The Church of the Mother of God meets all the criteria used by religious scholars in the research of different confessional manifestations of religious organizations themselves. Here we have a clearly defined understanding of God as the creator and the industrialist, the Christian Trinity is added with a special reverence to the Mother of God, a clearly depicted liturgical practice with a certain absolutization and sacralization with the places of appearances of the Mother of God, we have a fixed hierarchical (...) structure of the Church, three times the rosary, and others. So this is the Church, not a sect, as Orthodox communities want to see the goddesses. (shrink)

Gheorghe Sferlea | : Cet article examine les premières tentatives d’interprétation théologique du titre marial Theotokos au IVe siècle. Au coeur de cette histoire on retrouve Apollinaire, évêque de Laodicée et figure importante du camp pro-nicéen, qui a élaboré une théorie controversée sur l’unité du Christ, notamment en excluant l’intellect humain de la constitution du Sauveur. C’est dans le cadre de cette préoccupation plus large qu’il vit l’opportunité de tenter une appropriation théologique du titre Theotokos et qu’il en (...) fit un outil polémique dans la stratégie d’ériger sa propre position en orthodoxie christologique. L’idée que je défends ici est que Diodore de Tarse, Grégoire de Nazianze, Grégoire de Nysse et Théodore de Mopsueste se sont tous confrontés à l’interprétation proposée par Apollinaire et ont cherché les meilleurs moyens d’y réagir. | : This article examines the first attempts of theological interpretation of Marian title Theotokos in the fourth Century. At the centre of this history stands Apollinarius, bishop of Laodiceea and a significant character of the pro-Nicene movement, who elaborated a controversial account on the unity of Christ that excluded human intellect from Saviour’s constitution. It was within this broader concern that he saw the opportunity of attempting a theological appropriation of title Theotokos and made it a polemical tool in the strategy of establishing his own Christological stance as authoritative. My contention is that Diodore of Tarsus, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa and Theodore of Mopsuestia all found themselves confronted with Apollinarius’ interpretation and searched ways of reacting to it. (shrink)

La petite église de la Dormition de la Vierge dans le réduit central de la citadelle d'Argos se trouve dans un état de ruine avancé. Elle est — très peu — connue par un article de Vollgraff qui trouva dans sa fouille de l'Acropole en 1928 quelques sculptures décoratives et l'inscription dédicatoire. L'église, qui est construite sur les ruines d'une église plus ancienne, a connu deux phases. La toiture de la lre, en 1174, reste inconnue ; c'était peut-être une simple (...) église à nef unique et à toits croisés. Dans la 2e phase du XIIIe s., la nécessité d'assurer la continuité du chemin de ronde de la muraille construite contre l'église, entraîna une modification de la toiture, diminuant l'ouverture d'une partie de la voûte. Les caractéristiques morphologiques et techniques de l'église confirment la date de 1174 que nous donne l'inscription dédicatoire. Le fondateur en fut le métropolite d'Argos et de Nauplie, Nikétàs. (shrink)

Dopo aver dato alle stampe due eccellenti volumi di studi e ricerche [cfr. BZ 88 (1995), n 502, 92 (1999), n 2466] il progetto del Belfast Byzantine Enterprises dedicato al celebre monastero costantinopolitano di Everghetis pubblica ora a cura di Robert H. Jordan il Synaxarion o Typikon liturgico dello stesso monastero. L'opera, monumentale, è pianificata in quattro volumi: il primo – qui recensito – contiene i testi relativi al primo semestre dell'anno (settembre–febbraio), nel secondo volume verranno pubblicati i testi del (...) secondo semestre (marzo–agosto) e del ciclo mobile (pre-quaresima, quaresima, tempo pasquale); all'edizione vera e propria si aggiungerà un terzo volume di indici ed un quarto di commento. (shrink)

