1.
Our Lady of Kazan
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According to legend, the icon was originally acquired from Constantinople, lost in 1438, and miraculously recovered in pristine state over 140 years later in 1579. The original icon in Kazan was stolen, and likely destroyed, the Fátima image is a 16th-century copy of the icon, or possibly the 16th-century original, stolen from St. Petersburg in 1917 and purchased by F. A. Mitchell-Hedges in 1953. Copies of the image are also venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, feast days of Our Lady of Kazan are 21 July, and 4 November. According to tradition, the icon of Our Lady of Kazan was brought to Russia from Constantinople in the 13th century. After the establishment of the Khanate of Kazan the icon disappeared from the record for more than a century. Metropolitan Hermogenes chronicle, written at the request of Tsar Feodor in 1595, according to this account, after a fire destroyed Kazan in 1579, the Virgin appeared to a 10-year-old girl, Matrona, revealing the location where the icon lay hidden. The girl told the archbishop about the dream but she was not taken seriously. Other churches were built in honour of the revelation of the Virgin of Kazan, and copies of the image were displayed at the Kazan Cathedral of Moscow, at Yaroslavl, and at St. Petersburg. The Kazan icon achieved immense popularity, and there were nine or ten separate miracle-attributed copies of the icon around Russia, on the night of June 29,1904, the icon was stolen from the Kazan Convent of the Theotokos in Kazan where it had been kept for centuries. Thieves apparently coveted the icons gold frame, which was ornamented with many valuable jewels, several years later, Russian police apprehended the thieves and recovered the frame. The thieves originally declared that the icon itself had been cut to pieces and burnt, although one of them eventually confessed that it was housed in a monastery in the wilds of Siberia. This one, however, was believed to be a fake, the Orthodox Church interpreted the disappearance of the icon as a sign of tragedies that would plague Russia after the image of the Holy Protectress of Russia had been lost. Indeed, the Russian peasantry was wont to credit all the evils of the Revolution of 1905, as well as Russias defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, to the desecration of her image. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, there was speculation that the icon was in fact preserved in St. Petersburg. Reportedly, an icon of Our Lady of Kazan was used in processions around Leningrad fortifications during the Siege of Leningrad during World War II, another theory proposed that the Bolsheviks had sold the image abroad, although the Russian Orthodox Church did not accept such theories. The history of the icon between 1917 and 1953 is unknown. In 1953 Frederick Mitchell-Hedges purchased an icon from Arthur Hillman, although the status of the icon as the original Kazan icon remained disputed, Cyril G. E. It was exhibited at the World Trade Fair in New York in 1964-1965, on 13 September 1965, members of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima spent the night in adoration of the icon in the pavilion in New York
2.
Koine Greek
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It was based mainly on Attic and related Ionic speech forms, with various admixtures brought about through dialect levelling with other varieties. Koine Greek displayed a wide spectrum of different styles, ranging from more conservative literary forms to the vernaculars of the time. As the dominant language of the Byzantine Empire, it developed further into Medieval Greek, Koine Greek remained the court language of the Byzantine Empire until its dissolution in 1453, while Medieval and eventually Modern Greek were the everyday language. Literary Koine was the medium of much of post-classical Greek literary and scholarly writing, such as the works of Plutarch, Koine is also the language of the Christian New Testament, of the Septuagint, and of most early Christian theological writing by the Church Fathers. In this context, Koine Greek is also known as Biblical, New Testament and it continues to be used as the liturgical language of services in the Greek Orthodox Church. The word koinē is the Greek word for common, and is understood as referring to the common dialect. The word is pronounced /kɔɪˈneɪ/, /ˈkɔɪneɪ/ or /kiːˈniː/ in US English, the pronunciation of the word in Koine gradually changed from Greek pronunciation, to Greek pronunciation. Its pronunciation in Modern Greek is, the term was applied in several different senses by ancient scholars. Others chose to refer to Koine as the Alexandrian dialect or the dialect of Alexandria, the former was often used by modern classicists. Koine Greek arose as a dialect within the armies of Alexander the Great. Under the leadership of Macedon, their newly formed common variety was spoken from the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt to the Seleucid Empire of Mesopotamia and it replaced existing ancient Greek dialects with an everyday form that people anywhere could understand. The passage into the period, known as Medieval Greek. The post-Classical period of Greek thus refers to the creation and evolution of Koine Greek throughout the entire Hellenistic, the linguistic roots of the Common Greek dialect had been unclear since ancient times. During the Hellenistic period, most scholars thought of Koine as the result of the mixture of the four main Ancient Greek dialects, ἡ ἐκ τῶν τεττάρων συνεστῶσα. The view accepted by most scholars today was given by the Greek linguist Georgios Hatzidakis, who showed that, despite the composition of the Four, the stable nucleus of Koine Greek is Attic. In other words, Koine Greek can be regarded as Attic with the admixture of elements especially from Ionic, the degree of importance of the non-Attic linguistic elements on Koine can vary depending on the region of the Hellenistic World. The literary Koine of the Hellenistic age resembles Attic in such a degree that it is mentioned as Common Attic. Koine Greek was therefore considered a form of Greek which was not worthy of attention
3.
Titles of Mary
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Mary is known by many different titles, epithets, invocations and other names. All of these refer to the same individual named Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ and are used variably by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox. Many of the given to Mary are dogmatic in nature. Other titles are poetic or allegorical and have lesser or no canonical status, yet more titles refer to depictions of Mary in the history of art. There are several stories on the significance of the large number of titles given to Mary. Some titles grew due to geographic and cultural reasons, e. g. through the veneration of specific icons, others were related to Marian apparitions. Marys help is sought for a spectrum of human needs in varied situations. This led to the formulation of many of her titles, moreover, meditations and devotions on the different aspects of the Virgin Marys role within the life of Jesus led to additional titles such as Our Lady of Sorrows. Still further titles have been derived from dogmas and doctrines, such as the Immaculate Conception, Marys cultus or devotional cult consolidated in the year 431 when, at the Council of Ephesus, the Theotokos, or Mary as bearer of God, was declared dogma. Henceforth Marian devotion—which centered on the subtle and complex relationship between Mary, Jesus, and the Church—would flourish, first in the East and later in the West, the Reformation diminished Marys role in many parts of Northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Council of Trent and Counter Reformation would intensify Marian devotion in the West, following the Reformation, as of the 17th century, the baroque literature on Mary experienced unforeseen growth with over 500 pages of Mariological writings during the 17th century alone. Mother of God, The Council of Ephesus decreed in 431 that Mary is Theotokos because her son Jesus is both God and man, one Divine Person with two natures and this name was translated in the West as Mater Dei or Mother of God. From this derives the title Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary, The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary developed early in Christianity and was taught by the early Fathers, such as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and others. In the fourth century became a popular title for Mary. Variations on this include the Virgin Mary, the Blessed Virgin, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the perpetual virginity of Mary was declared a dogma by the Lateran Council of 649. Immaculate Conception, The dogma that Mary was conceived without original sin was defined in 1854 and this gave rise to the titles of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and Queen Conceived Without Original Sin. The Immaculate Conception is also honored under the titles of Our Lady of Caysasay, Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Our Lady of Guidance, the titles Our Lady of Assumption and Queen Assumed Into Heaven derive from this. This dogma is also reflected in devotion to Our Lady of Ta Pinu on Malta, “Our Lady” is a common title to give to Mary as a sign of respect and honor
4.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary
5.
Eastern Christianity
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Eastern Christianity consists of four main church families, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East, as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches. The term is used in contrast with Western Christianity, the term does not describe a single communion or religious denomination. Some Eastern churches have more in common historically and theologically with Western Christianity than with one another, the various Eastern churches do not normally refer to themselves as Eastern, with the exception of the Assyrian Church of the East and its offshoots. Eastern Christians do not share the religious traditions, but do share many cultural traditions. Christianity divided itself in the East during its early centuries both within and outside of the Roman Empire in disputes about Christology and fundamental theology, as well as national divisions and it would be many centuries later that Western Christianity fully split from these traditions as its own communion. The Eastern churches differences from Western Christianity have as much, if not more, to do with culture, language, for the non-Catholic Eastern churches, a definitive date for the commencement of schism cannot usually be given. Oriental Orthodoxy separated after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, since the time of the historian Edward Gibbon, the split between the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church has been conveniently dated to 1054, though the reality is more complex. This split is referred to as the Great Schism. Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the decisions of the First seven Ecumenical Councils, the Eastern Orthodox Church is organized into self-governing jurisdictions along geographical, national, ethnic, and/or linguistic lines. Eastern Orthodoxy is thus made up of 15 or 16 autocephalous bodies, smaller churches are autonomous and each have a mother church that is autocephalous. This is in contrast to the Catholic Church and its various Churches, members of the latter are all in communion with each other, parts of a top-down hierarchy. The majority of Catholics accept both the Filioque clause and, since 1950, the Assumption of Mary and this puts them in sharp contrast with the Eastern Orthodox. Yet some Catholics who are not in communion with the Catholic Church side with the Eastern Orthodox here and reject these teachings and it is estimated that there are approximately 240 million Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world. Today, many adherents shun the term Eastern as denying the universal character. They refer to Eastern Orthodoxy simply as the Orthodox Church, hence, these churches are also called Old Oriental churches. Oriental Orthodoxy developed in reaction to Chalcedon on the limit of the Byzantine Empire and in Egypt. In those locations, there are also Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, thereafter it was often known, possibly inaccurately, as the Nestorian Church in the West. Surviving a period of persecution within Persia, the Church of the East flourished under the caliphate and branched out, in the 16th century dynastic struggles sent the church into schism, resulting in the formation of two rival churches
6.
God
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In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith. The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, divine simplicity, many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent and all loving. Furthermore, some religions attribute only a purely grammatical gender to God, incorporeity and corporeity of God are related to conceptions of transcendence and immanence of God, with positions of synthesis such as the immanent transcendence of Chinese theology. God has been conceived as personal or impersonal. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, in pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism, God has also been conceived as the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable existent. Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God, there are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about Gods identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten, premised on being the one true Supreme Being and creator of the universe. In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, He Who Is, I Am that I Am, in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, in Islam, the name Allah is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a concept of God. In Chinese religion, God is conceived as the progenitor of the universe, intrinsic to it, other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Baháí Faith, Waheguru in Sikhism, and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism. The earliest written form of the Germanic word God comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus, the English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau-, in the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic God and gods in polytheism. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, in many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton. Allāh is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning The God, Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. Mazda, or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå and it is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means intelligence or wisdom. Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning placing ones mind, Waheguru is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God
7.
