Hieromonk

A hieromonk (Greek: Ἱερομόναχος, romanized: Ieromonachos; Georgian: მღვდელმონაზონი, romanized: mghvdelmonazoni; Slavonic: Иеромонахъ, Romanian: Ieromonah, Albanian: Hieromurg), also called a priestmonk,^{[citation needed]} is a person who is both monk and priest in the Eastern Christian tradition.^[1]

A hieromonk can be either a monk who has been ordained to the priesthood or a priest who has received monastic tonsure. When a married priest's wife dies, it is not uncommon for him to become a monk, since the Church forbids clergy to enter into a second marriage after ordination.^{[citation needed]}

Ordination to the priesthood is the exception rather than the rule^{[citation needed]} for monastics, as a monastery will usually only have as many hieromonks and hierodeacons as it needs to perform the daily services.^{[citation needed]}

In the church hierarchy, a hieromonk is of higher dignity than a hierodeacon, just as a secular (i.e., married) priest is of higher dignity than a deacon. Within their own ranks, hieromonks are assigned order of precedence according to the date of their ordination. Ranking above a hieromonk are a hegumen and an archimandrite.^{[citation needed]}