One question asked repeatedly in the history of Christology is the following: given that the incarnation was God’ s chosen method of redeeming us, why did God become human by the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Why not just create a human body and soul ex nihilo and simultaneously with that creation have God the Son assume this new instance of human nature? In answer, Augustine for instance argues that the latter option would have been a legitimate means of (...) incarnation, but that it was not as fitting as the method actually employed. Aquinas agrees. By contrast, John of Damascus seems to think that the ex nihilo option would not have constituted a genuine assumption of human nature, such that redemption required the cooperation of the Theotokos. I argue that insights provided by contemporary biology support St. John’s perspective, insofar as modern biological taxonomy suggests that lineal descent is a necessary condition for belonging to a species. As such, to take on a genuinely human nature God had to enter into the existing human lineage; creating a new ‘human’ body and soul ex nihilo would not have sufficed. (shrink)

This article explores the development of the theme of the Life-giving Spring in Byzantine iconography. The path towards its establishment was initiated at the moment when a representation rule, an original convention was set. Thereafter, because of its diffusion in time and space, the theme became enriched by particular mentalities and sensibilities of the epochs and the communities that adopted it as a form of devotion for the Virgin Theotokos. As a result, the representations we have known so far (...) are extremely varied. CONTRIBUTION: The final purpose of this approach, as well as its contribution, is to highlight the diverse unity of the iconographic tradition and illustrate both the evolution of the theme in the painting of Romanian church artists and its gradual refinement through the incorporation of diverse nuances and new perspectives. (shrink)

Arendarcikas, Birute Since the Second Vatican Council and the historic embrace of Paul VI and the Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras I in January 1964, the pope and the hierarchs of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches have, after centuries of mutual separation, embraced each other once again as sister churches. On many occasions the pope and the hierarchs of the respective churches have drawn attention to the loving veneration of, and special devotion to, Mary, the Mother of God, which (...) both churches hold in common and which unite them as sister churches. In his apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus on devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Paul VI affirms that 'in venerating with particular love the glorious Theotokos and in acclaiming her as the "Hope of Christians", Catholics unite themselves with their brethren of the Orthodox Churches, in which devotion to the Blessed Virgin finds its expression in a beautiful lyricism and in solid doctrine'. Similarly, in a shared homily with Pope John Paul II, delivered during Vespers in the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome on 5 December 1987, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Dimitrios I said: Of all the entire Christian world our two sister Churches have maintained throughout the centuries unextinguished the flame of devotion to the most venerated person of the all holy Mother of God, dedicating to her the finest and most inspired artistic works of song, architecture and painting, turning to her sweetest figure the hearts' desires and the hopes of the devout people of every epoch. (shrink)

English Summary The main focus of this article is a church, the picture of which is shown on a gravure by Gugas İnciciyan and called Arslanhane (Menagerie)/Nakkaşhane (House of painters). The church has a central dome, an apsis and a semi dome at the west side and looks like a little model of the Hagia Sophia. It was erected above an other building with a central arch. This resembles descriptions of the Chalke gate and the Chalke church in several written (...) sources. Some chraracteristic marks of İnciciyan's church can also be discovered on some other drawings from various artists (Matrakçi Nasuh 1537; Melchior Lorichs, 1559; Cornelius Loos, 1710). A comparison with them helps us to localise it on the southern side of the former university building of Gaspare Fossati. Written sources inform us that the so called Arslanhane/Nakkaşhane of Inciciyan was not the only the building, which was converted to a menagerie. The church of Johannes in the Diippion and an other building, near the southwest corner of the Hagia Sophia were also used as menagerie during the Ottoman period. Especially the second one can be seen on various drawings. In our opinion Mango's identification of a church drawn by Willey Reveley (1786) with the Chalke, must be reviewed, since it was probably that of Theotokos Varaniotissa, which was renewed in the late Byzantine era. (shrink)