Syriac Christianity
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With a history going back to the 1st century AD, Syriac Christianity is, in modern times, represented by denominations primarily in the Middle East, Asia Minor and in Kerala, India. Christianity began in the Middle East in Jerusalem among Jewish Aramaic-speaking Semitic peoples of Judah and it quickly spread, initially to other Semitic peoples, in Parthian-ruled Assyria and Mesopotamia, Roman-ruled Syria, Phoenicia, southern and eastern Asia Minor, and northwestern Persia and Malta. Adherents sometimes identify as Syriacs or Syrians, Syriac Christian heritage is transmitted through various Neo Aramaic dialects of old Aramaic. Unlike the Greek Christian culture, Assyrian Christian culture borrowed much from early Rabbinic Judaism, Antioch was the political capital of this culture, and was the seat of the Patriarchs of the church. However, Antioch was heavily Hellenized, and the Assyrian cities of Edessa, Nisibis and this split owed just as much to the politics of the day as it did to theological orthodoxy. Ctesiphon, which was at the also the Sassanid capital. After the Council of Chalcedon in 451, many Syriac Christians within the Roman Empire rebelled against its decisions, the Patriarchate of Antioch was then divided between a Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian communion. The Chalcedonians were often labelled Melkites, while their opponents were labelled as Monophysites and Jacobites, the Maronite Church found itself caught between the two, but claims to have always remained faithful to the Catholic Church and in communion with the bishop of Rome, the Pope. The church has persisted as an entity under Islamic rule. The community was one of those granted autonomy in governing itself in religious, in the 19th century many left for other parts of Christendom, creating a substantial diaspora. Over time, some groups within each of these branches have entered into communion with the Church of Rome, when they lost Assyria itself to the Parthian Empire, they retained the name Syria but only applied it to what had been Aramea, which they still retained. The Neo-Assyrian kingdom of Osroene was the first Christian kingdom in history, in 431 A. D. the Council of Ephesus declared Nestorianism to be a heresy. The Nestorian priests, who were persecuted in the Byzantine Empire, sought refuge in Mesopotamia where the Church of the East was dominant, there was a synthesis between the Assyrian Church and Nestorian doctrine. From there they spread Christianity to Persia, India, China and this was the beginning of the Nestorian Church, the eastern branch of Syrian Christianity. The western branch, the Jacobite Church, appeared after the Council of Chalcedon condemned Monophysitism in 451 A. D and these people are in fact ethnic Assyrians originating from the Assyrian homeland in northern Iraq. The older Assyrian designation has almost completely replaced the word Nestorian, however, the word Nestorian continues to be used in some Western academic literature. The word Syrian has become ambiguous in English since it can refer now to a citizen of Syria regardless of ethnicity, in Arabic, however, the word for a citizen of Syria has a different form from the traditional word for an ethnic Assyrian/Syrian. The Maronites in Lebanon are divided between those who claim Lebanese-Phoenician national identity and those who claim Arab national identity, the Maronite Church, a West Syrian Rite Eastern Catholic Church
8.
Classical Syriac language
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Syriac /ˈsɪri. æk/, also known as Syriac Aramaic, is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent and Eastern Arabia. Indeed, Syriac literature comprises roughly 90% of the extant Aramaic literature, Old Aramaic was adopted by the Neo-Assyrian Empire when they conquered the various Aramean city-kingdoms to its west. The Achaemenid Empire, which rose after the fall of the Assyrian Empire, also adopted Old Aramaic as its official language, during the course of the third and fourth centuries AD, the inhabitants of the region began to embrace Christianity. Along with Latin and Greek, Syriac became one of the three most important Christian languages in the centuries of the Christian Era. Primarily a Christian medium of expression, Syriac had a cultural and literary influence on the development of Arabic. Syriac remains the language of Syriac Christianity to this day. Syriac is a Middle Aramaic language and, as such, a language of the Northwestern branch of the Semitic family and it is written in the Syriac alphabet, a derivation of the Aramaic alphabet. Syriac was the local accent of Aramaic in Edessa, that evolved under the influence of Church of the East and it has been found as far afield as Hadrians Wall in Ancient Britain, with inscriptions written by Assyrian and Aramean soldiers of the Roman Empire. Modern Syriac/Modern Syriac Aramaic is an occasionally used to refer to the modern Eastern Aramaic languages. In this terminology, Modern Syriac is divided into, Modern Western Syriac Aramaic, note however that these are sometimes excluded from the category of Modern Syriac. The modern varieties are, therefore, not discussed in this article, in 132 BC, the kingdom of Osroene was founded in Edessa and Proto-Syriac evolved in that kingdom. Many Syriac-speakers still look to Edessa as the cradle of their language, there are about eighty extant early Syriac inscriptions, dated to the first three centuries AD. All of these examples of the language are non-Christian. As an official language, Syriac was given a relatively coherent form, style, in the 3rd century, churches in Edessa began to use Syriac as the language of worship. There is evidence that the adoption of Syriac, the language of the Assyrian people, was to effect mission, much literary effort was put into the production of an authoritative translation of the Bible into Syriac, the Peshitta. At the same time, Ephrem the Syrian was producing the most treasured collection of poetry, in 489, many Syriac-speaking Christians living in the eastern reaches of the Roman Empire fled to the Sassanid Empire to escape persecution and growing animosity with Greek-speaking Christians. The Christological differences with the Church of the East led to the bitter Nestorian schism in the Syriac-speaking world, as a result, Syriac developed distinctive western and eastern varieties. Syriac literature is by far the most prodigious of the various Aramaic languages and its corpus covers poetry, prose, theology, liturgy, hymnody, history, philosophy, science, medicine and natural history
9.
Divine Liturgy of Saint James
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The Liturgy of Saint James or Jacobite Liturgy is the oldest complete form of the Eastern varieties of the Divine Liturgy still in use among certain Christian Churches. It is based on the traditions of the ancient rite of the Early Christian Church of Jerusalem and it is also occasionally used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Melkite Catholic Church. The Liturgy is associated with the name of James the Just, Saint James was martyred at the hands of a mob incensed at his preaching about Jesus and his transgression of the Law - an accusation made by the Jewish High Priest of the time, Hanan ben Hanan. The historic Christian liturgies are divided between Eastern and Western usages, among the Eastern liturgies, the Liturgy of Saint James is one of the Antiochene group of liturgies, those ascribed to Saint James, to Saint Basil, and to Saint John Chrysostom. Other Eastern liturgies include the Assyrian or Chaldean rites, as well as the Armenian, the Liturgy of Saint James is considered to be the oldest surviving liturgy developed for general use in the Church. The earliest manuscript is the codex, Vaticanus graecus 2282. The only critical edition is the one published by Dom B. -Charles Mercier in the Patrologia Orientalis, the Liturgy of Saint James is long, taking some hours to complete in full. Like other compositions in the Byzantine tradition, the Divine Liturgy of St. James as celebrated in Greek forms the basis of the English transcription. In its Syrian form, the Liturgy is still used in the Syriac and Indian Churches - Catholic, during the Offertory, the partiture calls for a Cherubic Hymn chanted by readers as the priest brings the gifts to be consecrated onto the altar. In the Latin Church within the Catholic Communion, this became popular as a separate hymn of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The hymnographers of the early Church composed both the words of the prayers and the tones of the musical scale to be sung in a single codex for a particular community. The English Hymnal features the 1906 Ralph Vaughan Williams arrangement of the English verses of the Cherubic hymn of the Offertory chant to the melody of a French folk tune Picardy. The hymn known as Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is also popular in the Roman Catholic Latin rite as an alternative to the communion antiphon. Anaphora Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence L. H. Dalmais, Eastern Liturgies Eric Segelberg, towards the history of a prayer in the Liturgy of St. James. In, Έὑχαριστῄριον, Τιμητικὸς τὁμος ἐπί τή 45ετηρίδι έπιστημόικης δράσεως καἰ τῇ 35ετηρίδι τακτικῆς καθηγεσἱας Α, athens 1958, reprinted in Segelberg, Gnostica - Mandaica Liturgica
10.
Council of Ephesus
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The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus in AD431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. It met in June and July 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus in Anatolia, Nestorius himself had requested the Emperor to convene the council, hoping that it would prove his orthodoxy, the council in fact condemned his teachings as heresy. The council declared Mary as Theotokos, Nestorius dispute with Cyril had led the latter to seek validation from Pope Celestine I, who authorized Cyril to request that Nestorius recant his position or face excommunication. Nestorius pleaded with the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II to call a council in which all grievances could be aired, hoping that he would be vindicated, the proceedings were conducted in a heated atmosphere of confrontation and recriminations and created severe tensions between Cyril and Theodosius II. Nestorius was decisively outplayed by Cyril and removed from his see, Nestorius himself retired to a monastery, always asserting his orthodoxy. McGuckin cites the innate rivalry between Alexandria and Constantinople as an important factor in the controversy between Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius, according to McGuckin, Cyril viewed the elevated intellectual argument about christology as ultimately one and the same as the validity and security of the simple Christian life. Even within Constantinople, some supported the Roman-Alexandrian and others supported the Nestorian factions, for example, Pulcheria supported the Roman-Alexandrian popes while the emperor and his wife supported Nestorius. Contention over Nestorius teachings, which he developed during his studies at the School of Antioch, shortly after his arrival in Constantinople, Nestorius became involved in the disputes of two theological factions, which differed in their Christology. Nestorius was greatly surprised that what he had taught in Antioch without any controversy whatsoever should prove to be so objectionable to the Christians of Constantinople. Nestorius suggested the title Christotokos, but this proposal did not gain acceptance on either side. Nestorius tried to answer a question considered unsolved, How can Jesus Christ, being part man, not be partially a sinner as well, since man is by definition a sinner since the Fall. To solve that he taught that Mary, the mother of Jesus gave birth to the incarnate Christ, not the divine Logos who existed before Mary, the Logos occupied the part of the human soul. But wouldnt the absence of a human soul make Jesus less human, consequently, Nestorius argued that the Virgin Mary should be called Christotokos, Greek for Birth Giver of Christ, and not Theotokos, Greek for Birth Giver of God. Nestorius believed that no union between the human and divine was possible, nestoriuss opponents charged him with detaching Christs divinity and humanity into two persons existing in one body, thereby denying the reality of the Incarnation. Eusebius, a layman who later became the bishop of the neighbouring Dorylaeum was the first to accuse Nestorius of heresy, Cyril argued that Nestorianism split Jesus in half and denied that he was both human and divine. Cyril appealed to Pope Celestine I, charging Nestorius with heresy, the Pope agreed and gave Cyril his authority to serve a notice to Nestorius to recant his views within ten days or else be excommunicated. Before acting on the Popes commission, Cyril convened a synod of Egyptian bishops which condemned Nestorius as well, Cyril then sent four suffragan bishops to deliver both the Popes commission as well as the synodal letter of the Egyptian bishops. Cyril sent a letter to Nestorius known as The Third Epistle of Saint Cyril to Nestorius and this epistle drew heavily on the established Patristic Constitutions and contained the most famous article of Alexandrian Orthodoxy, The Twelve Anathemas of Saint Cyril
11.
