Light of Christianity 2009c

A C O R P U S D E S I G N E D F O R T H E FA I T H F U L
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
The article you are reading provides you with information on releasing a magazine whose specif -
ic feature will be to teach people interested in religion lessons of general interest. Released only
on the Internet for saving the health of the Earth, the magazine will feature trustworthy articles,
high-resolution photographs, and the definitions found in the
magazine will come from reliable dictionaries. Starting from the
definition of the magazine found in such a reliable dictionary,
which is a large thin book with a paper cover that somebody can
buy every week or month,containing articles, photographs and so
on, often on a particular topic, I deemed it necessary to combine
the specific features of a book with the ones of a magazine, mak -
ing it a reference book, which is a book that people look at in or -
der to get information. Thus, the magazine includes an editorial,
which is a piece of writing in a magazine giving the personal
opinion of the editor about something in the news, featured art -
icles and stunning photographs, typical to magazines, and the no-
tion of volume, typical to books, but also magazines, which is a
book as a part of a series of books and a series of different issues
of the same magazine, especially all the issues for one year. Every issue of the magazine will also
feature a cover story, which is the main story in a magazine going with the picture shown on the
front cover. The magazine will have also a logo that will be just the calligraphy of the name of
the magazine
My name is Marius Popa, an individual living in Romania, and I thought to release my magazine
for helping people interested in religion be able to read featured articles on religious topics. Thus,
they can find out something reliable on themes they are interested. I must warn of being not al -
lowed to print, modify, but only use on your computer. The files contained in my magazine are
downloadable, so you can lend them to your friends, family and anybody you want. At the end, I
wish you enjoy reading my magazine and I am looking forward for releasing its next issue. I also
hope that my magazine will attract a very wide readership.
The first issue of my magazine will house a featured article about three icons situated at the Holy
Mount Athos, a mountain situated northeastern Greece. It is situated at the southern tip of Aktí
(also known as Áyion Óros), most easterly of the three arms of the peninsula of Khalkidhikí on
the Aegean Sea. Mount Athos is also a political division, a self-governing monastic community,
which includes the mountain and the peninsular arm of Aktí, recognized as an autonomous dis -
trict by the Greek constitution of 1975. The community is administered by a 4-member council
and an assembly of 20 deputies, one from each of the principal Greek Orthodox monasteries
within the community. The Greek government is represented in Mount Athos by a prefect, the ad -
ministrator of a Greek department (or nome). The first monasteries were built on Athos in the 9th
century. Since the 11th century, no female - human or animal - has been permitted on the penin -
sula.
PS: If you want to contact me for further information, reporting an error or simply wish for finding out
the future of my project magazine, please feel free to write a message at lightofchristianity@gmail.com
or at http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000120260185 on Facebook.
COVER STORY
Holy icons working-wonders in the Holy Mount Athos
Holy icons adorn churches and Christian houses, but they also comfort souls, according to the will of
God. In hard times for the Church, in trials from the outside and inside the miracles performed through
the presence of icons consolidated faith, brought the mind of people back from wandering often direct -
ing their thoughts and deeds to the good and true matter. The icons in the Holy Mount Athos are the ob-
ob-
vious evidence of the mediating power of the Blessed Virgin, the protector of the Holy Mount and
quick helper of all believers, before God.
One of the most beautiful and appreciated icons for wor-
shipping in the Holy Mount Athos is the one of the Moth-
er of God “Portaitissa” (“She who resides by the door” or
“The gate-keeper”), situated at the Iveron Monastery.
During the reign of Byzantine Emperor Teophilus (829-
942), who fought against honouring icons, the holy ec-
clesiastical object belonged to a widow living in the cit-
adel of Nicaea, who kept it in a small chapel, where she
prayed every day together with her son to the Heavenly
Queen, and the soldiers sent to towns by the command
of the emperor to collect all the icons from the houses of
believers and, hearing about the treasure of the widow,
came and suggested her to conclude a bargain, namely
they would leave the chapel untouched if they would get
a sum of money. To pay them, the woman asked them to
grant her a day's grace to get the money they requested.
After the leaving of the soldiers, she kneeled together
with her son before the painted face of the Blessed Vir-
gin and told Her with tears in her eyes do not cross with
them, but they had to part with Her most holy icon without their consent in order not to be
mocked by the messengers of the emperor. Taking then icon, they put it on water, but it worked a
wonder, remaining straight and going away on sea as if it was carried by an unseen breath. Next
day, the soldiers had come back, but because they did not find either the icon or get the money for
which they had been waiting, they killed the old woman unfeelingly. After some time, the monks
living at the Iveron Monastery in the Holy Mount Athos, situated very near the shore of the Ae -
gean Sea, saw a pillar of light that rose from the sea going up to heaven. A monk is a member of a
religious group of men who often live apart from other people in a monastery and who do not
marry or have personal possessions. They gathered together in haste and saw the wonder,
namely a large-sized moving on water. Some monks took a boat and vainly tried to retrieve the
precious ecclesiastical object because the more they got near to it, the more the icon moved away
from them.
Because they did not succeed in recuperating it, the monks came back to the monastery, praying
to the Mother of God with much piety in order the icon to be given in their hands. Nobody living
in the monastery did not receive, however, the gift. The Mother of God appeared only to a hermit
Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 3

COVER STORY
named Gabriel, who led the life of a recluse beyond the Holy Monastery of Iveron, telling him to
come down to the seashore and take Her painted face because She wanted to devote Herself to
them. Also called a recluse, solitary, loner, ascetic, anchorite, anchoress, eremite, stylite, pillarist,
pillar hermit, pillar saint and solitudinarian, a hermit is a person who, usually for religious reas-
ons, lives a very simple life alone and does not meet or talk to other people. Next day, the anchor-
ite came down to the seashore and, crossing himself, went towards it. The icon came to meet him,
and he, taking it in his arms and kissing it with piety, gave the icon to the monks. When the old an-
chorite took the first step on the ground, a little stream, which flows also nowadays, sprang from
that place. Although situated at the sea level, the spring has sweet water and can heal the illnesses
of the people who trust in it. The icon was welcomed by the monks with great joy, and the priests
of the monastery brought it very creditably to the church, where they performed a night service
dedicated to the most pure Mother of God, after which they went to their cells. Next day, the ver -
ger charged with lighting candles, seeing surprisingly that the icon had disappeared from the
church, he ran to inform the abbot of the sad piece of news. They were looking for her anxiously
and found it lying in the air at the gates of the monastery. Saying prayers, they took it and put it
back in its first location, but the following two days, the icon left the church and remained at the
gate. Confused, the monks asked themselves about the cause of the mysterious leaving. After say-
ing many prayers, the Mother of God appeared again to anchorite Gabriel, informing him of going
and telling the fathers that She came there in order to protect them and not for being defended by
them, and therefore they had not to anger any longer, leading Her icon back to the church. On
these terms, the abbot together with all the community of the monastery decided to build a
chapel at the gate, where the icon is situated also nowadays. Consequently, the Holy Monastery of
Iveron, as a place, is a little strange, meaning the chapel, which is situated sideways and houses
the icon, plays the most important part, and not the large church of the monastery.
Many people prayed before the icon, and many and great wonders were performed as a result of
their prayers. The wonder happened to a blind man by birth, who, praying for healing him, prom-
ised to the Mother of God that the first thing he would see when his eyes would open, he would
make it from silver and give it to the monastery, is very known. The Holy Virgin listened to his
prayers, and his eyes, which had not seen sunlight until that time, opened. A lemon situated in the
yard of the monastery was seen by the man who had been healed wonderfully and, since then, a
silver lemon is guarding before the icon, in memory of the wonder and to the praise of the
Blessed Virgin, every year on the church festival dedicated to the Dormition of the Holy Virgin.
The Blessed Virgin, however, appeared through this icon also as a supporter of the poor. One day,
at the entrance to the Iviron Monastery, a hungry man got near to the doorkeeper to ask him for a
piece of bread, but the guardian sent him away unfeelingly telling him that he could not get any-
thing if he had no money. Despairing, went to Karyes, the capital of the Holy Mount Athos, but
since he could not suffer from hunger and weariness, sat down at the shade of a tree, on a stone,
and burst into tears, asking the Holy Virgin for a piece of bread as he could not suffer from hunger
any longer. A woman got suddenly near to him and asked him in a caressing voice why he was
crying, whereupon he told her he was starving and the porter of the monastery had sent him
away because he had had no money for a piece of bread. Then, the woman, giving him a golden
coin, told him not to be anxious anymore, but give the coin to the doorkeeper to get bread, and tell
him that she would take the entire plenty of their community if they would go on behaving like
4 Holy Athonite wonder-working icons

COVER STORY
that. Satisfied, the poor man, thanking the woman for her benevolence, and, going to the porter,
asked him for a piece of bread again. He showed the golden coin and was asked from where he
had got it. Being told about what had happened, the doorkeeper quaked. He entered the church
and saw that a golden coin missed from the necklace from the Mother of God icon, and the coin
was in his hand, namely the one brought by the poor man. The porter called the hungry pilgrim to
the church and asked him for looking at the icon. The man recognized the face of the woman who
had taken pity on him. Then, humbled, the guardian was ashamed of his bad action, and the ab-
bot, finding out the pitiless gesture of the porter, admonished him hardly. The solicitude of the
Mother of God towards the anxious were not mere words, but it was about a wonder. Con -
sequently, it was decided a chest, where people had to put pieces of bread for the poor every day,
to be always situated at the gate of the monastery, and the habit continues also today at the mon-
astery.
During Persian attacks on Constantinople, un-
believers, finding out that many monasteries
and valuable icons existed at the Holy Mount
Athos, disembarked at the Iviron Monastery
to plunder it. They took everything they found
valuable and tried to destroy the church, tying
the steeple of the worship place with thick
ropes they bound to their ships. Hidden in the
tower of the monastery out of fear and scared
of the action of which heathens were think-
ing, the monks rose the icon of the Mother of
God “Portaitissa”, praying with tears. Hea-
thens are people who are not connected with
the Christian religion or any of the large es-
tablished religions. After plundering the mon-
astery, the Persians, led by head Amira, went
on their ships and were to tear off the dome
of the church, but the heavy storm that began
led to the submerging of all the ships, except-
ing the one of the Persian captain. The follow-
ing day, Amira came back to the monastery
and, falling on his knees, brought back all the
gold he had stolen, saying that he had known
the power of their God and giving the gold to
the monks for consolidating the walls of the
monastery and telling the monks to pray for
him in order not to happen what had happened to his comrades. The icon is said that, at the end
of the world, will leave the Holy Mount Athos because the Holy Skepi of the Blessed Virgin will be
taken from that place. There are two days when the icon is honoured in a particular way, namely
on 15th August and on the Monday within Shrovetide, when it is celebrated in the chapel at the
seashore, the place where anchorite Gabriel took it from the sea.

COVER STORY
Among the other monastery of the Holy Mount Athos keeping icons of the Holy Virgin assigned to
wonderful acts, the one at the Serbian Monastery of Chiliandari, count as well. The monastery
was erected in the 12th century by Prince Raška, the son of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja. The icon
that dwells at the Holy Monastery of
Chiliandari is known as “the Virgin with
Three Hands” and is commemorated by
the Church on 28th June and 12th July. It
was also received by the son of the Ser-
bian king from the monks living at the
Holy Monastery “Saint Savas the Sancti-
fied” in the Holy Land, where Raška had
gone for praying. The icon turned out to
be a wonder-working one as far back as
arriving at the Holy Mount Athos. Dur-
ing the reign of iconoclast Emperor Leo
III the Isaurian (717-741), an educated
young man named John, who lived in
Damascus, Syria, was looking through
his writings for defending the right be-
lief as concerned honouring holy icons.
John was very appreciated in the citadel
of Damascus and loved by the leader of
the city. Finding out that John opposed
the imperial order that considered icon
worship as a manifestation of idolatry
that determined the angry of God and
explained all the mischances through
which the empire went, Leo made up a
false letter in 717, through which John
might have invited the Byzantine em-
peror to conquer the capital of Syria. Idolatry is the practice of worshipping statues as gods.
Adding his own epistle to the authorities of Damascus to the letter, the Byzantine emperor suc -
ceeded in stopping the preaching of John, whose right hand, the one that had written for defend-
ing the right belief, was cut. An epistle is a long, serious letter on an important subject. The hand
of John remained hung in the square of the city to set a good example for everybody. Towards
evening, tortured by pain, John asked through acquintances for being given his cut hand back. The
commandant of the citadel agreed, and taking his hand back, John prayed before the icon of the
Holy Virgin begging Her, because his hand had been cut unjustly, to have mercy on him and heal
his right hand in order to use it for defending the right belief.
Praying like that for long time, with bitter tears, he fell asleep because of his tiredness, and the
Blessed Virgin appeared in his vision, telling him that his hand was sound and he would be able to
use it as he had promised and not to be sad anymore. Awakening, John saw that his hand was
then in its place, and only a red sign let the place where it had been cut to be seen. The entire cit-

COVER STORY
adel found out about the action that had happened to the young man. Some people said that John
was not the one whose hand had been cut, but a servant who may have been sent by John to re -
place him. To prove the truth, the commanding officer of Damascus called John, asking him for
showing his right hand. Seeing the sign that has remained, they realised that a wonder had
happened. The one by whose command the right hand of John had been cut, recognizing his guilt,
called John to himself, asking him for coming to be at his service. However, John answered him
that he could not serve him anymore, but he wanted to dedicate all his life to God and serve Who-
ever had had mercy on him. As a satisfaction for his cure, John made a hand of silver, according to
his cut right hand and sticked it to the icon of the Virgin Mary, before Whom he had been cured.
Afterwards, taking the icon, he went to the Holy Monastery “Saint Savas the Sanctified” situated in
the Holy Land, where he turned monk and wrote many works about the Christian teaching. He
was Saint John of Damascus, the great teacher of the Church of Christ in the 8 th century. Later, the
monks living at the Holy Monastery “Saint Savas” gave the icon to Prince Raška of Serbia. When
the Ottomans invaded Serbia, the icon was sent to the Holy Monastery of Chiliandari. A copy of
the icon was sent in 1661 to Russia, being established even a special honouring day on 25 th July.
The icon “Panagia Tricherousa” arrived to the Holy Mount Athos from Palestine. It was placed in
the altar of the church, but not for long time. Because the abbot of the Holy Monastery of Chili-
andari died and since they did not know what leader of the community to choose, the monks star-
ted misunderstanding one another. An abbot is a man who is the head of a monastery or an abbey
(a large church together with a group of buildings in which monks or nuns live or lived in the
past). In the meantime, the icon of the Blessed Virgin left the place where it had been place at first
and was found for several days in the lectern of the Father Superior. A lectern is a stand for hold -
ing a book, notes and so on when reading in church, giving a talk and so forth. The monks were
confused about what happened, but an old eremite, who led a perfect life, explained them the
wonder, telling them that the Mother of God had sent him to let them know not to choose an ab -
bot anyone because She wanted to be the abbot and protector of the monastery. Since then, the
Holy Monastery of Chiliandari has no abbot, but only an abbot helper that deals with the affairs of
the monastery, and when the monks need something, they go and get blessing from the icon of
the Blessed Virgin.
However, not only the Greeks or Serbians have icons of the Holy Virgin before whose wonderful
actions were made, but also the Romanians keep such a precious ecclesiastical object in their
church at the Romanian Skete Prodromos. After founding the monastery in the first half of the
19th century, hieromonk Nifon wished for endowing the skete with an icon of the Blessed Virgin,
to protect the holy worship place, as all the monasteries of the Holy Mount Athos. Because not a
painter did correspond to the wish of the Romanian abbot, a skilled workman able to realise the
work was sought in Moldavia. In 1863, after a long search, the founder of the skete Nifon asked an
old painter in Iaşi, Iordache Nicolau, to paint an icon of the Blessed Virgin, according to the canon
of the Church, namely by daily reading the Akathist to the Virgin Mary and fasting (eating only
after ceasing the work that day). A canon is an established law of the Christian Church. Working
at the icon progressed well. The workman had advanced to painting the faces, but he stopped
there. All the attempts he made for painting the faces in the icon meant as much failures. Seized
with despair, the painter coloured the unfinished icon with a fabric and, grieved, without eating
or drinking something, was absorbed in praying. Next day in the morning, the painter entered the

COVER STORY
workshop with the intension of succeeding in finishing the work assigned to him by the fathers
living at the Holy Mount Athos. However, miraculously, taking the linen from the icon, he dis-
covered the painted face of the Virgin Mary, not made by hand and brilliant. The Romanian monks
living at the Holy Mount Athos were informed and, all seeing the icon, prayed to the Blessed Vir-
gin piously saying that was a really great gift from Her. By arriving at the Holy Mount Athos, icon
had been a source of healing for many of those who had prayed before it. Sick and helpless people
came and prayed to the icon, then they were sprinkled with consecrated water, after which they
went home healed. Hearing about the icon, even Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza ordered the icon to
be stopped in the country because the wonder of painting the face of the Virgin Mary had been
worked there. However, the icon arrived at the Holy Mount Athos, at the Romanian Skete of
Mount Athos and was given the name “Acheiropoietos” (“not made by human hands”).

FEATURED ARTICLE
Iconoclasm – The victory of burnt-hand icon painters
Iconoclasm or the fight against holy icons was a moment of great ordeal in the history of the Church.
The ability of two women made an end of a crisis that lasted more than a century. Leo III the Isaurian,
the first emperor that fought against holy icons during the Middle Ages declared he was an emperor
and a priest and uleased the war against icons. When iconoclasm appeared, Islam had made itself con -
spicuous more and more as a political and military power for about a century. Islam is the Muslim reli -
gion, which was started by Muhammad and whose holy book is the Quoran (Koran) and the people and
countries that follow this religion. When Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian officially initiated
iconoclasm as a state politics, many people reproached him with his too great sensibility at Islamic ob -
jections as to the way in which Christians used to worship God and honour icons.
Despite he fell drawn to Islam, when he was
crowned, the new emperor found himself in the
face of the danger of a precedented Muslim in-
vasion. In 717, Hellespont (present-day Dard-
anelles, a strait in northwestern Turkey, linking
the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara), and
on 15th August, when the Byzantines celebrated
the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin, Con-
stantinople started being besieged. Supporting
land troops, a gigantic fleet of about 18,000 ves-
sels entered Propontis (present-day the Sea of
Marmara), occupying the entire expanse of the
gulf before Constantinople. The superiority on
sea, however, belonged to the Byzantines thanks
to Greek fire (a gelatinous, incendiary mixture,
used in warfare before gunpowder was inven-
ted), and the city, endowed plentifully with re-
sources for defence, was inexpugnable from
land. Speaking of a fortified position, something
inexpugnable is impossible to be taken by force.
The greatest Arab expedition failed deplorably,
namely less than a quarter of 18,000 service-
men who had participated in it went home, and
only five ships of almost 2,000 came back.
The most important event in the life of the Church under Leo III the Isaurian was, however, the
appearance of iconoclastic movement, whose promoter was the emperor himself. Later, histori-
ans found many social causes for the appearance of iconoclasm, but the personal qualities of the
basileus also played a major part, undoubtedly, for the affirmation of the movement, namely first
of all, his Eastern origin and he liked the Arabs plainly, and then his stubborness. Once worship -
ping holy icons condemned, the basileus did not want to give up any longer, although he himself
saw the unhappy consequences of his going wrong. In 728, the emperor commanded the icons il-

FEATURED ARTICLE
lustrating religious scenes in the churches of Constantinople to be covered with paint. Because he
failed to bring Pope Gregory II over to his side, nor the Holy Patriarch Gherman of Constantinople,
the emperor convened a theological conference in Constantinople in 730. Excluding Patriarch
Gherman, who declined to join iconoclasm, those present signed the decisions of the pretended
synod and thus iconoclasm was promulgated. To promulgate means to spread an idea or belief to
as many people as possible. A synod is an important meeting of the members of the Church.
Under the aegis of defending holy icons, all the circles
hostile to the emperor gathered together, and the
country was rambled by a wave of mutinies. Next year,
the population of Greece and Thrace revolted. When a
courtier was sent for destroying the icon of Jesus
Christ above a gate in the city, he was lynched by the
infuriated heap of people. When lynched, someone is
killed, especially hung, without a trail. Between Rome
and Constantinople, ironical letters started to flow.
Theologically, worshipping holy icons was not defen-
ded only by the Pope that answered well, although
cautiously, to Emperor Leo, but also by Patriarch Gher-
man I of Constantinople, who did the same thing in his
letters addressed to three important clergymen, in
which he showed that worshipping holy icons of
Christ is different from worshipping Christ Himself.
Especially in its early period, iconoclasm received a
ready answer from a Christian Arab, namely John of
Damascus, who wrote three treaties against the new
heresy from Damascus. A heresy is a belief or an opin-
ion that is against the principles of a particular reli-
gion and the fact of holding such beliefs.
With the son of Leo, the situation became worse. Constantine V showed a strong attachment to
iconoclasm and, in this respect, he did not forgive anybody of those who opposed him, persecut-
ing cruelly all the people of different faiths, especially monks. To persecute means to treat
someone cruelly or unfairly over a period of time, especially because of their religious or political
beliefs. Persecutions against “bringers of the dark”, how the basileus called the monks that defen -
ded icons, started in the whole country. Persecutors turned out to be very inventive as concerned
causing the monks a death as cruel as possible, namely their heads were crushed over an icon,
and the hands of icon painters were burnt. To save themselves from the persecutions initiated by
the authorities, thousands of monks ran away from the emperor to the West, Sicily and Rome. The
emperor once confused the Christian capital showing it an unprecedented representation, namely
joining hands, two by two, dozens of monks and nuns passed, in a shameful procession, exposed
to the injuries and derision of hysterical people on the field of the racecourse in the city.
The successor of Constantine V that ascended to the throne of the East Roman Empire was Leo IV.
According to historical tradition, he is described as a mediocre ruler, during whose reign even the
heat of religious fight weakened a little more than before thanks to his apathy and non-interfer-
10 Iconoclasm
FEATURED ARTICLE
ence in such affairs. Although iconoclasm remained the ground of the state policy, persecutions
against iconodules, namely supporters of icon veneration, discontinued. Icons began to come
again in the life of the Byzantines and appeared even in the imperial palace. Irene, who became
the empress of all the empire inhabitants as a result of marrying Leo IV, was responsible for all
those changes. She was actively involved in the political life of the court. It is unlikely that the
basileus approved that attitude, and when in the summer of 780, he discovered two icons in her
bedroom, the discontinuation arose. The ruling couple did not have the opportunity to get on well
together, namely after a short time later, Leo IV was taken ill and, on 8 th September 780, breathed
his last.
The son of Leo, Constantine VI, was a minor so that his mother Irene became a regent. In 784,
after calming Arabic incursions by giving money to the intruders and through a series of wars
fought with the Bulgarians, the empress began preparing the ground for restoring icon worship.
The first move was made by choosing Tarasius, former imperial secretary, for acting as the Patri -
arch of Constantinople. Iconodules already played a leading part on a par with the aristocracy of
the capital, and the first conference of the Seventh Holy Eccumenical Council, held in Nicaea on
24th September 787. When the great meeting was closed, the Church breathed easily again. After
several decades of persecution, the Church had found, although temporarily, its faith and unity. On
11th June 843, Leo V the Armenian ascended the throne of the imperial capital of Constantinople.
He turned out to be an energetic and able man, but also a secretive iconoclast, what, together,
contributed to the quick restauration of the heretic teaching. In 814, he entrusted to John, a less
known clergyman at that time, the task to present the matter of worshipping holy icons to a new
examination, namely a theological one. Soon, John confirmed that worshipping holy icons was
prohibied. Because the scandal seemed impending, the people who worshiped icons took fight.
Saint Theodore the Studite, the abbot of the Holy Monastery of Studium in Constantinople, put
the basileus to a harsh criticism, namely that God had made some people apostles in the Church
others prophets, others teachers and did not mention emperors anywhere, and emperors were
obliged to submit and carry out the commands of apostles and teachers, and to issue laws to the
Church and to confirm its decisions was not the business of an emperor. In answer to his criti -
cism, the basileus is said to might have uttered that the courageous monk should have deserved
to die, but he will have not been offered such a favour for the moment.
In March 815, a local council took place in Constantinople. Iconodule Patriarch Nicephorus was
removed from the episcopal throne, being replaced by Theodotos Melissenos Kassiteros. In the
night of 25th December 820, however, the partisans of Mihail Traulos got through the palace and,
taking canonicals from the lectern, attacked the basileus wanting in defence even during the
Christmas service, murdering him and installing Mihail as emperor. He forbade discussions on
worshipping holy icons. Mihail II died in 829, being succeded by his son Teophilus to the throne,
crowned as emperor in October 829. Teophilus was an educated man and an admirer of the Arab -
ic culture and did not open up the prospect of officially returning to icon worship at all. Icons,
which were gradually replaced in some churches and even in the imperial palace by the order of
Empress during the reign of Emperor Mihail II, were again thrown away and replaced with pic-
tures representing animals and birds. After the death of Teophilus, Empress Theodora, remained
regent of minor Mihail III and worried about her husband had died under the curse of iconodules,
decided to convene a council to re-establish icon worship. A curse is a rude or offensive word or

