Axios (acclamation)

The acclamation may also be made when a bishop presents an ecclesiastical award to a clergyman during the Divine Liturgy.

The ecclesiastical custom has its origins in the early Christianity, when the clergy were elected by the entire church community, including the laity.

Election and ordination (Greek: cheirotonia - χειροτονία, literally, "laying-on of hands") are two separate actions.

Because of the danger of politicizing the process, and because of electoral corruption, the clergy began to be appointed by the episcopate alone (a priest or deacon is appointed by the ruling bishop; a bishop is elected by a synod).

A remnant of the election remains at the beginning of the ordination ceremony when the candidate is brought forward and bows first to the people, then to the clergy, and finally to the ordaining bishop—each of the three classes that would have been involved in the election.