The Rudder

Full title page of The Pedalion, 1908 publication, 5th ed.

The Rudder (Greek: Πηδάλιον) is a collection of the texts of Orthodox Canon law by St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain. It was first translated into English by D. Cummings, and published by the Orthodox Christian Educational Society in 1957 under the title of The Rudder. In addition to the texts of the canons, Nicodemus includes his own commentary.

Full bibliographic citation

• The Rudder (Pedalion): Of the metaphorical ship of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the Orthodox Christians, or all the sacred and divine canons of the holy and renowned Apostles, of the holy Councils, ecumenical as well as regional, and of individual fathers, as embodied in the original Greek text, for the sake of authenticity, and explained in the vernacular by way of rendering them more intelligible to the less educated.
  • Comp. Agapius a Hieromonk and Nicodemus a Monk. First printed and published A.D.1800. Trans. D. Cummings, from the 5th edition published by John Nicolaides (Kesisoglou the Caesarian) in Athens, Greece in 1908, (Chicago: The Orthodox Christian Educational Society, 1957; Repr., New York, N.Y.: Luna Printing Co., 1983).

See also

• Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
• Canon law
• Nomocanon

External links

• The 1957 edition is out of print but available online in a number of places, including: [1] (Flashpaper) and [2] (full text searchable PDF but lacking introduction, 238k).
• A revised, hyperlinked version on CD, ed. Ralph J. Masterjohn (2006), is available from St. Nectarios Press
• HTML version of several sections available from Holy Trinity Orthodox School: **Canons of the Apostles
  • Canons of the Seven Ecumenical Councils with introduction by Archbishop Peter L'Huillier
  • Canons of the Local Councils
  • Canons of the Holy Fathers
  • Complete scan of The Rudder
  • Complete scan of the Pedalion in Greek (1886 edition published in Athens. This is the book The Rudder translates. Link to pdf file at that site.)