FEATURED ARTICLE
phrase that some people use when they are very angry. In this respect, she ordered all iconodules,
including Saint Theodore the Studite, to be recalled from exile, and the patriarchal throne was
given to Metodius, a peaceful and reconcilable man. Before the council convened in Con-
stantinople that anathematised iconoclasts, he confessed, at the request of the empress, that Em -
peror Teophilus was not a diehard iconoclast and, secretly, believed according to the Orthodox
faith. Somebody diehard opposes change and refuses to accept new ideas. It happened therefore
the name of Emperor Teophilus was not found among the excommunicated. To excommunicate
means to someone by no longer allowing them to be a member of the Church. The holy council
held in Constantinople on 11th March 843 condemned all the previous iconoclastic councils and
reconfirmed the decisions of the Holy Eccumenical Council. The bishop that did not observed the
decisions were removed and succeded by those who had suffered from living in exile during the
iconoclastic persecution. The restoration of holy icons in the impressive Church of the Holy Wis -
dom was celebrated gorgeously on 11 th March 843 during the Holy Liturgy. Because the council
was held on the eve of the first Sunday of Lent, and the restoration of icon worship was con -
sidered a new victory of Orthodoxy over heresies, was established that the Sunday of victory,
called Sunday of Orthodoxy, to be celebrated every year for eternal remembrance of the faith and
Orthodox identity.
At the bride contest organised by Euphrosyne, the mother of Teophilus, two young girls who dis-
tinguished themselves through intelligence and beauty participated as well. The basileus liked
much Cassia and got near to her with an apple, but she is said that she broke his heart with her
manner of speaking. The emperor might have told her that death came into the world through
woman, whereupon she might have told him that the salvation of humankind also came through
woman, however. It is said that the emperor was frightened by the wisdom of the woman, and, on
this account, he chose Theodora of Paphlagonia, an ancient contry of Asia Minor. Later, Cassia
entered a convent and became famous as a gifted poet, some of the liturgical texts composed by
her being sung in Passion Week. The Holy Monastery of Studium in Constantinople was founded
in 463 by consul Studios and had a tradition according to which one third of the monks prayed
and the other two thirds worked and rested respectively. The monastery had a very beautiful
church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, which was partially destroyed during the 4 th crusade,
which took place on 13 th April 1204, rebuilt in 1290, and as the result of the fall of Constantinople
under the Ottoman Empire, was transformed into a mosque, performing this function until the
earthquake occurred in 1894. Mosques are buildings where Muslims (people whose religion is Is -
lam) pray. The former church is nowadays fallen into ruin.
Teophilus was an exceptional emperor. He liked, for example, to disguise himself in humble
clothes and, under this appearance, to wander through the capital, eavesdropping on the discus-
sions of the citizens. He wished fervently his people to know his spirit of justice and therefore
nothing could save guilty people from the judgement of the basileus. It is small wonder that the
Orthodox tradition appreciated the emperor much and there is even a version of his life asserting
that, when dying, Teophilus might have done penance and recognised the use of holy icons in the
Church.
12 Iconoclasm
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The new ecclesiastical year
On 1st September, the Orthodox Church celebrates the beginning of a new ecclesiastical year. Accord -
ing to the Jewish tradition, people consider that God started the work of the world Creation at that time,
and afterwards, at that point, the Saviour Jesus Christ entered the synagogue, where He decided the be -
ginning of His activity of preaching the Gospel. A synagogue is a building where Jewish people meet
for religious worship. To preach means to talk about a religious subject in a public place, especially in
a church during a service. A last meaning linked to the term derives from the fact that the Romans per -
formed the calculation of the Roman fiscal year (called also indiction) from 1 st September. The Roman
fiscal period was a cyclic age of 15 years begun during the reign of Constantine the Great in the later
Roman Empire at the end of which property was evaluated for taxation. Socially, in olden times, but
also today, a year had other reference points. There were the two feasts, the spring one of the Great
Holy Martyr George, and the autumn one of Saint Demetrios. A martyr is someone who dies for their
religious or political beliefs and is admired by people for this. These religious festivals, which were su -
perposed onto the seasons when agricultural works begin and end, took into account the human acitivty
connected to land farming. A festival is a special occasion when people celebrate something such a reli -
gious event, and there is often a public holiday. The Holy Fathers regulated evangelical pericopes on
the rich to be read in autumn for making them sensitive because winter drew on and the poor led a hard
life. A pericope is an extract from a book, especially a passage from the Bible selected for reading dur -
ing a divine service.
On 1st September, when the faithful celebrate the new ecclesiastical year, is connected with the
history of salvation. The work of salvation from the Creation
to the end of the world reduces itself to the time of an ecclesi-
astical year. The Orthodox Church marks these events through
the festivals celebrated at the beginning and end of the year.
Thus, an ecclesiastical year ends in August, when Christians
celebrate the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, on 15 th August,
and Beheading of the Venerable Head of the Glorious Prophet,
Furerunner and Baptist John, the greatest prophet until the
coming of the Saviour, on 29 th August. The two festivals tell
the faithful about the Kingdom of Heaven, being about two
deaths. Saint John, as a prophet of repentance, advises the
faithful to repent because the Kingdom of Heaven has come
near. Preaching atonement, a condition for entering into the
Kingdom of Heaven, shows the faithful jsu the coming the
Kingdom of Heaven, the end of the world and the beginning of
eschatology, which include the second coming of Christ, the
resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgement, the immortality
of the soul, concepts of heaven and hell, and the economy of
Kingdom of God.
The end of the ecclesiastical year, like its beginning, is under the protection of the Holy Virgin
Mary, through the festival of the Dormition of the Mother of God because the festival is only the

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passing from temporary life to eternal life. In fact, with the Dormition of the Mother of God, the
ecclesiastical year ends and, symbolically, also this age. The feast of Beheading of the Venerable
Head of the Glorious Prophet, Furerunner and Baptist John, the last and greatest prophet, who
prepared the ground for welcoming the Messiah, is also connected with afterlife. The beginning of
the ecclesiastical year also has as the first important festival, a feast dedicated to the Mother of
God, namely the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, the One through Whom the salvation of human-
kind is put into execution, She bearing Christ, the Redeemer of the sins of the faithful. In fact, all
the immovable imperial festivals are closely related to the history of salvation, namely the Nativ-
ity of the Blessed Virgin, the Entrance into the Temple of the Virgin Mary, the Nativity of the Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ and so on.
In another context, related to the agrarian cycle,
September is the first month of autumn, when
crops are harvested from the fields and people
thank to God for everything they got from Him.
The old agricultural year ends and a new one be-
gins, people praparing the ground for autumn
seeding. Therefore, any end is a beginning, as the
end of earthly life leads to the last stage, namely
eternal life. Consequently, the days on which suffer
martyrdom and pass to eternal life are celebrated
because these are the moments of their spiritual
birth for afterlife. Their examples are meant to
confirm the reality that, through death, the faithful
do not go into nothingness, but they go to heaven
or hell. Socially, in olden times, but also today a
year had other reference points. There were the
two feasts, the spring one of the Great Holy Martyr
George, and the autumn one of Saint Demetrios.
These religious festivals, which were superposed
onto the seasons when agricultural works begin
and end, took into account the human acitivty con-
nected to land farming. A festival is a special occa-
sion when people celebrate something such a religious event, and there is often a public holiday.
The Holy Fathers regulated evangelical pericopes on the rich to be read in autumn for making
them sensitive because winter drew on and the poor led a hard life. The Church made a point of
regulating that the evangelical pericope on the Parable of the Sower to be read in autumn, namely
around 16th October. This pericope refered to God, namely the Sower who sews the Word, and the
seed that falls on the soil symbolises the man that receives the Word, but which is taken by Satan,
the seed fallen on rocky soil represents the man that quickly receives the Word but who gives up
after some time, the seed that falls among thorns signifies the man that hears the Word but re-
nounce it, having a lot of worries, and the seed that falls on the good soil denotes the man that re -
ceives the Word, keep it and bears fruit.
On 1st September, the new ecclesiastical year and the beginning of the induction are celebrated.
14 The new ecclesiastical year

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The Orthodox Church celebrates the indiction, getting into the habit of the ancients, namely the
Romans is said to have marked the beginning of the year from the indiction, and an indiction
meant order and showing facts to the Romans. The word “indiction”, which derives from the Latin
word “indictio”, is a period of 15 years, whose first year is also called “first indiction” and so on,
until fifteenth one, according to their order. After the evolution of the fifteen years ends, a new
period begins again, where the first year is also called the first indiction until the 15 th year, after
which a new period begins once more. Undoubtedly, the name “indiction” comes from extraordin-
ary tributes meant for paying the soldiers (such tributes were called indictions). There are three
kinds of indictions, namely the Constantinopolitan one, which begins on 1 st September, the Con-
stantinian one, beginning from 24 th September, and the papal indiction, which began on1st Janu-
ary. The Church celebrates the beginning of the indiction for the following reasons, specifically
first because, according to the old tradition, God started the Creation of the world this day,
secondly since September is considered the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year, and there-
fore, thanking God for the crops in that year, the Church prays in order the new year to be also
fruitful and thirdly as the Saviour entered the Jewish synagogue this day.
In the Orthodox Church worship, the ecclesiastical year is different from the liturgical one. While
the ecclesiastical one begins on 1 st September, the liturgical year begins on Easter Sunday. Since
then, the Gospels and Sundays of the ecclesiastical year are computed. The ecclesiastical one has
52 weeks, unlike the liturgical year, which calculates weeks relying on the festivals of Easter and
Pentecost. During the liturgical year, certain Sundays are repeated and, implicitly, the Gospels
uttered at that time, according to regulations established by the Church, in its economy. The eccle -
siastical has three periods reflecting the triple activity of Jesus Christ on earth, namely the one of
a teacher, high priest, and emperor. In the time when liturgical books are read, which is the period
lasting most time (whose length of time varies between 40 and 46 weeks) corresponds to the
teaching activity of Jesus Christ. The period comemorates and celebrates the events before the
coming of the Redeemer until on the eve of His Passion, in other words it renews the prophetical,
didactic acitivity when He taught the crowd the divine teaching of His Gospel. The second period
is the Triodion one, which designates the time covering the ten weeks before Easter, when pray-
ers and hymns of Lent included in the homonymous book, are read. The period also refers to the
hierarchical activity of the Lord, whose basic idea is His Passion and redeeming sacrifice. It lasts
ten weeks, until Easter Sunday, including Lent, a time of preparation through prayer, penance and
fasting for the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord. The last period in the ecclesiastical year
cycle, the one of the Pentecostarion, includes the service regulations for the 50 days between
Easter and the first Sunday after Pentecost, covered by a liturgical book. It also represents the
time between the Resurrection of the Lord and Pentecost (also called Whitsun, the seventh
Sunday after Easter, when Christians the appearance of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles) and celeb-
rates the Saviour Christ as a Glorified Emperor, Vanquisher of death and sin.
A new ecclesiastical year has, as a festival, its own hymn. A hymn is a song of praise to God. The
Church thanks God for everything He gifted the faithful during the last year and asks Him for
blessing the year that is about to begin. God is the Creator of time and the world, Who blesses the
wreath of the year of His kindness. Every year, every time is the gift from God for the faithful. On
1st September also, following the Jewish tradition according to which the Creation of the world is
celebrated, the Church celebrates Joshua, he who succeded Moses for leading the Jewish people

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and guided them to Canaan. Everything told in the Holy Scripture, historical events in the Old
Testament are secretly related to the New Testament, they foretelling realities from the Christian
Church. Joshua, the son of Nun, was prompted by prophet Moses to guide the Jews to the Prom -
ised Land.
During the Old Testament, two kinds of calendars were used in Israeli kingdoms. The oldest one
was of Canaanite origin, based on the agricultural work cycle and began in autumn. Festivals did
not have a fixed date yet at that time, depending directly on agricultural works. The situation was
kept until the second half of the 7 th century BC, when great festivals were neither dated exactly.
Towards the year 600, under Babylonian influence, the Babylonian calendar is adopted, which
began the year in spring. In Babylon, the celebration of the new year was a very important one,
the king being enthroned again within a ceremony that evoked the Creation of the world. The
Christian Church maintained the old calendar that began in autumn, taking into consideration
also Hebrew traditions according to which the Creation of the world happened in autumn. The
Hebrew calendar, however, was one that took into account the phases of the Moon, unlike the Ro -
man one, which was revised by Julius Caesar, who acted as the dictator of Rome to reflect the sol -
ar year, being made 360 days long and added an extra day every fourth or leap year. Because
Tishri, the seventh month of the Babylonian calendar, which in the old calendar was the first,
however, begins in September-October, and therefore the Church changed September into the
first month of the ecclesiastical year.
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The Nativity of the Mother of God
The Nativity of the Mother of God is the first feast of the ecclesiastical year, which begins on 1 st
September. In the first month, the faithful celebrate, through the Nativity of the Mother of God, their
recalling and recreating into grace, the changing of the temporary things of the Law into the enduring
ones, replacing the letter with the Spirit and the shadow with reality.
It is said that, excepting Jesus Christ, only
two persons in the history of the New Testa-
ment have their biography traced before
their birth, namely the Virgin Mary and John
the Baptist. The predictions made concern-
ing their life and mission come before much
time earlier than their appearance in the his-
tory of the humankind salvation. In the Old
Testament, most prophesies are directly or
indirectly prophesies that talk also about the
Virgin Mary. The first Messianic prophesy in
the Old Vow (also called the Old Testament),
which refers to the first time when Salvation
was made public, stating both about “the off-
spring of the woman”, namely the Son of
Man, and the woman whose offspring, spe-
cifically Jesus Christ, will vanquish the Evil
One, is mentioned in the first book of the
Bible, that is Genesis. Another symbol talk-
ing about the person of the Mother of God is
the “stairway of Jacob”, also met in the book
of Genesis. Jacob had a dream in which he
saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its
top reaching to heaven, and the angels of
God were ascending and descending on it. There are two meanings of the dream, namely on one
hand the descending of God on earth to people, specifically the Nativity of Christ is carried out
through the agency of the Virgin Mary, and on the other hand the faithful know the destiny of hu -
manity through the Blessed Virgin, the one of bearing God in their soul through faith and in their
body through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the holy bread and wine, representing the body and
blood of Christ, used during a Christian ceremony, or the ceremony itself. The first of great proph-
ets, namely Isaiah, in his own book from the Bible talks about a branch that will bear fruit from
the roots of Jesse. In the Old Testament, Jesse (also spelled Isai), was the father of King David and
the son of Ohed and the grandson of Boaz and Ruth, and David was the youngest of the eight sons
of Jesse. The branch symbolises, according to the Holy Fathers, the person of the Holy Virgin. She
acts as the intermediary through Whom the Grand Shepherd, namely Jesus Christ, leads His
speechless flock to heaven and on Whom the human nature rests and renounces their weak old

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age, going gently to heaven.

The honourable name of Mary was
secretly given to the Mother of God,
the Holy Virgin according to the fore-
knowledge and advise of God, as His
Mother, was decided to be born earli-
er. The name “Mary”, which was
destined to serve the mystery of the
economic Incarnation of God the
Word, brings together the almighti-
ness, wisdom and kindness of God.
Derived from the Hebrew word “Aia”,
Mary is interpreted as “the Lady” be-
cause She rules over all the heavenly
and earthly creations as the Mother of
God, having perfect power. Secondly,
the word “Mary” is interpreted as “en-
lightenment” since the etymology has
its source in the pure light and is said
to be the brilliance of eternal light, as
a perfection of wisdom. Thirdly, the
word “Maria” also means “sea”. Mary
symbolises the kindness and grace of
God, had by the Mother of God. Thus,
Mary got Her power from the Father,
as His daughter, to perform on earth
as a Mother what God performs in
heaven as a Father, and got the wis-
dom from the Son, as His Mother, to
find the way to calm down heaven
with earth and God with man. She also got the kindness and grace from the Holy Spirit, as His
bride, to share Her spiritual gifts and graces to all the creatures, heavenly and earthly.
Joachim, the father of the Holy Virgin, came from the house of David, and Anne, Her mother, came
from the one of Aaron, therefore they were of imperial origin and of priestly descent. However,
because they lacked for children, they were put to shame by people as, in the Hebrew society, bar -
ren families were considered not to be blessed by God. After praying continuously, the righteous
couple were gifted a little girl, who, according to the word of the angel addressed to Anne, would
announce joy, through Her salvation of humankind being made. Hebrew Joachim and Anne were,
according to law, deserved the reproach of people because the Messiah, namely Jesus Christ, had
not come yet. The chosen people were dying with impatience the birth of the predicted one, and
any family that did not have children yet, delayed the appearance of the Saviour. When Mary was
born, She gifted Eternity to everybody through Her conception into virginity, the duty to bring
children into the world and the criticism towards the people that did not beget children were
18 The Nativity of the Mother of God

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raised.
The work of the Incarnation of the Word is not only the work of the Holy Trinity, but also the fruit
of the will and faith of Mary. The superiority of Mary from the human viewpoint is required by
the fact that the Son of God could choose as a mother only the best man, through Whom the pur -
pose for which God created the human nature, namely a man capable to serve to the divine
thought, specifically the one to make the Incarnation possible, to be seen. In order God to be able
to save humankind, a person where justice and uprightness to be pressent at the highest level to
permit the Incarnation was needed. God, like an angel, does not come to wicked, sinful or unbe -
lieving people. The Holy Virgin brought together all the virtues within her, making Herself atone -
ment for sins, holiness and honesty for the faithful. The girl Mary is the clearing sacrifice of hu -
manity before the great sacrifice of Christ on the Cross to reconcile perfectly with the Father.
Therefore, it is proper the faithful to bring the work of virtues as a present to the Mother of God
for Her birth. They must not have a barren soul and unfruitful heart, but to imitate the action of
the One that was born, who received Christ, the Word, within her.

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Saint Anthony, the father of Christian monasticism
He was from Egypt, being born in 250 AD (that is “in the year of the Lord”) in Coma, near Herakleo -
polis Magna, which in the language of the ancient Egyptians meant “house of the royal child”). He des -
cended from wealthy parents, and after their death, he shared the fortune with his younger syster, who
was in his charge. He would left everything behind after he would understand the word of God in the
Holy Gospel according to Matthew, which addressed a young rich man. The evangelical pericope rep -
resents everybody who, although has a good financial situation and is morally honest, grieves however
after something higher than what financial situation and irreproachable ethics can offer to him. An -
thony was one of the greatest ascetics of Orthodoxy, who always bore in his mind the example set by
fasting man in the Old Testament, namely Elias the Prophet. An ascetic is someone living without any
physical pleasures or comforts, especially for religious reasons. Although Anthony was not a scholar in
the field of earthly teaching, he was the teacher of the greatest teachers of that time, among them count -
ing also Saint Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Saint Anthony is considered by posteriority as the
founder of Orthodox monasticism.
Anthony the Great is one of the firm pillars on which the
monasticism of Orthodoxy was built. Although he was
not an educated man and did not attend the great
schools of his time, being an ordinary man, God en-
dowed him with the plenitude of His grace, and God-lov-
ing anchorites to be their teacher for this purpose. He
learnt the Christian faith from his parents and grandpar-
ents and, addicting himself to the life of a hermit, left
many people behind, setting himself a good example for
all the ones he left behind. The life of Saint Anthony the
Great, written by his disciple Saint Athanasius of Alexan-
dria describes the spiritual fight of the saint against dev-
ils in an ample speech. The image that appears because
of the speech leads to the conclusion that a virtue is nat-
ural within man, and ascetism fulfills the fundamental
vocation of man to be a living icon (image and likeness)
of God on earth.
Anthony was from Egypt, being born in 250 AD (that is
“in the year of the Lord”) in the village of Coma near
Herakleopolis Magna. He descended from a wealthy family, and after the death of his parents, he
shared the fortune with his younger sister, who was in his charge. He shared the fortune with
which he left with the poor, and he, who was still a teenager, devoted his life to God, spending his
long-wished hermitic life. It is said that Saint Anthony to have not been a very cultured man, be -
ing considered by people to be poor in spirit, specifically humble. His greatest joy was, however,
as far back as his early childhood, in communion with Christ in the Holy Liturgy. He would leave
everything behind him after he would understand the piece of advice given by the Saviour to sell
his possessions, give them to the poor, and then follow Him to be rich in heaven. At that time, An -
20 Saint Anthony the Great

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thony bestowed all his 300 fruit-bearing estates on the poor, and he would entrust his younger
sister to a school for girls, starting his hermitic life from that moment. In the beginning, Anthony
endeavoured near his village, learning from an old man, who endeavoured in monasticism since
young, to combine working with praying. To completely escape from the troubles of people, he
went near the Red Sea, on the chance of abandoning people and their worries. There, he spent
twenty years alone in praying, trusting God when the Devil put him to the test. After some time,
he left that place for an abandoned citadel on the right shore of the Nile, where he spent the last
years of his life.
According to “The Lives of the
Fathers” and “The Lives of
Saints”, the humbleness of the
saint set a good example for his
disciples and their followers. God
gave him also the power to cross
the Devil, discover his way of tor-
menting monks and the faithful,
trying to curry favour with them.
The Devil started being afraid of
Anthony, a young man leading a
remarkable life, coming to his
territory in the wilderness, be-
cause wherever Anthony was,
Christ was also present. Many
times, the Evil One approached
Anthony secretly, trying to break
him from praying and put him
out of the deep of his troubles,
namely reminding him of riches,
caring for his sister, the friend-
ship of many people, love of
coins, love of glory, the pleasure
of delight and the other rests of
life, and then showing him the
hardness of the good deed and
the trouble it requests. The Devil
also rooted the helplessness of
the body and the length of time
in the thought of Anthony, raising
in his mind a lot of illusions for
diverting him from his right
thought. The Evil One faced, in all his attempts, the firm faith of the saint. Having had a quite
enough of his futile attempts to tempt Anthony, the Devil talked himself to the saint, saying he
was set the task of overcoming the body and was called the spirit of dissipation, and many people

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had been cheated by him. Hearing the words of the Devil and thanking to God, Anthony told him
that he would not worry about him anymore because God would help him and he would watch
his enemies in the future.
Anthony was one of the greatest as-
cetics of Orthodoxy, always bore in
his mind the good example set by
great fasting man of the Old Testa-
ment, namely Elias the Prophet.
Like Elias the Prophet, Anthony
gradually passed through the ascet-
ical stages of endeavours, suffering
from weariness easily, because he
had the endeavour of the soul and
did everything with a pleasant urge
coming from inside him, so that the
minorest cause of his endeavour
was hardly accepted by the com-
mon man. He laboured his vigil
gradually, beginning to spend
whole nights without sleeping. He
ate once a day, after the sunset,
sometimes also after two days, and
many times also after four days he
shared his food, and he ate bread
and salt, and he drank only water,
and on meat and wine, there was
no doubt about them. To sleep, the
saint used a doormat, and then he
lay down even on ground. He con-
sidered every day as a beginning of
his life as a hermit because he did
not want to measure the way of the
good deed in the course of time
since he did not mention an earlier
time, showing a greater spiritual
effort and weariness, always fol-
lowing the teaching of the Holy
Scripture, but as if he began doing good deeds every day. In all his endeavours, Anthony followed
the good example set by Elias the Prophet.
The information on Saint Anthony the Great come from the accounts of Saint Athanasius, his dis-
ciple. His writings reveal that Anthony passed away aged 105 years, leaving behind him a lot of
disciples and whole crowds of monks. When philosophers who had come to him, trying to find
out his answers, asked him: 'What is more old, knowledge or the book, and which of these two

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was because the other?', the answer given by Anthony made them leave shamefaced, realising
that they had only some knowledge about knowledge, while the saint had the Knowledge itself.
He was the man that reached perfection still in his life, was a teacher of teachers, who, for 85
years, perfected himself and thus he could also improve other people. Full of quite life spent in
communion with God, years and good works, the saint climbed to the top in 356 AD in the desert
on the right bank of the Nile.
The extraordinary influence of the saint really marks the beginning of monasticism. Seven letters
remembered by Saint Jerome from his writings came out so far. They appeared in many transla-
tions, namely two versions in Latin (the first is a translation dating back to 1516 and belongs to
Symphorian Champerius, according to a Greek manuscript, and the second one is translated in ac-
cordance with an Arabic manuscript, including larger text, here joining in addition to the seven
letters released under the name of Anthony, and thirteen letters belonging to his disciple Ammo-
nas, the successor of Anthony at the head of the monastery at Pispir), and recently the Coptic text,
the original one, also began to be discovered, of some of these letters.
The “Anthony the Great” Monastery is an Orthodox monastery of Coptic Christians of Egypt, being
also one of the oldest Egyptian monastic institutions. It was founded in 356, as a result of the
death of Saint Anthony, falling to Al-Qalzam foothills, near the Al-Zaafarana. According to historic -
al accounts, the monastery represented the first monastical nucleus in the time of Emperor Julian
the Apostate. The first monks who lived there used to reside in the caves of the neighbouring
massifs, but they went to the centre church every Sunday and festival for attending the divine
liturgy. Isolated hermits embraced the monastic way of living only in the 5 th century, building the
first cells of the monastery. The monastery of Saint Anthony played an important part in the his-
tory of the Coptic Church, being the housing place for numerous Christians that needed a shelter
in bad times, finding everything necessaru to lead a life of communion with God there.

