#Helena of Constantinople

[dreamconsumer]

Constantine the Great (272-337) and his mother Helena of Constantinople (246/248-330).

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT HELENA OF CONSTANTINOPLE Feast Day: August 18

St. Helena was the mother of Constantine the Great, and according to the sixth-century historian Procopius, she was born around AD 248 in Drepanum, which today is located in modern Turkey. Her full name became Flavia Julia Helena Augusta.

She married Constantius Chlorus, who would later become co-Regent of the Western part of the Roman Empire, but in order for that to happen, he had to divorce Helena after twenty-two years of marriage and marry Theodora, the step-daughter of the Emperor Maximinianus.

After the divorce, Helena and her son were dispatched to the court of Emperor Diocletian at Nicomedia where Constantine grew to be a member of the inner circle. Her son remained faithful to her, and following the death of Constantius Chlorus, Constantine succeeded him.

After he became emperor, he summoned his mother to the imperial court and conferred on her the title of Augusta, a Roman imperial honorific title given to empresses and honored women of the imperial families. Augustae could issue their own coinage, wear imperial regalia, and rule their own courts.

Constantine ordered that all honor should be paid to her as the mother of the sovereign, and he had coins struck bearing her effigy. Some of the earliest coins were minted in Nicomedia.

She embraced Christianity following her son’s victory over Maxentius, and, according to Eusebius, she 'became a devout servant of God,' and her influence helped Christianity spread throughout the empire.

She had churches built over the sacred spots in Palestine, and at an advanced age, she undertook a journey to Palestine in the year AD 324, once her son had become the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.

During this journey, she had two special churches constructed, one in Bethlehem, near the Grotto of the Nativity, and the other on the Mount of the Ascension. She had great concern for the poor, financially assisting both individuals and entire communities. It was during this time that a legend, first recorded by Rufinus, began circulating about how she had 'found' the true cross.

There are several versions concerning how the cross was found. In some, Helena has a dream telling her where the cross is buried. In another tradition, the Ethiopian Coptic tradition still celebrated as Mesquel, she followed smoke from a bonfire to the site.

However, in the version that received the most circulation and became popular in the Middle Ages, she asks the people of Jerusalem to tell her the location. When the Jewish leaders of the city are silent, she places one of them, a man named Judas, in a well until he agrees to show her the site. After seven days, he prays to God for guidance and is told to reveal the location to her. Afterwards, Judas converts to Christianity and takes the name Kyriakis, 'he who belongs to the Lord.'

Helena finds three crosses, nails, and the titulus (title) under a pagan temple. To determine which is the right cross, a deathly sick girl was brought to the site. She was touched by all three crosses, but upon being touched by the True Cross, she was restored to health.

St. Helena lived in a lavish house near the Lateran, and a pious tradition associates her with the founding of what would become the Vatican Gardens because, on that site, she spread earth brought from Golgotha to symbolically unite the blood of Jesus with that shed by thousands of early Christians who died under Nero. After her death, her residence was demolished, and the Church of the Holy Cross was built on that site. On November 8, 324, she received the title Augusta, and in AD 327, Constantine changed the name of his mother’s hometown to Helanopolis. She was about eighty-two when she died on August 18, 330, with her son at her side, and her body was brought to Constantinople and laid to rest in the imperial vault of the Church of the Apostles.

She was buried in the Mausoleum of Helena, outside Rome on the Via Labicana. Her sarcophagus is on display in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum. Next to her is the sarcophagus of her granddaughter Saint Constantina (Saint Constance).

Her skull is displayed in the Cathedral of Trier, in Germany. As the Muslims began advancing, her body was transferred to the Abbey of Hautvillers in Reims, France in AD 849.

St. Helena is the patron saint of difficult marriages, divorced people, converts, and archaeologists.

Source: Church of St. Helena's - The Bronx, New York

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (August 18)

Flavia Julia Helena, also known as Helena of Constantinople and in Christianity as Saint Helena, was an Augusta of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great.

Not much is known about Saint Helena but it is probable that she was born in the middle of the third century in Asia Minor.

She worked as a stable maid as a young woman, according to Saint Anselm.

Helena later married a young Roman official, Constantius Chlorus, who took her as wife despite their difference in social status.

Around the year 270, she gave birth to their first son, Constantine.

Constantius quickly rose in the ranks of the Roman military. Due to political reasons, he was forced to repudiate Helena and marry another.

Helena remained at a distance as she watched her son rise in the court of Diocletian.