Résumé Rivalité des sièges, rapports de force entre le pouvoir civil, le corps épiscopal et la papauté dans l’histoire des conciles. Le mot homoousios : son origine, son insertion au symbole de Nicée, l’importance que lui donne Athanase. Amertume de Grégoire de Nazianze après Constantinople I, due à des offenses personnelles et au défaut d’exigences dogmatiques à l’égard des courants pneumatomaque et apollinariste. Utilisation de Theotokos à Éphèse par Cyrille, progrès de l’influence de celui-ci jusqu’en 444. L’expression « en (...) deux natures » de Chalcédoine a peut-être permis d’exclure Dioscore. (shrink)

This paper examines reports of Eremya Çelebi Kömürcüyan (1637 – 1695) and Luigi Fernando Marsili (1679/80 in İstanbul) on three churches still existing in the late seventeenth century. Their topographical informations are compared with early pictorial representations of Constantinople/İstanbul (Hartmann Schedel, 1493; Giovanni Andrea Vavassore, c. 1530/50; Onufrio Panvinio, 1600; Pîrî Reis, 16th century; Franceso Scarella, c. 1686) in order to check whether the churches can be identified with those depicted here. The church of Aya Yani (St John) mentioned by (...) Eremya Çelebi must have been located south of the Stable Gate (Ahırkapı). Marsili describes a church near the Sultan’s stables and a further one inside the Seraglio Garden. The location of the stables can be determined using the İstanbul-view from Matrakçı Nasuh (1537). The church of Aya Yani and „the church near the stables“ must therefore be identical. In Schedel’s illustration, the church in the Seraglio is erroneously designated as S. Grovus, whereas on the Düsseldorf copy after Buondelmonti’s Liber insularum Archipelagi (1485/90) it is labelled s. Maria. The building can be identified with the church of the Theotokos of the Hodegoi Monastery. Regarding the church depicted on the vedute of Vavassore and Panvinio in the former area of the imperial palace, the thesis already established by Cyril Mango is maintained, according to which the remains of the Nea Ekklesia can be seen here. Little is known about the original form of the Nea Ekklesia, but there is evidence from written sources that it was erected above substructures with underground spaces that were open to the public. If the church that Eremya Çelebi saw south of the Stable Gate, while Marsili located it near the Sultan’s stables, can be identified with the Nea Ekklesia, as suggested in this essay, then considerable remains of the building must have been still present at the end of the seventeenth century. (shrink)

Many believe that at the end of her life Mary was assumed bodily ‘into heaven’ where she remains exalted by her divine son. This claim, magisterially entitled The Doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, strikes some as absurd. Even many traditional Christians are opposed to, or have doubts about this aspect of Catholic doctrine of the Theotokos[the one who ‘gave birth to’ God]).Typically critics regard the doctrine as being at best a sentimental piety and at worst (...) a neo–Pagan accretion entirely lacking in support from any appropriate quarter. Others go further, however; suggesting that it is not simply without biblical or other evidential warrant but is in some way incoherent. Here I explore some of the sources of difficulties that confront any attempt to present and defend the doctrine.Ancient and mediaeval accounts often relate narratives of Mary’s final days. Significantly, however, they also reason that given Mary’s unique status the Assumption must have happened because it should have done. I consider this style of deductive theology before examining certain historical presentations, in which I argue that there may be material evidence of the tradition as far back as the end of the persecution of Diocletian around the time of the Edict of Milan.Thereafter I take up the philosophical problems, exploring various possibilities and suggesting that acknowledging Aquinas’s insistence on the impoverished nature of disembodied human souls, and their need of resurrected embodiment is consistent with Mary’s unique role that the mode of her present existence is of a different order to that of other separated subjects. (shrink)