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Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, the genius of theology in the

4 th century of the Church
A friend of Saint Basil, sensitive, delicate, a highly cultivated man, Gregory of Nazianzus had a special
liking for contemplative life during whole his lifetime, what made him always avoid the administrative
preoccupations of the post held by him. A great theologian, with great potentialities of expressing and
explaining Christian dogmas in an unprecedented manner until that time, able to give an irreproachable
theological speech, flawless as concerned expound arguments against the heretics of that time, poet and
bishop of Constantinople (380-381), Gregory remains the emblematic figure of the ancient spirit com -
pletely converted to the truth of Christ, Whom he chose to serve zealously. A dogma is a set of beliefs
held by a group of people who expect other people to accept these beliefs without thinking about them.
Saint Gregory the Theologian was born in
Arianzus in 325 AD (that is “in the year of
the Lord”) as a son of bishop Gregory, liv-
ing in the same area, and Nonna. The
father of the saint, although he was a
member of a Jewish sect, which was
called itself “Votaries of the Most High”,
was converted to the true faith under the
influence of his pious wife. The two
brothers, Gregory and Caesarius, born be-
fore the consecration of their father as a
priest and then as a bishop, were sent by
their parents to the famous school of
Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia.
There, Gregory formed a friendship with
Saint Basil the Great, which lasted their
whole lives and was remarkable for the
history of the Christian Church.
Gregory left Caesarea for Palestine, where
he learnt rhetoric, and then left Palestine
for Alexandria of Egypt, where Saint Ath-
anasius the Great held the post of a bish-
op. Rhetoric is a language used to per-
suade or influence people, especially lan-
guage that sounds impressive but is not
actually sincere or useful. Embarking on
the board of a ship that travelled to
Athens, Gregory met with a difficult jour-
ney. During the storm that broke up,
which jeopardised the lives of those present on the deck, Gregory promised that, if he would es-
cape with his life, he would receive Christian baptism. His promise was carried out, hgowever,
24 Saint Gregory of Nazianzus

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only after he finished his studies and came back to his paternal home in Nazianzus. In Athens, the
two old friends met again and studied rhetoric together under two famous professors of that
time, Himerius and Proaeresius. The schoolmate of Basil and Gregory was also Julian the
Apostate, whoever would be crowned as emperor of Byzantium for only two years. The studies of
young Gregory in Athens lasted ten years, so that, when he came back home again in 356, passing
through Constantinople, he was already 31 years old. Arrived at his native places, after a long tour
through the cities with great schools for that time, Gregory, decided to devote his life and intellec-
tual abilities in which he excelled, reflected carefully on the plan of his future. A talented man like
him, gifted for oratory (that is the skill of making powerful speeches), a thorough expert in philo -
sophy, was paved more ways. He could either take up the career in the bar or the one of rhetoric
professor, whose purpose should have been studying the Holy Scripture. Naturally, he called on
the advice of his good friend, Basil, and they decided together to leave people for dedicating
themselves entirely to God. After staying in Pontus, together with his friend, Gregory was obliged
by his father, who was of age at that time, to help him be a priest for the faithful, and thus, young
Gregory became was ordained bishop. His sermons on the right teaching about the Holy Trinity
remain an example until today.
The 4th century was a golden one for the Christi-
an Church in the opinion of the specialists in
patrology (also called patristics, that is the
study of early Christian writers, known as the
Church Fathers). It was, however, also one of
war, when heresies should themselves with all
their strength. A heresy is a belief that disagrees
with the official principles of a particular reli-
gion. It had just received the right to express
freely without being in the danger of being per-
secuted, that the Church found itself then
threatened by other enemies, which were more
dangerous and came from within. The ones who
kept the genuine faith had become a minor
group in masses. Considering Christ as a first
creature and not as a Son of ther Father, being of
one subsance with Him, as well as declining the
divinity of the Holy Spirit involved the invalidity
of Baptism and, accordingly, jeopardising salva-
tion. The situation in which bishop Gregory
found the churches in the capital of the Byz-
antine Empire was the most painful possible.
The Arians had seized all the churches, and Or-
thodox believers were very few in number. Hier-
arch Gregory began his mission in the chapel
Anastasia (“Resurrection”), the only church where Byzantine Orthodox believers assembled for
praying at that time, saying that fair teaching and the soul perfected in the dogmas of the truth
25 Saint Gregory of Nazianzus

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are acceptable to God, and the only thing worthy of God is devotion, the wealth everybody has in
common with somebody else and of the same honour to Him, and every poor man may, if more
kind, outdo bright man for this kind of zeal for honesty depends on will, not on wealth. However,
a personality such as the one of Saint Gregory was impossible not to be also envied. Egyptian
hierarch who came to Constantinople did not look favourably both on the love and admiration of
Gregory showed by the faithful of the capital and on the position of presider of the Second Ecu -
menical Council that was due to him by right. Blamed for he might have come uncanonically to
the archiepiscopal seat of Constantinople, being considered that he was not allowed to leave the
episcopal seat of Sasima, Saint Gregory decided to give up his much-coveted function in order to
make piece in the Church. Defending himself from the accusation brought against him, namely he
might have enjoyed the honour of the Byzantine emperor, benefitting from glory robes, dainty
dishes, being placed at the head of all the processions, the friend of great Basil reminded the bish-
ops longing for glory that, on the contrary, the time when he was the priest of Constantinople was
one of persecution against Orthodox believers, they suffering from being persecuted by the au-
thorities, even by the emperor, being chased from churches and houses.
Finally, the presider of the Council asked for only one thing, namely to be done an injustice, to
choose another person to be as most of them pleased, and let him lead a hermitic life and serve
God, Who liked only him and his simple life. He also said that he had gotten tired to be blamed by
his enemies for everything.

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The Holy Cross of Jesus Christ
A Christian church is always recognised according to the cross painted, carved, forged and placed on it.
The Cross remained like that since time immemorial. It is said that, in the persecution time, Pagans re -
cognised Christian churches in that way. Many hundreds of Christians are believed to have passed
away burnt alive in their own church in Nicomedia on the Christmas of 303 because somebody recog- recog-
nised the sign of the Cross on the gates of the Church and denounced all those present there. The Cross
became pre-eminently the sign according to which Christians can be recognised. As concerns the way
in which the Lord passed away, the Holy Gospels talk about crucifixion on a cross. In ancient times, a
cross could not mean more things, but more shapes.
The oldest shape of cross seems to have been the one known under
the name of “crux gammata”, more known for Orientalists and pre-
historic archaeology students by the Sanskrit name “svástika”. Cer-
tainly, it did not have the same malefic meaning in the ancient
world as it has nowadays, in the modern world. It was a symbol of
the Sun and designated its apparent course on the dome of heaven.
Other saw a mystic illustration of the thunder of the god of storm
and even the pre-eminently symbol of the pantheon of the earliest
Aryan civilisation. Another symbol related to the cross is the an-
sated cross (“ankh” or “crux ansata”), the cross that is said to be-
long to the ancient Egyptians. Many times, it appears in the hands
of goddess Sekhet or on the forehead of god Osiris. Right from the
start, it appeared in hieroglyphic writing as a sign of the idea of life
and survivor. From time immemorial, even Coptic Christians,
namely Egyptian Christians, attracted by shape or symbolism, ad-
opted the sign as a lyturgical symbol of the cross of the Lord. In Rome, when the Republic set up,
the cross began to be used as a punishment tool particularly for slaves found guilty and for seri-
ous crimes. In two places of his work, Cicero, a Roman writer, statesman and orator, called it the
most severe and terrible punishment for slaves. Cicero too wrote that it was strictly forbidden the
method of punishment to be applied to Roman citizens. Suetonius, a Roman biographer and his -
torian of culture, wrote that the terrible punishment was however used in the case of the low sec-
tions of Roman citizens, whenever they proved to be guilty of rebellion or piracy, robbery or false
witness. According to Roman authors of ancient times, the punishment of crucifixion was pre-
ceded by whipping the convict, and after the preliminary punishment, the lawbraker was com -
pelled to bear his cross to the execution place, while he was subject to public abuse and derision.
Once arrived at the place of torture, the cross was lifted and, together, the convict was also lifted,
after he had been undressed and nailed. In order the torture to last more time, some criminals
were tied with ropes. In the end, a small plate called “titulus” (the Latin word for “inscription”)
was placed above the head of the convict, bearing on it the name of the lawbreaker and the guilt
for which he suffered from such a punishment. Slaves were crucified outside of the Esquiline Gate
in a place called the Sessorium, and certain civil servants called “exectuioners” were concerned
with their crucifixion. Because the torture could last more days, Tacitus, a senator and historian of

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the Roman Empire, confirmed that the shinbones of the legs of convicts were crushed, an opera-
tion called in Latin “crucifixion”.
In the beginning, the Cross consisted in a simple upright piece of wood sharpened at one end.
Seneca, a Roman philosopher, dramatist and statesman, called it “crux acuta” or “crux simplex”.
Later, the upright piece of wood was added a horizontal piece of wood, on which the accused was
either tied with strings and let to die on hunger or nailed. Slaves could be also nailed on trees.
“Crux decussata”, called like that because it looks life the Roman symbol for the digit “ten” is simil -
ar in shape with the Greek letter “chi” (X). It is also known as Saint Andrew's Cross because it is
believed that the Apostle have been martyred on such a cross. Punishing convicts on the cross
was used by the Romans until the 4 th century AD (that is “in the year of the Lord”). In the first part
of his reign, Constantine the Great abolished the torture in rememberance and honour of the Pas -
sion, namely the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
The practice of crucifying a convict on a T-shaped cross was met at that time only in the West. The
cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified was the one known under the name of “crux imissa”,
what means that its upright body was extended slightly above the horizontal one. It is said that it
was thus a higher cross than the two robbers, the so-called crime of Jesus being considered more
severe. It is believed that Jesus to have been crucified on a cross with five extremities, namely two
in length, two in width and the fifth one in the middle, on which the convict was to be crucified.
The Cross always also accompanied the historical destiny of the Church. In the small ancient town
of Herculaneum, situated at the foot of Mount Vesuvius in Italy, an altar, on which the sign of the
cross was painted on a background of white lime, was discovered. The presence of other Christian
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symbols in the room let to the conclusion that it might be one of the oldest illustrations of the
cross that were kept until today. It is known that Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and covered
with ashes and lava the entire plain at its foot, but also many towns, among which Pompeii and
Herculaneum. The destroying layer of ashes also had, however, a positive effect. The buildings
covered with ashes were kept almost untouched for the people of today, and among the vestiges
discovered there was this unique one, which was perhaps seen and honoured by the first Christi -
ans who knew the Holy Apostles and listened their sermons on the Redeeming Passion.
Another important discovery is the one of a grave dating back to the 2 nd century AD, on which
there are found two incised crosses at the end of the epitaph. An epitaph contains words written
or said about a dead person, especially words on a gravestone. The grave dates back, according to
specialists, to 134 AD and was found in the old region of Palmira. Still in this region, another
grave on which the sign of the cross was incised was discovered. Archaeologists believe that it
dates back to 150 AD. Many inscriptions in Roman catacombs also date back to the 2 nd century. It
is generally known that, sometimes, during persecutions, Christians retreated into the catacombs
where, in fact, most of the Romans buried their dead people. Catacombs are a series of under-
ground tunnels used for buruing dead people, especially in ancient times. Christian graves are dif -
ferent fron the non-Christian ones by that they bear the sign of the cross. On some graves, the sign
of the cross replaced the family name. All those baptised belonged then to the large family of God,
and the cross proved their belonging.
However, not all the graves lacked in epitaphs. Thus, in a catacomb dating back to the 2 nd century,
there was an inscription referring to the epitaph of a Christian, and expressions like “the slave of
God” and “the holy illumination” very clearly referred to his belonging to Christianity. A sign of
the cross was modestly inserted between the second and third name. At that time, persecutions
against Christians came one after another and a too large cross would reveal the one who had
passed on to the everlasting life, but especially his family. Still then, the title of “Highness” was giv-
en only to those of senatorial rank, which showed that, at that time, Christianity had also reached
to the superior sections of Roman society. In another catacomb, there is another inscription on
which the monogram of Christ, namely the crossing of the letters “H” and “R”, by the connection
with “Ichthys” (meaning “fish”), classic Christian symbol, proves the belonging of the one buried
there to Christianity. The letter “t” from the name of the defunct is larger than the other letters
and is in the shape of the cross. On the opposite side of the Mediterranean Sea, King Totorses of
the Bosporus in the region of Crimea stamped coins on which the sign of the cross was incised,
and it happened in 270 and 296 AD. The recent archaeological discoveries made in Palestine gave
further evidence about the fact that the sign of the cross had been used as a Christian symbol on
the ossuaries, namely on the containers or rooms for the bones of even the members of the first
Christian community of Jerusalem.

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The Mother of God, the most venerated woman
There is not probably an authentic Christian who, in trouble, did not direct his prayers and thoughts to
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who is one of the most respected figures in Islam, namely the Muslim reli -
gion, based on belief in one God and revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah. Even the
first Protestants (that are members of a part of the Western Christian Church that separated from the
Roman Catholic Church in the 16 th century) honoured the Mother of God, and Martin Luther, a German
theologian and religious reformer who was the catalyst of the 16 th century Protestant Reformation, said
that Mary was the greatest woman and nobody could glorify Her enough ever. After Redeemer Jesus
Christ, there is no saint to enjoy a greater honour than Mary, the Mother of God. According to evangel -
ical account, a complete biography of the Virgin Mary cannot be made. Chronologically, the last time
when the Holy Scripture talks about Mary, the Mother of God is in the event of choosing Matthias to
replace Judas. One of the moments on which the Holy Gospels keep silence is also the one of the
Dormition of the Mother of God, an event celebrated by both the Orthodox Church and Roman Cathol -
ic Church on 15th August. However, the Holy Tradition gives an account on the passing to God of the
most blessed woman, also probably inspired from the Apocrypha, which contains religious texts related
to the Bible but not officially considered to be a part of it and to be genuine.
When the Lord Jesus Christ condescended to take His
Mother to Him to the Kingdom of Heaven, He made
Her know, through the mediation of Archangel Gabri-
el, her moving to heaven. The Mother of God rejoiced
greatly and, longing for moving to Her Son, quickly
climbed the Mount of Olives, also Mount Olivet, for
praying because She used to often climb the moun-
tain to pray, and something wonderful happened at
that time. When the Mother of God climbed the
mountain, the trees on the mountain bent down
themselves, and honoured and worshipped Her as
She deserved as if they were some living servants.
After oraying, She came home and, immeditely, the
house quaked completely and She. Lighting some
candles and thanking God and calling Her relatives
and neighbours, kept Her house in good condition,
prepared Her bed and everything what was proper
for Her burial. Then, She said everything Archangel
gabriel had told Her about Her moving to heaven, and
in order those present to make sure that everything
She said was true, She showed them what She had
been given, namely a twig of Date Palm Tree. The wo-
men that had been called, finding out what She had told them, cried mournfully and with bitter
tears and sobbed sadly and, then, growing quiet from mourning, they prayed not to remain
without her. Afterwards, the Most Pure Mother of God promised them that, moving to heaven, She
would console and protect them and everybody. After comforting their great sadness, She showed
30 The Mother of God, the most venerated woman

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to Her two attires in order two poor widows to take them, each having to receive one of them,
who were Her friends and acquaintances and were fed by Her.
Telling and teaching them about Her upcoming going to
Heavens, and it suddenly began to thunder and the sky was
clouding over and brang all the disciples of Christ together,
among whom were also wise hierarchs Dionysius the Areo-
pagite, Hierotheos and Timothy. Finding out the cause of
their coming, the hierarchs were told not to make Her be-
ing sad, but to take care of Her body. Then, wonder-work-
ing Paul, the Chosen Vessel, also came and, falling to Her
feet, glorified Her with many words. Then, She asked the
pardon of those present, She laid down on Her deathbed
and imagined Her most pure body as She wanted, and She
prayed for strengthening the world and Her peaceful
passing to Heavens and filled them with Her blessing. Thus,
She drew Her last breath to Her Son and God, and the eyes
of the blind were immediately enlighted and the hearing of
deaf persons opened, one-legged persons recovered and all
kinds of passions and diseases were easily cured. After
that, the Holy Apostle Peter began to sing while they came out of the house, and the other
Apostles, some raised the bed, others went ahead with torches and songs, spending the receiving
body of God to the grave. Then, the voices of angels were also heard singing and the air was full of
the voices of their hosts higher than the human nature. Because of these things, the rulers of the
Jews, calling some people from the nation, persuaded them to overthrow the bed on which the
life-giving body of the Mother of God. The justice of God, hitting those courageous and insolent
men, punished them by blinding their eyes and robbed one of them of both his hands for his mad
drive, which remained hung on the bed. Believing from the bottom of his heart, he was healed and
became healthy as before. Likewise, those who had been blinded, believing and putting the bad
on their part of lap, were healed.
Arriving at the village of Gethsemane, the Holy Apostles laid the life-beginning body in the grave
and stayed by it for three days, hearing continuously angelical voices. Because, according to the
Divine Order, one of the Holy Apostles, namely Thomas, who did not attend the glorified burial,
but arriving three days later, he was very grieved as he had not been able to see the body as the
other Apostles had done, and they thoughtfully opened the grave in order he too to worship it.
Then, seeing that the grave did not contain the body, but only the shroud, which had remained
there for comforting the Apostles and the faithful and for proving to be a true witness of the going
of the Mother of God to Heavens because the grave cut in stone is seen without the body and is
also honoured worshipfully today for the glory and honour of the Mother of God and the Blessed
Virgin. The Dormition of the Mother of God is considered in the ecclesiastical year as a crucial
moment, being also accompanied by certain popular traditions. The feast marks the end of the
two-week fast, the season of weddings, fairs and autumn markets. The Virgin Mary always en-
joyed a special honouring from Christians. The Veneration of the Mother of God saw, however, a
certain development since the Holy Eccumenical Council held at Ephesus in 431, when the Virgin
31 The Mother of God, the most venerated woman

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Mary was called “the Mother of God”, namely the one through whose agency the Son of God in -
carnated, confirming thus the ever faith of Christians. In fact, the syntagm “the Mother of God”
had been also used by other fathers and writers of the Church, much time before the Ecumenical
Council in 431, being considered an apostolic tradition. The term was attested for the first time in
a writing belonging to Origen, the most important theologian and biblical scholar of the early
Greek Church, written in 230. Besides him, Saint Athanasius the Great (in 330), Saint Gregory the
Theologian (370) and Saint John Crysostom (400), also used the syntagm referring to Mary, the
Mother of God. A special fact referring to honouring the Mother of God is that, besides the Ortho -
dox and Roman Catholic Churches and nonCalcedonian rites, which worship Her specially, even
the promoters of the Protestant Reformation highlighted the honour deserved by the Virgin Mary,
asserting at the same time, in the spirit of the genuine Christian Tradition, Her eternal virginity.
Surprisingly, the Virgin Mary also enjoys a special honour in the Muslim religion. No other woman
draws more attention in the Koran (that is the holy book of the Islamic religion, written in Arabic,
containing the word of Allah as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad) more than the Mother of
God, being considered the holiest, most pious and virtuous woman. Moreover, Chapter 19 in the
Koran appears under the title of the name of the Virgin Mary telling Her life, given that in the 114
chapters of the holy book of Islam only 8 chapters are named with the name of people. Following
the Koran, the Muslims consider that Mary gave birth to Jesus only by the will of Allah, being a
Virgin and remaining thus for the rest of Her life. In the Hebrew language, “Mary” means “Lady”,
“Mistress”, “The Chosen One”, and some researchers, considering that the name comes from the
Egyptian language, translated “Marye” through “the beloved one”. The first person mentioned in
the Holy Scripture who wore the name was Miriam, the sister of the Prophet Moses. In the first
century AD (“in the year of the Lord”), the name “Mary” seemed to be quite spread, the New Test -
ament mentioning, besides the Mother of God, many persons wearing the name, specifically Mary
the sister of Martha, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jacob, Mary the mother of Mark and so
on. Thanks to the honour She enjoyed among Christian peoples, “Mary” became a widely spread
name, being perhaps the name worn by most women.

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God is showing on the mountain
The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor is one of the few wonders performed by Jesus Christ on Himself.
On that occasion, three of His desciples glimpsed the light of the divine nature of the Saviour. The
Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ happened several months before His Passion, death and Resur -
rection. Thus, in His third year of preaching, Christ repeatedly told His disciples that He had to be cru -
cified, also telling them about the Resurrection that would follow His Passion on the Cross. Much more
sensitive to predicting the Passion than to the words on what would follow after that, the Holy Apostles
became sadder and sadder, doubting if Jesus might not have been the expected Messiah. The Moment
of Transfiguration or the moment when Jesus showed the light of His divinity as much as possible to
the three Apostles – Peter, Jacob and John – was, according to some commentators, a mean to
strengthen the faith of His disciples, in order them not to leave their Teacher before the Cross.
According to evangelic-
al accounts, when the
wonder was performed
Jesus was accompan-
ied, besides by His dis-
ciples, by Moses and
Elias the Prophet. Des-
pite all the accusations
brought against Him by
the then scholars be-
cause He did not ob-
serve the law issued by
God for the chosen
people through Moses,
the Saviour had said
that He did not break
the law, but He carried
it out. Likewise, He had
explained them many
times the verses in the
Old Testament that
talked about Him as the expected Messiah, informed by God to the chosen people through proph -
ets. The presence of Moses and Elias the Prophet in the context has a special meaning, being actu -
ally one of the indisputable proofs of the messianic mission of the Saviour. The overwhelming
light that surrounded Jesus, the voice heard in the cloud and the presence of the two prophets of
the Old Testament attested that the Saviour had came and Christ is now witnessed by the Father.
Likewise, in the Jewish folklore of 2000 years ago, people considered that Moses – not only Elias
the Prophet – was also taken with the body to heaven by God because the place where he was
buried was never discovered. Therefore, somewhat, both the Saviour and Moses and Elias the
Prophet were some vanquishers of death. However, the two prophets only foreshadowed the Re-

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surrection and eternal life brought by Jesus, the Son of God.

The Transfiguration is the newest among royal
feasts. In the beginning, the feast took place
locally and was the yearly anniversary of the
dedication of the church built in the 14 th cen-
tury by Empress Helen, the mother of Emper-
or Constantine the Great, on Mount Tabor, the
place where the wonder took place. Some re-
searchers maintain that the feast might have
replaced an old heathen feast, dedicated to
goddess Diana. The feast of the Transfigura-
tion began being mentioned in documents in
the first half of the 5th century, since Patriarch
Proclus of Constantinople, Patriarch Cyril of
Alexandria and Pope Leo the Great delivered
solemn speeches. It seems that the feast had
been generalised in the whole East by the 8 th
century, when Saints John of Damascus and
Cosmas of Maiuma composed hymns for the
service of the day. In the West, although celeb-
rated sporadically as far back as the 7 th cen-
tury, the feast of the Transfiguration was gen-
eralised only in the 15th century, as a result of the decision taken by Pope Callixtus III.
Although chronologically the wonder was performed short time before the Passion and the Re -
surrection, the Transfiguration is celebrated before the Resurrection and the Nativity of the Lord
because when fixing the holidays during the year, the Church also took into account the season
when it was fixed. It is not for nothing that the Nativity of the Lord is celebrated in the winter,
when a day is shorter, but for Christ is “the Light of the world”. Likewise, the rebirth of Nature in
every spring coincides with the feast of the Resurrection. Naturally, the Transfiguration was fixed
to be celebrated on a day in August because it was noticed from experience that since then,
Nature gets a new look. The Transfiguration is celebrated every time in the Dormition Fast. The
fast is a fixed one, starting on 1 st and ending on 15th August, and was ordered by the Church in re-
membrance of the chosen virtues of the Mother of God. In the beginning, neither the length of
time nor the kind of fasting were the same everywhere. Thus, until the standardisation decided
by the Eastern Church in the 12 th century by a local council held in 1166, its length of time varied
from one to thirty days. The Dormition Fast is easier to be observed than Lent, but harder than
Advent. The only day when the faithful are dispensed to fish is on the Transfiguration, and if the
feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God falls on a Wednesday or a Friday, the faithful are not
allowed to eat meat at all, but they are again dispensed to fish.
34 The Transfiguration of the Lord

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The oldest icons in the world
An icon changes what the Gospel asserts through words into an image. The Christian art represented by
an icon begins its history 2000 years ago when the new faith was spreading and catacombs prove it.
The Seventh Ecumenical Council held in 787 defended the veneration of holy icons against the Icono -
clastic heresy, namely the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious icons
and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. The oldest icons, which
were kept until nowadays, date back to the 6th - 7th centuries, many of them being in the treasure of
Saint Catherine's Monastery in Mount Sinai. The monastery lodges one of the most important collec -
tions of icons. Some of them are appreciated as true masterpieces by art lovers all over the world. The
icons were painted throughout the 6 th - 19th centuries, every period enriching the vast collection of the
The encaustic technique, namely

the technique used for painting
the first icons, uses wax and ve-
getal pigments, mixed at high
temperature. The Saint Cather-
ine's Monastery in Mount Sinai
houses many icons painted with
the help of the encaustic tech-
nique. The technique had been
used by the 7th century AD (that is
“in the year of the Lord”), when
the process of painting in tem-
pera replaced it. One of the most
known icons in the world, which
represents the icon of Christ Pan-
tocrator, lies in the monastery
treasure. Restorers prove that, in
the beginning, the icon was
painted in the 6th -7th centuries through the encaustic technique. On the first icon is presumed to
be added a tempera painting in the 13 th century. The icons in the monastery collection, which
were painted in the second hald of the first millenium, come from the workshops of the monas -
teries in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Cappadocia. They are special particularly thanks to the fact
that the time when they were painted coincides with the one of the Arab occupation, which
hindered the contacts between Eastern regions and Greek Christian centres. Thus, the icons dat -
ing back to that time come more from a popular art, less refined in features, using a primitive
realism, in the spirit of the local tradition of the Coptic and Syrian Church. Nevertheless, the cre-
ation of that age was one of the most important sources of the Christian art of the centuries to
come. The icons from 1080 to 1200 are distinguished through a good balancing of the composi -
tion, the expressive force of the faces, the harmony of colours and high frequency of the theme
“the Transfiguration”. One of the most known icons concerning “the Transfiguration” is on the

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iconostasis of Saint Catherine's Monastery is Mount Sinai and dates back to the 12 th century. The
known icon of the ladder to Heaven, the one painted according to “the Ladder of the Divine As -
cent”, the known work of Saint John of the Ladder, also dates back to that time.
In the 13th century, a new trend arose within icon art,
namely the one of restoring plastic elements and coming
back to a natural adjustment and as concerned represent-
ing the groups. The 13th century thus prepared what is
known under the name of “the Renaissance in the pa-
laeologan age”. It is marked by a variety of styles taken
over from the South of Italy, Constantinople or Cyprus. The
art of that time produced Post-Byzantine art and permit-
ted the influences of the West Renaissance. Archangel Gab-
riel, an icon of Crete dating back to the 16 th century, is rep-
resentative for that time. Beside it, with clear elements of
the influence of the Renaissance, the Spanish representa-
tion of Saint Catherine dating back to the 15 th century is
noteworthy. One of the most impressive icons in the big
church of the monastery, decorating the apsis of the altar,
is the large mosaic of “the Transfiguration”, a favourite
theme of the iconographer monks on Mount Sinai, the
mountain being the place where God and Prophets Moses
and Elias met. Also called apse, an apsis is a small area, of-
ten in the shape of a semicircle, usually at the east end of a
church. The beauty, the old character and the variety of
painting techniques, the good conservation make the icons
of Saint Catherine's Monastery a representative treasure
for the entire Christianity. Nothing from what is specific to Orthodox icons remained unrepresen -
ted among the icons at the monastery, and thanks to the fact that the oldest and some of the most
beautiful icons are kept there, the monastery is also nowadays one of the most important points
of pilgrimage.
The Holy Tradition says that Jesus sent the image of His face to King Abgar of Edessa. Being ill, he
called the Saviour through a letter, to heal him. The Redeemer washed His face, asked for a fabric
like a headkerchief, wiped Himself with it and the printed face of Him remained on it. He gave the
headkerchief to the messenger of the king and told him that the king would recover after he
would receive a disciple of Him to listen to his teaching. In the first Christian centuries, people
talked about “the headkerchief of Abgar” as “the true image of the Saviour”. The Holy Tradition
compared the happening with the one in the life of Saint Veronica, who, seeing Christ when climb -
ing the Golgotha, gave Him the headkerchief she had to wipe His face and, likewise, the face of the
Saviour was printed. The Holy Tradition also says that the Holy Evangelist Luke, who was a doctor
and a painter, represented the face of the Mother of God on wood. The catacombs of Rome contain
painting of biblical inspiration, dating back to the first Christian centuries.
The Saint Catherine's Monastery is an Orthodox one situated on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth
of an inaccessible gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai (Mount Horeb in the Old Testament) in Saint
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Katherine City in Egypt, the place where Moses received the Tables of the Law. Mount Sinai is also
known and venerated by the Muslims, who call it “the Mount of Moses”. Thus, the area is holy for
three great religions, namely Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Judaism is the religion of the Jewish
people, based mainly on the Bible (that is the Christian Old Testament) and the Talmud, which is a
collection of ancient writings on Jewish law and traditions. The Saint Catherine's Monastery is
one of the pilgrimage sites most visited by Christians, being an important monastic centre as far
back as the 4th century AD. Among the most precious ecclesiastical objects, there is library rich in
many ancient manuscripts (among which there is also the Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldest
translations of the Bible in Greek) and icons dating back to the earliest times of Christianity. The
geographical isolation of the building, climatic conditions and the great care helped in keeping
the liturgical objects, gathered during many centuries of history.