In 305, Constatius, now Augustus, and Constantine went to Britain to fight against the Picts.

Constantine became emperor when his father died unexpectedly at York.

As the new emperor, his first action was to recall his mother Helena.

Shortly after her son’s accession, Helena converted to Christianity.

Her faith moved her to care for the poor by providing for their needs through generous almsgiving.

She also worked to liberate prisoners and those sent to the mines or into exile.

Constantine’s reign took a downward turn when he ordered the death of his son and that of his second wife.

The family tragedy pushed Helena to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326.

There, she ordered the construction of the Basilicas of the Nativity in Bethlehem and of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives.

The work was overseen by Helena whose faith was rewarded when the True Cross was discovered.

Possibly through Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem, she had a woman who was near death brought from the city.

When the woman touched the first and second crosses, her condition did not change.

However, when she touched the third and final cross, she suddenly recovered.

Helena then declared the cross with which the woman had been touched to be the True Cross.

The three nails from the Crucifixion were given by Helena to Constantine.

On the site of discovery, Constantine ordered the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Churches were also built on other sites detected by Helena.

Helena died in an unknown location in 329. Constantine had her body brought back to Rome.

[child-of-hurin]

Top 5 favorite Remebrance of Earth's Past characters pre-reread:

Trisolatian listener

Helena, the witch of Constantinople

Dongfang Yanxu

Yang Dong

Zhang Beihai

[city-of-ladies]

"The most notable players in Palaiologue politics were the empresses Yolanda-Irene of Montferrat and Anna of Savoy, and on the whole their record is woeful: Yolanda-Irene of Montferrat, second wife of Andronikos II, was unable to comprehend the succession rights of her eldest stepson, Michael IX, and since her husband remained obstinately unmoved by her representations she flounced off with her three sons to Thessalonika where she kept a separate court for many years from 1303 to her death in 1317. From her own domain she issued her own decrees, conducted her own foreign policy and plotted against her husband with the Serbs and Catalans: in mitigation, she had seen her five-year-old daughter married off to the middle-aged Serbian lecher Milutin, and considered that her eldest son John had been married beneath him to a Byzantine aristocrat, Irene Choumnaina. She died embittered and extremely wealthy.

When Yolanda’s grandson Andronikos III died early, leaving a nine-year old son John V and no arrangements for a regent, the empress Anna of Savoy assumed the regency. In so doing she provoked a civil war with her husband’s best friend John Kantakouzenos, and devastated the empire financially, bringing it to bankruptcy and pawning the crown jewels to Venice, as well as employing Turkish mercenaries and, it appears, offering to have her son convert to the church of Rome. Gregoras specifically blames her for the civil war, though he admits that she should not be criticised too heavily since she was a woman and a foreigner. Her mismanagement was not compensated for by her later negotiations in 1351 between John VI Kantakouzenos and her son in Thessalonika, who was planning a rebellion with the help of Stephen Dushan of Serbia. In 1351 Anna too settled in Thessalonika and reigned over it as her own portion of the empire until her death in c. 1365, even minting her own coinage.

These women were powerful and domineering ladies par excellence, but with the proviso that their political influence was virtually minimal. Despite their outspokenness and love of dominion they were not successful politicians: Anna of Savoy, the only one in whose hands government was placed, was compared to a weaver’s shuttle that ripped the purple cloth of empire. But there were of course exceptions. Civil wars ensured that not all empresses were foreigners and more than one woman of Byzantine descent reached the throne and was given quasi-imperial functions by her husband. 

Theodora Doukaina Komnene Palaiologina, wife of Michael VIII, herself had imperial connections as the great-niece of John III Vatatzes, and issued acts concerning disputes over monastic properties during her husband’s reign, even addressing the emperor’s officials on occasion and confirming her husband’s decisions. Nevertheless, unlike other women of Michael’s family who went into exile over the issue, she was forced to support her husband’s policy of church union with Rome, a stance which she seems to have spent the rest of her life regretting. She was also humiliated when he wished to divorce her to marry Constance-Anna of Hohenstaufen, the widow of John III Vatatzes.

Another supportive empress consort can be seen in Irene Kantakouzene Asenina, whose martial spirit came to the fore during the civil war against Anna of Savoy and the Palaiologue ‘faction’. Irene in 1342 was put in charge of Didymoteichos by her husband John VI Kantakouzenos; she also organised the defence of Constantinople against the Genoese in April 1348 and against John Palaiologos in March 1353, being one of the very few Byzantine empresses who took command in military affairs. But like Theodora, Irene seems to have conformed to her husband’s wishes in matters of policy and agreed with his decisions concerning the exclusion of their sons from the succession and their eventual abdication in 1354.

