Why is the first name of a bishop or religious leader written in all capital letters in Orthodox churches?

Before the invention of the printing press, when all manuscripts were written by hand, the common practice was to write everything in "unicap". Meaning there were no captial or small letters. The shape of the "unicap" letter would eventual become what we think of as the capital letters today.





The Orthodox church continues the tradition of writing those names, as original written, in unicap. The letter just look like our capital letters.

Why is the first name of a bishop or religious leader written in all capital letters in Orthodox churches?
Joe
Reply:Because they are one step up from us peasants. Just a little more chosen than the next guy. Why, if they weren't, how do you explain their wealth and long flowing robes? We put capital letters on words we think are %26gt;important%26lt;. I wish I was special.
Reply:well, they are "old" and probably don't want to wear glasses...so, they do it in "caps" so all the old-timers can all see it better..."Peace!" (i could be wrong...) .....
Reply:If you're interested, this is a popular forum for Orthodox Christans, you may find more answers here...





http://christianforums.com/f145-the-anci...
Reply:It's not always.





But, in the cases where it is....it's because Eastern Orthodox archbishops and bishops frequently follow a monastic tradition in which they are known only by a first name. That first name is the name of some Biblical or other saint.





It is done to show reverence to that Holy Saint who came before, not to the man.
Reply:As far as I know all churches write the names of their leaders in Capitals, now that I think so it is a matter of respect for any person you're refering to, so most of people capitalize the name of any person they write to.