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The Nativity of the Lord
The first fixed royal feast in the chronological order of the life of the Saviour is the Nativity, also
known by the people under the name of Christmas, on 25 th December, is the yearly holiday of the Birth
of Jesus Christ in the flesh. It seems to be the first holiday specific to Christianity, among the ones of
the Saviour, although it is not as old as Pascha and Pentecost, whose origins are related to the corres -
ponding Jewish feasts.
According to the mentality of the first Christians, which was inherited from the ancient world,
people focused on the death and resurrection day of the worshipped deities, and not on the one of
their birth. Therefore, almost the entire Veneration of the Redeemer in the primitive Church was
focused around His Passion and Resurrection. Christian calendars also do not keep in memory of
posterity the days when saints and martyrs were born, but the ones when they passed to God.
Therefore, the Nativity of the Lord is generally considered as a feast newer than Pascha in origin.
Its old character can be retrospectively followed in documents until about the end of the 3 rd cen-
tury, when, during the persecution of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, a great heap of people
died burnt alive in a church of Nicomedia, where they had gathered together to celebrate the Eve
of the Nativity of the Lord.
Although celebrated in the whole Christian world,
Western Christians were different from the East-
ern ones in the beginning, as concerned the day
on which the feast was celebrated. Thus, in the
West, at least since about the 3 rd century, the
Nativity of the Lord was celebrated, like today, on
25th December, according to an old tradition, after
which a census of Caesar Augustus, during whose
reign the Holy Evangelist Luke said that the Nativ-
ity of the Lord happened, took place on 25 th
December 754 AUC (that is “from the founding of
the City of Rome”). According to Saint John
Chrysostom, the tradition is very old in Rome, and
there, the Nativity of the Lord might have been
celebrated right from the start on 25 th December.
After a short while, Saint Jerome, when delivering
a speech in Jerusalem on 25th December, talked
about the same matter, and people all over the
world were convinced that it dates back from
times immemorial. Likewise, according to Saint
Augustine the Blessed, the Church agreed to fix
the day of the Nativity of the Lord on the eighth day of the calends of January (on 25 th December).
In the East, however, until about the second half of the 4 th century, the Nativity of the Lord was
celebrated on the same day as the Theophany of the Lord, namely on 6 th January, and the double
feast was generally named the Feast of the Appearance of the Lord. The Eastern practice relied on
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the tradition that the Redeemer might have received Baptism on the same day when He had born,
according to the account of the Holy Gospel, which says that, when He came to River Jordan to re -
ceive Baptism, He was about thirty years old. Actually, however, both in the East and in the West,
the Nativity of the Lord was celebrated on the same day right from the start, related to the winter
solsitce, with the difference that the Orientalsfixed it, according to the old calculation, on 6 th Janu-
ary, while the West, headed by Rome, recalculated it, fixing it depending on the right day on which
the solstice fell at that time, namely on 25 th December. It was considered that the Feast of the
Nativity was separated from the one of Theophany, being celebrated on 25 th December, in the
Church of Antioch, in about 375, then in Constantinople in 379, when Saint Gregory of Nazianzus,
delivered a famous solemn sermon, which later would serve hymnographer Cosmas of Maiuma as
a source of inspiration to compose the Canon of the Nativity. After several years, the day of 25 th
December was also introduced for celebrating Christmas in Antioch, as the Homily on the Nativ -
ity, delivered in Antioch by Saint John Chrysostom in 386, and the one mentioned above proves it.
In time, namely in about the first half of the 5 th century, the day of 25 th December, the day of 25 th
December was also introduced as one of celebrating the Nativity in the Church of Alexandria, then
in the one of Jerusalem, thus generalising in the Eastern Christianity. Only the Armenians still cel -
ebrate the Nativity of the Lord also on 6 th January (when they also celebrate the Theophany of the
Lord), like in olden times.
When fixing the day of 25 th December for celeb-
rating the Nativity of the Lord it was also perhaps
taken into account that most ancient peoples cel-
ebrated some solar holidays that fell around the
winter solstice, namely on 22 nd December, feasts
that were combined with wild and dance parties
and that had to be replaced by Christian Christ-
mas. The Church wanted to oppose a Christian
feast especially to the cult of Mithras, the god of
the Sun, a veneration of Eastern origin, which
strongly competed with Christianity in about the
3rd century, especially among the Roman army,
and whose central holiday fell aroung the winter
solstice, namely on 22 nd -23rd December, being re-
garded as the birthday of the Sun god, a winner in
the fight against cold and darkness, and the birth-
day of the invincible Sun because since then, days
began to grow longer and nights to shorten. It is
thought that the birthday of the god Mithras, a
holiday introduced in Rome by Emperor Aurelian
in 274 might have thus been replaced with the
birthday of the Saviour. It is, howver, possible that
there was the first Christian holiday of the Nativ-
ity of Jesus on 25th December, and the attempt of Aurelian to introduce the heathen feast of Mith-
ras in 274 to replace the Christian holiday, an older one, turned out to be a lame one. The winter
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holidays of the Romans, like the Saturnalia (the holiday of the god Saturn) and Juvenalia ( the
feast of the youth or children), which fell about at the same time, were also related to natural phe -
nomena.
Once fixed to 25th December, the feast of
the Nativity of the Lord involved revis-
ing and moving or fixing the days of an
entire string of other feasts, which were
generally newer, which chronologically
depend on it, namely Circumcision of
the Lord, the Presentation of the Lord in
the Temple, Announciation of the Moth-
er of God and the Nativity of the Fore-
runner of John the Baptist. At the same
time, related to the greast feast, the cel-
ebrations of some saints of the Old and
New Testament, grouped before and
after the Nativity of the Lord, appeared
in the Eastern calendar, whose old char-
acter is attested as far back as the 4 th
century. The Feast of the Nativity of the
Lord thus became the second essential
point of the ecclesiastical year, after
Great and Holy Pascha. Because the day
of Pascha guides the entire cycle of mov-
able feasts, Christmas also orders an im-
portant cycle of fixed holidays, inter-
landed during the entire ecclesiastical
year.
As concerns the way of celebrating the
feast, the day of the Nativity of the Lord,
being regarded as one of the greatest Christian holidays, was celebrated with a great solemnity.
On the previous day, people used to fast, a custom existing since the 4 th century, priests performed
the holy service during which catechumens received Baptism, also like during Pascha and Pente-
cost, and the serice of the Great and Royal Hours, called like that because emperors also attended
them in Byzantium, were read. On the eve of the feast also, the Church Servers (priests and psalm
readers), went, like today, about the faithful houses with the icon of the Nativity to announce
them the great feast of the second day. In time, Advent was also established, as a mens of spiritual
preparation for welcoming the holiday. The feast day itself was one of rest, and even slaves were
exonerated from the usual forced labours that day. Performances and theatre games and those in
the palaestra and circuses were forbidden by civil laws. Kneeling was also forbidden both in the
Nativity Day and all the time until on the eve of Theophany, a rule that is obeyed until today by
Orthodox service books.

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The path of holiness, from history to the calendar
Holiness or Christian perfection is a wish for every believer. In the Orthodox Church, throughout its ex -
istence, there were many people that enjoyed the gift of holiness through the right belief they professed
and holy life within the Church, and then, after passing to God, through discovering their holy relics
and through the wonders they perform. These elements and criteria led to starting a canonical and statu -
able church procedure for proclaiming a saint and giving him a day on the church calendar. According
to the Orthodox Church custom, it is in use the Church to canonise a saint, but acts on the initiative of
the faithful. The solemn action of canonisation is strengthened and issued by the Holy Synod.
To canonise means to declare a de-
ceased person to be a saint and in-
clude her in the canon, or lists, of re-
cognised saints as a form of recog-
nising of the holiness of a person by
the Church authority. It is said that
canonisation is not an imitation of the
ancient heathen practice by which
heroes were considered gods, but
through it, God rewards those people
who led a holy life, becoming ex-
amples for Christians and mediators
to God as ones that also lived like or-
dinary people in the world. Recog-
nising the holiness of someone who
lived together with common people
involves a deep humbleness and spir-
itual wealth, but once recognised the
spiritual gift, the fellow creatures of
believers start honouring, worship-
ping it and asking it for help. This is
the first and most important stage
from the entire procedure of the can-
onisation of a saint. Perhaps, some-
times, believers, because they are
over-zealous, bestow a special hon-
our some neighbours living a spiritu-
al life, but who did not receive the gift
of holiness from God. Therefore, the
Church have in view certain essential conditions to attest the holiness of the life of somebody, and
the first condition is to profess the right belief positively, observed for the rest of his life and pro -
fessed through the power to suffer martyrdom, the power to suffer certain tortures, to dedicate
all his life to the highest religious experience, to perform wonders, during his life or after his

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death, to defend the right belief devotedly. These conditions are confirmed by the agreeable smell
of holiness spread after the death of a person and confirming it through the spontaneous wor -
ship. To check the holiness of unrotten bodies of some people who did not live a spiritual life, the
Church ordered when unrotten mortal remains are discovered, priests to also officiate 40 Holy
Liturgies in order God to discover His work through it. People cannot speak of holy relics when
these conditions, ordered by the Church when canonising someone, are missing.
According to a certain order estab-
lished by the Orthodox Church and a
methodology approved as far back as
2005, there is a preceding activity
with the view of proclaiming the
canonisation of a saint. Every ep-
archy has a liturgical commission
concerned with scrutinising the
deeds of the persons recognised that
they had lived a spiritual life. The
commission of the eparchy on whose
territory the saint lived or where his
holy relics were found works out a
study-document where argues for
proclaiming the canonisation. The
eparchy prepares liturgical texts,
namely the service of Vespers, Mat-
ins, the Akathist Hymn and the icon
for that saint and hold a debate on
them in a meeting of metropolitan
synod to which it belongs. All the
liturgical texts and the presented
study-document are then printed
and delivered to all the members of
the Holy Synod, in order, when the
matter will be discussed by the Holy
Synod, all the members to be aware
of the motivations that determined
the proposal. After the metropolitan
Synod expressed its opinion, revised, corrected the mistakes in liturgical texts and made recom-
mendations as concerns the icon, all the responsibility must be assumed by the Synodal Commis -
sion for canonising saints, which consists in liturgist hierarchs, hierarchs experienced in revising
worship books and representing saints in iconography. They study them and offer suggestions to
the Holy Synod. Receiving all the documents, the Holy Synod examines, studies thoroughly, and
after making sure that all the arguments are satisfactory, proclaims, decides upon canonising a
saint and includes his name in the calendar. The decision is brought to public notice through an
Orthodox tomos written by the Synodical Commission for canonising saints and, after accepting
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the synodical decision, is signed by all the members of the Holy Synod. Afterwards, follow prepar-
ations made locally. When the holy relics of the saint are discovered, they are carefully taken
from the grave where they had rested until that time, are placed in a shrine and, before the day of
declaring him a saint, the last office in remembrance of the one who is to be declared a saint takes
place, after the Holy Liturgy is celebrated, the Orthodox tomos for canonising the saint is read and
his icon is raised aloft before the faithful, according to the hymn of the saint.
The first service for canonising a saint in the Romanian Or-
thodox Church took place on 16 th August 1517, when the
Holy Hierarch Niphonus of Constantinople was declared a
saint. At that time, another saint, namely voivode Neagoe
Basarab, ruled over the country. Romanian saints were also
canonised by other Orthodox Churches. When the Romanian
Orthodox Church was granted autocephaly in 1885 as a res-
ult of repeated requests, the Holy Synod asked eparchies for
writing a reference material necessary with a view to canon-
ise the saints of the nation. The good progress was made
only on 28th February 1950 when under the chairmanship of
Patriarch Justinian Marina, the works as concerns the official
canonisation of some saints in the nation started. They came
to an end in the solemn meeting held on 10 th October 1955,
when eight new saints were given a day in the church calen-
dar, and the cult of other seven saints of other origin, but
whose holy relics are located in Romania, was generalised.
Another stage as concerns canonisation in the Romanian Or-
thodox Church took place in June 1992, when the Romanian
Orthodox calendar grew richer with 14 new saints, also taking place the generalisation of the sev -
en saints canonised in 1955 and other 24 auchthonous saints, who had lived in Romania or were
martyred there. Thus, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in its working meeting
held on 20th July 1992, solemnly declared the pious and fathers worshipped locally and canonised
them among the saints, among them Daniel the Hesychast (18 th December), Pious Teodora of
Sihla (7th August), Anthim the Iberian (27th September) and Stephen the Greast and Holy (2 nd July)
also counting, giving them a day on the church calendar. The Holy Synod ecumenically decided
they to be honoured as saints in the entire Romanian Orthodox Church, to be given a day on the
calendar, being written Synaxaria, services and their faces to be painted in icons. Likewise, it was
fixed the cult of saints of Romanian origin who lived, preached and suffered martyrdom for the
right belief in the Carpathian-Danubian-Pontic space and saints of other origin that preached and
were martyred in Romania to be generalised in the entire Romanian Orthodox Church and being
given feast days on the calendar of all the eparchies. In the last years, the Romanian Orthodox
Church officially proclaimed the canonisation of many saints, among whom the Holy Hierarch
Petru Movilă in 2002, the Holy Hierarch Dosoftei in 2005 were also counted. In the meeting of the
Holy Synod held on 6 th March 2008, it was decided to canonise nine saints that had lived in Neam ţ
County, and in the meeting held on 18 th - 19th July, the Holy Synod decided to canonise the first
Metropolitan of Walachia (3 rd July), Dionysius Exiguus (1 st September), the father of the Christian

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age and the Church Law, and the Holy Voivode Neagoe Basarab, the ruler of Walachia, a highly cul-
tivated man. In 2009, another saint, who had lived in the county of Argeş, Romania, was canon-
ised among the saints in the meeting held on 18 th -19th June to be celebrated on 26th July.
Through canonisation, an autocephalous Church expresses, on one hand, its independence from
the other sister Churches, and on the other hand, its solidarity with them, because the other local
Orthodox Churches are also invited to attend when saints are proclaimed, but also by informing
them of new canonisations among the saints. According to Orthodox hagiology, which is the sci-
ence that studies the lives of the saints from the viewpoint of literary and historical sources also
like in the Orthodox Church law, canonisation is the action through which the Church recognises,
declares and canonises the heroes of the right belief that passed to God, who are venerated on the
grounds of its dogmatic teaching. In the Church of the first centuries, canonisation developed be -
ing strongly related to the cult of martyrs, which knew a continuous evolution and led to the fix -
ing of their cult. In general, in the Eastern Church did not recognised holiness and canonised
saints on well-established criteria. However, the proclaimation of a saint was done naturally and
whenever God wished for glorifying the chosen vessel, the nicely-burning candle of holiness and
make known His work in the world by discovering the relation established between the members
of Church fighting and the ones of Church triumphant. The actions of solemn canonisation, the
special rules for saints whose relics were discovered, but also for the saints whose holy relics
were not known, services performed in honour of them, akathist hymns and so on and rules re-
commended by the present-day procedure of canonisation, which confirms the cult of these
saints honoured by the pious people, appeared only later.
44 The path of holiness, from history to the calendar

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The shepherd, the image of the leader and symbol of

humbleness
There are two conceptions on shepherds interviewing in the Holy Scripture, namely on one hand, a
shepherd symbolising the leader, both political (judge, king) and spiritual (prophet, teacher), and on the
other hand, a shepherd symbolising humbleness, which is, however, rewarded by God by giving His
gift. The image of the shepherd and flock appeared as far back as antiquity, being related to the king.
In the East, sheep and goats were domesticated in the first half of the 9 th millenium BC (that is
„before the birth of Christ”) thanks to their ability to multiply in activity, but especially thanks to
their gregarious instinct, namely the one of living in groups. Man could take the place of the lead -
er of the flock and the animals followed him docilely, unlike other more fearful animals such as
the antelope and stag or more hostile ones such as the buffalo. Royalty used the experience of life
to express its identity.
Hammurabi used the image of the shepherd just in the
preface of his set of laws called Hammurabi's Code. The
king is, therefore, the guarantee of the fulfilment of the
Law given just by the divinity, being, however, respons-
ible for administering it to be on a par with his subjects.
As sheep follow their shepherd submissively, Hammur-
abi also wanted, considering himself a shepherd, the
Babylonians to comply with the laws left by the gods
through him. In ancient societies, which used a mixed
form of grazing and agriculture, shepherds were usually
not the owners of the flocks, but only the employees of
those who owned the animals and who were especially
busying themselves with agricultural works. Likewise,
not even the king is not the perfect master of his sub-
jects, but he is only a so-called employee of gods, the
ownership upon the human race being however due to
them. Born in this Eastern environment, Israel used the
image of the shepherd for leaders especially for the
king. Yahweh firstly set judges to shepherd, then
chooses tribe Judas, which was entrusted to shepherd
the Israeli people. David, who was chosen by God to rule
an eternal dynasty, would descend from tribe Judas. Nevertheless, David himself had been a shep -
herd before coming to follow after King Saul. Therefore, when lacking in industrious kings, the Is -
raelis were dispersed through mountains like sheep without shepherd, what led the rulers of the
Israelis to be called shepherds. Many prophets of the Old Testament were even shepherds before
their prophetical calling, and many kings were called blackguards by prophets.

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Therefore, it was predicted that a true shepherd would come to take care of the flock. It was con -
sidered the coming of a king similar to David to bring peace. The king shephered relatively the
people because God remained the true shepherd, and driving away the wicked shepherds, God
Himself would finally shepherd the people. It is noticed that, on one hand, prophets announce the
rising of a new king to be an industrious shepherd, and on the other hand, it is noticed that the
Lord Himself would be the Shepherd. The wish is
satisfied in the New Testament, the Saviour Jesus
Christ being the next kin of King David, but on the
other hand, being God Himself. Jesus even calls
Himself Shepherd, the true and kind shepherd, in
contradistinction with the false, paid one, who be-
nefits from the flock. At the approarch of His Pas-
sion, when His disciples left Him horrified, Christ
showed the fulfillment of Prophet Zechariah,
namely when the shepherd is smitten, his sheep
scattered, but through His Resurrection, the Re-
deemer would gather together His Church like
some sheep in order the flock to be finally together
with its shepherd. Nevertheless, the Day of Judge-
ment will be equated with the separation between
sheep and goats. Like in the Old Testament, the
term “shepherd” is also applied to the leaders of
the Church, who are ordained by Jesus, but He is
still “the Great Shepherd of sheep” or “the Ruler of
Shepherds”. However, besides the grand image re-
lated to royalty, one can also notice an image con-
nected with the shepherd with his humble social
status. Shepherds by occupation were actually
humble people, belonging to the poor sections of the population, especially that they were not the
owners of the flocks but only those entrusted with lands for using them. In antiquity, especially in
Egypt, shepherds used to be connected with poverty and begging because in times of famine,
shepherds of Syria and Palestine came to Egypt where they found food grains or grasslands. Spir-
itually, shepherds represent humble people, who, however, enjoy the knowledge of God, becoming
His people. They are repelled by the Egyptians, the kind of arrogant people, who despise them,
but who would see the plagues that would rush upon them. Nevertheless, alegorically, Egypt rep-
resents the Devil. The humble shepherds would be however the first ones who would hear the
good news of the birth of the Saviour.
46 The shepherd, the image of the leader and symbol of humbleness

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Praying in church
The Church is the House of God, the place where Christians meet the unbloody sacrified Christ and the
Holy Spirit Who gives of His gifts. The Church, a pre-eminently worship place, is seeked every day by
people looking for divine silence and blessing. They come for profound meditation, seek the advice of
God as concern their present day problems, relieve their feelings under the stole of their father confess -
or, light a candle and say a prayer for those departed from this life, thank for the succour they received
from God or open their heart to the Redeemer as if to an old friend. A stole is a piece of clothing con -
sisting of a wide band of cloth or fur worn by a priest.
There are many reasons for which Christians cross the threshold
of the holy worship place and, likewise, there are many and dif-
ferent ways in which they worship in church, as every Christian
deems it right to do that. Doing not observing a certain rule,
some Christians trouble the others around them, turning out to
be a matter of temptation and they come home less reformed
than they were before. Firstly, Christians must also make the
sign of the Cross whenever they pass by a church, but also when
getting into it. They must not forget that they go their right hand,
united with three fingers on their forehead, they say “In the
name of the Father” at the belly, “the Son” at the right shoulder
and then “And the Holy Spirit. Amen” to the left one. This holy
prayer must be said in front of the church. Once entering into the
holy worship place, they must forget about their idle thoughts
and worries, retire and say a prayer from the liturgy book.
Then, Christians must not go directly to the shrine where holy
relics are stored or the wonder-working icon is situated, but they must firstly worship God.
Therefore, they must direct their steps towards the iconostasis, under the candelabrum, where
they should make the sign of the Cross three times, after which they have to bend their body for -
wards until the right hand, if stretched, touches the ground. On the right, there is a lectern smaller
than the left one, bearing the icon of the Blessed Virgin. There is the icon of the patron saint, the
saint of the day or the Resurrection on it. Christians must approach the lectern, leave a relatively
small place between them and it, and make the sign of the Cross twice, say the hymn of the saint
or feast, kiss the icon, retire a little and make the sign of the Cross for the last time. The rule is due
to every icon, but when alone and nobody is waiting behind them, they can bend their knees and
grant them a short grace for praying. However, they would better pray somewhere in the church
where they cannot disturb anyone because God is everywhere. Behind the iconostasis, there is a
royal icon of the Saviour Jesus Christ, on the iconostasis. In front of the icon, Christians must say a
prayer recommended by the rule of the preparation of the priest. Then they have to take to the
right, before the deaconal door, where they must say the hymn of the Holy Archangels Michael
and Gabriel, then to the icon of the patron saint or the feast represented on it. After also kissing
the other icons on the right, if present, they should retire under the large candelabrum, without
passing before the holy doors, situated between the icon of Jesus Christ and the one of the