Irene and her daughter Helena Kantakouzene, wife of John V Palaiologos, were both torn by conflicting loyalties between different family members, and Helena in particular was forced to mediate between her ineffectual husband and the ambitions of her son and grandson. She is supposed to have organised the escape of her husband and two younger sons from prison in 1379 and was promptly taken hostage with her father and two sisters by her eldest son Andronikos IV and imprisoned until 1381; her release was celebrated with popular rejoicing in the capital. According to Demetrios Kydones she was involved in political life under both her husband and son, Manuel II, but her main role was in mediating between the different members of her family.

In a final success story, the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, owed his throne to his mother. The Serbian princess Helena Dragash, wife of Manuel II Palaiologos, in the last legitimating political manoeuvre by a Byzantine empress, successfully managed to keep the throne for her son Constantine and fend off the claims of his brother Demetrios. She arranged for Constantine’s proclamation as emperor in the Peloponnese and asserted her right to act as regent until his arrival in the capital from Mistra in 1449.

Despite the general lack of opportunity for them to play a role in politics, Palaiologue imperial women in the thirteenth century found outlets for their independent spirit and considerable financial resources in other ways. They were noted for their foundation or restoration of monastic establishments and for their patronage of the arts. Theodora Palaiologina restored the foundation of Constantine Lips as a convent for fifty nuns, with a small hospital for laywomen attached, as well as refounding a smaller convent of Sts Kosmas and Damian. She was also an active patron of the arts, commissioning the production of manuscripts like Theodora Raoulaina, her husband’s niece. Her typikon displays the pride she felt in her family and position, an attitude typically found amongst aristocratic women.

Clearly, like empresses prior to 1204, she had considerable wealth in her own hands both as empress and dowager. She had been granted the island of Kos as her private property by Michael, while she had also inherited land from her family and been given properties by her son Andronikos. Other women of the family also display the power of conspicuous spending: Theodora Raoulaina used her money to refound St Andrew of Crete as a convent where she pursued her scholarly interests. 

Theodora Palaiologina Angelina Kantakouzene, John Kantakouzenos’s mother, was arguably the richest woman of the period and financed Andronikos III’s bid for power in the civil war against his grandfather. Irene Choumnaina Palaiologina, in name at least an empress, who had been married to Andronikos II’s son John and widowed at sixteen, used her immense wealth, against the wishes of her parents, to rebuild the convent of Philanthropes Soter, where she championed the cause of ‘orthodoxy’ against Gregory Palamas and his hesychast followers. Helena Kantakouzene, too, wife of John V, was a patron of the arts. She had been classically educated and was the benefactor of scholars, notably of Demetrios Kydones who dedicated to her a translation of one of the works of St Augustine. 

The woman who actually holds power in this period, Anna of Savoy, does her sex little credit: like Yolanda she appears to have been both headstrong and greedy, and, still worse, incompetent. In contrast, empresses such as Irene Kantakouzene Asenina reflect the abilities of their predecessors: they were educated to be managers, possessed of great resources, patrons of art and monastic foundations, and, given the right circumstances, capable of significant political involvement in religious controversies and the running of the empire. Unfortunately they generally had to show their competence in opposition to official state positions. While they may have wished to emulate earlier regent empresses, they were not given the chance: the women who, proud of their class and family, played a public and influential part in the running of the empire belonged to an earlier age."

Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204, Lynda Garland

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Helen  

246 - 330

Feast Day: August 18

Patronage: archaeologists, converts, difficult marriages, divorced people, empresses

St. Helena also was known as St. Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius and the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross, with which she is often shown within Christian iconography.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[blueiscoool]

Archaeologists Unearth a Byzantine Mosaic in Turkey

Archaeologists have unearthed a detailed mosaic while excavating a Byzantine monastery church dedicated to Saint Constantine and Saint Helena in Ordu province, Turkey.

The monastery church was first uncovered in 2023 in the Kurtulus district of Ordu, which during antiquity would have served pilgrims and worshipers from the Diocese of Polemonion (present day Fatsa).

The church is dedicated to the Roman Emperor Constantine I (also known as Constantine the Great), and Saint Helena (also known as Helena of Constantinople), an Augusta of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine I.

