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The position of the belt of the saint. Mother of God In addition to the vestment of St. The Mother of God was preserved among Christians in her honorable belt, which at the Dormition of the Mother of God she herself entrusted to the ap. Thomas, then, as Nicephorus Callistus writes, it was passed on between believers, just like its robe, successively from one to another. In the 5th century, during the reign of Arcadius, the son of Theodosius the Great, the honorable belt of the Mother of God was transferred from Jerusalem, and according to others from Zila, to Constantinople, and placed in a precious ark, behind the royal seal, in the Blachernae Church of Constantinople, built in the name of the Mother of God by the pious Pulcheria, sister of Theodosius the Younger (408-450). In the 4th century. Joseph the Studite wrote a canon for the day of the position of the girdle, with an acrostic or borderline: “By your strength the pure Virgin girded me.” In the 10th century, the honorable belt of the Mother of God was glorified by a special sign that came from it. The Greek queen Zoe, the wife of Emperor Leo the philosopher I (886–912), suffering for a long time from illness, once received a revelation in a dream that she would immediately recover if the belt of the Most Holy One was placed on her. Mother of God. The queen announced this vision to the emperor and the patriarch: then the sacred ark was opened, and the belt, found completely unharmed, was spread by the hands of the patriarch over the sick woman, who actually received healing from her illness. After this, prayers of gratitude were publicly offered to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother for the mercy bestowed, and the belt was triumphantly again placed in the ark in which it had previously been kept; In memory of the miracle that happened from him over the sick queen, a holiday was established at the beginning of the 10th century in honor of the blessed Virgin Mary: the position of the honorable belt of the Most Holy. Mother of God, August 31st. The Russian Church, having accepted this pious institution from the Greek, also celebrates a festival in praise of the blessed Virgin Mary, glorifying in her honorable belt and the guarantee of the blessing and establishment of the Orthodox kingdoms. In the liturgical hymns on this day, the Church glorifies the belt of the Mother of God as an ark of consecration for believers, a sacred enclosure, a source of healing. The Apostle and the Gospel at the Liturgy on the day of the placement of the belt of the Virgin Mary are the same as on the day of the placement of her robe. And in general, the chants in honor of the belt of the Virgin Mary are in many ways very similar to the chants in honor of the robe. The following legends tell us about the subsequent fate of the belt of the Mother of God. The belt, which accompanied the campaigns of the Greek emperors, was taken from the Greeks by the victorious Bulgarian king Koloman and donated to the monastery of Vatopedi on Athos by the Serbian prince Lazar in the ΧΙ5th century. The belt is divided into two parts, of which one constantly remains in the monastery, sealed with two royal seals, probably those of Arcadius and Leo the Philosopher, and the other is worn around the villages of Rumelia. During the terrible cholera that devastated Adrianople, the appearance of part of the belt was saving. In 1387, the Russian Metropolitan Pimen saw in the Blachernae Church an ark containing the robe and belt of the Virgin Mary. Part of the belt of the Virgin Mary is also located within our borders, in the house church of the Mingrelian rulers, where Emperor Romanos donated, who at the end of the 10th century gave his daughter Argyra, who received healing from this belt, to the famous king of Abkhazia and Georgia, Bagrat Kuropalat. Argyra begged her father to let part of the miraculous belt go with her to a distant country. This part is now located in Mingrelia, in Zugdida, where, by order of the Russian Emperor Alexander I, a church was built to protect the shrine. St. Svmch. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage A native of Carthage, raised in paganism, Cyprian at a very young age became a teacher of philosophy and eloquence in his city, living cheerfully and luxuriously. He happened to meet the Christian priest Caecilian, who convinced him that only Christian teaching leads to truth and salvation. Cyprian believed and was baptized, having spent a considerable time in the ranks of the catechumens, in 246, and was soon ordained as a presbyter. “I learned,” he wrote to a friend upon conversion, “that the former life for the flesh and sin is earthly and perishing life, but life according to the commandments of Christ is divine life.” In 248, after the death of Bishop Donatus, the Carthaginian Christians elected him bishop. Cyprian was a zealous shepherd of the Church, taught by word and scripture, and edified by the example of his own life. During the persecution, Decius hid from his pursuers, but under Valerian he was first expelled (257) and then condemned to death. He was beheaded on September 14th. 258 years. St. Gennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople Gennady, from const. priests, enthroned in July 458, during the reign of Leo the Great. He was a zealot for truth, a teacher of purity of morals, and eradicated simony between bishops and from receiving priests. rank required knowledge of the Psalter (that is, by heart). She pastored the Church for thirteen years; died in 471 on the island of Cyprus, on the way back from Jerusalem, where he went on pilgrimage. In the days of this patriarch, a certain icon painter dared to inappropriately paint the image of the Savior, in the likeness of the pagan god Zeus, and he was immediately executed; for the hand that dared to do so has withered. He came to the patriarch with tears and repentance; and the patriarch, having prayed to God, healed his hand. † Repose of Saint John, Metropolitan of Kiev After M. George, the successor of Blessed. M. Hilarion, blessed. John, probably a Bulgarian by birth, came to Kyiv in the rank of Metropolitan of all Russia in 1080 and soon earned deep general respect 352. Rev. Nestor, a contemporary and eyewitness of his deeds, admired by his high qualities, says: “there has never been anything like him in Rus' and there never will be; this is a man knowledgeable in books, skilled in teaching, merciful to the poor and widows, affectionate to everyone, rich and poor, humble and meek, a lover of silence, possessing the gift of speech and comforting the sad with holy conversations 353. Antiquity called Saint John the prophet of Christ. According to the tall image of Blessed John by St. We have no doubt about Nestor that, calling him a prophet of Christ, they connected with this the idea of ​​a seer 354. Of his affairs, the chronicle mentions only a few. According to it, in 1086 he founded the church of St. Andrew in the St. Andrew’s Monastery, and he is called “Reverend Metropolitan”; in 1087 he solemnly buried the murdered prince. Yaropolk; in 1087 he consecrated the church of the Archangel Michael in the Vydubitsky Monastery 355; On August 14, 1089, he consecrated the wonderful, great church of Pechersk and then died 356. The chronicles after Nestor call him sometimes good, sometimes holy, sometimes blessed 357. According to the RCP. to the calendar he is “St. John Metropolitan”; and in one list it is added: “it was founded in the Pechersk Monastery.” Blessed John left several works for the Russian Church 358. The Epistle of M. John to Clement, Pope of the Elder of Rome 359 is precious in its content, especially in the spirit of meekness with which it breathes. “Your love is pleasant in the Lord, man of God, worthy of the apostolic throne,” so wrote the Russian saint. - “You, from a distant country, look at our thinness and humility, touch us with the wings of your love, greet us sincerely and with love, offer spiritual desires, accept the dogmas of our Orthodox and pure faith and are amazed at them, as the bishop of your Holiness announced to us and clearly showed us. Since things are in such a situation and you find yourself to be a bishop of God, unlike those who recently became bishops, troublemakers and insulters of the truth: then I, the least, greet and mentally kiss your sacred head. Be happy! May the divine, Almighty hand cover you! May the good and merciful God grant you and your days to see the improvement of affairs between you and us! “I don’t know where and how the temptations and obstacles on the path of God came? Why and how have they not corrected themselves yet? I am perplexed and do not understand what cruel demon, an evil enemy of truth and goodness, did all this, destroyed your brotherly love and the union that unites Christians. I won’t say that everything is ruined. We know that you are Christians from the beginning by the grace of God and in many ways we approve of you. But you do not agree with us on everything and differ on some points. Look here: “Everyone recognizes the seven saints and ecumenical councils. On them, the pious and Orthodox faith of Christians was explored, studied, and received firmness with all its fullness and persuasiveness; they are the seven pillars of theological wisdom; On them she built