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Blessed Virgin. They should do that out of respect for the holy altar and because only priests and
archpriests pass through the royal doors, which represent Christ during the service.
Next, they must leave the candelabrum and take the left-
hand side, to the iconostasis bearing the icon of the Virgin
Mary and say the prayer that may be also repeated in front
of the royal icon, which is also dedicated to the Mother of
God, situated behind it on the iconostasis. After that, the
royal icon of the Blessed Virgin, the deaconal door on the
left and the icon of Saint John the Baptist, Saint Nicholas, or
another saint follows, before whose Christians should say
the hymn of that saint. After coming again under the cande-
labrum, they must make the sign of the Cross again and dir-
ect their steps towards the two iconostases from the en-
trance to the porch, bearing the Saviour Jesus Christ on the
right and the Mother of God on the left, but only where they
can be found. An iconostasis is a screen bearing icons, sep-
arating the sanctuary of many Eastern churches from the
nave, namely the central part of a church building, intended
to accommodate most of the congregation. A porch is a
small area at the entrance to a building such as a house or a
church, that is covered by a roof and often has walls. Next,
they must be going to the holy relics, which are usually situated on the left, and must be not ex -
cessive and zealous, but to observe the same rule. After kissng them, they should retreat and
thank the saint whose relics they kissed for mediating between them and God, because he does
not help them, but his prayers lead their prayer closer to God. Christians must be always abstin -
ent, try to be as discreet as possible, not talk uselessly and not say prayers aloud and gesticulat -
ing. They should prayer more in their mind than speaking and stay either upright or on their
knees when praying because even the way of taying on knees is important. After leaving the
church, they must have peace of mind and a feeling of pleasure, a clear conscience that they have
said their prayers without disturbing other people.
48 Praying in church
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The hermit that tamed wild beasts
Patrician Theodotus and his wife Rufina hailed from the Syrian province of Gangra. The high official
of the citadel brought them to Caesarea in Cappadocia to ruler Faustus, one of the most awful perse -
cutors against Christians. Rufina was pregnant and hardly stood the passions of the torturers. God
ordered a woman named Ammia to look after him as her son. Because the first word after reaching the
age of five years old was “mama”, the baby was given the name of Mammas. He was brought even be -
fore Emperor Aurelian, who tried to make him give up his faith and worship idol Separdis. He was al -
ways surrounded by wild beasts like a shepherd in the middle of his flock. By the commnad of the high
ribly. Rufina was pregnant and hardly stood the passions of the persecutors. Therefore,
Theodotus prayed to God to receive their souls before giving up their true faith because of the
sins. After Theodotus breathed his last, his wife gave birth prematurely to a blessed son, the fruit
of the sufferings and love of sacrifice for Christ. After the birth of her son, Rufina also passed to
God.
After Theodotus and Rufina were called to Christ, God ordered, through his angel, a woman of
Caesarea, whose name was Ammia, a woman of noble birth and who confessed the right belief, to
ask the high official for the bodies of the two saints, who had been sent to jail, to bury them hon -
ourably, and to look after the baby as her son. Thanks to the Divine Order the heart of the high of-
ficial calmed down, and Ammia succeeded in burying the bodies of the two martyrs in a honour-
able place, namely her garden. The baby was cared for affectionately by the Christian woman,
who loved him as her own descendant. By being five years old, he did not say anything. Because

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the first word he said was “mama”, the baby was named Mammas. He was educated at the best
schools of that time, being different from the others through his extraordinary cleverness. Emper-
or Aurelian, an awful persecutor of those who refused honouring idols, ascended the throne of
Rome. Not only men, but also women and children were obliged to make sacrifices to the gods.
The faith of the baby did not remain obvious for long time, and he excited, like his parents in
olden times, the envy of the persecutor high officials. At that time, Democlitus, whoever had re-
placed Faustus and who was also mad with envy against Christians, officiated as the high official
of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Young Mammas was brought to him for justifying himself and for be -
ing tempted to the idolatrous faith. Mammas was only 15 years old and he had been also left the
second mother, Ammia, recently. Asked if he was a Christian, Mammas recognised that straight
away, being ready to accept any torment for his faith plainly mocking the idle belief of those who
scouted him.
This time also, the high official needed the ap-
proval of the emperor to torment Mammas, who
was of noble descent, after his parents. After the
emperor agreed with him, ruler Democlitus put
young Mammas to the rack. He was taken just be-
fore the king, who tried to make him give up his
faith and to sacrifice to idol Separdis, but the
young man preferred the eternal kingdom to the
passing one. For his fearlessness, he was burnt
with candles, beaten with stones, thrown into the
sea for getting drowned, but he emerged , being
helped by the angel of God, who was always with
him, encouraging him. The rulers had decided to
throw the saint into the sea, but God ordered His
angels to protect him, and they carried him off
and took him on a mount, in the wilderness near
Caesarea in Cappadocia. There, the saint lived
like the second Moses, fasting for 40 days and 40
nights, spending his time in union with wild
beasts. In those places, Mammas built a church
where he prayed and read the Holy Scripture. He
was always surrounded by wild beasts like a
shepherd amidst his flock. The saint made cheese from their milk and shared it to the poor. The
rumour about the hermit that tamed wild beasts spread to the heathen rulers of Caesarea. Doing
not known his identity, they considered him a wizard and sent many soldiers to bring him to the
citadel. Arriving near the places where he laboured, the soldiers were welcomed even by Mam-
mas, who received them as if they were his brethren. Mammas discovered his identity, telling
them that he would come to the citadel by himself for staying before the high official. During his
journey to Caesarea, Mammas was accompanied by a lion, which stayed at the gates of the citadel.
After he recognised Christ again before the heathen persecutors, Saint Mammas is put to the most
awful tortures, namely beaten with iron nails, sent to jail, thrown into a burning furnace to wild
50 Saint Mammas, the hermit that tamed wild beasts

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beasts, and beaten with stones. Seeing that any punishment did not affect him, the persecutors
decided to throw him into a hot oven, but Mammas would escape after three days in sound
health and unharmed. Then, the saint was thrown to wild beasts, but not even that time anything
happened to him because wild beasts recognised him as a shepherd. Many of those present be -
lieved in the might of God, which visibly worked through His servant Mammas. Then, God made
the mouth of the lion, which had come with him, open and speak with human speech to those
present recognising his master. By the order of the high official, Mammas was pierced with a pole,
passing away in one of the grottos of those places. His holy relics were carefully buried by believ-
ers in the same place where he had passed to God, and later Syrian Christians would build a
church there. The saint appears in icons close to a lion. He is celebrated by the Orthodox Church
on 2nd September together with his parents, namely the Holy Martyrs Theodotus and Rufina.

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Saint Basil, a teacher of monastic life
Remarkable people by their spiritual and intellectual formation have come out of Cappadocia, a
province of Asia Minor, formerly a part of the Byzantine Empire, nowadays included in modern Tur- Tur-
key. Specialists in patrology identified more than 50 saints that hailed from Cappadocia in the church
calendar, among whom Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa are recognised
names in the history of the Church through their theological, pastoral and apologetical-missionary work
left to future generations. In 2009, 1630 years elapsed from the death of Saint Basil the Great and 1680
years passed from the birth of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, two of the top saints of Christian antiquity.
Both of them are still grades for the way in which they understood to experience the Christian faith.
In Cappadocia, the first forms of monasti-
cism appeared under the influence of classic
Syrian monasticism, within which at the be-
ginning of the 4th century, the Mesalian
heresy appeared. Saints Gregory of Nazian-
zus and Basil the Great are not the founders
of Cappadocian monasticism, but its re-
formers, and their reform, especially the
one made by Basil the Great gave a kind of
monachism valid until today, and the mon-
asticism of nowadays would have much to
gain if it would rediscover the power rep-
resented by Basilian monastic orders. In Ar-
menia, Pontus and Paphlagonia, the organ-
isation of the first monasteries was due to
Eustathios, who became a metropolitan in
356. He organised a real congregation. A
congregation is a group of people who are
gathered together in a church to worship
God, not including the priest and choir (that
is a group of people who sing together, for
example in church services or public per-
formances). Eustathios was the son of Bish-
op Eulalius of Sebaste in Armenia. After a
period of time in which he lived in Egypt, he
would found a series of monastic com-
munities with a very rigorous program. As a
result of the sermons of Eustathios, who
had become a metropolitan, some members
of the family of Saint Basil, Naucratius and Macrina, embraced monasticism in about the 350s.
Basil, returned from studies in Athens, was attracted both by the person of Eustathios, whom he
considered a philosopher, and the form of monasticism he had promoted. It seems that he was
52 Saint Basil, a teacher of monastic life

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not very convinced of the rigourism promoted by Eustathios. He would go to Palestine and Egypt
taking knowledge undoubtedly of the kind of monasticism of those areas. It is not known in which
communities he arrived, but he did seem very charmed even at the kind of monasticism he ascer-
tained there. He was rather attracted by the theology devised in those areas. Saint Basil fixed
himself in Annesi (a property of his family) and in the monastery founded there, he would think
of preparing some monastic rules, formulated not only disciplinarily, but also theologically. Saint
Basil wanted to motivate the monastic vocation theologically. In about 350, there were very con-
cise monastic orders in Egypt. As far back as 360, immediately after he entered monastic life,
Saint Basil would sketch the main point of what he wanted monastic life to be. Consequently,
monachism had to be a practice in which someone renounced not only wordly pursuits, but also
their own selfishness, which would ensure removing the passions fixed themselves in the self of
everybody, which may corrupt the conscience of any monk. Renouncing wordly pursuits had to
lead to quieting the conscience of every monk, namely the serious motivation of this kind of
Christian life, which would be possible only if someone followed Christ. It involves some essential
forms of behaviour carried out through piece of mind and focusing it on the main point, reading
the Holy Scripture, praying, moderation and humbleness. It must be seen even in the way
someone eats and dresses. Unlike the monastic system imposed by Eustathios, Saint Basil would
prove an understanding more balanced, more shaded as concerned monastic life. He would turn
out to be a ceaselessly missionary for drawing as many people as possible towards the monastic
system he suggested and came off victorious. He also created a real congregation of monasteries
and nunneries, not only secluded from the world but also in towns. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus,
who had just come from studies, also came to Annesi. The two friends met again, both Basil and
Gregory having knowledge of the ascetic life of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Saint Basil had visited
the monastic communities, Saint Gregory, although he had lived in Palestine (Caesarea Maritima)
and Egypt (Alexandria), did not talked about the possible contacts with Palestinian or Egyptian
ascetics. However, he had the talent for monasticism within him.
He himself told that, while a child, he dreamt that two beautiful virgins named Chastity and Mod -
eration, bent down above his head one night, who said to him to join them and they would elevate
him to the light of the immortal Trinity. Walking up the next morning, young Gregory decided to
keep chastity for the rest of his life. He however decided to embrace ascetic life, after the experi -
ence he had had when trying to go from Alexandria to Athens for studying, namely the ship where
he lied was caught in the storm and drifted for twenty days, stirred by the waves and carried
away by ambition. He lived terrible moments, but finally the ship arrived at Rhodes. After that un-
happy incident in his life, he decided to devote his life to God. He would go to Athens, where he
would meet Saint Basil, with whom he formed the friendship that became famous in the history of
the Church. Saint Gregory lived like a monk also after he became a bishop. Without giving mon -
astic orders, his viewpoints as concerned ascetic life can be discovered especially in his lyrics. The
two monks came to Annesi having the idea that monachism needed not also orders, but especially
the theological basis of some rules and the ascetic ideal. Monks had to know theology in as much
as the teachers of the Church (who were not always only monks but professionals) did theology in
the great theological schools, as were the ones of Alexandria, Caesarea in Palestine, Antioch,
Edessa, to which the specific feature of monasticism was added. Thus, the initiated the first col-
lection of ascetic texts in the history of monachism under the name of “The Philokalia”, initially

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with texts selected from the work of Origen. Saint Basil founded monasteries not only in secluded
area, but also in towns. His friend, Saint Gregory, would be a real contributor to him as concerned
his action. In institutions of charity, which were going to bear his name (the Basiliad), monks
worked.
For the newly-founded monasteries, Saint Basil would
set orders. They would actually fill a gap, both of spir-
itual and theological order. The basis of spiritual rules
always had a theological nature, not only disciplinary
or practical. The strong personality of the archbishop
of Caesarea knew to give that refreshed monastic sys-
tem an impetus so strong that, within some years, the
entire monachism would depend on the authority, if
not administrative, at least morally-spiritual, of the
great Cappadocian Father within the space stretching
from the Bosporus Strait to Antioch and from the
springs of the Tigris River and the Euphrates River to
the Aegean Sea. The monastic rules of Saint Basil con-
cern monastic life very complicated. They can be fo-
cused on three aspects, namely the sense of propor-
tion, their theological nature, the plenty of rules. It
must be noticed that the disciples of Saint Basil, since
the 4th century, spread to the entire East, either by
founding a Basilian community or by adopting the Ba-
silian monastic system in the communities that
already existed. According to the archbishop of
Caesarea in Cappadocia, all the monastic orders are moral rules, not disciplinary or administrat-
ive. To formulate them, Saint Basil used his philosophical culture, but especially the Holy Scrip -
ture. Saint Basil does not recommend eremitic life because the one who lives in seclusion from his
neighbours can run the risk of considering himself perfect whenever his shortcomings are not ob-
vious and improved through living a life in community. Living a life in community brings an addi-
tional value to the work of every monk, because, unlike individual life, it can simultaneously carry
out many orders. Entering a monastery would imply a careful and complex examination. Both in
the time of Saint Basil and later, monasteries had schools. Saint Basil draws the attention of
people to the children educated carefully in the monastery, namely they will be accepted by the
monastic community only at the age when they could take that decision by themselves respons -
ibly (especially as concerns the vote of chastity). The ones who cannot assume the vote must be
allowed free. Saint Basil recommends moderation everything people do. Moderation must be ex-
pressed through proportion and simplicity, namely people can take everything they need from
everything. An abbot plays a vital part in the community, but he would be controlled by the coun -
cil of those advanced in years.

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Both the Great Orders and the Minor ones would regulate work, prayer and all kinds of obedi-
ence, namely monastic troubles. Unlike the Messalians, Saint Basil considers that work is abso -
lutely necessary and, moreover, a prayer can be associated with work, when it is not possible oth-
erwise. People should pray in groups at sunrise, at hours three, six and nine, evening prayer, the
pre-vespers service and the mid-night prayers service. The Messalians do not exclude the indi-
vidual prayer, just because the monk is a man of prayer. Saint Basil says that a prayer, like any as-
cetic practice, aims at uniting with God and perceiv-
ing that union because it ensures the effective parti-
cipation in the kingdom of God, the aim of Christian
like and especially the one of a monk. If some Christi-
ans chose to live an ascetic life to get to the kingdom
of God, they did it because they had perceived ascetic
life was suitable more for them with a view to ac-
cessing the kngdom of God, not for being prior safer
(it requires many burdens) or fore being more priv-
iledged. Because it contains an element of risk, it re-
quested many orders, among which the ones of Saint
Basil represented a small part of it. Through what
they represented within the Church, the Cappado-
cian saints, who came from monks, played a major
part in the development of spirituality especially re-
garding the monastic order. Saint Basil considered
that a monastery where monks lived a lived a life in
community life as the most adequate environment
for developing their virtues. Saint Basil was inclined
more towards the contemplative life of a hermit. No
one does absolutise, however, any of the forms of
monastic life. It is important people to choose one of
them, namely the one perceived by them that is suitable for them to meet the demands that are
actually due to all Christians. All Christians have access to holiness, but monks can gain better ac-
cess to it. The Cappadocian saint, either they issued monastic orders or not, are still fathering
Christian monachism because they were, first of all, genuine Christians and since they knew the
vocation of Christians and took it seriously. They like Christian vocation facing heresy and the
light-mindedness of fashionableness, assuming all the risks. According to their thinking and the
practice of the Church, monasticism essentially presupposes orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Orthop-
raxy is a term derived from Greek (ὀρθοπραξις) meaning "correct action/activity", and is a reli-
gion that places emphasis on conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace etc.
A monk must defend orthodoxy being conscious that he is not its protector, but he lives it in the
Church. He must be also a realistic person, a ware of the context in which he lives the eternal val-
ues of the Church disciplining his way of life through the right belief and and checking his right
belief the way in which he makes the love towards God work towards his neighbours.
Saint Basil was interested in the fact that a monk had to be firstly a good Christian. To do that, the
monk would have to confess the right belief, keep the commandments, receive the Holy Sacra-

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ments and lead a life in accordance with the logics of Baptism and Eucharist. Faith involves ac -
cepting what is heard from the Holy Scripture unhesitatingly, firmly as concerns the truth of what
is preached through the grace of God. The one who falsifies something written there or adds
something new of what is not written rejects the faith. Faith is not ideology and has to even lead
to ideology, but to a way of living determined by the firm confidence in the truth of inspired
words. It will work with love. It is about the way of activating faith coordinated by keeping divine
commandments that concern God and the neighbour. Consequently, the love for God is marked by
keeping the commandments with the intention of glorifying God and the love for the neighbours
is distinguished by acting for the interest of the one people love both as concerns his soul and his
body. It is specific to Christians to be born from heavens through the Baptism in water and Spirit,
purify themselves through the blood of Christof any stains of body and soul, then eat the body of
Christ and drink His blood. For Saint Basil, the fundamental order a monk should keep is included
in the New Testament. The two order, minor and major, are, however, actually answers given by
him to some questions or some states of affairs he met on the occasion of his missionary-pastoral
visits. Later, they were considered normative-natured orders. The right belief and keeping the
commandments are the forms of manifestation of faithfulness to the great Emperor. To keep the
commandments, it needs focusing on the final objective, which are the treasures promised in the
kingdom of God. In this respect, it is necessary a monk to separate from the world, live an eremit -
ic life, but to live in a monastery (another kind of society). According to Saint Basil, the Greek idea
according to which man is a sociable being meets the commandment of loving the neighbour in
the New Testament. One cannot entirely keep the fundamental commandment leading an eremit -
ic life. Leaving the citadel has, according to Saint Basil, as the object getting ahead of those who
are not afraid of God (and who divert the attention of the others), but also for getting rid of their
old habits and being able to pray continuously.

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Gregory of Nyssa, the philosopher and mystic of the 4 th

century
A younger brother of Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory of Nyssa is, among the Cappadocian saints,
the most methodical philosopher being, at the same time, also a theologian not lesser than the other
two, Gregory of Nazianzus and Archbishop of Caesarea, Basil. He is celebrated by the Church on 10 th
January, and, together with Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, is considered the legitimate conservative of his
spiritual inheritance and an ecclesiastical authority as concerns all the dogmatic affairs. Occupying an
eminent place among the mystical theologians of the Church, Gregory published many works, the most
important ones treating apologetics and biblical exegesis, written against the Arian heresy.
Gregory was born in 355 to a deeply faithful family. His
mother Emily was the daughter of a martyr in the time of
the persecution of Diocletian, two of his brothers, Basil of
Caesarea and Peter of Sebastia became bishops and were
later canonised among the saints, and his sister, Macrina,
the eldest of the brothers, represented an example for all
the members of the faimily, being also canonised. Another
brother, Naucratius, a judge by profession, who was also in-
clined towards an ascetic life, did not start fulfilling his
spiritual wishes, dying young. It is to the atmosphere of
piety in the bossom of his family that that Gregory owe his
religious and theological formation in his juvenile years. It
is confessed by a letter addressed to his brother Peter,
where Gregory expressed his satisfaction for Basil, calling
him their father and master. Because he was elder than
them the future bishop of Caesarea was set by his parents
the task of supervising the education of his younger broth-
ers. His instruction was the antidote to the lessons learned
in the heathen schools of that time where, it is known,the
brother of Basil spent enough time.
Although Gregory wanted to chose a secular career, his family strove to guide his steps to serve
the Church. Seeing that he had not any chance for convincing Gregory to give up his thoughts,
Basil called on the friends of his brother to frustrate his intentions, but they tried that vainly be -
cause Gregory married. There is even a letter of condolence of the bishop of Nazianzus, sent for
comforting the one left alone after the death of his wife, Theosebia, a woman who, as her name
shows it was very pious. It is believed that, before being consecrated bishop, Gregory might have
spent some time alone, but there is no evidence to prove it. Appointing him as a bishop in 371 for
the seat of Nyssa, a region then called Cappadocia, in modern-day Turkey, represented a major
change in the life of Gregory. Saint Basil that it was necessary he to overcome the unmanageable
attitude of his brother, before he received the dignity. At that time, the post of bishop was over -
whelmed with dangers. Emperor were often wont to interfere in the affairs of the Church, many
times imposing dogmatic teachings to the genuine Christian faith. In his letters, Basil deplored the

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clumsy and wanting-in-fermness attitude of his brother as concerned leading the affairs of the ep -
archy. The troubles added the envy of some pretenders to the seat of Nyssa, displeased with the
fact that Gregory received so quickly the appointment coveted by many people that counted
among the attendants of Byzantine Emperor Valens. It led, in one of the episcopal meetings of
that area, many accusations to be brought against the bishop of Nyssa, among which the most
severe were scattering the ecclesiastical properties and irregularities as concerned chosing and
consecrating him bishop. Discouraged by the inhuman treatment to which he had been put,
Gregory would give up his appointment as bishop until Emperor Gratian would ascend to throne
of Constantinople. He would reinstate him at the end of the year of 378.
After several months, the bishop of Nyssa lost
his much-beloved brother, Basil. Since then, a
new age of intense activity in the service of the
Church began for Gregory. In 379, he would at-
tend the Council of Antioch, summoned for
fighting against the Meletian schism. Soon af-
terwards, he went to Palestine for remedying
the situation of the communities of Arabia, but
it seems that the journey did take place only
after the Second Ecummenical Council, held in
381 by Emperor Theodosius the Great for es-
tablishing the right belief. There, Gregory de-
fended the Nicene Creed and tried to put an
end to Arianism and the Pnevmatomach (En-
emies of the Holy Spirit) controversy in the
East. In the capital of the empire, the brother of
Saint Basil proved his oratorical talent on two
occasions, namely the first time whenever he
delivered the speech at the enthronment of his
friend Gregory of Nazianzus as bishop of Con-
stantinople, and the second time the paraensis
at the funeral of Bishop Meletius of Antioch. It
seems that Gregory was present in Byzatium
after 381 much frequently than before. Two
years later, he was present in Constantinople,
where he delivered his speech “On the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit”. He was also chosen,
not the bishop of Constantinople, as customs foretold, to utter the funeral word at the burial of
Empress Pulcheria in 385 and, short time afterwards, at the burial of Empress Flaclilla. Then,
nothing is known related to his life.
Many of his writings are commentaries on the books of the Holy Scripture. A devoted admirer of
Origen, Gregory constantly applied the principles of hermeneutics of the Alexandrian school. He
was always looking for allegorical interpretations and mystical meanings. He left eight homilies
on the book of Ecclesiastes, where he affirmed that a soul should trascend the feelings and true
peace can be found only disdaining the glory of people. He also authored 15 sermons on the Song
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of Songs, five noteworthy speeches about the Lord's Prayer and eight homilies on the Beatitudes.
His theological-natured works were compeled in the second half of his life, when he followed the
teaching of the other two Cappadocians, Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, step by step. Like them,
the bishop of Nyssa defended the unity of the divine Being and the Trinity of Persons. In the 7 th
century, the Fathers gathered at the Sixth Ecummenical Council, held in Constantinople in 680 un -
der Emperor Constantine IV, studying the writings of Saint Gregory of Nyssa, delared him “Father
of Fathers”. One century later, Saint Germanos of Constantinople affirmed that insertions as re -
garded a wrong teaching called apocastasis or restoration of souls to their primordial condition,
were made. As a concept, apocastasis can be met in Gnostic and Neo-Pythagorean writings. The
term also appears in the texts of the works of Saint Gregory of Nyssa, but not to mean the cancela -
tion of the freedom of creatures. The teaching says that, in the end, fallen creatures, devils and the
souls of sinners will enjoy divine hapiness, being redeemed. Speaking of the punishment of the
passing through fire of sinful souls, they will be completely purified. The punishment of burning
is not an aim itself, but it is destined to separate evil from good in a soul. Certainly, the work is an
afflicting one, its rigorousness and length of time being proportional to the evil existing in every
soul. The fire will last as long as evil will exist in the being of the sinner. However, according to the
supporters of the teaching, a time will come when the evil will disappear and every free will will
come to God. Despite all the accusations as concerns supporting apocastasis, the doctrine of Saint
Gregory of Nyssa reflects the teaching of Apostle Paul, who told the Corinthians about the restora -
tion of all souls to Christ.