Constantine I was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity and played a crucial role in advancing the religion. He ended the persecution of Christians and decriminalised Christian practice, a significant change in the religious sphere known as the Constantinian shift.

According to a press statement by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, the mosaic was discovered by archaeologists from the Ordu Museum Directorate and is the first in-situ floor mosaic found in Ordu province.

Based on the style and form, the archaeologists suggest that the mosaic dates from between the 5th and 6th centuries AD, a period when the Byzantine Empire underwent a golden age under the Justinian dynasty, and then a series of cataclysmic events under the Heraclian dynasty.

The mosaic has geometric designs and plant motifs showing curly acanthus, in addition to fruit depictions, and what appears to be four large double-headed war axes.

Byzantine mosaics originate from earlier Hellenistic and Roman techniques and styles, but artisans in the Byzantine Empire introduced significant technical innovations.

They transformed mosaic art into a distinctive and influential medium for personal and religious expression, leaving a lasting impact on Islamic art, particularly in the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, as well as the Ottoman Empire.

[whencyclopedia]

Pilgrimage in the Byzantine Empire

Pilgrimage in the Byzantine Empire involved the Christian faithful travelling often huge distances to visit such holy sites as Jerusalem or to see in person relics of holy figures and miraculous icons on show from Thessaloniki to Antioch. Well-worn routes resulted along which regular stopping points allowed pilgrims to sleep, eat, and be cared for in a network of monasteries and churches. For many pilgrims, their journey was the last they would ever make, and Jerusalem, especially, became a place where hospitals and hospices catered for the faithful until they were interred in the tombs they had pre-booked so as to rest in peace at the very centre of the Christian world.

Origins & Purpose of Pilgrimage

Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE), was one of the great founders of churches, notably in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and it was during her visit to the Holy Land in 326 CE that she claimed to have discovered the True Cross, that is the actual wooden cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Helena is widely credited with being one of the most important figures in making pilgrimage fashionable amongst devout Christians. The practice got another boost when Constantine himself made a visit to Jerusalem in 335 CE.

Pilgrimage really took off in the 5th and 6th centuries CE as other sacred sites sprang up across the empire. The skeletal remains, items of clothing, and tombs associated with holy figures, famous holy artworks and their potential for working miracles, the healing waters of sacred shrines, and even famous living holy men and women were all reasons for Christians to leave their homes and travel great distances. Pilgrimage in the Byzantine period was, though, less about making an arduous journey which had value in itself and more about getting to a final destination and being able to see and venerate Christianity's treasures in person, to actually be for a time in the places where wondrous things had occurred in the distant past, and by so doing reaffirm one's faith.

The travel plans of pilgrims were disrupted, if not actually ended, by the Arab conquest of the Levant by the mid-7th century CE. Byzantine armies reconquered parts of the Middle East in the 10th century CE, and the Crusaders, too, ensured a steady stream of pilgrims could still make the arduous journey to the Holy Land. Constantinople, too, was a major attraction to pilgrims from within and outside the empire's territories and remained so until the 15th century CE.

Continue reading...

[maertyrer]

Unknown Artist Collection of ten religious figural portraits, each depicting a martyred female saint: Saint Agatha (died circa 251), depicted with severed breasts on plate, and palm branch Saint Cecilia (died circa 235), depicted with crown of roses, organ pipes, and palm branch Saint Apollonia (died circa 249), depicted with tooth, pincers, and book

Saint Lucy (died circa 304), depicted with eyes on plate Saint Barbara (died circa 3rd to 4th Century), depicted with tower, crown, and palm branch Saint Engratia (died circa 303), depicted with nail in forehead, book, and palm branch Saint Ursula (died circa 383), depicted with flag

Saint Helena of Constantinople (circa 246-330), depicted with cross and olive branch Saint Catherine of Alexandria (died circa 305), depicted with sword and torture wheel Saint Margaret of Antioch (died circa 304), depicted with dragon

Oil on wood panel board, each 31.75 x 22.9 cm, 17th century

[parallellines]

Mehmed II Conqueror + consorts (pictures are for aesthetic)

Emine Gülbahar Hatun — was a favourite consort of Sultan Mehmed II. In most sources she is referred as non-muslim slave who was converted to Islam after her arrival to the harem. There is no agreement on her origins some historians think she was Pontic Greek, Albanian or lowly Slavic. She was the mother of the future Sultan Bayezid II and Gevherhan Hatun. She died circa 1492 and was buried in her mausoleum inside the Fatih Mosque next to her late husband.