Jesus in Christianity
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Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and believe that through his death and resurrection, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life. The choice Jesus made thus counter-positions him as a new man of morality and obedience, most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and divine—the Son of God. Jesus, having become fully human in all respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, as fully God, he defeated death and rose to life again. According to the Bible, God raised him from the dead and he ascended to heaven to sit at the Right Hand of God, and he will return to earth again for the Last Judgment and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the World to Come. Although Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to summarize key elements of the shared beliefs among major denominations based on their catechetical or confessional texts. Christian views of Jesus are derived from biblical sources, particularly from the canonical Gospels. Christians predominantly hold that these works are historically true and those groups or denominations committed to what are considered biblically orthodox Christianity nearly all agree on the following points, Christians believe that the mother of Jesus was a virgin. Christians believe that Jesus was a human being who was also fully God, Christians believe that Jesus came into the world as the son of only one earthly parent, Mary. Christians believe that Jesus never sinned or did anything wrong, Christians believe that Jesus was eventually martyred, was buried in a tomb, and then on the third day came back to life. Christians believe that because he rose from the tomb on the third day, Christians believe that Jesus eventually ascended back to God the Father. Christians believe that Jesus will come back to earth a second time, the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. These are usually bracketed by two episodes, his Nativity at the beginning and the sending of the Paraclete at the end. The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his works and words, e. g. his ministry, Christians not only attach theological significance to the works of Jesus, but also to his name. Devotions to the name of Jesus go back to the earliest days of Christianity and these exist today both in Eastern and Western Christianity—both Catholic and Protestant. Christians predominantly profess that through Jesus life, death, and resurrection and his death on a cross is understood as a redemptive sacrifice, the source of humanitys salvation and the atonement for sin which had entered human history through the sin of Adam. But who do you say that I am, only Simon Peter answered him, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God — Matthew 16, 15-16 Jesus is mediator, but…the title means more that someone between God and man. He is not just a third party between God and humanity…, as true God he brings God to mankind. As true man he brings mankind to God, most Christians generally consider Jesus to be the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, as well as the one and only Son of God
12.
Hypostatic union
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Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christs humanity and divinity in one hypostasis, or individual existence. The Greek term hypostasis had come into use as a technical term prior to the Christological debates of the fourth and fifth centuries. In pre-Christian times, Greek philosophy used the word, some occurrences of the term hypostasis in the New Testament foreshadow the later, technical understanding of the word. Although it can translate literally as substance, this has been a cause of some confusion, hypostasis denotes an actual, concrete existence, in contrast with abstract categories such as Platonic ideals. As the precise nature of union is held to defy finite human comprehension. Apollinaris of Laodicea was the first to use the term hypostasis in trying to understand the Incarnation, Apollinaris described the union of the divine and human in Christ as being of a single nature and having a single essence — a single hypostasis. In the 5th century, a dispute arose between Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius in which Nestorius claimed that the term theotokos could not be used to describe Mary, the mother of Christ. Nestorius argued for two distinct natures of Christ, maintaining that God could not be born because the nature is unoriginate. Therefore, Nestorius believed that the man Jesus of Nazareth was born in union with, but separate from and not strictly identifiable with and we say … that the Word, by having united to himself hypostatically flesh animated by a rational soul, inexplicably and incomprehensibly became man. However, in Theodores time the word hypostasis could be used in a synonymous with ousia as it had been used by Tatian. The Greek and Latin interpretations of Theodores Christology have come under scrutiny since the recovery of his Catechetical Orations in the Syriac language, in 451, the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon promulgated the Chalcedonian Definition. It agreed with Theodore that there were two natures in the Incarnation, however, the Council of Chalcedon also insisted that hypostasis be used as it was in the Trinitarian definition, to indicate the person and not the nature as with Apollinaris. Thus, the Council declared that in Christ there are two natures, each retaining its own properties, and together united in one subsistence and in one single person. The Oriental Orthodox Churches, having rejected the Chalcedonian Creed, were known as Miaphysites because they maintain Cyrilian definition that characterized the incarnate Son as having one nature, the Chalcedonian in two natures formula was seen as derived from and akin to a Nestorian Christology. Contrariwise, the Chalcedonians saw the Oriental Orthodox as tending towards Eutychian Monophysitism, the term miaphysis means one united nature as opposed to one singular nature. Thus the Miaphysite position maintains that although the nature of Christ is from two, it may only be referred to as one in its incarnate state because the natures always act in unity. In recent times, leaders from the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches have signed joint statements in an attempt to work towards reunification, god-man Person of Christ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles, ed. article name needed
13.
Icon
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An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and certain Eastern Catholic churches. The most common subjects include Christ, Mary, saints and/or angels, icons may also be cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, painted on wood, done in mosaic or fresco work, printed on paper or metal, etc. Comparable images from Western Christianity are generally not described as icons, Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the creation of Christian images dates back to the very early days of Christianity, and there is has been a continuous tradition since then. The icons of later centuries can be linked, often closely, to images from the 5th century onwards, there was enormous destruction of images during the Byzantine Iconoclasm of 726-842, although this did settle for good the question of the appropriateness of images. Since then icons have had a continuity of style and subject. At the same time there has been change and development, Christian tradition dating from the 8th century identifies Luke the Evangelist as the first icon painter. Aside from the legend that Pilate had made an image of Christ and he relates that King Abgar of Edessa sent a letter to Jesus at Jerusalem, asking Jesus to come and heal him of an illness. In this version there is no image, further legends relate that the cloth remained in Edessa until the 10th century, when it was taken to Constantinople. It went missing in 1204 when Crusaders sacked Constantinople, but by then numerous copies had firmly established its iconic type. They crown these images, and set them up along with the images of the philosophers of the world that is to say, with the images of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Aristotle, and the rest. They have also other modes of honouring these images, after the manner of the Gentiles. And he called him and said, Lycomedes, what do you mean by this matter of the portrait, can it be one of thy gods that is painted here. For I see that you are living in heathen fashion. Later in the passage John says, But this that you have now done is childish and imperfect, at least some of the hierarchy of the Christian churches still strictly opposed icons in the early 4th century. At the Spanish non-ecumenical Synod of Elvira bishops concluded, Pictures are not to be placed in churches, so that they do not become objects of worship and adoration. to our religion. After the emperor Constantine I extended official toleration of Christianity within the Roman Empire in 313 and this period of Christianization probably saw the use of Christian images became very widespread among the faithful, though with great differences from pagan habits. Robin Lane Fox states By the early century, we know of the ownership of private icons of saints. 480-500, we can be sure that the inside of a saints shrine would be adorned with images and votive portraits, when Constantine himself apparently converted to Christianity, the majority of his subjects remained pagans
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Madonna (art)
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A Madonna is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the word is from Italian ma donna, meaning my lady. Or descriptive of the posture, as in Hodegetria, Eleusa. The term Madonna in the sense of picture or statue of the Virgin Mary enters English usage in the 17th century, in an Eastern Orthodox context, such images are typically known as Theotokos. Madonna may be used of representations of Mary, with or without the infant Jesus, is the focus and central figure of the image. Other types of Marian imagery have a context, depicting scenes from the Life of the Virgin. The earliest depictions of Mary date still to Early Christianity, found in the Catacombs of Rome and these are in a narrative context. The Theotokos iconography as it developed in the 6th to 8th century rose to importance in the high medieval period both in the Eastern Orthodox and in the Latin spheres. Liturgy depicting Mary as powerful intercessor was brought from Greek into Latin tradition in the 8th century, the Greek title of Δεσποινα was adopted as Latin Domina Lady. The medieval Italian Ma Donna pronounced reflects Mea Domina, while Nostra Domina was adopted in French and these names signal both the increased importance of the cult of the virgin and the prominence of art in service to Marian devotion during the late medieval period. Madonna was meant more to people of the theological concept which is placing such a high value on purity or virginity. This is also represented by the color of her clothing, the color blue symbolized purity, virginity, and royalty. In this sense, a Madonna, or a Madonna with Child is used of works of art. There are several types of representation of the Madonna. One type of Madonna shows Mary alone, and standing, generally glorified and with a gesture of prayer and this type of image occurs in a number of ancient apsidal mosaics. Full-length standing images of the Madonna more frequently include the infant Jesus, the most famous Byzantine image, the Hodegetria was originally of this type, though most copies are at half-length. There are a number of paintings that depict the Madonna in this manner. The Madonna enthroned is a type of image that dates from the Byzantine period and was used widely in Medieval and these representations of the Madonna and Child often take the form of large altarpieces
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Theotokos of Vladimir
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The Theotokos of Vladimir, also known as Our Lady of Vladimir, Vladimir Mother of God, or Virgin of Vladimir is a medieval Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child. In 1169 Andrei Bogolyubsky sacked Kyiv, and after plundering the city, stealing much religious artwork and it is one of the most venerated Orthodox icons and a fine and early example of the iconography of the Eleusa type. The Theotokos is regarded as the protectress of Russia. The icon is displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow in a church in the grounds of the museum. Her feast day is June 23rd o. s. / July 6th n. s, even more than most famous icons, the original has been copied repeatedly for centuries, and many copies have considerable artistic and religious significance of their own. The icon is a version of the Eleusa type, with the Christ child snuggling up to his mothers cheek. As a work of art, the icon is dated to the part of the 12th century. Only the faces and hands are original, with the clothes repainted after suffering damage when a cover or riza was placed over them. The work shows a humanity and tenderness new to Byzantine art in this period, the reverse of the icon, which is much less well known, has a 15th-century image of the Prepared Table, a Hetoimasia with the Instruments of the Passion and other symbols. About 1131 the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople sent the icon as a gift to Grand Duke Yury Dolgorukiy of Kiev, the image was kept in a monastery until Dolgorukiys son Andrey Bogolyubskiy brought it to his favourite city, Vladimir, in 1155. Tradition tells that the horses transporting the icon stopped near Vladimir, people interpreted this as a sign that the Theotokos wanted her icon to stay in Vladimir. To house the icon, the great Assumption Cathedral was built there, however the presence of the icon did not prevent the sack and burning of the city by the Mongols in 1238, when the icon was damaged by fire. It was first restored after this, and again before 1431, according to the traditional accounts the image was taken from Vladimir to the new capital, Moscow, in 1395 during Tamerlanes invasion. The spot where people and the prince met the icon is commemorated by the Sretensky Monastery. Vasili I of Moscow spent a night crying over the icon, the Muscovites refused to return the icon to Vladimir and placed it in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Moscow Kremlin. The Tretyakov website today says the icon came to Moscow in 1480, undoubtedly, by the 16th century, the Vladimirskaya was a thing of legend, and associated with the growth of Russian national consciousness based on the Muscovite state. The intercession of the Theotokos through the image was credited also with saving Moscow from Tatar hordes in 1451 and 1480, the icon of the Theotokos of Vladimir is sometimes described as expressing universal feelings of motherly love and anxiety for her child. Like some other icons it was believed to have been painted by St Luke from its living subjects, the venerated image was used in celebration of coronations of tsars, elections of patriarchs, and other important ceremonies of state
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Christ (title)