Theodore of Tarsus served as archbishop of Canterbury for twenty-two years until his death in 690, aged eighty-eight. Because the only significant record we had of Theodore was that contained in Bede's Historia, until recently it was very difficult to say anything about his life before this appointment, and even more difficult to determine anything about his thought. All of that changed in the last half of the twentieth century, when the discovery of some biblical glosses from Canterbury was revealed (...) and the ensuing scholarship uncovered more of Theodore's work than had previously been known. The Laterculus Malalianus is a text that benefited from treatment in this period. This present work examines the Laterculus for what it has to say about the person and work of Christ, and establishes that Theodore's main theological inspiration was Irenaeus of Lyons and the concept of recapitulation, even while he cast his thought in language heavily drawn from the Syriac East, and Ephrem the Syrian in particular. The volume represents a contribution to our understanding of the early medieval theological project in Britain, the transmission of eastern Mediterranean thought in the early medieval West and, ultimately, of the work of Theodore of Tarsus. James Siemens continues to research theological questions arising from the encounter between the Greek and Semitic East and Latin West through the late antique and early medieval periods. He is an honorary research fellow at Cardiff University, and director of the nascent Theotokos Institute for Catholic Studies. (shrink)

Until its despoliation by the warriors of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the relic-collection of Constantinople was the largest and most illustrious of relic-collections in Christendom. “Collection” is not an altogether appropriate word however, for the relics were unevenly distributed among the various shrines of the city. First among these stood the so-called “Lighthouse” church [του Φάϱου] of the Theotokos within the Great Palace, probably founded by the iconoclast emperor Constantine V Kopronymos. This was the imperial relic-collection par excellence, (...) housing such outstanding relics as the Sacred Mandylion from Edessa, the Wood of the True Cross and many other famous relics. The principal churches of the city also had their relics: remains of the “Apostles” Andrew, Timothy and Luke lay beneath the altar of Holy Apostles' Church, the body of John Chrysostom to one side of it. Chalkoprateia housed the girdle [ζώνη] of the Theotokos, Blachernae her shawl [μαфóϱιον] – the list goes on and on. Indeed the impression is given that every significant church, including certain monastic foundations, possessed one or more relic. (shrink)

La constitución dogmática sobre la Iglesia del concilio Vaticano II profundiza en las relaciones entre la Tercera Persona de la Santísima Trinidad y la Virgen María. La santidad original de la Virgen, formada por el Espíritu Santo como nueva criatura, requerirá de ella una actitud activa y consciente, como colaboradora única en su obra. De este modo, la Madre de Dios aparece con las notas de “Casa de Dios”, “Theotokos” y “Madre de la Iglesia”. La obra de H. Mühlen (...) se convierte en referencia canónica obligada para la recta comprensión de esa relación pneumatológica. (shrink)

The article presents a collection of seventeen previously unpublished inscriptions on stone and small objects from Bithynia. The majority of them belong to the middle Byzantine period and comes from the area of Nikaia and Nikomedeia. First of all, the inscription from a boundary stone of a monastery of Theotokos near Niketiaton is discussed, in which the bridge of a certain Eustathios and the monastery of Johannes Kranbas are mentioned. The building inscription of a refectory attests to the existence (...) of a splendid monastic complex near Kanlıçay, to the east of the Sangarios River. The inscription from a column offered by Leon lists several saints. In addition to clerics and monks, the funerary inscriptions also mention one Basil who came from the Diocese of Ikonion. This is followed by an epigraphical attestation of the koinonikon σῶμα Χριστοῦ (an Easter hymn), a fragment of an inscription mentioning the city of Joannina, a reliquary cross of Saint Damian, and two processional or blessing crosses. A clay seal with the monogram probably of a certain Photios closes the collection. (shrink)

The Asatir is a collection of Samaritan midrashim on parts of the Torah, which reached its final form in the tenth or eleventh century. It embellishes the pericope of the Tower of Babel with a number of surprising details: The Tower of Babel was built on a mountain and had a beacon attached to its top; the mount with the tower and the valley of Shinar are compared to Mt. Gerizim and the valley of Shechem. It is argued that these (...) embellishments were introduced in order to read the story of the Tower as a blueprint for historical events surrounding the Church of Mary Theotokos, which was built by the Emperor Zenon on Mt. Gerizim and partly destroyed by the Samaritans in their revolts against Byzantium in the sixth century. The exegetical technique of reading contemporaneous history into the biblical text is discussed from a broader comparative perspective. (shrink)