of employees differs from a family. There can be good relationships in the team; may be formal. And in the family they know each other by name; in the family they take care of each other, worry about each other. There are connections in the family that make relationships warm and vibrant.

A parish is a place where people come to satisfy their religious needs, I would say. There is a place where some needs are satisfied, others, others. Man also has religious needs; and now he comes and satisfies them in the parish. He will stand in the church during the service, think, and somehow put his soul in order.

It's not bad. But it seems to me that in the community that Christ had, there were, after all, different relationships. We still have to look for the image. Here He had a community: 12 closest disciples. They worked together, ate together, they had common holidays, common sorrows. Probably, somehow people came to the parish to Christ. A man came: “I have no vision,” “I have no hearing,” “My hand is withered. Help! If they remained in the community and continued to do a common task together, then the person became part of the community. They found out about him: “Look, this is Zacchaeus.” Everyone remembers who Zacchaeus is, who he was, who he became. He became part of this community. Then he became a disciple of Christ, then he became a holy man.

And there were people who came, consumed, and left. And Christ, it seems to me, would like for Christians to have not formal relations, but for people to take care of each other; that the strong may bear the infirmities of the weak; so that if a person cannot get to the temple on his own, there would be a parishioner nearby who would offer his car and his time, and would bring him to the temple. This is a characteristic of community. Because parishioners have the skill of caring for each other.

Is it normal for a parish to exist without a community?

Metropolitan Longinus of Saratov and Volsk:

Norm is a relative concept. Let’s say, twenty-five to thirty years ago, the community in its current form simply could not exist, because the state did not allow it. Few temples were opened. Were people saved who went to these churches and did not live an active community life? They were saved. Have you come to God? They came.

We must understand that today in the capital and in the outback there are different developments in parish life and different problems. For example, fairly closed communities, sometimes even having features of sectarianism, are still a Moscow trend. In the capital, people are more educated and sophisticated, so their needs and problems are different.

Here, in the Saratov region, the main trend that I can observe is this: where there is a good priest, a parish will definitely gather. In what sense? “People regularly go to services and understand it, take care of their church, know and support each other. Even if a priest does not have a special preaching gift or, as they sometimes say, charisma, but if he has diligence, patience, attention, and can listen to a person, people come to such a pastor. It is important to meet your purpose, love people and your ministry.

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What is the difference between a church and a church: a brief comparison

The Catholic Church (Catholic Church) is significantly different from the Orthodox Church. Let's look at the most basic ones:

• Appearance. The Orthodox Church has domes, the number of which carries a certain meaning. The church has no domes.
• Internal view. The church begins with a narthex, on both sides of it there are bell towers. Then comes the naos or main nave. At the end of the main nave is the altar. Large churches have very large rooms. As a rule, they use organs that make the service more solemn. The churches are decorated inside with frescoes, and the churches with icons. The place where the altar is located in the Orthodox Church is separated from the territory by the Solea. The iconostasis is located here. The icons are still on the walls of the main room of the church.

The smallest chapels and chapel pillars

Sometimes chapels are so tiny that you can’t even go into them, but only pray next to them. For example, what kind of chapel stands in the village of Alekseevskoye, Kostroma region. It was built in memory of St. Innocent, the enlightener of Siberia and Alaska:

You don’t see such small chapels very often in Russia, but in Greece, for example, on the contrary, they are very popular: there they are called chapel pillars. They are usually placed along roads, and they are very small. In fact, anyone can build their own chapel