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In Christianity, the Christ is a title for the saviour and redeemer who would bring salvation to the Jewish people and mankind. Christians believe that Jesus is the Jewish messiah called Christ in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, Christ, used by Christians as both a name and a title, is synonymous with Jesus. The role of the Christ in Christianity originated from the concept of the messiah in Judaism. Though the conceptions of the messiah in each religion are similar, for the most part they are distinct from one due to the split of early Christianity. Jesus came to be called Jesus Christ by his followers after his crucifixion and resurrection, Christians believe that the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in his mission, death, and resurrection. The Pauline epistles, the earliest texts of the New Testament, the word Christ was originally a title, but later became part of the name Jesus Christ. It is, however, still used as a title, in the reciprocal use Christ Jesus, meaning the Messiah Jesus. The followers of Jesus became known as Christians because they believed Jesus to be the Khristós or Mashiach prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus was not, and is not, accepted in Judaism as a Jewish messiah, religious Jews still await their messiahs first coming and the Messianic prophecies of Jewish tradition to be accomplished. Religious Christians believe in the Second Coming of Christ, and they await the rest of Christian messianic prophecies to be fulfilled. Muslims accept Jesus as al-Masih, the messiah in Islam, but dont believe that the messiah is divine or the Son of God, but do believe he will come again. The area of Christian theology called Christology is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the canonical gospels, the word Christ appears in English and in most European languages. English-speakers now often use Christ as if it were a name, one part of the name Jesus Christ and its usage in Christ Jesus emphasizes its nature as a title. The spelling Christ in English became standardized in the 18th century, when, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, the spelling Christ in English is attested from the 14th century. In modern and ancient usage, even in secular terminology, Christ usually refers to Jesus, at the time of Jesus, there was no single form of Second Temple Judaism, and there were significant political, social, and religious differences among the various Jews groups. However, for centuries the Jews had used the term moshiach to refer to their expected deliverer, the Greek word messias appears only twice in the Septuagint of the promised prince. This title was used when a name was wanted for the one who was to be at once King. The New Testament states that the long-awaited messiah had come and describes this savior as the Christ
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Mother goddess
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A mother goddess is a goddess who represents, or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. Many different goddesses have represented motherhood in one way or another, others have represented the fertility of the earth. Several small, voluptuous figures have been found during excavations of the Upper Paleolithic. This sculpture is estimated to have been carved 35,000 years ago, some archaeologists believe they were intended to represent goddesses, while others believe that they could have served some other purpose. The Paleolithic period extends from 2.5 million years ago to the introduction of agriculture around 10,000 BCE, archaeological evidence indicates that humans migrated to the Western Hemisphere before the end of the Paleolithic, so cultures around the world share its characteristics. It is the prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools, regional differences in the development of this stage of tool development are quite varied. During this time, native cultures appear in the Western Hemisphere, regular seasonal occupation or permanent settlements begin to be seen in excavations. Herding and keeping of cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs is evidenced along with the presence of dogs, almost without exception, images of what Marija Gimbutas interpreted as mother goddesses have been discovered in all of these cultures. Numerous female figurines from Neolithic Çatalhöyük in Anatolia have been interpreted as evidence of a mother-goddess cult, james Mellaart, who led excavation at the site in the 1960s, suggests that the figures represent a Great goddess, who headed the pantheon of an essentially matriarchal culture. A seated female figure, flanked by what Mellaart describes as lionesses, was found in a grain-bin, she may have intended to protect the harvest and grain. The seated or enthroned goddess-like figure flanked by lionesses, has suggested as a prototype Cybele. They also left behind many ceramic remains of pottery and clay figurines, some of these figurines appear to represent the mother goddess. Malta has some of the oldest buildings in the world, and has many fertility figures or pieces of fertility figures throughout the temples, the most famous is the Sleeping Lady, recovered from the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni, and held in the National Museum of Archaeology, Malta. Similarly, mother goddess figurines are found in the contemporaneous Ozieri culture of Sardinia. James Frazer and others advance the idea that worship in ancient Europe. According to Gimbutas Kurgan Hypothesis, Old European cultures were disrupted by expansion of Indo-European speakers from modern-day Ukraine, in 1968 the archaeologist Peter Ucko proposed that the many images found in graves and archaeological sites of Neolithic cultures were toys. The graves he was describing dated from Predynastic Egypt and Neolithic Crete, Mother goddesses are present in the earliest images discovered among the archaeological finds in Ancient Egypt
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Incarnation (Christianity)
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The doctrine of the Incarnation, then, entails that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, his two natures joined in hypostatic union. This is central to the traditional faith held by most Christians, alternative views on the subject have been proposed throughout the centuries, but all were rejected by mainstream Christian bodies. An alternative doctrine known as Oneness has been espoused among various Pentecostal groups, the noun incarnation derives from the ecclesiastical Latin verb incarno, itself derived from the prefix in- and caro, flesh, meaning to make into flesh or, in the passive, to be made flesh. The verb incarno does not occur in the Latin Bible but the term is drawn from the Gospel of John et Verbum caro factum est, Incarnation refers to the act of a pre-existent divine being, the Son of God, in becoming a human being. While all Christians believed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, justin Martyr argued that the incarnate Word was pre-figured in Old Testament prophecies. Eventually, teaching of Alexander, Athanasius, and the other Nicene Fathers, all divergent beliefs were defined as heresies. This included Docetism, Arianism, Nestorianism, and Sabellianism, the most widely accepted definitions of the Incarnation and the nature of Jesus were made by the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the Council of Ephesus in 431, and the Council of Chalcedon in 451. These councils declared that Jesus was both fully God, begotten from, but not created by the Father, and fully man, taking his flesh and these two natures, human and divine, were hypostatically united into the one personhood of Jesus Christ. Without diminishing his divinity, he added to it all that is involved in being human, in Christian belief it is understood that Jesus was at the same time both fully God and fully human, two persons in one nature. The body of Christ was therefore subject to all the bodily weaknesses to which nature is universally subject, such are hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain. They were the results of the human nature He assumed. The significance of the Incarnation has been discussed throughout Christian history. The link between the Incarnation and the Atonement within systematic theology is complex, in his work The Trinity and the Kingdom of God, Jürgen Moltmann differentiated between what he called a fortuitous and a necessary Incarnation. The latter gives a soteriological emphasis to the Incarnation, the Son of God became a man so that he could save us from our sins. The former, on the hand, speaks of the Incarnation as a fulfilment of the Love of God, of his desire to be present and living amidst humanity. Moltmann favours fortuitous Incarnation primarily because he feels that to speak of an Incarnation of necessity is to do an injustice to the life of Christ, moltmanns work, alongside other systematic theologians, opens up avenues of liberation Christology. The Son of God, Servetus asserted, is not an existing being. For this reason, Servetus refused to call Christ the eternal Son of God preferring the Son of the eternal God instead, in describing Servetus theology of the Logos, Andrew Dibb comments, In Genesis God reveals himself as the creator
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Mother of God (Roman Catholic)
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Mariology of the Catholic Church is the systematic study of the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, and of her place in the economy of salvation, within Catholic theology. Mary is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints, the Catholic Church teaches that she was conceived without original sin therefore receiving a higher level of veneration than all other saints. The four dogmas of perpetual virginity, Mother of God, Immaculate Conception and Assumption form the basis of Mariology, however, a number of other Catholic doctrines about the Virgin Mary have been developed by reference to sacred scripture, theological reasoning and Church tradition. In parallel to the views, since the late 19th century. Many different notions similar to these have been addressed in the 1988 John Paul II Apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem (on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, John Paul II also defines the feminine genius in this writing as well, referencing the life of the Mother of God. Marys position in Church can be compared to the aspect of the Petrine office in a dual sense and this perspective on the duality of the roles of Mary and Peter highlights the subjective holiness of the heart and the holiness of the structure of the Church. Mariology and the doctrine of office are thus not side chapels in Roman Catholic teachings, Marys rights, and Marys love are essential to salvation. Mariology is a field in which deeply felt pious beliefs of the faithful and hagiography may conflict with theological and critical reviews of beliefs. This conflict was recognized as early as the year 1300 by William of Ware who described the tendency of some believers to attribute almost everything to Mary, one has to be careful as to not to minimize the honour of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Both minimalist and maximalist have always seen in Mary a sign of the Church, in the 20th century, Pope Pius XII, the most Marian Pope in Church history” warned against both exuberant exaggerations and timid minimalism in the presentation of Mary. The Vatican II dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium was specifically written in 1964 to avoid both Marian maximalism and minimalism, Pope John Paul II was also careful to avoid both maximalism and minimalism in his Mariology and avoided taking personal positions on issues which were subject to theological debate. Mariology has been related to Christology and in the Roman Catholic theological and papal writings has been viewed as interwoven with the mystery of Christ, for this is a fundamental dimension emerging from the Mariology of the Council. Roman Catholic theologians have also explored the interwoven natures of Mariology and Christology, Pope Benedict XVI characterized the relationship by stating that Christology and Mariology are inseparably interwoven from their very beginnings. In his view Mariology underscores the nexus of the mysteries of Christology and ecclesiology, early Christians and numerous saints focused on this connection and popes highlighted the inner link between Marian doctrines and a fuller understanding of Christological themes. Given the Catholic perspective that the Church lives in its relation to Christ, being the Body of Christ, it also has a relation to his mother, whose study is the subject of Roman Catholic Mariology. Pope Saint Pius X in Ad diem illum stated, there is no direct road than by Mary for uniting all mankind in Christ. Referring to this, Cardinal Raymond Burke stated that the promotion of a knowledge of the Virgin Mary is the constant work of the Church. Early Christians focused their piety at first more upon the martyrs, the earliest recorded prayer to Mary, the sub tuum praesidium, is dated to around the year 250
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Mariology
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Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology methodically presents teachings about her to parts of the faith, such as teachings about Jesus, redemption. Christian Mariology aims to connect scripture, tradition and the teachings of the Church on Mary, in the context of social history, Mariology may be broadly defined as the study of devotion to and thinking about Mary throughout the history of Christianity. As a field of theology, in recent centuries the most substantial developments in Mariology have taken place within Roman Catholic Mariology, Eastern Orthodox concepts of Mary have been mostly expressed in liturgy and are not subject to a central dogmatic teaching office. A significant number of Marian publications were written in the 20th century, with theologists Raimondo Spiazzi, in terms of popular following, membership in Roman Catholic Marian Movements and Societies has grown significantly. Ecumenical differences continue to exist in substance and style but are easily understood because of the existence of Mariology. The Pontifical Academy of Mary and the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum are key Mariological centers, a wide range of views on Mary exist at multiple levels of differentiation within distinct Christian belief systems. In many cases, the views held at any point in history have continued to be challenged and transformed, Anglican Marian theology varies greatly, from the Anglo-Catholic to the more typically Protestant Evangelical views. The Anglican Church formally celebrates six Marian feasts, Annunciation, Visitation, Day of Saint Mary, Nativity of Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, however, the role of Mary as a mediator is accepted by some groups of modern Anglican theologians. Eastern Orthodox theology calls Mary the Theotokos, which means God-bearer and this term emphasizes Marys status as the mother of God incarnate in Jesus but not the mother of God from eternity. The virginal motherhood of Mary stands at the center of Orthodox Mariology, the Orthodox Mariological approach emphasizes the sublime holiness of Mary, her share in redemption and her role as a mediator of grace. Orthodox Marilogical thought dates as far back as Saint John Damascene who in the 8th century wrote on the role of Mary. More recently Orthodox Mariology achieved a renewal among 20th century theologians in Russia, for whom Mary is the heart of the Church, however, unlike the Catholic approach, Orthodox Mariology does not support the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Prior to the 20th century, Orthodox Mariology was almost entirely liturgical, however, 20th century theologians such as Sergei Bulgakov began the development of a detailed systematic Orthodox Mariology. Bulgakovs Mariological formulation emphasizes the link between Mary and the Holy Spirit in the mystery of the Incarnation. Protestant views of Mary vary from denomination to denomination and they focus generally on interpretations of Mary in the Bible, the Apostles Creed, and the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, in 431, which called Mary the Mother of God. Martin Luthers views on Mary, John Calvins views on Mary, Karl Barths views on Mary, a better mutual understanding among different Christian groups regarding their Mariology has been sought in a number of ecumenical meetings which produced common documents. Mary is the only woman named in the Quran
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Roman Catholic Mariology
