THE ORTHODOX UNCANNY VALLEY
The black and white vestments of our bishops, rooted in the sober dignity of the Ancient Church of the West, are more ancient and more canonical than the jeweled imperial robes adopted in the East after the fall of Constantinople, when the Turkish Sultan granted the Patriarch the regalia of the former Byzantine Emperor, making him the head of the Christian millet under Islamic law. This political accommodation introduced into Orthodox practice vestments that were never part of the Apostolic or conciliar tradition. In contrast, the early canons prescribe simple garments of wool or linen, and the Fathers uniformly upheld modesty and spiritual authority over ostentation. Our bishops, following the example of saints like Patrick, Columba, and Benedict, wear garments that reflect humility, purity, and continuity with the Apostolic age (not the pomp of fallen empires) and thus remain more truly Orthodox than those who have forgotten the simplicity of the Gospel for the spectacle of imperial ...