her holy house - the universal Church. These holy ecumenical councils were unanimously followed by all the primates and successors of the see of the supreme of the glorious apostles Peter, some personally present and approving with consent the deeds and words, others, through their trusted messengers, giving a co-operating voice to your apostolic see. These were: at the first ecumenical council Silverst, at the second Damaz, at the third Celestine; The fourth ecumenical council was reinforced by the most blessed and glorious Pope Leo, who wrote a wise and holy letter to Flavian, which was considered the pillar of Orthodoxy by all the famous of that time. At the fifth council there was Vigilius, at the sixth Agathon, a venerable and spiritually enlightened man. At the seventh ecumenical council, His Holiness Pope Adrian expressed his consent through his envoys, holy and God-bearing men, Peter the Protopresbyter and the abbot of the Roman monastery of St. Savva. “When all this is so, where did discord and division come from? Who sowed such tares in the Roman field? There really is a lot of impudence going on with you. Out of many things, I will offer your love a little: “First of all, you are observing the Sabbath fast illegally. Then the first week, separating it from Lent, you force the people to eat milk, cheese and other daily food. You reject priests who have entered into legal marriage. Those who are confirmed by elders, you anoint them another time, as if this should be done not by priests, but by bishops. I’m not talking about unleavened bread: this is a clear part of Jewish service and faith. The worst thing is that you dare to change St. a symbol approved by universal definitions, and say that the Holy Spirit. come not only from the Father, but also from the Son." Having then presented a refutation of each of the exposed willfulness of the West, in denunciation of the arbitrariness of St. Spirit says: “It’s amazing and scary how you dare to change the faith of 318 St. fathers and saints ecumenical councils. From end to end of the universe, in all Christian churches, they sing unanimously: “We believe in St. The Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father, is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son.” Why do you not speak like all Christians, but make an addition? You are introducing a new teaching. But the apostle says: “Whoever preaches the gospel to you more than he eats, let him be cursed” (Gal. 1:8). ABOUT! may you not hear this curse upon you! It is truly terrible to change and spoil holy scripture, even if only by one jot or by one tittle! Don’t you already understand how great this temptation is? You introduce two reasons, two beginnings for St. Spirit; you humiliate His dignity and fall into the heresy of Macedonia.” In conclusion, he writes: “I ask and pray, and I fall at your sacred feet, to correct yourself in all this, especially regarding unleavened bread and the indicated deficiency, as it concerns St. communion, and this is detrimental to pure faith. Forgive the person who wrote this to you... “John the Russian Metropolitan, called the prophet of Christ, the church rule,” written for the monk Jacob, long remained part of the rules of the Russian Church, as an explanation of the rules of the universal Church in applying them to the needs of the Russian Church 360. In canon 4 the saint wrote: “those who serve on unleavened bread, eat meat during cheese week, eat blood and strangled meat, should not partake of the Holy Spirit. Tain) and perform divine services. But it is not at all forbidden to eat food with them, depending on the circumstances, for the love of Christ. If anyone wants to avoid this under the guise of purity or because of weakness, let him avoid it; but be careful that temptation does not come out of it or strong enmity and resentment are not revived. It is necessary to choose the lesser from the greater evil.” Excellent rule! apostolic rule! In other rules of St. John condemns sorcery, pagan customs, seductive songs, shows how sinful it is to trade in baptized slaves in the land of the Polovtsians; priests are ordered to be an example of sobriety; forbids princes to give their daughters to Gentiles; imposes penances on those who violate purity and chastity; gives instructions about the sacraments and various sacred objects. “You asked me,” he writes to James, “about those who buy servants and, after praying with them and communing with St. Tain, they sell them to the pagans, what kind of penance should they be subjected to? The law says: a Christian must not be sold to either a Jew or a heretic; whoever sells to the Jews is a lawless one; he is guilty not