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Mariology of the Catholic Church is the systematic study of the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, and of her place in the economy of salvation, within Catholic theology. Mary is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints, the Catholic Church teaches that she was conceived without original sin therefore receiving a higher level of veneration than all other saints. The four dogmas of perpetual virginity, Mother of God, Immaculate Conception and Assumption form the basis of Mariology, however, a number of other Catholic doctrines about the Virgin Mary have been developed by reference to sacred scripture, theological reasoning and Church tradition. In parallel to the views, since the late 19th century. Many different notions similar to these have been addressed in the 1988 John Paul II Apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem (on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, John Paul II also defines the feminine genius in this writing as well, referencing the life of the Mother of God. Marys position in Church can be compared to the aspect of the Petrine office in a dual sense and this perspective on the duality of the roles of Mary and Peter highlights the subjective holiness of the heart and the holiness of the structure of the Church. Mariology and the doctrine of office are thus not side chapels in Roman Catholic teachings, Marys rights, and Marys love are essential to salvation. Mariology is a field in which deeply felt pious beliefs of the faithful and hagiography may conflict with theological and critical reviews of beliefs. This conflict was recognized as early as the year 1300 by William of Ware who described the tendency of some believers to attribute almost everything to Mary, one has to be careful as to not to minimize the honour of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Both minimalist and maximalist have always seen in Mary a sign of the Church, in the 20th century, Pope Pius XII, the most Marian Pope in Church history” warned against both exuberant exaggerations and timid minimalism in the presentation of Mary. The Vatican II dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium was specifically written in 1964 to avoid both Marian maximalism and minimalism, Pope John Paul II was also careful to avoid both maximalism and minimalism in his Mariology and avoided taking personal positions on issues which were subject to theological debate. Mariology has been related to Christology and in the Roman Catholic theological and papal writings has been viewed as interwoven with the mystery of Christ, for this is a fundamental dimension emerging from the Mariology of the Council. Roman Catholic theologians have also explored the interwoven natures of Mariology and Christology, Pope Benedict XVI characterized the relationship by stating that Christology and Mariology are inseparably interwoven from their very beginnings. In his view Mariology underscores the nexus of the mysteries of Christology and ecclesiology, early Christians and numerous saints focused on this connection and popes highlighted the inner link between Marian doctrines and a fuller understanding of Christological themes. Given the Catholic perspective that the Church lives in its relation to Christ, being the Body of Christ, it also has a relation to his mother, whose study is the subject of Roman Catholic Mariology. Pope Saint Pius X in Ad diem illum stated, there is no direct road than by Mary for uniting all mankind in Christ. Referring to this, Cardinal Raymond Burke stated that the promotion of a knowledge of the Virgin Mary is the constant work of the Church. Early Christians focused their piety at first more upon the martyrs, the earliest recorded prayer to Mary, the sub tuum praesidium, is dated to around the year 250
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Protestant views on Mary
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Protestant views on Mary include the theological positions of major Protestant representatives such as Martin Luther and John Calvin as well as some modern representatives. While it is difficult to generalize about the place of Mary, mother of Jesus in Protestantism given the diversity of Protestant beliefs. A newer Protestant view of Mary emerging out of the Evangelical movement sees Mary as a feisty, assertive, some early Protestants venerated and honored Mary. Martin Luther said of Mary, the given to the mother of God has been rooted so deeply into the hearts of men that no one wants to hear any opposition to this celebration. We also grant that she should be honored, since we, therefore we have an obligation to honor Mary. But be careful to give her honor that is fitting, unfortunately, I worry that we give her all too high an honor for she is accorded much more esteem than she should be given or than she accounted to herself. John Calvin said, It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor. Zwingli said, I esteem immensely the Mother of God and The more the honor and love of Christ increases among men, so much the esteem and honor given to Mary should grow. There is no sex or age, no rank or position, of anyone in the human race. He held fast to the belief that Mary was a perpetual virgin, special attention is given to the assertion, that Luther some three-hundred years before the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854, was a firm adherent of that view. Regarding the Assumption of Mary, he stated that the Bible did not say anything about it, important to him was the belief that Mary and the saints do live on after death. Throughout his career as a priest-professor-reformer, Luther preached, taught and his views are intimately linked to his christocentric theology and its consequences for liturgy and piety. He considered the Roman Catholic practice of celebrating saints days and making intercessory requests addressed especially to Mary, John Calvin accepted Marys perpetual virginity and the title Mother of God, in a qualified sense. Calvin stated that Mary cannot be the advocate of the faithful, if the Catholic Church praises her as Queen of Heaven, it is blasphemous and contradicts her own intention, because she is praised and not God. Karl Barth, a Reformed Protestant, was a leading 20th century theologian, aware of the common dogmatic tradition of the early Church, Barth fully accepted the dogma of Mary as the Mother of God. In his view, through Mary, Jesus belongs to the race, through Jesus. Barth also agreed with the Dogma of the Virgin Birth and it meant to him that Jesus as a human does not have a father and that as the Son of God he has no mother. The Holy Spirit, through whom Mary conceived, is not just any spirit, Mary is full of grace according to Barth, but this grace is not earned but totally given to her
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Anglican Marian theology
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Anglican Marian theology is the summation of the doctrines and beliefs of Anglicanism concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary. Anglicans of evangelical or low church tradition tend to avoid honouring Mary, other Anglicans respect and honour Mary because of the special religious significance that she has within Christianity as the mother of Jesus Christ. This honour and respect is termed veneration, in the 12th-century legends surrounding King Lucius, the apostles Fagan and Duvian were said to have erected the St Marys at Glastonbury as the oldest church in Britain in the mid-2nd century. Later accounts pushed its origin still farther back and credited its foundation to a visit by Joseph of Arimathea in AD65, both legends are now held to have been pious forgeries. The British church generally preferred to parish churches to local saints credited with founding the llan. By the High Middle Ages, Marian piety was so throughout the country that England had become known as the Dowry of Mary. England was the first country to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, many of the great English saints were devoted to Mary and wrote prayers about her. The Carmelite Saint Simon Stock is said to have received the Brown Scapular from her in the city of Cambridge on Sunday, Saint Edmund of Canterbury wrote many prayers addressed to her. One aspect of the English Reformation was a reaction against Mary as a mediatrix alongside Christ. Such exaggerated devotions, in inspired by presentations of Christ as an inaccessible Judge as well as Redeemer, were criticized by Erasmus and Thomas More. This rejected any overt devotion to Mary and diminished her place in the life of the Church, the English Reformers positive teaching about Mary concentrated on her role in the Incarnation. It is summed up in their acceptance of her as the Mother of God and they neither affirmed nor denied the possibility of Mary having been preserved by grace from participation in original sin. The Book of Common Prayer in the Christmas collect and preface refers to Mary as a pure Virgin, from 1561, the calendar of the Church of England contained five feasts associated with Mary, The Conception of Mary, Nativity of Mary, Annunciation, Visitation, and Purification. There was, however, no longer a feast of the Assumption, not only was it not found in the Bible, scottish and Canadian revisions of the Prayer Book restored August 15 as the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Andrewes in his Preces Privatae borrowed from Eastern liturgies to deepen his Marian devotion and this re-appropriation can be traced into the next century, and into the Oxford Movement of the 19th century. In 1922 the creation of a new statue of Our Lady of Walsingham under the aegis of Father Hope Patten, from the early 1930s Walsingham became a centre of Anglican as well as Catholic Marian pilgrimage. This developed into the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in 1938, Mary has a new prominence in Anglicanism through the liturgical renewals of the 20th century. In most Anglican prayer books, Mary is again mentioned by name in the liturgical prayers, further, August 15 has come to be widely celebrated as a principal feast in honour of Saint Mary the Virgin with Scripture readings, collect, and proper preface
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Luther's Marian theology
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Luthers Marian theology is derived from his views of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It was developed out of the deep Christian Marian devotion on which he was reared, Lutherans hold Mary in high esteem. By the end of Luthers theological development, his emphasis was placed on Mary as merely a receiver of Gods love. He held fast to the belief that Mary was a virgin and the Theotokos. Special attention is given to the assertion that Luther, some three-hundred years before the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854, was an adherent of that view. Regarding the Assumption of Mary, he stated that the Bible did not say anything about it, important to him was the belief that Mary and the saints do live on after death. He believed that Mary is the Theotokos the God-bearer, Martin Luther said, he became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass mans understanding. Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God. None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass, the sky, stars, and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God and this belief was officially confessed by Lutherans in their Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, article VIII. He demonstrated his divine majesty even in his mothers womb in that he was born of a virgin without violating her virginity, therefore she is truly the mother of God and yet remained a virgin. Luther accepted the idea of the virginity of Mary. It is implicit in his Christian Dogmatics that belief in Marys perpetual virginity is the older, some American Lutheran groups such as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod later found no difficulty with the view that Mary and Joseph themselves together had other children. In 1544 Luther said, God has formed the soul and body of the Virgin Mary full of the Holy Spirit, so that she is without all sins, for she has conceived, elsewhere, All seed except Mary was vitiated. The Holy Spirit permitted the Virgin Mary to remain a true, natural human being of flesh and blood, however, he warded off sin from her flesh and blood so that she became the mother of a pure child, not poisoned by sin as we are. For in that moment when she conceived, she was a holy mother filled with the Holy Spirit and her fruit is a holy pure fruit, at once God and truly man, in one person. Throughout his lifetime, Luther referred to Mary as the Queen of Heaven, before 1516, Luthers belief that Mary is a mediatrix between God and humanity was driven by his fear of Jesus being the implacable judge of all people. The Virgin Mary remains in the middle between Christ and humankind, for in the very moment he was conceived and lived, he was full of grace
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Mary in Islam
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In the Quran, her story is related in three Meccan chapters and four Medinan chapters, and the nineteenth chapter of the scripture, the Chapter of Mary, is named after her. The Quran refers to Mary more than the entire New Testament, the Quran calls Mary the daughter of Imran and it mentions that people called her a sister of Aaron. In the Qur’an, Hannah prayed for a child and eventually conceived, expecting the child to be male, Hannah vowed to dedicate him to isolation and service in the Temple. However, Hannah bore a daughter instead, and named her Mary, Mary is mentioned frequently in the Quran, and her narrative occurs consistently from the earliest chapters, revealed in Mecca, to the latest verses, revealed in Medina. The birth of Mary is narrated in the Qur’an with references to her father as well as her mother, Marys father is called Amran in tradition and is the equivalent of Joachim in Christian tradition. Her mother is called Anne, which is the name as in Christian tradition. Muslim literature narrates that Amram and his wife were old and childless and that, one day and she prayed to God to fulfill her desire and vowed, if her prayer was accepted, that her child would be dedicated to the service of God. No such doctrine exists in Islam, the Qur’an narrates that Mary grew up in the temple of the prayer, and had a special place in the temple of her own. She was placed under the care of the prophet Zechariah, her uncle, the Muslim narrative makes it clear that lots were cast as to who should be the guardian of Mary and the outcome was that she should be placed under Zechariahs care. As often as Zechariah entered Marys prayer chamber, he found her provided with food and he would ask her where she received it from, scholars have debated as to whether this refers to miraculous food that Mary received from God or whether it was normal food. The virgin birth of Jesus is supremely important in Islam, as one of the most important miracles of God. The first explicit mention of an annunciation foreshadowing the birth of Jesus is in sura 19, ayah 20 where Mary asks Gabriel how she will be able to conceive, when no man has touched her. Gabriels reply assures Mary that for God all things are easy, the birth is later referred in sura 66, ayah 12, where the Quran states that Mary remained pure, while God allowed a life to shape itself in Marys womb. A third mention of the annunciation is in sura 3, ayat 42–43, commentators on the Qur’an remark on the last verse that Mary was as close to a perfect woman as there could be, and she was devoid of almost all failings. Although Islam honors numerous women, including Khadijah and Fatimah, many commentators followed this verse in the absolute sense, and agreed that Mary was the greatest woman of all time. According to exegesis and literature, Gabriel appeared to Mary, who was young in age, in the form of a well-made man with a shining face. After her immediate astonishment, she was reassured by the answer that God has the power to do anything. The details of the conception are not discussed during these angelic visits, the Qur’an narrates the virgin birth of Jesus numerous times
26.