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Saint John the Baptist, the prototype of ascetic life
The synaxis of Saint John the Baptist or the crowning of all the days dedicated to Saint John is the last
great feast day in winter. The Orthodox Church makes a thanksgiving sacrifice every year to the Fore -
runner of the Lord, who preached the Word of God to all the Jews of that time, but also to all the people
until today, telling them to repent because the kingdom of God was at hand. Saint John the Baptist was
born in the citadel of Orine, to the family of Priest Zachariah. Elizabeth, his mother, went back to the
nation of Aaron. The birth of Saint John the Baptist was announced by Angel Gabriel to Zachariah,
while he performed his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. Because he would not believe
the announcement of Angel Gabriel, Zachariah lost his speech until his son was given a name. Prophet
Malachi called John the Baptist “the Angel of God” because he would prepare His way, and the Saviour
recognised that John was the angel about Malachi had talked. He is called an incarnated angel because
he came to bear the signs of the victory over the original sin within him. Thus, he did not earn his bread
by the sweat of brow any more. Evangelist Mark specifies in his gospel that John had been clothed with
camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins, and he had eaten locusts and wild honey. His
presentation discovers the great ascetic within John, who defeats inclinations to sin within his being
and becomes worthy of announcing Christ to people. Therefore, it is not accident that he is represented
on the royal gates of Orthodox altars with wings of angels. He was the first who used Baptism as a
means of purification, but his baptism was rather one of recognition of the sin, while the Baptism of
Christ even forgives all sins. Saint John is the one who baptised the Saviour of the world in the waters
of River Jordan, when the Holy Trinity showed up to people for the first time.
Saint John the Baptist had the task of preparing the
people for welcoming the Messiah and discovering
and making Him known in Israel. Evangelist Luke
observes exactly when John the Baptist began
preaching, namely in the 15 th year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was the gov-
ernor of Judaea, Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee,
his brother Philip was the tetrarch of Ituraea and
Trachonitis, and Lisanias was the tetrarch of Abi-
lene, in the times of high priests Annas and Caia-
phas, the word of God came unto John the son of
Zachariah in the wilderness. The part of Saint John
the Baptist was the one of awakening Israel from
worshipping the Law, begetting the faith in Christ
within them. He began his sermon with the same
words as the Saviour, namely telling them to repent
for the kingdom of heaven was at hand. He drew
their attention that it was not sufficient to belong to
the chosen people of God in order to be saved. In
that respect, he told them that all the nations can
be saved. The conversion preached by John involved recognising the sin condition in which
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people were and removing the certainties offered by the Pharisaical doctrine. The action that con -
firms the conversion is “the Baptism of John”. His baptism, also called “ the Baptism of Repent -
ance”, did not forgive sins, but involved the regret for the committed sins and, thus, prepared the
soul for being forgiven. The main mission of Saint John the Baptist was to put the reality of sin be -
fore the eyes of mind and to arouse the desire for atonement, the Saviour Who was to come hav-
ing to discover to the converted people the way the should have followed. The Holy Evangelist
Luke showed that John the Baptist succeeded in shaking the conscience of people saying that the
people was in expectation and all of them wondered whether John was the Messiah. To remove
the temptation that made possible the confusion that John was the expected Messiah, he would
tell that he indeed baptised them with water unto repentance, but He Who would come after him
was mightier than him, Whose shoes he was not worthy to bear, and He would baptised them
with the Holy Spirit and with fire. In the end, he said that He Who would come after him was pre-
ferred before him for He had been before him.
The Holy Prophet John was born to the family of Priest
Zachariah. The wonderful birth of Saint John the Baptist
was prophesied by Angel Gabriel when he appeared
during the service performed in the temple by the fath-
er of Saint John. His mother, Elizabeth, advanced in
years and childless, because she was not able to have
children, descended from the nation of Aaron. Zachari-
ah did not believe in the word of the angel and, as a
punishment, he lost his speech. The birth of John
happened six months before the one of Jesus Christ.
Evangelist Luke told that Elizabeth and Mary, the Moth-
er of God, were cousins. Later, Saint John retired to the
wilderness near River Jordan. He led a life of abandon-
ment, was clothed with camel’s hair, ate bee honey and
locusts and prayed always. He set a good example to the
first ascetics of Christianity and to monasticism. John
the Baptist is the Forerunner of the Lord, the one who
prepared the way and the crowds for welcoming the
Messiah, Jesus Christ. The main message he transmitted
was “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.
Those who gave up sins were baptised by John. The
ritual that accompanied the baptism performed by John
to the Jews looked like the ritual described in the Dead Sea Scrolls. One could draw the conclusion
that John might have been one of the members of the Essenian group, who lived in the wilderness.
However, unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, where baptism was an individual ritual, the baptism per-
formed by John at River Jordan was one of group. His baptism also has an eschatological mean-
ing, foretelling the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire, which will be performed by the One that
will come after him, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. According to the account of the Holy Gospel,
Herod Antipas, during a banquet occasioned by the celebration of birthday, beheaded Saint John
the Baptist at the request of Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. At that time, Saint

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John was imprisoned in the castle of Herod in Machaerus. John had admonished Herod for his
odious life with Herodias. In her hatred of death, Herodias advised her daughter Salome, who had
danced and liked to guests and especially Herod, to ask the head of the Baptist as a reward. Ac -
cording to custom, John was buried in Samaria. According to the accounts of historians Rufinus
and Theodoret, his grave was violated during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate in 392.
Thus, a part of his relics was burnt, and the other part was led to Jerusalem, then in Alexandria.
On 27th May 395, it was placed in the church that bears his name. Not very much things are
known about the head of the saint. It was three times lost and three times found. Today, the head
of the saint in sound in Rome. John is a Jewish name, namely “Johanan” is an abbreviation of “Je -
hohanan” and means “God took pity”. The Church dedicated six feasts to John, namely 23 rd
September (the Conception of John the Baptist), 7 th January (the Synaxis of John the Baptist), 24 th
February (the First and Second Founding of the Head of John the Baptist), 25 th May (the Third
Finding of the Head of John the Baptist), 24 th June (the Nativity of John the Baptist) and 29 th Au-
gust (the Beheading of John the Baptist).
Besides the face of Christ and the
Mother of God, the one of Saint John
the Baptist and the Forerunner of the
Lord occupied an important place in
traditional Orthodox iconography.
The importance attached to him is
based on what is said about him in
the Holy Gospel, especially what Je-
sus Himself said about him, namely
he was more than a prophet and he
was the greatest man among the
ones born from women. On the
iconostasis, there is always an icon
that portrays him by the icon of
Christ, and sometimes his icon is
placed by the icon of the Mother of
God with the Baby. When an icono-
stasis had a second register of icons,
smaller than the ones in the inferior
register, arranged as an extended
Deisis icon, the Baptist of the Lord is
also represented there. In Orthodox
iconography, the icon called “Deisis”
represents Jesus Christ as an emper-
or, seated on the throne, holding the
Gospel closed and blessing. There is
a small Deisis above the royal gates,
with Christ in the centre, surrounded by the Mother of God on His right and Saint John on His left,
both of them turned to Him praying. On the right and left of the limited Deisis icon, there are six

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icons abreast representing the Holy Apostles turned to Him, thus making up an enlarged Deisis
icon. When Jesus came to John to receive baptism was the culminating point of the mission of the
prophet on the shore of River Jordan. He opened the heart and mind of the Jews to receive Jesus
and His word. The seed thrown by him would bear fruit, namely the first disciples of the Lord
would be chosen from the ones of Saint John. In his sermons, he repeatedly criticised Herod Anti -
pas for he had married Herodias, the former wife of his stepbrother Philip. His attitude incurred
his imprisonment. At a party with many guests, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced before
her stepfather. Herod yielded to the charms of the young dancer and promised her everything.
Prompted by her mother, the girl asked him for the head of Saint John the Baptist. Being killed, his
head was brought to Salome on a tray. The body of John the Baptist might have been taken by his
supporters to the city of Samaria, where it was buried. According to custom, John was buried in
Samaria. Historians Rufinus and Theodoret tell that his grave was violated in the time of Emperor
Julian the Apostate in 362, a part of his relics being burnt. The other part was taken to Jerusalem,
then to Alexandria, where on 27 th May 395, it was placed in the church that bears his name. On
the head of the saint, Nicephorus and Symeon the Translator said that it had been buried separ-
ately, in the fortress Machaerus or even in the palace of Herod of Jerusalem. Today, the head of the
saint is found in Rome. Fragments of his relics are also found in the Coptic Church, at the monas -
teries between Cairo and Alexandria.
Saint John the Baptist is represented entirely, with
wings thus: tall, very thin, with very thin arms and
legs, bare-headed, with long hair poured in tufts on
the back and over shoulders and a face expressing
faith, a steadfast character and humility. He wears an
olive-coloured green tunic and a coffee-coloured
mantle that leaves one to see an empty arm to the
shoulder and both legs from the knee down. He
stands upright between two rocky ridges, with his
face and body turned to the right to Christ, Who ap-
pears in the top left corner of the icon, leaving the
heaven and blessing him. The right hand of Saint John
the Baptist stands stretched in a gesture of blessing,
and with his left hand holds an unfolded phylactery
and a very thin and long cross. In the lower left corner,
one can see the head of the Baptist on a platter, and
behind his feet there is an axe at the root of a tree
trunk, near the ground. This icon of Saint John the
Baptist has scripturistical basis, where he is depicted
with wings, according to the word said by Jesus
Christ, that an angel was sent from God. The word
“angel” comes from the Greek word “angelos”, which means “messenger”, the same word used in
Greek for “angel”. In iconography, angels are represented with wings and, therefore, Saint John the
Baptist is depicted having wings. The fact that he was beheaded by the orders of tetrarch Herod
and his head was brought on a platter is recorded in the Holy Gospels and, therefore, his head is

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found on the platter in the icon. The axe at the tree trunk even appears in the word of John. While
he preached in the wilderness of Judaea, he mentioned about the axe laid unto the root of the
trees, and every tree which does not bring good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. The in -
scription of both types of icons is “Saint John the Forerunner”. The word “Baptist” was left out to
shorten the inscription, and the inscription “the Forerunner” is enough to identify the saint. The
oldest known icon of Saint John the Baptist depicted entirely, with wings, is kept in Serbia and
dates back to the end of the 13 th century. Another icon of that kind, painted one century later, is a
miniature from a Serbian Psalter, found in Munich. That type of representation has found its final
form in a fresco in a chapel situated in the Peloponesian citadel of Geraki and dates back to 1431.
The form this type of representation has received was kept throughout the whole period of the
Turkish domination in Greece and still continues to be used.
Saint John the Baptist is also met in
other religions. In the Mandaenist
monotheistic religion, met especially
in the Arabic world, he is honoured as
the greatest messenger of God, with
the name of Yahya in the Sidra d-Yahya
(“Book of John”). He is considered the
real Messiah. According to a text of
Ginza Rba, the prophet passed away in
the hands of an angel, which appeared
to him in River Jordan to be baptised.
John might have known that, if he
would baptise him, he would pass
away, but he did that. After he passed
away, the angel might have covered his
body with mud. He is also met with the
name of Yahya in Islam, where John is
known as the prophet related to
Prophet Jesus, as the son of Elizabeth
and Zachariah. Saint John the Baptist
represents the example of vigil, prayer,
repentance and spiritual vigilant, the
awakening of the soul from sin and
death by listening to the word of God.
The Gospel according to Mark de-
scribes him as an ascetic, hermit
dressed in a coat of camel skin, girded
with a leather belt, feeding on
grasshoppers and wild honey. All the
details are not mentioned uselessly, but they have a meaning. The camel can be considered both
as a clean animal in the Old Testament, because it was ruminant, imagining thus the Jewish
people, but on the other hand, it also appeared as an unclean animal, having its hoof cloven. In the

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latter case, it foreshadowed the pagan nations. Also representing the Jews, considered a people
chosen by God, but also the unclean heathen far from the Law of God, his camel skin talks about
repentance necessary both for the Jews and Gentiles. Simultaneously, his garment confessed the
harsh life lived by the prophet. The Forerunner of the Lord did not live in convenience, but he was
mainly concerned with the joy that come to man from praying, fasting, repentance and his total
dedication to God. Girding a leather belt coming from a dead animal signifies mortification and
killing sinful passions living within it. Meanwhile, in the East, where clothes were long and wide,
when someone wearing a belt, meant that he was ready to work. Man in a state of activity was
girded. Saint John is girded for he performs a preaching, praying and spiritual work. His food,
made up of wild honey and locusts, animals considered clean in Leviticus, the third book of the
Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Pentateuch, which had an unpleasant taste and
smell, shows that not food and good taste are the aims of his activity, but that Prophet John ate
only to live, not lived to eat. All these details related to the clothing and food of Saint John are
spiritual meanings to understand ascetic life. Therefore, the Forerunner of the Lord is con-
sequently considered the model or prototype of ascetic life and a crowd of fathers in the desert
often lived a life similar to the one of Saint John, the most important food being the word of God
and praying, and clothing being represented by being clothed with virtues, in the presence and
light of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the hermits depicted in the painting of the Church have clothes
and light faces for they were dressed in the light of the grace of God.

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Saint Maximus the Confessor, the symbol of the

confession of Christ
Besides Saint John of Damascus, Saint Maximus the Confessor represents an important landmark in the
theology of the Church of the first Christian millennium. The mystical and philosophical synthesis ex -
pressed in his works, but also his life of humble monk, who suffered martyrdom for the truth of faith,
say that he is one of the emblematic personalities of Eastern theology. Unable to speak any more and
deprived of his main source of help, but with his soul unmutilated by the compromise, exiled to the
margins of the empire, but never far from Christ, Saint Maximus, remains, over centuries, the standard
of the Orthodoxy experienced superlatively.
According to the two sources as concern the biography
of the great confessor of Orthodoxy, born in 580 in the
capital of the Byzantine Empire, of noble parents, en-
joyed a good education during his childhood. Become
the secretary of Emperor Heraclius in 610, he however
quitted his job after several years and entered the
Chrysopolis Monastery. He travelled much, so that he
arrived in Africa at the beginning of 632, where he
formed a friendship with Sophronius, the future Patri-
arch of Jerusalem, and both of them started the fight
against the Monothelite heresy, appeared short time
before. The debate on the two wills and works existing
in Christ made the superiority conflict break out
between the Constantinopolitan Church and the Byz-
antine Empire, on one hand, and the monastic party,
led by Sophronius, on the other hand, and after his
death, led by Maximus, and supported by the bishop of
Rome, Saint Martin. Because Byzantine Patriarch
Pyrrhus had embraced the Monothelite heresy, also
imprudently accepted by his counterpart in the West,
Pope Honorius, who had agreed to the documents is-
sued by Byzantium, both of them legalising the belief
that one will and one work might have existed in Christ, venerable monk Maximus warned bishop
of Rome Theodore and Martin against the unorthodox character of that dogmatic formula. The
wrong teaching was solemnly sentenced during the General Lateran Council held in 649, whose
documents were written by Maximus himself. It is interesting how only several persons from the
East, Maximus, Sophronius and their disciples, succeeding in creating a revolt of so much propor -
tion that their deed would be considered by the imperial leadership as an unforgivable unfaithful-
ness. Accused as a result of some political cases convened three times, in 653, 655 and 662, of
high treason towards the emperor and insubordination towards his decree, Maximus, an ordinary
monk, but a highly theological and philosophical formal cultivated man, together with Pope Mar-
tin, are accused that they had surrendered the entire East to the Arabs, making a pact with with
66 Saint Maximus the Confessor, the symbol of the confession of Christ

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the rebels of Syria or Africa. In the documents that contain the interrogation made to Saint Max-
imus in the imperial palace by the archons of the Byzantine senate, one can find the consummate
answers forcibly given by the monk of small height and weak to his informers. Accused because
he might have made a schism within the Church and was against the two groups that supported a
will or two within Christ, Maximus answered that not he, but he who leave the dogmas of the
saints, namely the emperor, can be called schismatic. Explaining that not an emperor did succeed
in convincing God-bearing fathers to become reconciled with the heretics of that time by coming
to terms, saying plainly that it was due to bishops to research the define the redeeming dogmas of
the universal Church, monk Maximus repelled the idea that the emperor too might have no con-
trol over pronouncing the Christian doctrine. The Christian emperor of Constantinople is not also
a priest (a recognised person), and he consequently has not right to establish the faith teaching.
The answer of Maximus to the accusation that he might have made separations within the
Church, obliging Christians to no longer be in communion with the patriarch of Constantinople, is
one without words: “Nothing is more forcibly than a conscience that accuses you, and nothing
more daring than a conscience that defends you.”
Taken into custody and sentenced by the emperor to an inhuman and harsh exile, Maximus, to-
gether with his disciple monk Anasthasius, get separated from each other in the most remote
lands of the empire. There, the uncompromising exiled man was visited by a delegation led by
Bishop Theodosius of Caesarea in Bithynia. The theological
dialogue that the two partied had highlights that the “eco-
nomy of silence” imposed by the mistakes of the emperor ab-
olished the dogmas of the Church. In Thrace, for more days,
Theodosius, together with two patricians that represented the
emperor, Epiphany and Troilos, again attended to persuade
Maximus to enter in communion with the Church of Con-
stantinople. Their words bear witness to the spiritual and dog-
matic prestige the saint enjoyed and important influence he
had on Christians. The answer of the exiled monk was moving,
wondering what could he say to defend himself not from God,
but before his conscience for the fact of being betrayed by an
oath, to the glory of people, the faith that saved those who
loved it. As a result of that manner of speaking, furious, the pa-
tricians, together with their servants, immobilised him,
grabbing his beard and hair, hitting him with fists and palms,
covering him from top to toe with spits. Epiphany, the most
fierce of the ones come to Byzia, Thrace, spoke to him seized
with anger about being considered heretics, but they were ac-
tually more and more orthodox Christians than them, and Maximus spoke with him about being
obliged to enter into communion with them on the basis of the mistake, whose purpose was to
suppress those things, mentioning their so-called right belief. Without being able to persuade him
to surrender his teaching, the Constantinopolitan delegates went ashamed towards the capital.
Several years after the meeting, Maximus was brought to Byzantium together with his comrades,
and in the summer of 662, they were again brought to law, where they were anathematised and

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laid under the ban of the Church together with Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pope Mar-
tin and Anasthasius, the Ambassador of the Pope from Rome. Awarding the punishment, after
they had been exposed before all the people, the three men were banished to Lazica (or Egrisi, a
medieval Georgian name for the region and kingdom in the western part of modern-day Georgia).
Old and weak, mutilated and abandoned, Maximus departed this life in the summer of 662 in the
neighbourhood of Tsageri, a town in Georgia. Today, where he was martyred, there is a monastery
dedicated to the one who suffered 1400 years before. In the prologue to “Centuries on Love”, Saint
Maximus expressed the awareness that everything he thought and his entire theological inter-
pretation could not be separated from the Tradition of the Church, the continuous breath of the
ecclesiastical experience. Such a thinking reflected humility – as a virtue of a sound mind – but
also the belonging to the theology of the Church, which, by the grace of God, he confessed. He said
that the writing was not the fruit of his thinking but it had been collected from the writings of the
Holy Fathers and stuffed into fewer words. He also considered that it would come out with some -
thing useful for the soul, and certainly, through the grace of God, it would come out with some -
thing useful to read without thinking inquisitively, but being afraid of God and lovingly. Reading
the writings of Saint Maximus, one can discover a complex thinking fed from the sources of the
Holy Scripture and the thoughts of the saints. The work of Saint Maximus aroused the interest of
many theologians from the East and the West, who, by studying his texts, paved new ways to
knowing his thinking. One can find in the thinking of Saint Maximus both the great concepts of
Greek philosophy and the deepest patristical ideas. Amid the theological controversies in the 7th
century, Saint Maximus turned to advantage the entire theology of the Holy Fathers before him,
especially the thinking of the Cappadocian Fathers. His writings were a providential milestone as
concerned establishing the truth of faith not only in the 7 th century, but also later, when the
Church discovered more and more the depth of his thought. He confessed, without reservation
and uncompromisingly, the right teaching as concerned the Person of the Saviour Jesus Christ.
Knowing the life of the saint who practised the faith in the 7 th century, one can understand that
the power to confess Christ – the Truth came to him through the work of the Holy Spirit, Who
strengthened him for all the racks to which he was put, enlightening his mind, in order, during a
century of heresy, he to be able to learn the word of the truth.
God created the world for man, imprinting within it His divine reasons. In his turn, man dis -
covered the reasons of things, coming to recognise the goodness the glory of God in the Creation.
Understanding those spiritual reasons, as motivations for all created things, is not given ready-
made to man, but God waits for his effort to notice and know them. Through the fall of man into
sin, however, people acquired an inferior knowledge, limited to senses and matter, ending by dy -
ing. According to the unanimous voice of the Holy Fathers, Saint Maximus says that Jesus had
been incarnated for the sake of man, showing him the way to perfection. He also says that the In-
carnation of God is for Christians a secure guarantee of the hope of divinisation of the human
nature. God will make man as whole as He became man through His Incarnation, the Son of God
becomes the herald of the mystery of the Redemption of people. Christians are entrusted that the
Incarnation showed the depth of the parental kindness itself and showed itself the end for which
the creatures received the beginning of their existence because all the ages began for Christ or His
mystery. The Son of God was really incarnated, but is still God, showing His love and kindness to-
wards people, but also the might of God to save them from death and open the eternal kind exist -

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ence for them. Truly uniting in Himself the earthly and heavenly things, Christ brings the human
nature the one attracted by the material world, fought by the sin, to God and the Father, saved, re-
conciled and deificated. Rejecting the Monothelite controversy (there is only one will, the divine
one, in Christ), Maximus did not accept any diminution of the humanity of Christ. Recognising
only one will within Christ, the Monothelite heresy cancelled the mystery of redemption, because
a humanity without a will would not be complete and, thus, Jesus Christ would not be also a real
Man. Taking over the term “theandric” (which is related to, or which exists by, the union of the di -
vine and human operation of Christ, or the joint agency of the divine and human nature), Saint
Maximus would talk about the “theandrical work” of Christ, understanding by it the manifestation
of the divine nature in an ineffable harmony with the work of the human nature. One can under -
stand that the presence and the work of the divine nature does not cancel the human nature, the
two natures unite, but keep their identity. The Son of God fulfilled the economy of redemption
theandrically, namely working divinely and humanly at the same time. The theology of Saint Max -
imus is not a speculative one, but one always keeping within it the reality of the salvation of man
within Christ because the beginning, middle and end of centuries enter in a concentrated and un -
separated way into it. There are many pages where Saint Maximus about the disobedience of man
towards God, but also about his coming back again to “the house of the Father”. Alienated from
the divine grace, man lives like in a godless universe, and his passions darken and master him. De -
bauched, the mind of man seeks to provide arguments for passions. An important place in the
thinking of Saint Maximus is occupied by the description of pleasure and suffering. For the condi-
tion of the fallen man, seeking pleasure is a good, and the experience of suffering is an evil. God al-
ways connected a suffering with a pleasure, in order man to overcome his inner heartbreak. Man,
howver, expercing suffering and bearing the fear of death, seeks new pleasures. To overcome that
situation, man should stay motionless towards the temptation of pleasure and the threat of suf -
fering because it is a situation without suffering. Escaping the horizon of passions, man receives
the work of the grace and looks for God. Man starts to experience the communion with God. If
selfishness collects all the passions in itself, according to Saint Maximus, love summarises all the
virtues of love and he who loves God also loves his neighbour.

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Saint Panteleimon, the gracious martyr and healer
Every year, on 27th July, the Church celebrates Saint Panteleimon, the holy unmercenary, martyred dur -
ing the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian (284-305), in the citadel of Nicomedia, Asia Minor, while
he was only 29 years old. He is called “unmercenary” because, as a doctor, he embraced the Christian
faith, shared his fortune and he was not paid for the treatments he gave. The popular piety honoured
him directly after he had been martyred, becoming, from the kingdom of God, a protector of healers
and helper of those who cure.
Saint Panteleimon was born in about 275, in
the citadel of Nicomedia, in the province of
Bithynia, in a noble family, was named Panto-
leon (which, translated from Greek, means “in
all things a lion”). His father, Eustorgius, was a
heathen senator of Emperor Maximian Galerius
(286-305), in a Roman Empire where the Chris-
tian faith was a reason for persecution, derision
and murder. However, his mother, Eubula, had
secretly embraced the faith in Chirst, and edu-
cated her child in the love of God. Young Panto-
leon enjoyed the love and protection of his
mother for short time because she passed on to
the everlasting life, while he was still a child.
For the holiness of her life and thanks to the
child to whom she had given birth and whom
she had educated, Eubula was canonised by the
Church and is celebrated on 30th March. Re-
mained with his father, he was removed from
the Christian faith, being directed to studying
medicine. A disciple of famous physician Eu-
phrosinos, he acquired the secrets of healing so
well, that he was called by Emperor Maximian
to his palace, as his personal doctor. At that
time, the persecutions against Christians were
in full swing, in the citadel of Nicomedia being
martyred, in 303, 20,000 martyrs, burnt alive in the church of the city, during the Holy Liturgy.
The Church celebrates the martyrs on 28th December. Among them, Saint Anthimus, the bishop of
the citadel, succeeded in saving himself and, together with him, priest Hermolaus. Escaping from
the persecution, priest Hermolaus hid in a house. Because he passed before that house every day,
on his way to the School of Medicine in Nicomedia, young Pantoleon was remarked by Hermolaus
and called to have a talk. Thus, he understood that medical science bore fruits only before Christ,
Who heals and brings salvation without any payment. Time passed and the way to teacher Eu-
phrosinos in the healing of the body was added by Pantoleon the halt at the house of the priest,
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who advised him on the mysteries of God. While he returned home from the courses of Euphrosi -
nos, Pantoleon met a dead child after he had been bitten by a slow worm. Considering it was time
to try the teaching about which Hermolaus had told him, he called upon for help the name of the
Lord Christ, and the child rose immediately, and the slow worm died. Seeing that, he immediately
ran to priest Hermolaus and asked him for receiving Baptism, and remained with him for eight
days after his Baptism, being initiated even more into the secrets of the faith. Hearing that priest
Hermoalus went on serving Christ, the emperor ordered he to be caught and martyred by decap -
itation in 305, and the Church celebrates him on 26 th July. Returned home, young Pantoleon hid
the fact that he was a Christian, telling his father that, while he stayed away from home, he healen
a sick person at the palace. In the meantime, however, he wanted to argue his father into giving up
worshipping idols. One fine day, a blind person, who had squandered his entire fortune on doc -
tors but of no avail, was brought to Senator Eustorgius. Calling his son to visit the blind person, he
found out from Pantoleon that the blind man would be healed through the power of his Master.
Making the sign of the Cross on the eyes of the blind man and praying to Christ for healing him,
the man immediately recovered his sight. Showing gratitude for he had been healed through the
power of God, he asked to be received among Christians, and both he, who had been cured, and
Eustorgius, the father of Pantoleon and he who had witnessed the wonder, received Baptism.
Short time after his Baptism, Eustorgius passed on to the everlasting life, baptised, and Pantoleon
received his entire fortune. Knowing the words of the Saviour, Who advises everyone who wants
to get eternal life “If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven”, Pantoleon shared his entire fortune to the poor, released all the
slaves from his court and dedicated himself to look after the poor, from who he did not ask
money, but for believing in Christ, the One by Whose grace they were healed.
The time was passing, and the people were coming to comfort
their body and soul by doctor Pantoleon, who became famous
in those days, and all the other doctors in Nicomedia were
nourishing feelings of envy towards him, therefore they were
seeking opportunity to remove him. After short time, a Christi-
an, who was tormented by the order of the emperor, was
brought to the unmercenary doctor to look after him. Healing
his wounds, the doctors of the citadel denounced him that he
had cured a Christian, and even the one who had been cured of
blindness was brought to the courtyard of the emperor, being
asked through which means Pantoleon had healed him. He
answered that he had been cured on behalf of Christ and since
then he received the true light, the one of faith. Enraged, the
emperor ordered he to be beheaded, being celebrated in the
Orthodox calendar on the same day as Saint Pantoleon, namely
27th July. Although he appreciated Pantoleon for his devoted-
ness, the persecutor Emperor Maximian could not accept his doctor to be a Christian. However, he
wanted to save him from torments, advising him to apostate. Moreover, the cult of the medicine
god Asclepius was deeply-rooted in Nicomedia. By worshipping Christ, Pantoleon challenged both
the emperor and the god he served. During his judgement, there was a man sick of the palsy to
71 Saint Panteleimon, the gracious martyr and healer

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whom all the efforts made by the other doctors at court had been bound to fail. After the incanta-
tions to god Asclepius came to an end, because they turned out to be useless, Pantoleon prayed to
God, took the paralytic by the hand and cured him for Christ. Instead of being punished a Christi-
an, many pagans came to the true faith, seeing the wonder performed on the paralytic. Because
neither the promises nor the threats of the torments which expected him did convince him to give
up his faith, the emperor ordered he to be punished. The most cruel attempts to harm him met,
however, with Pantoleon, the Christian strong like a lion, before the idolatrous servants. Weapons
and wild beasts calmed down before him, being guarded from any touch through the power of
God. Seeing that they could not punish him by no means, the emperor ordered he to be beheaded,
but at the place of the execution, while the executor raised his sword, it melted like wax in the
flame of fire. Again, the Christian did not pass away, and many soldiers followed him for his won-
ders. When he prayed to God for the last time, he received an answer from heaven, telling him
that his wish would be fulfilled, the heaven gates were opened for him and his crown was ready.
He was also told that he would be henceforth a shelter for hopeless people, helper for the hardy,
doctor for the sick and terror for devils and, therefore, his name would not be Pantoleon any -
more, but Panteleimon, which means “all-merciful”. Then, stretching his neck on the cutter, he
passed away on 27 th July 303, and the soldiers piously gave his relics for being buried on the
property of Annatius the Scolastic. As far back as that time, he was hounoured as a saint, small
parts of his relics being creditably kept in many worship places, and many churches or social es -
tablishments are dedicated to him.