only before the law, but also before God. Imagine Ananias and Sapphira - and think. They promised up. Peter brought the price of the field to God, but then they kept only a small part and were condemned to death. Those who bought the servants put the sign of God on them (baptism) and sanctified them with prayer, as you write, then sell them to the pagans? “They commit not secret, but open theft from God, they steal the part that they brought to God. I think they sin as much as those who persecute our faith and lead many from faith to unbelief. They must be diverted from such an evil deed with all convictions and admonitions. If they do not listen, then consider them pagans and tax collectors.” “If the holy wooden table and the honorable crosses and icons become dilapidated, then do not throw them away, but fix them. If they are too dilapidated and the faces on the icons are not visible, then put them in a fenced place, where no person or animal can touch them with uncleanness, so that we do not become desecrators of the shrine. If a wooden church is moved to another place, the place where the altar stood and the bloodless sacrifice was performed must be fenced off and kept inviolable, like a shrine.” “Those who make sacrifices to demons, swamps, wells, or take several wives without blessing, or let their wife go and start living with another, or never receive Holy Communion once a year. Mystery, while they are not restrained from it by their spiritual father - you yourself know that all such are alien to our pure faith, condemned by the conciliar Church. Try with all your strength of conviction to direct them to the right path, admonish them not once or twice, but many times until they learn the truth and learn goodness. If they do not submit and do not give up their bad habit, then consider them alien to the conciliar Church, not belonging to the knowledge of her commandments.” “Those who perform sorcery and enchantment, whether male or female, must be admonished with a word of instruction and converted from evil; if they do not apply, be severely punished; but not to take life or disfigure; the latter is not allowed by church teaching” 361. Remember at the same time that in the West in the 11th and 12th centuries, according to the instructions of the biskups, magi and sorcerers were burned at the stake! Why can’t we say from the heart: glory to St. Trinity, enlightening the shepherds of St. Orthodox Church! Collection l. 2, 276. Pogodin believes that John was not a Greek, but a Bulgarian who knew Greek. “How could a Greek become famous for his eloquence among Russians without knowing the Russian language? “We have this rule only in Russian.” Research 7, 39. “John the Russian Metropolitan, called the prophet of Christ, the church rule,” is how his rule is inscribed in all lists. The Latin-Greek dictionary explains the word antistites with the words Ιερείς, προφηπται, επισκοποι? But a) John in the inscription is already called metropolitan and therefore there was no need to add another name of the same meaning; b) the ordinary popular meaning of a prophet is the meaning of a seer and so on. inscription, speaking about people. name Metropolitan, could only have in mind the meaning of a seer, and not the meaning of the primate of the church invented by art. Collection l. 1, 89. Simon was sent. to Polycarp - about the consecration of the church. Collection l. 2, 276. 277. Step. book 1, 228. 229. This is the message known by some fame. RKP. without the name of the pope to whom it was written, the writer Palinodia and others attributed it to John 4. But in the inscription of the Greek letter there is the name of Pope Clement. Who is this P. Clement? Actually, there was no P. Clement in Rome either under John 2 or under John 4. But by the will of the imp. Henry, Hildebrand's enemy, was elected pope by the Archbishop of Ravenna, who, with the name of Clement, remained pope from 1080 to 1099. – This contemporaneity of St. Clement to the learned M. John 2 serves as a solid basis for the belief that the letter of the Russian Metropolitan to St. Clement was written by M. John the second (Nevolin in the famous academician 2, No. 6). – The content of the message says the same thing. The West, according to the message, is seeking an alliance with the Russian Church. Henry, humiliated and persecuted by the proud Hildebrand, was forced to seek help for his cause in alliance with the Russian Church. Message to the Pope in Greek and Slavs. languages ​​printed in scientific. note acad. science book. 1. St. Petersburg 1854 3, 1–20. Ed. in Russian hon. T. M. 1815. Published according to other lists. from Macarius in history. r. c. 2, 345–352.