FELONION. — It is the Roman paenula (Gr. φαλόνιον, corrupted from φαινόλιον or φενολόιον), but differing from the ancient and ample form that enveloped the whole body. The Slavs and the Romanians in more recent times have shortened the front part.
The felonion is pre-eminently the adornment of the priest, who receives it in solemn form from the bishop after his ordination. It was worn in antiquity also by the bishop, who gradually substituted the sakkos for II.
The episcopal felonion was adorned with numerous crosses, whereas the priestly felonion, always made of precious material, must be adorned with a single cross on the back. Its use is reserved for the liturgy and some rare ceremonies, such as solemn Baptism. The higher dignitaries of the Church of Constantinople had the right to wear it, but with the diaconal stole, because they were not ordained (G. Codinus, De officiis Magnae Ecclesiae et Aulae Constantinopolitanae, Venice 1729, p. 84).
The priestly felonion must be distinguished from a smaller form of felonion that was conferred on the reader and which the latter also wore. Later it took the form of a little tunic which Symeon of Thessalonica calls a zucchetto or cassock.