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The features of the church dedication day
Every worship place, either it is a chapel or a church, has a patron saint in whose honour it was built. A
patron saint is a Christian saint who is believed to protect a particular place or group of people. Among
the saints that are honoured by the Romanian people with much piety and faithfully, being chosen as
protectors of worship places, the most known ones because most of worship places wear their names,
are Saint Nicholas, Saint John the Baptist, Saint George, Saint Demetrios, the Holy Emperors Con -
stantine and Helen, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Most worship places also have as their protectors and honour days some feasts called royal feasts, and
the most common ones being the Holy Trinity, the Ascension of Jesus Christ, the Descent of the Holy
Spirit and then, the ones in honour of the Mother of God, such as the Dormition of the Mother of God
or the Holy Skepi of the Theotokos.
Besides the protection of the worship
place, the dedication day or the one of
honouring the patron saint represents
an event that has many important fea-
tures for believers. Firstly, it is about
the historical characteristic of the wor-
ship place where prevails, certainly,
the time and durability range of the
worship place from the most known
foundation day. Secondly, it is the spir-
itual attribute of the dedication day
that is strongly related to the patron
saint or the annual honour day.
Thirdly, it is about the present-day
missionary hallmark of the worship
place, namely its condition as concerns
its news and achievements until today.
The historical hallmark obliges Christi-
ans to show piety towards their fore-
runners that built the worship place
faithfully and with much sacrifice. One
can think that they were people who
honoured God and who showed their
belief through creative deeds. Many
church have a considerable old age,
one somehow knowing the year when
the worship place was founded or
started being built. Sometimes, doubt-
ful information and founders nobody
ever expected are known. The history of a worship place must remind Christians of the ones who

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contributed to building an Eucharistic holy altar. The historical features has a meaning of the day
when the worship place began to be erected and the main founder together with the other work-
ers. Simultaneously, if old, the painting of the worship place should connect Christians with the
then painter because, in the remote past, church painters lived like saints. Icons and scenes were
painted and toiled not only with natural colours, but the relationship of the painter with the pray -
er and ministry must be often highlighted. A true painter joins his painting with praying and fast -
ing. Then, the stages of dozens and hundreds of years thorugh which worship places went, times
of war and material needs, all of them are an opportunity for meditation, praying and sacrifice.
The historical characteristic also obliges Christians to keep in good repair all religious articles,
books and ecclesiastical objects that were hand-made with the best and precious materials in the
remote past. All of them represent the history of the honour and rememberance of any worship
place, a history that presents a beginning of existence, a founder, the then believers, painters and
the art workers of the ecclesiastical objects, priests, the Church Servers and everything meant the
going through time of those who had been involved in founding a holy worship place.
The spiritual hallmark connects
Christians with everything that
means the Christian life experi-
enced in every worship place,
based on the protection and sup-
port of the saint or feast in whose
honour it was built. The spiritual
feature really presents the won-
ders written or most of them un-
written of religious existence.
Every worship place exists with a
specific spiritual atmosphere. The
spiritual or religious feature spe-
cific to a worship place also has its
roots in the father confessor or
spiritual server whose memory be-
come a book illustrated with facts
of a saint. The spiritual character-
istic is based on the continuity of
the Holy Liturgy performed over
the years. Receiving the Holy
Eucharist from the same holy
chalice as a union of many believ-
ers, a confession made concisely
through the echo of the symbol of
faith created and repeated since
the first Christian centuries. The
bells that sounded calling of hal-
lowing service bring the spiritual echo of every church in the past. The sacrifice of many believ-
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ers, their connection with everything meant serving God as best as they could place a very special
spiritual character. Its presence within God through every divine service performed in the Church
made man be always hallowed, the ground and matter be also spiritualised and hallowed in their
turn through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the essence of the spiritual hallmark, the connection
of the then man with God and the communion connection with his neighbours. The fact that
feasts were celebrated honourably, the fact that people made themselves ready especially for at-
tending the Holy Liturgy with bright faces and traditional dresses, the fact that any work was con -
nected with the Church proves the confessional power of a worship place and the precursors of
Christians again. Every Liturgy means the spiritualised life Christians must rate highly and bring
it up-to-date in every Church. Thus, the spiritual feature of a worship place is felt, bringing about
a connection at this time. The man from times immemorial kept in touch with the chosen man of
God, namely a saint, and knew to advance and follow in the footsteps of that saint. More often that
not, the power of the protector saints was felt and is still felt not only when the worship place is
in joy, but also in sorrow. The third hallmark, the preset mission one of every worship place ob-
liges Christians to combine the past with the present and both of them with the future. Christians
are glad that other people made efforts and raised beautiful worship places as if Christians lived
in the world of God, in communion with saints, because they always kept a harmony among the
architectural shape, iconographic project, and the needs of believers to serve God. Besides Chris-
tians can attend a religious meeting in worship places, the obligation to preserve, restore and re-
valutate the Church, requires an obligation not only moral, but also an obligation of Christian
common sense. The then needs of believers were taken into account, ant today, every worship
place needs a school, a parish house, social hall and many other edifices specific to any activity
that implies not only priests, but also believers. All of them must be a progress and a continuity
for every worship place, a present based on the past, but especially with respect to the future
Christian missionary. It is of great attention any thing added to be connected with what exists
already, namely any building and any missionary-featured addition must be in harmony and
unity. Christians show Christian common sense whenever a worship place lives with the purpose
for which it was proposed. A worship place was always strongly related to the school and not
only, and, therefore, many churches also have schools today, cultural centres and Christian life
from times immemorial. It is the missionary attribute of every worship place, the continuity and
performing something good for present-day requests and needs, but first of all, the unity, har-
mony and spiritual characteristic as a basis of the perfecting reality. It is a great temptation to
build something bodily, but not also spiritually, but Christians must not build something more
than spiritually. The dedication day of a church obliges Christians to bring the past up-to-date
with everything that belongs to it, to commemorate those names remained imprinted in the list of
founders and toilers, but also those unknown who made sacrifices as best as they could for found-
ing the worship place. It also places before all people the things that must exist and Christians
need.

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Faith, Hope and Love, the daughters of Wisdom
On 17th September, the Orthodox calendar celebrates the Holy Martyr Sophia together with her daugh -
ters, namely Pistis, Elpis and Agape. They lived in Italy and suffered martyrical death during the reign
Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD). Sophia, which translated from Greek means “wisdom” bap- bap-
tised her three daughters with the names of the three theological virtues, namely Pistis means “Faith”,
Elpis is translated as “Hope” and Agape, specifically “Love”. For their Christian faith, they were mar -
tyred in 137, when Pistis was twelve, Elpis was ten and Agape was nine years old.
There are very few details about the husband of
Sophia and the father of the three daughters, some
writings mentioning Philander, a Roman senator of
Mediolanum, dead when young. Becoming widowed
soon after the birth of her three daughters, Sofia has
increased their Christian wisdom, the fear of God, re-
inforced in them the names that they wore. She
shared the fortune left from her husband to the poor
and, together with her three daughters, went to Rome.
In a period when the name of a Christian itself meant
torments and death punishment, Sophia and her
daughters did not hide their faith in Christ, but they
plainly confessed it before all people. Hearing about
the Christian family, the province praefect Antiochus
denounced them to Emperor Hadrian, and they were
called before the emperor to be judged, being accused
of their offense to be Christians. Brought by soldiers
before the imperial throne, Sophia advised her daugh-
ters not to deny Christ, even at the expense of their
life, and they prayed together to God to stregthen
them, knowing they would be tortured and murdered
for their faith. When they arrived before the emperor,
all those present were surprised at their decision. The emperor himself wondered at the power of
their faith, especially the one of the girls, who were very young. Believing that it resulted only
from that they were together and strengthened each other, he decided to interrogate them separ-
ately. It seemed from their faces that they went to a banquet, with bright faces, encouraged hearts
and merry eyes, far from the image of somebody who made for a torment. Calling each of them,
beginning with Sophia, Emperor Hadrian ordered them to make sacrifices to Artemis, the goddess
of hunting. The four women martyrs remained inflexible. Noticing their wisdom, the emperor did
not want to lose them and postponed their judgement for three days, on the chance of the delay
would make them apostate. For three days, he sent them to the house of a woman named Palladia,
under guard, during which time Sophia has strengthened even more her daughters in the faith in
Christ. On the third day, Pistis, who was twelve, was the first one brought to the judgement.
Aluured with the promises of the emperor, who gave his word to her that he himself would be as
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her father, she strengthened herself in the faith in which she had been educated, she refused hon-
ouring other heathen deities. Infuriated, the emperor ordered she to be beaten with staffs and her
breasts to be cut, from which milk wonderfully flew instead of blood. The young girl was put to
many other racks, but God strengthened her for her faith. Seeing that, the emperor ordered she to
be beheaded, a sentence accepted joyfully both by her and her sisters and mother, because she
would be the first of them who would become the bride of the Lord Christ, the heavenly Bride -
groom. Having her head cut, her mother embraced her body, but she did not lament and glorified
God because her love for God overcame the suffering of the mother for her sons.
Elpis, who was ten years old, was
brought after Pistis. Like her sister, she
was also advised by the emperor to
worship goddess Artemis, the tor-
ments to which she could be put
serving as a model to her. He answered
that she would follow her sister be-
cause she had been born from the
same mother, she had fed on the same
milk, she had received the Christian
faith in the same Baptism and had
been educated with the same teach-
ings. Confessing Christ as decisively as
her sister, she was burnt, cast into fire,
hanged, then sunk into a bucket of
with meleted tar, but meeting all of
them, she was strengthened with the
power of God. Seeing that all those tor-
tures rather strengthened her, Emper-
or Hadrian also convicted her to be-
heading. Like her sister, she received
the news with great pleasure because
she would be added among the right-
eous that confessed Christ before per-
secutors. Embracing her mother and
strengthening her younger sister, she
bent her head under the blade of the
sword. When Agape came after Elpis at
the trial, the emperor failed to per-
suade her to give up the Christian faith, neither by threats nor by promising her earthly fine
things. The words of the emperor were in vain before the young girl aged only nine years old. She
was stretched on a wheel and beaten with staffs, but she did not deny her faith. Then, the tortur -
ers prepared a hot oven, into which she did not expected to be cast, but she entered by herslef
and walked and blessed God in the middle of the fire. Escaping more strengthened from there as
well, she was put to other awful racks, accepting to perish by the sword, like her sisters. Then, de-
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lighted, she embraced her happy mother, who was wonderfully able to look at her daughters suf-
fering martyrical death for the everlasting life together with saints. To intensify her suffering, the
emperor spared the life of Sophia, believing that she would spend the rest of her life lamenting
and weeping for her three daughters. Taking the bodies of her daughters, she adorned and placed
them in their tomb and, praying, breathed her last, being buried by Christians close to her daugh-
ters. She also enjoyed the martyrical crown, although she did not suffer bodily, because she broke
her heart for her faith in Christ. The tombs of Saint Sophia and her daughters were localised on
the Via Aurelia, a Roman road constructed around the year 241 BC (before the birth of Christ).
The Church dedicated to the Holy Martyr Pancratios, become a place of pilgrimage for Christians,
was erected over the tombs. The relics of Saint Sophia were moved, for the first time, from the Via
Aurelia to the Church of Santa Giulia, Brescia. The wife of Desiderius, the last kning of Lombardy,
gave the holy relics to the Benedictine nuns of the Monastery of Santa Giulia. During the French
Revolution, the relics of Saint Sophia and other saints were moved to the Church of Saint Agatha,
also situated in Brescia. A document dating back to 3 rd April 1799 confirmed a new displacement
of the Holy Relics from the Church of Saint Sophia to Virle Treponti. The relics of Saints Pistis and
Elpis were brought to France in shrines of silver, and before the French Revolution, were vener-
ated in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Visau, in the Diocese of Cahors. In 1992, at the suggestion
of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the then mayor, the inhabitants of the capital of the coun-
try, Sofia, received the Holy Martyr Sophia, celebrated together with her daughters on 17 th
September, as their protector. The feast day of the patron saint of the capital of Bulgaria is celeb-
rated through religious services performed in all the churches of Sophia.

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Saint Tekla, the first woman martyr of Christ
Saint Tekla was the first woman who suffered for the faith in the Saviour of the world. She was
born in the first Christian century in the city of Iconium, situated in modern Konya, Turkey, of pa -
gan parents. A young woman of great beauty, Tekla was engaged to a young man of noble descent,
named Thamyris. Although she was only 18 years old, she was very wise. Listening to the word of
the Holy Apostle Paul on chastity, who in about 45, being accompanied by Barnabas, preached
Christ in Iconium, in the house of Onisiphorus, Tekla decided to live in purity and serve the Gospel
of the Lord for the rest of her life.
The young girl listened to the words of the Apostle
of the Nations for three days and three nights, wit-
hout drinking water, eating or sleeping, her entire
mind being seized only with God. When her mother
found out, however, that her beautfiul daughter beli-
eved in Christ, listening to the Apostle ceaselessly,
she went enraged to the meeting, trying to persuage
her to go home. The young girl confessed her new
faith to her parents, who tried to convince her to
give up the Christian faith any way possible. Her
mother talked to her, beated her, left her hungry, but
everything was done in vain. Tekla did want to give
up Christ and her decision to serve Him by no me-
ans. Getting angry, Thamyris went to the city ruler,
asking him for catching and imprisoning Paul, under
an accusation of being a Christian and persuading
Tekla to follow Christ. Hearing that, Tekla, running
the risk of being also imprisoned, went during the
night, on the sly, to the prison, where she bribed the
jailers to open the door to get to Paul. Surprised at
the strenght of the girl, her courage and the racks to
which she had been put for defending the right belief, Paul kissed the head of the girl and bles -
sed her, calling her „the bride of Christ”. Next day in the morning, her mother, noticing that her
daughter was missing from home, she began, together with Thamyris and the servants, to look
for her through the entire city, and when they found her at the prison, forced her out and an-
nounced the governor.
The Holy Apostle Paul was brought before the heap of people who vociferated that he was a
sorcerer. The governor also called Tekla, asking her why she did shove back her bethrothed, bu
she, looking for her adviser, was silent. Then, her mother shouted at the judge to burn her into
fire, because she was not her daughter, but a dry branch and a cursed child. On the other hand,
Thamyris tried to persuade the judge for murdering Paul. The Apostle of the Nations was not
accused for something else but for preaching Christ, and he would be chased away from the
city as a punishment. They also drove away Barnabas, as well as Onesiphorus and his sons.
The Apostles ran to the citadels of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and then to Antioch in Pisidia.
However, wishing for finding out what had happened to Tekla, hiding themselves in a tomb
dug on the way to Daphne, they fasted and prayed for her. Ultimately, having failed to determi -
ne her to return to her bethrothed, Tekla was condemned to be burned alive, according to her

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mother's wish. She seated herself on the heap of hay, brushwood and wood and, making the
sign of the Cross over them, making ready for burning, and while the fire was burning around
her strongly, not harming her, a hailstorm appeared and extinguished the fire, and the ruler of
the judges and the heap of people were frightened, running to their houses. Guarded thus
fromher first punishment, Tekla abandoned her family, going to look for the Holy Apostle Paul,
whom she followed to Antioch. There, a young ruler of that city, named Alexander, fell in love
with her, and because Tekla failed to respond to his advances for resigning the sin, mad at the
passion, the profligate young man let the entire citadel know that she was a Christian, asking
for convicting her. The night before the punishment she had been awarded, namely to be
thrown to wild beasts, a noble, very honest woman, who would believe in Christ later, namely
Tryphaena, took her to her house. Next day, the young girl was thrown amid wild beasts, but
they gathered quiet around her, licking her legs and not harming her at all. Some people from
the crown praised the God preached by Tekla, and other people blamished Him, saying about
the young girl that she had spells in her clothes, and it was the reason for which the wild beas -
ts did not harm her. Deciding that she was a witch and bewitched the animals not to harm her,
the city ruler delayed the so-called show for the next day, when according to his thinking,
more and hungrier wild beasts would murder her. The young girl was taken to the house of
Tryphaena, who had a vision through which her daughter, who had passed away short time
before, told her to take Tekla as her daughter and ask her to mediate for her redemption. The
next day, a large number of people gathered to a new so-called show in which Tekla was to be
torn apart by the hungry wild beasts. Ordering she to be undressed because wild beats might
have not eaten her because her clothes might have contained spells, the young girl was thrown
naked, under the eyes of thousands of people, amid the hungry lions, but the wonder happe-
ned again. The animals did not touch the clean body of the girl. When seeing the repeated
wonder, the people shouted that „the God honoured by Tekla was great”. Becoming angry, ho -
wever, doing not accept that it would have been a divine wonder, the judge thought of another
punishment, namely he ordered a large hole to be dug and there he threw animals again and
Tekla amid them. Nevertheless, she got out of there unharmed again, to the astonishment, but
also to the fear of the crowd.
However, the city ruler did not give up, ordering another
conviction for the bride of Christ. They brought two yo-
ung little bulls, tied her with a leg to a bull and with the
other led to the other bull, and started to prick the yo-
ung bulls with heated goads, in order they to run. The
holy woman was guarded again, because the thick ropes
with which she had been tied broke, like a cobweb, re-
maining thus on the spot. Being asked by the torturers
who she was for nothing could murder her, she answe-
red only that she was a servant of the Living God. Becau-
se they feared her, they released her. In the house of
Tryphaena, where she went again, she preached the
word of God, teaching many people to believe in Christ.
Then, being blessed by the Holy Apostle Paul, whom she
wanted to follow, but who stopped her, saying that nobo-
dy went to war with a bride, Tekla went to Maloula, a
city situated 70 km west from Damascus, Syria, where
she lived a reserved life in a grotto. For her faith, God gave her the gift of healing the sick. She
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cured all those who came to the grotto where she lived. Many of those who recovered their he-
alth also confessed the faith of Tekla. The wizards of Maloula, however, noticing that sick per-
sons did not come to them any more, enraged the local persons against her. Becoming aware
of their hatred, Tekla prayed to God and the rock where the servant of God lived split. The mo-
unt became her place of refuge, but also her tomb. It is believed that the holy woman was ni -
nety years old when the wonder took place. She is the first woman martyr for Christ and is
considered equal to the Apostles by the Church.

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Blessing and curse, with or without God
Through blessing, man invokes the authority of God, and the blessing of God imprints His life-giv -
ing energy. The one who blesses somebody else the gift of God within his heart, while the one who
loves the curse is far from God. Committing a sin against God does not attract the curse of God,
namely He loves man so much, that, when he sins against Him, He curses the environment in which
he lives. Man attracts his curse since he murders his neighbour. In a monastery, to bless means to
seat oneself under the mantle of the father confessor, who protects a monk from all the temptations.
The one who blesses somebody else is always guarded from many temptations, tests. The curse of a
priest or parents does not strike somebody else whenever it is not based on a clear motivation, but
when fully justified, it can be lifted only through repentance, confession and reading prayers of ab -
solution.
Blessings and curses are two
completely different situ-
ations. Both of them lie in the
power of God. He blessed
Adam and Eve after forming
them, but He cursed the ser-
pent because it had tempted
them. He also cursed the
ground where people would
live after falling. However, God
did not curse the first people
that had sinned. Adam lost the
heavens, his communion with
God, but he was not cursed. In
the beginning, God cursed
only the serpent, because it
had been the tool of their sin.
It is interesting that man was
cursed for the first time in
biblical history only in con-
nection with Cain, the first
man murderer. Cain is actually
the first man cursed by God.
In the case of Adam, the only
curse was the earth, but the
man was not. God cursed only
the sin of murdering the
neighbour, the sin against the
neighbour, and not directly
the sin against Him, such as the disobedience of the protofathers, what shows the great love of
God, because He forgives the sin against Him, but on the other hand, it also shows the effect of
the sin against the neighbour. Both the blessing and the curse are actually references to what
must happen. It is a very great difference between the blessing of man and the blessing of God,
in that man cannot guarantee that his blessing will come true, but only to invoke the authority
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of God, while the blessing of God has a direct effect because God imprints His life-giving en-
ergy. There is also a difference between the blessing in the Old Testament and the one in the
New Testament, namely even the principle of the blessing shows up in the New Testament in a
way unknown until that time, specifically even as the Incarnated Word. In other words, the
Word, the essence of the blessing, is incarnated into man, assumes the human nature. If until
that time, man was blessed rather indirectly, he receives the blessing through his direct com-
munion with Christ in the New Testament, what is a major difference. God also curses some-
thing in the New Testament. That time, a fig tree was cursed because Christ had noticed that it
had not brought fruit. However, one has not to see it as a punishment, a proof of wickedness
from Christ, but rather as something destined to bring fruit right from the start was found
lacking in them. At the Last Judgement, if Christ will ascertain that someone will be a sinner,
He will not curse him. The scoundrels that will be sent to hell will be the ones who did not
bring fruit during their lifetime.
Today, man uses the word “blessing”
very often, either to make somebody
else feel happy, to bless or curse his
neighbour. Through the power of the
word, people can do good or evil.
Therefore, they are hugely respons-
ible for what they utter. Only the one
who blesses somebody else has the
gift of God within his heart, while
the one who loves the curse is far
from God. A blessing means the gift
of God, and a curse signifies some-
thing bad, namely to wish somebody
else something that people do not
wish themselves, what is not specific
to the Christian teaching. The one
who blesses somebody else has
something from God out of the full-
ness of the heart and mouth, and the
one who curses someone else is not
within God. A blessing is not only a
word, but also an act of forgiveness
from the chief and obedience from
the servant. The one always wanting
in a blessing attracts a strong war
that can defeat him. Many people
left their prostration monastery
without a blessing, going from mon-
astery to monastery, holding their
own. Peace also comes both from receiving a blessing and the continuous obedience a monk
should perform until he passes to God. The blessing can be also extrapolated to the lay world.
A blessing can be generally asked for all the things and deeds of the life of people, but they
must not fall out of one extreme into another, to become scrupulous, namely careful about
paying attention to every detail. Individuals must ask blessings only for essential things, but
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there are also people that are really meek who ask blessings for all things. If their state comes
from humbleness, it is welcomed, but if they behave ostentatiously, it is a greater danger. The
wise confessor and the listening pennant know the limits of listening.
Priests and monks are not recommended to curse somebody else. The Fathers of the Church
and the Holy Scripture advice Christians to bless their neighbours. A blessing was always the
sign of the relationship with God, and the curse was always an obstacle between them and
God. Therefore, the ones who curse their neighbours – whoever they are, even the Church
Servers – especially as concerns usual things, commit a very serious sin, which must be
avoided. Generally, a curse does not strike somebody else when not based on a clear motiva -
tion. A Christian must have a long patience and not to immediately appeal to curses. Although
a parent who loves his child will always forgive him, the curse of a mother or priest, when jus-
tified, can be lifted only through repentance and sincere forgiveness of the person that sinned
drawing the curse unto them. It is said that the curse of a mother is similar to the one of a
priest, namely it strikes the one who is cursed. Therefore, it is recommended someone to
curse children because the curse strikes them. It is also not recommended to say in trouble, on
an experimental basis, authoritative words because they strike the one people address. Then,
people must confess and ask priests for reading absolution prayers. They also have to say that
they said curses when confessing.