Marian devotions
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A Marian devotion in Christianity is directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus consisting of external pious practices expressed by the believer. Such devotional prayers or acts may be accompanied by requests for Marys intercession with God. In 787 the Second Council of Nicaea affirmed a three-level hierarchy of latria, hyperdulia and dulia that applies to God and they believe this devotion may distract attention from Christ. There is significant diversity of form and structure in Marian devotions practiced by different groups of Christians, Orthodox Marian devotions are well-defined and closely linked to liturgy, while Roman Catholic practices are wide-ranging. There is no single church with universal authority within the Anglican Communion, within the Anglican Communion and the Continuing Anglican movement, devotions to the Virgin Mary have more emphasis within High Church and Broad Church parishes than others. The emphasis placed on Mary and Marian devotions changed over the history of Anglicanism, however, in the 17th century, there was a gradual return to Marianism and by 1662 there were five Marian feasts. Anglican devotion for the Virgin Mary was revived during the 19th century Oxford Movement of Anglo-Catholicism, british theologians such as Father Frederick Faber took an enthusiastic approach to the promotion of Marian devotions towards the end of the 19th century. In the liturgical renewal of the 20th century, Mary gained new prominence, the gradual increase in Marian devotions among Anglicans has also been manifested within the higher levels of the clergy in the Anglican Communion. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams wrote a book on how to pray with the icons of the Virgin Mary, Anglican devotions to Mary include the Anglican Rosary, votive candles, and pilgrimages to Walsingham and Lourdes. Some Anglicans and Anglo-Catholics also pray the rosary itself, for centuries, Our Lady of Walsingham has been a centerpiece in Anglican devotions to the Virgin Mary and its feast is celebrated on October 15, as well as a Catholic feast on September 24. Also common in Anglican cathedrals, Anglo-Catholic parishes, and certain Anglican shrines are chapels or side altars dedicated to the Virgin Mary called Lady chapels, a deep devotion to the Aeipartenos Mary is one of the key themes of Orthodox liturgy and spirituality. Devotion to the Virgin Mary is taken for granted in Eastern Orthodoxy and it permeates the entire life of the Church and historically required no academic development as in the Western Church. In the Orthodox view, devotion to Mary is considered an important element of Christian spirituality, Orthodox theologian Sergei Bulgakov called denominations that do not venerate the Virgin Mary another type of Christianity. The Theotokos title for Mary is very important in Eastern Orthodoxy and is seen as an affirmation of the fullness of Gods incarnation, Marian devotions thus form the nucleolus of Orthodox Mariology. Feasts, icons and hymns are often combined, e. g. the Theotokos Iverskaya wonder-working icon is used on its own feast day, devotions to the Theotokos are often combined with the veneration of icons depicting her with the Child Jesus. For instance, in the Sunday of Orthodoxy the singing of Marian hymns, the Eastern Orthodox Church considers Mary to have been elevated by God to the highest status, above all other creatures, though still only a human being. The Orthodox hymn Axion Estin speaks of Mary as being More honorable than the cherubim, although most Orthodox consider Mary sinless, they do not accept the Roman Catholic definition of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Mary is mentioned numerous times in all of the Divine Services, the final petition of each ektenia ends with an invocation of the Virgin Mary
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Hail Mary
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The Hail Mary, also commonly called the Ave Maria or Angelic Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Roman Catholicism, the forms the basis of the Rosary. In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, a prayer is used in formal liturgies. It is also used by other groups within the Catholic tradition of Christianity including Anglicans, Independent Catholics. Some Protestant denominations, such as Lutherans, also use of a form of the prayer. Based on the greeting of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary in the Gospel of Luke and it has often been set to music, although the most famous musical expression of the words Ave Maria — that by Franz Schubert — does not actually contain the Hail Mary prayer. The prayer incorporates two passages from Saint Lukes Gospel, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, the first of the two passages from Saint Lukes Gospel is the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, originally written in Koine Greek. The opening word of greeting, χαῖρε, chaíre, here translated Hail and this was the normal greeting in the language in which Saint Lukes Gospel is written and continues to be used in the same sense in Modern Greek. Accordingly, both Hail and Rejoice are valid English translations of the word, the word κεχαριτωμένη, here translated as full of grace, admits of various translations. The text also appears in the account of the contained in the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Matthew. The second passage is taken from Elizabeths greeting to Mary in Luke 1,42, Blessed art thou among women, taken together, these two passages are the two times Mary is greeted in Chapter 1 of Luke. The Hail Mary prayer of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches is in the form, Θεοτόκε Παρθένε, χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη Μαρία, εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξί, καὶ εὐλογημένος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας σου, ὅτι Σωτῆρα ἔτεκες τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν. God-bearing Maid, rejoice, grace-filled Mary, the Lord with thee, praised thou among women, and praised the fruit of thy womb, because it was the Saviour of our souls that thou bearest. Another English rendering of the text reads, Mother of God and Virgin, rejoice, Mary full of grace. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, to the Biblical texts this adds the opening invocation Theotokos Virgin, the name Mary and the concluding because it was the Saviour of our souls that thou barest. Saint Thomas Aquinas spoke of the name Mary, which served to indicate who was the full of grace person mentioned, but at about the same time the name Jesus was also added, to specify who was meant by the phrase the fruit of thy womb. To the greeting and praise of Mary of which the prayer thus consisted, the petition first appeared in print in 1495 in Girolamo Savonarolas Esposizione sopra l’Ave Maria. The Hail Mary prayer in Savonarolas exposition reads, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death
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Hymns to Mary
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Marian hymns are Christian songs focused on the Virgin Mary. They are used in devotional and liturgical services, particularly by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican. They are often used in the month of May devotions, some have also been adopted as Christmas hymns. Marian hymns are not popular among Protestants, as many Protestants see Marian veneration as idolatry, however, the practice is very common among Christians of Catholic traditions, and a key component of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy. There are many more hymns to Mary within the Eastern Orthodox yearly cycle of liturgy than in Roman Catholic liturgy, the Magnificat hymn is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and historian Marjorie Reeves states that it is perhaps the earliest Christian hymn. The Magnificat is named after the line in the 4th century Vulgate Bible, based on Luke 1, 46-55, and continues to be widely used to date by Roman Catholics, Anglicans. Marian hymns are at times shared among different groups of Christians, for instance, The second stanza of the Anglican hymn Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones is derived from the Eastern Orthodox hymn to the Theotokos. In the Eastern Church, the Theotokia are a part of the Divine Liturgy. In the Theotokia people repeat the name Mary many times as a sign of their friendship with her. Parts of the Axion Estin hymn date back to the earliest days of Orthodoxy, in the Eastern Church, the Theotokia often include biblical references that emphasize the mystery of the Incarnation. These Marian hymns have been used in daily prayers since early Christianity as a way to people the Orthodox beliefs. Marian hymns remain a key element in the liturgy of the Coptic Church and are included in every hour, day. The widely used Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos is attributed to Saint Romanos the Melodist who composed many hymns to saints during the 6th century, in the Orthodox weekly liturgical cycle, Wednesday is dedicated to the Theotokos, and all daily services include numerous Marian hymns. These take precedence over the veneration of saints and angels. As of the 12th century a number of diataxeis, giving the order of the liturgy included Marian hymns. Centuries later, the Sunday of Orthodoxy continues to combine Marian hymns, hymns, feasts and miraculous Marian icons are now combined within Eastern church practices, e. g. the Akathistos to the wonder working Theotokos Iverskaya. Marian hymns, litanies and the veneration or Benediction of the icons of Mary are combined in the Maronite Churchs, here a hymn litany includes the repetition of the phrase, We petition you. This Marionite hymn litany has two parts, first the giving of praise to Mary, then the petitions, according to Saint Augustine, it was Saint Ambrose who, in the 4th century, introduced the use of hymns outside the liturgy of the Western Church
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Veneration of Mary in Roman Catholicism
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In the Catholic Church, veneration of Mary, mother of Jesus encompasses various Marian devotions which includes prayer, pious acts, visual arts, poetry, and music devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Popes have encouraged it, while taking steps to reform some manifestations of it. The Holy See has insisted on the importance of distinguishing true from false devotion, there are significantly more titles, feasts, and venerative Marian practices among Roman Catholics than in other Christian traditions. The term hyperdulia indicates the special veneration due to Mary, greater than the ordinary dulia for other saints, the term Mariolatry is a Protestant pejorative label for perceived excessive Catholic devotion to Mary. Belief in the incarnation of God the Son through Mary is the basis for calling her the Mother of God, at the Second Vatican Council and in Pope John Paul IIs encyclical Redemptoris Mater, she is spoken of also as Mother of the Church. The Holy See approves only a few as worthy of belief. In Roman Catholic teachings, the veneration of Mary is a consequence of Christology, Jesus and Mary are son and mother, redeemer. This sentiment was expressed by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater, At the centre of this mystery, in the midst of this wonderment of faith, stands Mary. As the loving Mother of the Redeemer, she was the first to experience it, in the Roman Catholic tradition Mariology is seen as Christology developed to its full potential. Mary is seen as contributing to an understanding of the life of Jesus. In this view, a Christology without Mary is not based on the revelation of the Bible. Traces of this parallel interpretation go back to the days of Christianity. The development of this continued into the 20th century. The divine salvation plan, being not only material, includes a permanent spiritual unity with Christ, Christians love for Mary intuited, frequently in anticipation, certain aspects of the mystery of the Blessed Virgin, calling the attention of theologians and pastors to them. Venerative and devotional practices have often preceded formal theological declarations by the Magisterium, the veneration of the Blessed Virgin takes place in various ways. Marian prayers and hymns usually begin with praise of her, followed by petitions, the number of Marian titles continued to grow as of the 3rd century, and many titles existed by the 5th century, growing especially during the Middle Ages. Veneration for Mary is based on the reference in the Gospel of Luke to Mary as the handmaid of the Lord who is greeted and praised by both Elizabeth and the angel Gabriel. One of the components of the Catholic veneration of Mary is the focus on her participation in the processes of salvation and redemption and this has been explored by such writers as Edward Schillebeeckx and Adrienne von Speyr
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Rosary
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The Rosary, usually in the form of the Dominican Rosary, is a form of prayer used especially in the Catholic Church named for the string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When used of the form of prayer, the word is capitalized, as is customary for other names of prayers, such as the Lords Prayer, the Hail Mary. When referring to the beads, it is written with a lower-case initial. The prayers that essentially compose the Rosary are arranged in sets of ten Hail Marys with each set preceded by one Lords Prayer and followed by one Glory Be. During recitation of each set, known as a decade, thought is given to one of the Mysteries of the Rosary, normally, five decades are recited in a session. Other prayers are added after each decade and before. The rosary as an object is an aid towards saying these prayers in the proper sequence. In 2002 Pope John Paul II said that it is fitting that a new set of five be added, called the Luminous Mysteries, for over four centuries, the rosary has been promoted by several popes as part of the veneration of Mary in Roman Catholicism. The rosary is part of Catholic veneration of Mary, which has been promoted by numerous popes, in the 16th century, Pope Pius V associated the rosary with the General Roman Calendar by instituting the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which is celebrated on 7 October. Pope Leo XIII, known as The Rosary Pope, issued twelve encyclicals and five apostolic letters on the rosary and added the invocation Queen of the most Holy Rosary to the Litany of Loreto. Pope Pius XII and his successors actively promoted veneration of the Virgin in Lourdes and Fatima, Pope John Paul II issued the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae which built on the total Marian devotion. On 3 May 2008, Pope Benedict XVI stated that the Rosary was experiencing a new springtime, It is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother. To Benedict XVI, the rosary is a meditation on all important moments of salvation history, the Congregation for Divine Worship also emphasizes the importance of the rosary as a formative component of spiritual life. The theologian Romano Guardini thus defined the Roman Catholic emphasis on the rosary as participation in the life of Mary and this view had been endorsed by Leo XIII who viewed the rosary as a vital means to participate in the life of Mary and to find the way to Christ. Devotion to the rosary is one of the most notable features of popular Catholic spirituality, Pope John Paul II placed the rosary at the very center of Christian spirituality and called it among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation. From the sixteenth century onwards, rosary recitations often involved picture texts that assisted meditation, such imagery continues to be used to depict the mysteries of the rosary. Saints have stressed the importance of meditation and contemplation, scriptural meditations on the rosary build on the Christian tradition of Lectio Divina, as a way of using the Gospel to start a conversation between the soul and Christ. Padre Pio, who was devoted to the rosary, said, Through the study of books one seeks God, references to the rosary have been part of a number of reported Marian Apparitions spanning two centuries
