In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the omophorion is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop and the symbol of his spiritual and ecclesiastical authority. Originally woven of wool, it is a band of brocade decorated with four crosses and an eight-pointed star; it is worn about the neck and shoulders.
Fresco from the 14th century depicting St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia wearing a white omophorion.
Archbishop Benjamin (Peterson) wearing an omophorion in Alaska.
Metropolitan Neophyte Dimitrov wearing small omophorion.
Major archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk wearing a white omophorion which has been sewn into shape (with five bars at the bottom, signifying his position as head of an Eastern rite church).
Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; among the Reformed (Calvinist) Churches this was a point of controversy in the Protestant Reformation and sometimes since, in particular during the ritualist controversies in the Church of England in the 19th century.
Clergy of various ranks in vestments at a Mass according to the Neo-Gallican Rite of Versailles Elevation of the chalice.
Illustration of liturgical garments from Acta Eruditorum, 1713
Ornate vestments which are used by the Catholic clergy: A chasuble, dalmatic, cope, and a biretta
Gold-embroidered epitrachilion (stole) dating from 1600, in the Benaki Museum, Athens