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The Holy Prophet Zacharias, the root from which the

Baptist of Christ was born
A priest of God at the Temple of Jerusalem, a teacher of the Old Law, leading a pure life and keep -
ing the commandments, the Holy Prophet Zacharias was chosen, as a result of the secret advise of
the Holy Trinity, to be the father of Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner of Christ. For his honour,
the Church decided to celebrate him every year on 5th September.
The Holy Prophet Zacharias was a priest in
Jerusalem, during the reign of Emperor the
Great. He was a member of the priestly order
of Abijah. Emperor David, noticing that the
nation of Aaron – the only family ordered by
Moses to perform divine services at the
Temple – had grown up so much, that the
priests could not perform the services to-
gether, decided to divide it into 24 groups.
Divided thus, the priest groups were
ordered to perform the services at the
Temple one week each by drawing lots, the
eighth week being due to the groups of Abi-
jah. That tradition was kept until the demoli-
tion of the Temple of Jerusalem. Therefore,
born of the family of Abijah, Zacharias was a
member of the eighth group, being its Great
Priest. In the New Testament, there are not
many information as concerns the life and
especially activity of the Holy Prophet
Zacharias. The only details to which one can
attach more importance as concerns him are
presented by the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, in the first chapter of his Gospel. The main
theme of the beginning of the Gospel is the birth of Saint John the Baptist, an environment in
which information are naturally included as concerns his parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth.
The fact that the holy author begins his Gospel talking about Zacharias and Elizabeth as par-
ents of Saint John the Baptist proves that the Church Tradition honoured them specially, as if it
honoured some people that were chosen by God to be members of his redeeming economy.
The Gospel presents Zacharias and Elizabeth as being members of the priestly family of Israel,
both of them were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blamelessly. The joy of their pure life was, however, diminished, because they could
not have children. According to the Jewish outlook, childless parents were considered cursed
by God, what also attracted the insult of the people around them. Thus, Zacharias and Eliza-
beth became advanced in years. Zacharias was a priest at the Temple of Jerusalem, ordered to
perform divine services in the eighth week, according to the priestly group of which he was a
member. During that week, the ordered priest had to incense the altar and pray together with
the people gathered there. The Holy Evangelist Luke tells that during the service of Zacharias
at the Temple, the Holy Archangel Gabriel appeared to him, announcing him that Elizabeth

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would give birth to a baby, whose name would be John. The appearance of the angel and the
announcement of the birth of a son, who would be great in the sight of God, made Zacharias
doubt if the words of the angel were true. As a punishment of his mistrustfulness in the word
of God, the Archangel announced him that he would be silent until the birth of his baby. The
incident of the appearance of the angel in the Temple ends through the image of the Jewish
people who, seeing that Zacharias could not speak, confirms that Zacharias had had a vision.
Then, the biblical account shows Zacharias on the eighth day of the birth of his baby, when the
little baby was circumcised and given his name. There, the controversy between their relatives
and Elizabeth took place, namely according to custom, the baby had to be given the name of
his father, but Elizabeth let them know of the name of the baby would be John. Because not
even any of their relatives had worn that name, being asked his opinion by the ones around
him sealing the matter, Zacharias wrote on a table that the name of the baby was John. Being
able to speak again, Zacharias glorified God, making those present marvel at that occurrence.
Afterwards, the Holy Evangelist Luke presents the Zacharias song of praise, where glorifying
God, Saint Zacharias then addressed baby John, predicting about his life and acitivty.
It is said that Saint Zacharias might have been
murdered by the order of Emperor Herod the
Great. The emperor sent his soldiers to
murder all the babies, aged two or younger, on
the chance of also murdering the Messiah, of
whose birth he had been informed by the
Magi. Knowing about the wonderful birth of
John and believing that John himself could be
the Messiah, he ordered his soldiers to look
for and murder him. In the meantime, how-
ever, Elizabeth took John and fled from that
area, hiding in mountains, across River Jordan.
Because they did not find the baby, the sol-
diers were sent to Prophet Zacharias, for
telling them where the shelter was. Because
they were not given any answer, the Holy
Prophet Zacharias perished by the sword dir-
ectly, on the day when he had been ordered to
perform divine services at the Temple of Jeru-
salem. His blood dripped out between the al-
tar and the temple. His relics are found in Jer-
usalem, close to the ones of Simeon the Elder,
according to an inscription dating back to the 4 th century, discovered in 2003. His pure life,
serving God and following His will sketch the portrayt of exemplary parents to Saints Zachari -
as and Elizabeth. Their continuous prayer for bearing children and the blessed answer of God
make them an example that should be followed by all the families. Their sacrifice and martyr -
ical death for their child, on behalf of Christ, represents the example of every parent pleasant
to God, and their blessed fruit, Saint John the Baptist, is the strongest proof of the family.
86 The Holy Prophet Zacharias, the root from which the Baptist of Christ was born
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The Holy Hierarch Anthim, the Iberian with a Romanian

soul
Considered the most famous metropolitan of Wallachia in its entire history, Saint Anthim the Iberian
remains in the Romanian Orthodox Church memory as a personality of a rarely-met complexity. A
printer, church architect, calligrapher, sculptor, matchless preacher, expert in many foreign lan -
guages, the metropolitan of Georgian origin proved himself a good administrator of the Church at
the same time, philanthropical in spirit and who bended his mind to the believers he pastorated. The
things he left for posterity, his homiletical work, the Teachings, show Christians it is about a match-
match-
less orator. The Anthim Monastery of Bucharest, his foundation, is also a sign of loving God and the
common sense of the metropolitan, and the will written by him confesses the love he nurtured for
his believers wanting in material means. Therefore, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox
Church canonised him among the saints on 21st June 1992.
Metropolitan Anthim the Iberian was one of the most
brilliant hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church
in Wallachia. His credits are the greater the more he
was not a Romanian. The beginnings of his life are
little known. It is only known that he was a Caucasian
or Georgian (Iberian). Born in 1650, young Andrew
(his baptismal name) became a servant of the Turks.
Released from slavery, he lived close to the Ecumen-
ical Patriarchate of Constantinople, where he grew
accustomed in his youth with sculpture, painting, cal-
ligraphy and the Greek, Arabic and Turkish lan-
guages. About 1690, ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu
brought him to Wallachia, it becoming his second
native country. There, he found a propitious cultural
arena, where brilliant Italian and Greek cultivated
men, together with famous scholars and Romanian
Orthodox hierarchs met and worked under the spon-
sorship of the Brâncovean ruler. The ruler surroun-
ded himself with a group of noted learned men,
renowned through the South Eastern Europe and the
Near East, among whom scholar Anthim the Iberian
also counted. In 1691, he became the leader of the printing office in Bucharest. Five years later,
he was the Father Superior of the Snagov Monastery, where he founded a new printing estab-
lishment and developed a rich printing activity for five years. He continued his printing work
in Bucharest, , between 1701 and 1705. In 1705, he was chosen bishop of Râmnic. At the be-
ginning of 1708, he was chosen metropolitan of Wallachia, pastorating the Romanian believers
in that area until 1716. One of the remarkable concerns of Metropolitan Anthim the Iberian
was the spiritual building of the believers through his teachings. His famous “Teachings” are
very precious through its matter. It is about 28 sermons preached during a bishop, on the oc-
casion of different church festivals, dedicated to the Mother of God and some saints, to which
seven occasional speeches are added. His sermons also regarded social life, blaming through
them the manners of the society contemporaneous with him, the injustices the peasants were

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done by the landowners, and sins he unconditionally admonished, namely dishonouring par-
ents by children, the Church Servers by the pastorated, attending pubs, doing not observing
Sundays and feast days, oaths. The Teachings also evidence his remarkable contribution to the
Romanian language.
During a quarter of a century (1691-1716), he
printed or superintended the printing of 63
books, of which 39 were made by himself. Ac-
cording to the language in which they were
published, 30 were in Greek, 22 in Romanian,
one in Palaeoslavonic, 6 in Slavonic-Romanian,
2 in Greek-Arabic and one in Greek-Slavon-
ic-Romanian. According to the place where
they were published, 21 came out in Bucharest,
15 at Snagov, 9 at Râmnic, and 18 at Târgoviște.
The printed works were published in a variety
of ways, namely church books, books of Ortho-
dox theological doctrine, church speeches,
teaching books for priests, philosophy books
and so on. He printed a Greek-Arabic Liturgy
Book (1701) and a Greek-Arabic Book of Hours
(1702) for the Antiochian Patriarchate believ-
ers. Through his printing activity, he also sup-
ported the believers of Greek and Georgian lan-
guages, Romanian Orthodoxy rising to high
fame among Orthodox peoples. While he co-
ordinated the printing activity at the Snagov
Monastery, he also familiarised many appren-
tices, of whom the most famous one was Mihail
Ștefan, who later printed books at Alba Iulia
and even in the native country of Anthim, Iberia, to the skill of printing. Several proof readers,
engravers and translators rallied to the printing houses of Bucharest, Snagov, Râmnic and Târ-
goviște, who formed a real “world of book”, interested in the philosophical work fed on com-
paring the versions in order to realise a correct Romanian version and in the accuracy of the
terms, in the life of concepts, thus a real intellectual movement arising. He was also by the side
of the Romanian believers of Transylvania, in the context of the Austrian state policy of attract-
ing the Orthodox Romanian to Roman Catholicism. He sent his apprentice Mihail Ștefan to
Alba Iulia, who printed two books there. After 1701, he supported the Orthodox believers of
Şcheii Brașovului through letters of encouragement and conferring holy orders on some
priests for their church. As concerns the printed works, another merit of Saint Anthim the
Iberian must be officially recognised namely the one of finishing the process of making church
services Romanian. In the middle of the previous century, church formularies were printed in
Romanian, biblical lectures were introduced in Romanian in the last decades of the same cen-
tury, but the liturgical text of worship books was translated and printed in Romanian only dur-
ing the ministry of Anthim the Iberian. When he was a bishop of Râmnic, the Liturgy Book (the
first edition in Wallachia) and the Prayer Book came out in Romanian in 1706. Becoming a
metropolitan, he translated in Romanian and printed the Psalter (1710), the Liturgical Book
(1712), the Liturgy Book (1713) and the Prayer Book (1713, in its second edition), then the
88 The Holy Hierarch Anthim, the Iberian with a Romanian soul

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Book containing hymns (1714) and the Book of Hours (1715).

A Florentine learned man, who lived at the court of rulers Constantin Brâncoveanu and Ștefan
Cantacuzino, said that Metropolitan Anthim the Iberian had built a gorgeous monastery, with a
wonderful church dedicated to All Saints in Bucharest. It is about the Anthim Church or Mon-
astery, as believers called it over time. In the will through which he ordered the management
of the monastery goods, the metropolitan presented his work and the aspirations of his life
with his usual humbleness. Through his will, the metropolitan also ordered a handsome work
of social maintenance from the monastery income. Metropolitan Anthim passed away tragic-
ally in the autumn of 1716, after Nicolae Mavrocordat, the first Phanariot ruler, had ascended
the throne. Accused because he might have established close relations with the Austrians and
might have plotted against the Turks and the Phanariot ruler, he was arrested and put into
prison in the palace. At the request of the ruler, the Ecumenical Patriarch and his council un-
frocked him under an accusation of being found guilty towards the Ottoman Empire and the
ruler. Also called to defrock, to unfrock means to officially remove a priest form his or her job,
because he or she has dome something wrong. He was sentenced to exile on Mount Sinai. To
prevent any rebellion among the faithful, Anthim was forcefully taken at a midnight hour “in a
carriage” under the supervision of the Turks. He did not live to fulfill his punishment because
the Turkish soldiers who led him to the place of exile murdered him, throwing his body into a
river near Adrianople. Thus, he passed away martyrically. The defrocking sentence was raised
by the Patriarchal Synod led by Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople only on
8th March 1966. On 21st June 1992, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church canon-
ised Metropolitan Anthim the Iberian among the saints, being celebrated every year on 27 th
September. He is considered the most famous metropolitan of Wallachia in its entire history.
Through his entire pastoral, printing and preaching activity, as a bishop and as a metropolitan,
Saint Anthim represented the true shepherd who puts his heart for his believers. His life was
an entire sacrifice of work and ardour for erecting the Church and enlightening the faithful. Al-
though he was of foreign origin, he learnt Romanian perfectly, leaving the most beautiful Ro -
manian language in his interpretations and prefaces, in his teachings and spiritual pieces of
advice to present-day Christians.

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Holy mothers in the Orthodox Church
Among the faces of mothers honoured by the Orthodox Church, the foremost place belongs to the
Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our intercessor to her son, and also the support of all moth -
ers who petition for her help. Other biblical characters honoured by the Orthodox Church as chosen
mothers are related to her name, namely to her mother Saint Anna, her cousin Elizabeth, as well as
myrrh-bearing women. Faces of holy mothers are also found in the houses of some Holy Fathers of
the Church, on the throne of the Byzantine Empire or in the saint bands that suffered martyrical
death for their faith.
Saint Maximus the Confessor calls the Virgin Mary, the
Mother of the baby Jesus, "chosen before all ages, by the
unspeakable plan of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit,
the source of the water coming, heaven tree of life, which
occurred via verdant grapes Immortality, the Living wa-
ter river, the ark was covered the boundless, gold vessel
that first hand Immortality, the staff of the Life sprout,
flower fragrance filled the sons of grace, beauty lily of
God, Virgin and Mother of whom was born the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world, our salvation
granary higher than all the powers of heaven ". The Pro-
togospel of James is an apocryphal writing from which
the Holy Father such as Gregory of Neocaesarea, Ath-
anasius of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the
Areopagite or Maximus the Confessor extracted certain
elements related to the life of the Blessed Virgin. Saint
Maximus the Confessor took over the tradition according
to which the Blessed Anna went to the temple and
prayed to the Creator for helping her have children
in order she to dedicate the gift received from Him.
The angel of God came to Anna and announced her
that God had answered to her prayer and she would
give birth to the herald of joy, and call her Mary, be-
cause the entire redemption of the world would be
done through her. According to the writings of Saint
John of Damascus, the Grace, how the name “Anna”
can be translated, gave birth to the Lady, because it
means “Mary”, and being the Mother of God, she
really became the mother of all the creatures. On
25th July, the Dormition of Saint Anna, the mother of
the Holy Virgin Mary, is celebrated. After the birth
of the Holy Virgin and consecrating her to God at
three years of age, she spent the rest of her life
through fasting, praying and charitable works,
passing to God at the age of 69 years old. The Tradi-
tion of the Church says that the both parents of the
Holy Virgin had gone on to the everlasting life since
90 Holy mothers in the Orthodox Church

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the Holy Virgin was still at the temple, at the age of 11 years old.
The Holy Evangelist Luke presented Elizabeth
as a descendant of Aaron, the wife of priest
Zacharias, barren and advanced in years. Angel
Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and told him not
to be afraid because his prayer had been
answered, and his wife Elizabeth would bear
him a child, and he would give a name to him
John, and he would be overjoyed and many
people would rejoice at his birth because he
would be great before the Lord; he would
drink neither wine or other intoxicating drink
and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit
when he was not born yet. After six months,
Angel Gabriel told the Mother of God not to be
afraid because she had found favour with God,
and she would conceive in her womb and bring
forth a son, and would call his name Jesus,
Who would be great and Would be called the
Son of the Highest, and the Lord God would
give unto Him the throne of His father David.
The angel also told her that her Son would
reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and His kingdom would not end. Then, Mary asked the
angel how that would be possible if she did not know a man. The angel answered that the Holy
Spirit would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her, and there -
fore the holy thing that would be born of her would be called the Son of God. The angel also
told her that her cousin Elizabeth had also conceived a son in her old age, and that was the
sixth month with her, who had been called barren because nothing would be impossible with
God. Then, Mary said that she would obey the word of the angel, and he departed from her.
After receiving the good piece of news about the Nativity of the Lord, the Virgin Mary went to
her cousin Elizabeth, who welcomed her with great joy, and when Elizabeth heard the saluta -
tion of Mary, her baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and
spoke out with a loud voice, saying “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of
your womb.” Elizabeth said that as soon as the voice of the salutation of her cousin sounded in
her ears, her baby had leaped in her womb for joy, and “Blessed is she that believed: for there
shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Then, Mary
answered those words with one of the most nice hymns kept in the Holy Scripture, namely
“My soul do magnify the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He has re -
garded the low estate of His handmaiden for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call
me blessed. For He that is mighty has done to me great things; and holy is His name. And His
mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. He has shewed strength with
His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the
mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good
things; and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance
of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.” Then, Mary abode
with her cousin about three months, and returned to her own house. Saint Maximus the Con-
fessor said that Elizabeth imitated Mary through the quality of her conduct, and after the

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blessed parents of the Holy Virgin passed away, the Mother of God saw her mother in Eliza -
beth. Therefore, when she received the piece of news from Archangel Gabriel, she immediately
hastened to salute her cousin and tell her the words she had heard from the angel of God. In
the manger of Bethlehem, the same Holy Father placed Elizabeth close to the Mother of God.
When the first wonder was per-
formed by the Saviour at Cana of
Galilee, the Virgin Mary preached
her Son Himself. After the miracle,
the Holy Virgin and the Mother of
God remained inseparable from her
merciful Lord and her wished Son.
Wherever He went, she accompan-
ied Him and considered following
Him and listening to His words as
the redemption and the light of her
eyes and soul. The terrible episode
of the Passion, the suffering and
death of Jesus Christ, found His
mother close to Him lamenting.
When His mother stayed close to
His Cross, Jesus gave His mother a
gift again, an immaculate son,
whom He gave in His place, not for
giving up the care of His most pure
mother, but to comfort His mother
visibly. The care of the Saviour for
the Virgin Mary was seen since the
time of His preaching. Then, when a
certain woman of the company lif-
ted up her voice, and said unto Him:
'Blessed is the womb that bare You,
and the paps which You have sucked', He said 'Yes, rather, blessed are they that hear the word
of God, and keep it.' The third Sunday after the Resurrection of the Lord was dedicated by the
Church to myrrh-bearing women. Among them, Mary was the mother of young James and Jose,
and Salome was the mother of Apostles James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Myrrh-bearing
women came to the tomb of Jesus Christ with myrrh and are examples of faith for all the Chris-
tian women. On 21st May, the Holy Empress Helen, called by the Church, together with her son,
the Holy Emperor Constantine the Great, “equal to the Apostles”, is celebrated. Historian Euse-
bius of Caesarea, the biographer of Emperor Constantine (306-337), noted that 'under her in-
fluence, Constantine became a servant so committed to God, that one would have believed that
he has been a disciple of the Saviour from a child. The discovery of the Holy Cross on the Gol-
gotha Hill, as well as many worship places at the Crucifixion and Resurrection places, at the
Nativity Grotto of Bethlehem, on Mount of Olives, in Cyprus and the West, are due to Saint
Helen. Five centuries later, the Holy Empress Theodora, the supporter of Orthodoxy, celeb-
rated on 11th February, reigned. She was the wife of Byzantine Emperor Teophilus and the
mother of Emperor Michael III. While the iconoclast emperor Theophilus was on his deathbed,
Theodora was able to persuade him to honour the sacred icons and finally pass on according

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to God's law. During the regentship caused by the tender age of her son Michael, Empress
Theodora facilitated restoring icon worship through the empire. The triumph of Orthodoxy in
843 was due to the wisdom of Empress Theodora. Together with her daughter, Pulcheria,
Theodora took on monastic clothes and entered Gastrion monastery, where she finally passed
away on 11th February, 867. After other six centuries, the Holy Pious Ipomoni, the mother of
the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos (1448-1453), celebrated on 13 th March,
became a saint. Augusta Helen Palaiologos, the wife of Emperor Emanuel Palaiologos of the
Byzantine Empire retired to the Monastery of Kira-Martha, taking the name Ipomoni (or
Hipomoni), which translated from Greek means “patience”. Although she had been an
empress, she lived in the monastery community, accepting all the obedience ordered for her
piously, and founded an establishment for old people called “the Hope of the Despaired”.
Celebrated by the Church on 30th May, Saint Macrina the
Elder was the wife of Saint Basil, the mother of Saint
Basil the Elder, the mother-in-law of Saint Emily and
grandmother of four saints, namely Basil the Great (1 st
January), Peter of Sebaste (9th January), Gregory of
Nyssa (10th January) and Macrina the Younger (30 th
July). Her conversion to Christianity is related to the
activity of Saint Gregory the Thaumaturgist, the first
bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus, in the 3rd century. Dur-
ing the persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian, she
lived in exile together with her husband. After the perse-
cution ended, they came back to their community, where
they were honoured as confessors. The most precious
treasure they left to their descendants is the Christian
faith, which gave rise to the largest family of saints. Cel-
ebrated on 8th May, Saint Emmelia, the mother of Saint
Basil the Great, was the daughter-in-law of Saint Mac-
rina the Elder and the daughter of a martyr of the
Church. She educated her ten children according to the
Christian order, four of the above-mentioned ones being canonised among the saints. Together
with her daughter, Macrina the Elder laid the foundations of a nunnery in Pontus, on the shore
of River Iris. When she passed away, two of her children – Macrina, the eldest one, and Peter,
the youngest one – stayed together with her, saying a fine prayer to God through which she
dedicated her children to Him. On 5th August, the Church celebrates the Holy Pious Nonna, the
mother of Saint Gregory the Theologian. The wife of Gregory, a pagan magistrate, succeeded in
converting him to Christianity, he becoming a bishop of Nazianzus for 45 years. The Church
celebrates three saints, fruits of her womb, namely Saint Gregory the Theologian (25 th Janu-
ary), Saint Gorgonia the Righteous (23rd February), and Saint Caesarios the Righteous (9 th
March). Only Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, her son, provides information about the life of Saint
Nonna. He wrote that "In her body of a woman she had a souls of a male, much braver than of
men. She would take care of the worldly and materially things only insofar as they could be ne-
cessary for the exaltation of the soul. Not being interested in make-ups and female toilets, she
had only one care: to make brighter the image of God in her heart; and would not counter any
worldly nobility except that by working faith the man knows that comes from God and goes
back to God. Training her body with fasting and prayers by night, she later told her children
that often she would have liked to offer herself and her children to have fulfil the needs of the

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poor." On 20th December 2009, through the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patri-
archate, within the Metropolitan See of Veria, Nausa and Kampania in Greece, the canonisation
service of the entire family of Saint Gregory Palamas was performed. Thus, besides the blessed
mothers of the Church Fathers, Saint Kalloni, the mother of Saint Gregory Palamas, celebrated
by the Church on 14th November, was added.
On 1st February Christians find in the Orthodox
calendar the names of Holy Martyress Perpetua
and Felicity, Martyrs who have suffered death
during the persecution of Septimius Severus, on
March 7, 203. Perpetua was the mother of a suck-
ling, and her slave, Felicity, pregnant when arres-
ted, had given birth to a little girl short time be-
fore her execution. On 30th March, Saint Eubula,
the mother of Saint Panteleimon, is celebrated by
the Church. Although her husband was a pagan
senator, she had secretly embraced the Christian
faith and educated her child according to the love
of God, going on to the everlasting life while Pan-
teleimon was still a child. Saint Solomone, the
mother of the Holy Seven Macabees, is celebrated
on 1st August. The revolt of the Macabees broth-
ers against the Seleucid power of King Antiochus,
who was surnamed Epiphanes (“Illustrious”)
over the Jews led to their persecution right under
the eyes of their mother. Seeing her children
thrown into fire, Solomone also accepted to suffer
of her own will, jumping into fire and suffering martyrical death. On 1 st September, Christians
celebrate the Holy Pious Martha, the mother of Saint Symeon the Stylite. The Holy Martyress
Sophia, the mother of virgins Pistis, Elpis and Agape, is celebrated on 17 th September. Sophia,
which when translated from Greek means “wisdom”, named her three daughters according to
the name of the three theological virtues, namely Pistis, which translated means “Faith”, Elpis,
which is translated as “Hope”, and Agape, which means “Love”. For their faith, the three daugh-
ters suffered martyrical death in 137, and Sophia was spared, suffering heart martyrdom. She
was buried by Christians close to her daughters and enjoyed the martyrical wreath, although
she did not suffer with her body, but she suffered much through her heart for her faith in
Christ. On 20th September, the Holy Martyress Theopiste, the wife of Martyr Eustathios and the
mother of Agapios and Theopistos. Her family was wonderfully baptised, through a divine vis-
ion, and Tatiana was given the Christian name Theopiste. All of them accepted martyrical
death Roman Emperor Hadrian, because they refused to worship idols. Another martyr moth-
er of the Church is Saint Neonilla, who was martyred together with her husband and their sev-
en children. All of them are celebrated on 28th October.

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A C O R P U S D E S I G N E D F O R T H E FA I T H F U L

Holy icons working-wonders in the Holy Mount Athos

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 3

4 Holy Athonite wonder-working icons

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 5

6 Holy Athonite wonder-working icons

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 7

8 Holy Athonite wonder-working icons

Iconoclasm – The victory of burnt-hand icon painters

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 9

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 11

The new ecclesiastical year

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 13

14 The new ecclesiastical year

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 15

16 The new ecclesiastical year

The Nativity of the Mother of God

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 17

age, going gently to heaven.

18 The Nativity of the Mother of God

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 19

Saint Anthony, the father of Christian monasticism

20 Saint Anthony the Great

21 Saint Anthony the Great

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 22

23 Saint Anthony the Great

Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, the genius of theology in the

24 Saint Gregory of Nazianzus

25 Saint Gregory of Nazianzus

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 26

The Holy Cross of Jesus Christ

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 27

28 The Holy Cross of Jesus Christ

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 29

The Mother of God, the most venerated woman

30 The Mother of God, the most venerated woman

31 The Mother of God, the most venerated woman

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 32

God is showing on the mountain

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 33

surrection and eternal life brought by Jesus, the Son of God.

34 The Transfiguration of the Lord

The oldest icons in the world

The encaustic technique, namely

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 35

36 The oldest icons in the world

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 37

The Nativity of the Lord

38 The Nativity of the Lord

39 The Nativity of the Lord

Light of Christianity – Volume 1, September 2009 40

The path of holiness, from history to the calendar

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42 The path of holiness, from history to the calendar

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44 The path of holiness, from history to the calendar

The shepherd, the image of the leader and symbol of

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46 The shepherd, the image of the leader and symbol of humbleness

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The hermit that tamed wild beasts

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50 Saint Mammas, the hermit that tamed wild beasts

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