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Consecration and entrustment to Mary
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Consecration is an act by which a person is dedicated to a sacred service, or an act which separates an object, location or region from a common and profane mode to one for sacred use. In Catholic teachings, consecration to Mary does not diminish or substitute the love of God, Pope Leo XIII, specially encouraged everyone to make acts of consecration to the Virgin Mary based on the methods of Saint Louis de Montfort. Pope Benedict XV also provided support for Marian consecration. Early in the 20th century, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, called the Apostle of Consecration to Mary, theologian Garrigou-Lagrange designated personal consecration to Mary as the highest level among Marian devotions. Pope John Paul IIs motto Totus Tuus reflected his personal consecration to Mary and he consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. By the 9th century, being a servant of Mary was practiced in Ireland, during the Medieval period, abbeys, towns and cities began to consecrate themselves to the Virgin Mary to seek her protection. In the 12th century Cîteaux Abbey in France used the motif of the mantle of the Virgin Mary which shielded the kneeling abbots. In the 13th century Caesarius of Heisterbach was also aware of this motif, in the 12th century, the Cistercian orders began consecrating themselves to Mary, first individually and then as a group, and this practice then spread to the Benedictines and the Carmelites. The 17th century also saw the adoption of the custom of consecrating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin, the practice of consecration to Mary continued among Catholics and in the 18th century was further promoted by Louis de Montfort. Montforts concept of consecration was influenced by Henri Boudons book Dieu seul, by reading Boudon, Montfort concluded that any consecration is ultimately made to God Alone, for only God merits the loving servitude of man. Later, God Alone became the motto of Montfort, Montforts approach followed Boudon very closely, but differed on one element, while Boudons consecration was founded on the Queenship of Mary, Montfort approach was based on the divine maternity. During the 18th and 19th centuries the traditions of Marian consecration grew, since the 19th century, devotions and consecrations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary have been encouraged by several popes including Pius IX, Pius XII and John Paul II. Theologian Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, a professor at the Angelicum studied and analyzed various forms and he designated personal consecration to Mary as the highest level among these devotions. In his theological analysis, Marian devotions are categorized into stages, from beginner to advanced, as follows, Occasional prayer, regular and daily devotion, e. g. the devout recitation of the Rosary on a daily basis. A formal act of consecration to Mary, and living in habitual dependence on her, John Paul II suggested Saint John as an example of how every Christian should respond to the gift of the spiritual motherhood of Mary. The process of Total Consecration to Mary was introduced by Saint Louis de Montfort in the part of the 18th century. The heart of Montforts classic work True Devotion to Mary is an act of consecration to Mary, so through her. The Vaticans guidelines for Marian consecrations state, Louis Grignon de Montfort is one of the masters of the spirituality underlying the act of consecration to Mary
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Ecumenism
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Ecumenism refers to efforts by Christians of different church traditions to develop closer relationships and better understandings. The term is often used to refer to efforts towards the visible. The terms ecumenism and ecumenical come from the Greek οἰκουμένη, which means the inhabited world. The ecumenical vision comprises both the search for the unity of the Church and the whole inhabited earth as the concern of all Christians. Used in this sense, the term carries no connotation of re-uniting the historically separated Christian denominations. Historically, the word was used in the context of large ecumenical councils that were organized under the auspices of Roman Emperors to clarify matters of Christian theology. These Ecumenical Councils brought together bishops from around the world as they knew it at the time. There were a total of seven ecumenical councils accepted by both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism held before the Great Schism, thus, the modern meaning of the world ecumenical and ecumenism derives from this pre-modern sense of Christian unity, and the impulse to recreate this unity again. Ecumenism and nondenominational or postdenominational movements are not necessarily the same thing, while some of these can be ecumenical in intent, normally nondenominationalism seeks no common organizing principle nor works toward the unity of Christians. If ecumenism is the quest for Christian unity, it must be understood what the divisions are which must be overcome, Christianity is the largest religion in the world and the various divisions have commonalities and differences in tradition, theology, church government, doctrine, and language. The exact number of denominations is disputed, based on differing definitions used. The largest number often quoted is approximately 45,000 from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, the World Christian Encyclopedia lists approximately 33,000 in 2001. Yet, at the time, the World Council of Churches counts only 348 member churches. This, with the Catholic Churchs 1.25 billion Christians indicates that 349 churches/denominations already account for nearly 80% of the worlds Christian population, One problem with the larger numbers is that single denominations can be counted multiple times. For example, the Catholic Church is a church, or communion. Further, the Catholic Church presence in each country is counted as a different denomination - though this is in no way an ecclesiologically accurate definition and this can result in the one Catholic Church being counted as 242 distinct denominations, as in the World Christian Encyclopedia. Other denominations may be very small remnants of once larger churches, the United Society of Believers in Christs Second Appearing have only three full members, for example, yet are a distinct denomination. Most current divisions are the result of historical schisms - a break in the communion between previously united Churches, bishops, or communities
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Ecumenical meetings and documents on Mary
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The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches believe in Mary having a continuing role within the church and in the life of all Christians. The focus is upon Mary as a living person – that is, currently, in heaven – who can hear prayers uttered on Earth and intercede in the realms to her Son, Jesus. Mariology is not at the centre of Catholic–Orthodox ecumenical discussions, Catholics and Orthodox, while very close to one another in the faith, have difficulties in understanding each other culturally and mentally. Several meetings between Popes and Patriarchs took place since the Vatican Council and they identify doctrine, but mainly the conditioning by a troubled history. New problems emerged from the changes in the East. The dialogue was more and not less difficult after the fall of communism. Mariology and Marian issues were not even addressed in any of the joint documents, the last two dogmas are rejected because they were issues by the Western Patriarch but not because of content. Protestant churches originated in Western Europe after 1517, the Lutheran – Roman Catholic dialogue began in the 1960s and resulted in a number of covergering reports before the group discussed mariology. * Church as Koinonia, Its Structures and Ministries is the report of the Tenth Round of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue. Condemnations of the 16th Century on Justification, Do They Still Apply Today, Justification by Faith, Do the 16th Century Condemnations Still Apply. - This text discusses the proposal between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches that the mutual condemnations made in the 16th century no longer apply today, Unity of the Churches, An Actual Possibility - Eight theses exploring the achievements of ecumenical dialogues, particularly those between Lutherans and Catholics. Of particular interest, text deals with mutual recognition of the ordained ministry, Lutheran-Catholic Quest for Visible Unity, A paper prepared by the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Coordinating Committee outlining hopes for full reconciliation. A summation of theological discussions and conclusions brought out by the dialogue, the Common Statement on Justification by Faith, The common statement resulting from the US Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue VII, a fundamental consensus on the Gospel. Includes the history of the issue, reflection and interpretation, papal Primacy and the Universal Church, Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue V - This dialogue centered on the major theological issue of the primacy of the pope. Presents background, meaning and future implications of the Common Statement on papal primacy as developed by the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue panel. The One Mediator, the Saints, and Mary, Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue VIII is the result of a 7-year dialogue surrounding the issues of Christ as the one mediator, the Saints, and Mary. The Common statement on Mary has an Introduction and two sections, Part One, Issues and Perspectives and Part Two, Biblical and Historical Foundations. The key issue for the Lutheran participant was the role of Mary as Mediatrix in the Catholic Church, there was an impression that the Mariology of Vatican Two included a strong description of Marys mediator role
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Jesus
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In Christology, the Person of Christ refers to the study of the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ as they co-exist within one person. There is no discussion in the New Testament regarding the dual nature of the Person of Christ as both divine and human. Hence, since the days of Christianity theologians have debated various approaches to the understanding of these natures. In the period following the Apostolic Age, specific beliefs such as Arianism and Docetism were criticized. On the other end of the spectrum, Docetism argued that Jesus physical body was an illusion, docetic teachings were attacked by St. Ignatius of Antioch and were eventually abandoned by proto-orthodox Christians. However, after the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Logos, historically in the Alexandrian school of christology, Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos paradoxically humanized in history, a divine Person who became enfleshed, uniting himself to the human nature. The views of these schools can be summarized as follows, Alexandria, Antioch, Logos assumes a specific human being The First Council of Ephesus in 431 debated a number of views regarding the Person of Christ. At the same gathering the council debated the doctrines of monophysitism or miaphysitism. The council rejected Nestorianism and adopted the term hypostatic union, referring to divine, the language used in the 431 declaration was further refined at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. However, the Chalcedon creed was not accepted by all Christians, because Saint Augustine died in 430 he did not participate in the Council of Ephesus in 431 or Chalcedon in 451, but his ideas had some impact on both councils. On the other hand, the major theological figure of the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 held that both divine and human wills exist in Jesus, with the divine will having precedence, leading and guiding the human will. John Calvin maintained that there was no element in the Person of Christ which could be separated from the person of The Word. Calvin also emphasized the importance of the Work of Christ in any attempt at understanding the Person of Christ, the study of the Person of Christ continued into the 20th century, with modern theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans von Balthasar. Balthasar argued that the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the absorption of human attributes, thus in his view the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine
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Incarnation
