FELONIO. - It is the Roman paenula (Gr. φελόνιον, through corruption of φεινάλιον or φενάλιον), but of the ancient and ample form that envelops the whole body. In more recent times the Slavs and the Rumanians have shortened the front part.
The f. is pre-eminently the vestment of the priest, who receives it solemnly from the bishop after his ordination. In ancient times it was also worn by the bishop, who gradually replaced it with the arco.
The episcopal f. was adorned with numerous crosses, whereas the priestly f., always made of precious fabric, must be adorned with a single cross on the back. Its use is reserved for the liturgy and for certain rare ceremonies, such as solemn Baptism. The highest dignitaries of the Church of Constantinople had the right to wear it, but with the deacon’s orarion, because they were not priests (G. Codinus, De officiis Magnae Ecclesiae et Aulæ Constantinopolitanæ, Venice 1729, p. 84). The priestly f. must be distinguished from a smaller f., which was conferred upon the reader and also worn by the subdeacon. Later it took the form of a tunicle, which Simeone di Salonicco calls cosciatov, alb. Placido de Meester