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Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient being who is the manifestation of an entity. In its religious context the word is used to mean the descent from Heaven of a god, or divine being in human/animal form on Earth. In the Baháí Faith, God is not seen to be incarnated into this world and is not seen to be part of creation as he cannot be divided and does not descend to the condition of his creatures. The Manifestations of God are also not seen as an incarnation of God, Buddhism is a non-theistic religion, it denies the concept of a creator god or any incarnation of a creator god. In Tibetan Buddhism, a spiritual teacher is believed to reincarnate. According to Tulku Thondup, there are three types of tulkus. They are the emanations of buddhas, the manifestations of highly accomplished adepts, there are also authentic secondary types as well which include unrecognized tulkus, blessed tulkus, and tulkus fallen from the path. The incarnation of Christ is a central Christian doctrine that God became flesh, assumed a human nature, and became a man in the form of Jesus, the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. This foundational Christian position holds that the nature of the Son of God was perfectly united with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus. The theological term for this is hypostatic union, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, biblical passages traditionally referenced in connection with the doctrine of the Incarnation include John 3, 1-21, Colossians 2,9, and Philippians 2, 7-8. In Hinduism, incarnation refers to its doctrine, and in its theistic traditions to avatar. Avatar literally means descent, alight, to ones appearance. The word also implies to overcome, to remove, to bring down, an avatar, states Justin Edwards Abbott, is a saguna embodiment of the nirguna Brahman or Atman. Neither the Vedas nor the Principal Upanishads ever mention the word avatar as a noun, the verb roots and form, such as avatarana, do appear in ancient post-Vedic Hindu texts, but as action of descending, but not as an incarnated person. The related verb avatarana is, states Paul Hacker, used with double meaning, one as action of the divine descending, the term is most commonly found in the context of the Hindu god Vishnu. It is in medieval era texts, those composed after the sixth century CE, that the version of avatar appears. The incarnation idea proliferates thereafter, in the Puranic stories for many deities, while Avatars of other deities such as Ganesha and Shiva are also mentioned in medieval Hindu texts, this is minor and occasional
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Christology
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Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus as recorded in the canonical Gospels and the epistles of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus nature and person with the nature, as such, Christology is concerned with the details of Jesus ministry, his acts and teachings, to arrive at a clearer understanding of who he is in his person, and his role in salvation. The views of Paul the Apostle provided a major component of the Christology of the Apostolic Age, Pauls central themes included the notion of the pre-existence of Christ and the worship of Christ as Kyrios. The pre-existence of Christ became a theme of Christology. Proponents of Christs deity argue the Old Testament has many cases of Christophany, Christophany is often considered a more accurate term than the term theophany due to the belief that all the visible manifestations of God are in fact the preincarnate Christ. Many argue that the appearances of the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament were the preincarnate Christ, many understand the angel of the Lord as a true theophany. From the time of Justin on, the figure has been regarded as the preincarnate Logos, following the Apostolic Age, the early church engaged in fierce and often politicized debate on many interrelated issues. Christology became a focus of these debates, and every one of the first seven ecumenical councils addressed Christological issues. The second through fourth of these councils are generally entitled Christological councils, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 issued a formulation of the being of Christ — that of two natures, one human and one divine, united with neither confusion nor division. Chalcedonian Christianity - Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and many Protestant Christians - continue to advocate this doctrine of the hypostatic union, due to politically-charged differences in the 4th century, schisms developed, and the first denominations formed. In the 13th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas provided the first systematic Christology that consistently resolved a number of the existing issues, in his Christology from above, Aquinas also championed the principle of perfection of Christs human attributes. The Middle Ages also witnessed the emergence of the image of Jesus as a friend. Over the centuries, a number of terms and concepts have been developed within the framework of Christology to address the seemingly simple questions, a good deal of theological debate has ensued and significant schisms within Christian denominations took place in the process of providing answers to these questions. After the Middle Ages, systematic approaches to Christology were developed, the term Christology from above refers to approaches that begin with the divinity and pre-existence of Christ as the Logos, as expressed in the prologue to the Gospel of John. These approaches interpret the works of Christ in terms of his divinity, Christology from above was emphasized in the ancient Church, beginning with Ignatius of Antioch in the second century. The term Christology from below, on the hand, refers to approaches that begin with the human aspects and the ministry of Jesus and move towards his divinity. The concept of Cosmic Christology, first elaborated by Saint Paul, the terms functional, ontological and soteriological have been used to refer to the perspectives that analyze the works, the being and the salvific standpoints of Christology. Some essential sub-topics within the field of Christology include the incarnation, the resurrection, the term monastic Christology has been used to describe spiritual approaches developed by Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Abelard and Bernard of Clairvaux
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God the Son
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God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus as the embodiment of God the Son, united in essence but distinct in person with regard to God the Father. In these teachings, God the Son pre-existed before incarnation, is co-eternal with God the Father, Son of God for some draws attention to his humanity, whereas God the Son refers more generally to his divinity, including his pre-incarnate existence. The term God the Son is not found in the Bible, by scribal error the term is in one medieval manuscript, MS No.1985, where Galatians 2,20 has Son of God changed to God the Son. The term in English follows Latin usage as found in the Athanasian Creed and other texts of the church, In Greek God the Son is Theos o Iios. In Latin God the Son is Deus Filius, the term deus filius is found in the Athanasian Creed, Et tamen non tres omnipotentes, sed unus omnipotens. Ita Deus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus Spiritus Sanctus, but this phrase is also translated So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. The distinction holds true in modern languages apart from English, for example. As distinct from the son of God as found in the Hebrew New Testament. The term deus filius is used in the Athanasian Creed and formulas such as Deus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus Spiritus Sanctus, Et non tres Dii, sed unus est Deus. The term is used by Saint Augustine in his On the Trinity, for example in discussion of the Sons obedience to God the Father, deo patri deus filius obediens. Jacques Forget in the Catholic Encyclopedia article Holy Ghost notes that Among the apologists, Athenagoras mentions the Holy Ghost along with, and on the plane as, the Father. Who would not be astonished, says he, to hear us called atheists, us who confess God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Ghost, Saint Augustine in Sermon 90 on the New Testament says,2. For hold this fast as a firm and settled truth, if you would continue Catholics, that God the Father begot God the Son without time, the Augsburg Confession adopted the phrase as Gott der Sohn. A manuscript variant in John 1,18 has led to translations including God the One and Only referring to the Son. But the term Son of God is used to refer to Jesus in the first gospel of Mark at the beginning in verse 1,1 and at its end in chapter 15 verse 39. Max Botner wrote, Indeed, if Mark 1,1 presents the normative understanding of Jesus identity, as such, the title is associated more with the development of the doctrine of the Trinity
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Son of man (Christianity)
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Son of man is an expression in the sayings of Jesus in Christian writings, including the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation. The meaning of the expression is controversial, interpretation of the use of the Son of man in the New Testament has remained challenging and after 150 years of debate no consensus on the issue has emerged among scholars. The expression the Son of man occurs 81 times in the Greek text of the four Canonical gospels, the singular Hebrew expression son of man also appears in the Hebrew Bible over a hundred times. Geza Vermes has stated that the use of the Son of man in the Christian gospels is unrelated to Hebrew Bible usages, in the Koine Greek of the New Testament, the son of man is ὁ υἱὸς τοὺ ἀνθρώπου. The singular Hebrew expression son of man also appears over a hundred times in the Hebrew Bible, in thirty two cases, the phrase appears in intermediate plural form sons of men, i. e. human beings. The expression the Son of man appears 81 times in the Koine Greek of the four Gospels, thirty times in Matthew,14 times in Mark, twenty five times in Luke and 12 times in John. However, the use of the article in the Son of man is novel. In the Christian scriptures, Jesus uses the reference for more than Son of God. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him, to him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, the New Testament claims, in Revelation, that Jesus will come to earth on the clouds of heaven, and that he will be given unending dominion and authority. It describes him as the ruler of the kings of the earth, to be served and worshiped by all nations, people, geza Vermes has stated that the son of man in the New Testament is unrelated to Hebrew Bible usages. Vermes begins with the observation that there is no example of the son of man in Hebrew sources and suggests that the term originates in Aramaic — ברנש - bar nash/bar nasha. He concludes that in these sources Son of man is an expression for man in general and often serves as an indefinite pronoun. In Matthew 8,20 and Luke 9,58 Jesus states, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. In Matthew 18,11 Jesus refers to Son of man came to serve and states, in the Gospel of Mark 10, 35–45 this episode takes place shortly after Jesus predicts his death. Christians commonly take the son of man in this passage to refer to Jesus himself. Matthew 12, 38-42, Mark 8, 11-13, Luke 11, 29-32 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. ”But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth
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Cyril of Alexandria
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Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence, Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the late-4th and 5th centuries. He was a figure in the Council of Ephesus in 431. Cyril is well-known due to his dispute with Nestorius and his supporter Patriarch John of Antioch and he is also known for his expulsion of Novatians and Jews from Alexandria and for inflaming tensions that led to the murder of the Hellenistic philosopher Hypatia by a Christian mob. Historians disagree over the extent of his responsibility in this, the Roman Catholic Church did not commemorate Saint Cyril in the Tridentine Calendar, it added his feast only in 1882, assigning to it the date of 9 February. This date is used by the Western Rite Orthodox Church, yet the 1969 Catholic Calendar revision moved it to 27 June, considered to be the day of the saints death, as celebrated by the Coptic Orthodox Church. The same date has been chosen for the Lutheran calendar, the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches celebrate his feast day on 9 June and also, together with Pope Athanasius I of Alexandria, on 18 January. Little is known for certain of Cyrils early life,376, in the small town of Theodosios, Egypt, near modern-day El-Mahalla El-Kubra. A few years after his birth, his maternal uncle Theophilus rose to the position of Patriarch of Alexandria. His mother remained close to her brother and under his guidance and his writings show his knowledge of Christian writers of his day, including Eusebius, Origen, Didymus the Blind, and writers of the Church of Alexandria. In 403 he accompanied his uncle to attend a synod in Constantinople, Theophilus died on 15 October 412, and Cyril was made Pope or Patriarch of Alexandria on 18 October 412, but only after a riot between his supporters and those of his rival Archdeacon Timotheus. According to Socrates Scholasticus, the Alexandians were always rioting and he began to exert his authority by causing the churches of the Novatianists to be closed and their sacred vessels to be seized. Orestes, Praefectus augustalis of the Diocese of Egypt, steadfastly resisted Cyrils ecclesiastical encroachment onto secular prerogatives, crowds gathered to read the edict shortly after it was posted in the citys theater. Cyril sent the grammaticus Hierax to discover the content of the edict, the edict angered Christians as well as Jews. At one such gathering, Hierax, read the edict and applauded the new regulations, many people felt that Hierax was attempting to incite the crowd into sedition. Orestes had Hierax tortured in public in a theatre and this order had two aims, the first was to quell the riot, the other to mark Orestes authority over Cyril. In response to Cyrils threat, the Jews of Alexandria grew even more furious and they plotted to flush the Christians out at night by running through the streets claiming that the Church of Alexander was on fire. When the morning came, the Jews of Alexandria could not hide their guilt, because of this, the feud between Cyril and Orestes intensified, and both men wrote to the emperor regarding the situation
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