Çiçek Yagmur Hatun — was a wife or consort of Sultan Mehmed II. According to some sources she could have been Turkish noblewoman or Serbian, Greek, Venetian, French slave. She entered the harem or married Mehmed at Constantinople and gave birth to her only son Şehzade Cem (Ottoman claimant Sultan) on 22 December 1459. It is not known the degree of influence she had during Mehmed’s reign or if she even was favoured by him. She died on 3 May 1498 of plague and was buried in Cairo.

Hatice Hatun — was a thrid legal wife of Sultan Mehmed II. She was a possible daughter of Zaganos Mehmed Pasha. In 1463 she became Mehmed's third legal wife. After her husband death she remarried with a statesman.

Sitti Mükrime Hatun — was a Turkish Princess and first legal wife of Sultan Mehmed II. Her father was Süleyman Bey the sixth ruler of Dulkadir State. When Mehmed turned seventeen he married her for political purposes. Her possible offspring is unknown. Due to her middle name Sittişah is sometimes confused with Gülbahar Mükrime Hatun another consort of Mehmed. She died in September 1486 and was buried in a mausoleum built inside her mosque.

Helena Palaiologina — was a possible wife of Sultan Mehmed II. Her entering the Sultan's harem is controversial and remain unconfirmed. She was a daughter of the Despot of Morea Demetrios Paleologos the brother of Constantine XI Palaiologos the final Byzantine emperor and Theodora Asanina the daughter of Paul Asan. Some rumors says Mehmed II asked for her after his campaign in Morea having heard of her beauty. Probably he never bedded with her because he was afraid she would poison him. In another case Helena was provided with a pension and large estate at Adrianople by the Sultan though she was forbidden to marry. She died of unknown causes in 1469 or 1470 in Edirne.

Gülşah Hatun — was a second legal wife or consort of Sultan Mehmed II. There is no informations about her origins. She married Mehmed or entered his harem in 1449 when he was still a Prince and the governor of Manisa. Shortly before Murad’s II death she gave a birth to her only son Şehzade Mustafa and followed him to Konya when he became governor of the province. She died circa 1487 and was buried in Bursa in the tomb she had built for herself near that of Mustafa.

Maria Hatun — was a consort of Sultan Mehmed II. Before she entered Mehmed’s harem she was a widow of Alexander Komnenos Asen. According to some sources she was judicated as the most beautiful woman of her age. Some historians claims she could be more likely Murad’s II concubine than Mehmed’s.

Anna Hatun — was a consort of Sultan Mehmed II. Her parents were Trabzon Greek emperor David Komnenos and Helena Kantakuzenos. The marriage was initially proposed by her father, but Mehmed refused. Nontheless when Trabzon was taken in 1461 Anna entered the harem and stayed there for two years after which Mehmed married her off to Zaganos Mehmed Pasha.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 5.21

Holidays

Afro-Colombian Day (Colombia)

Agricultural Fair Day

Anti-Terrorism Day (India)

Battle of Iquique Anniversary Day (Chile)

Capitol Build Day (New York)

Circassian Day of Mourning

Daylilly Day (French Republic)

Day of Patriots and Military (Hungary)

Emergency Medical Services Day

EMS Health, Wellness & Resilience Day

End of the World Day

Feast of the Triple Scoop

521 Day

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Hug Your Interior Designer Day

Hummel Day (a.k.a. Sister Maria Hummel Day)

"I Need A Patch For That" Day

International Day of Statistical Literacy

Journée Nationale des Patriotes (National Patriots' Day; Quebec)

Keanu Reeves Day

Lilies and Roses Day (UK)

National American Red Cross Founder’s Day

National Mamey Day

National Memo Day

National Talk Like Yoda Day

Natura 2000 Day (EU)

Navy Day (Chile)

Passion Play Day (Germany)

Pogo Stick Day

Polar Explorer’s Day (Russia)

Purple Star of Jerusalem Day (a.k.a. Jack-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon)

Rapture Party Day (2011 prediction by Harold Camping)

Recommerce Day

Red Cross Day

Saint Helena Day (Saint Helena)

Sanja Matsuri begins (Tokyo, Japan)

Send a Letter Day

Slap a Patch On It Day

United States Cyber Command Day

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (UN)

World Fish Migration Day

World Meditation Day (UK)

World Tree Kangaroo Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Tea Day [also 12.15]

International Tennessee Whiskey Day

National Mourvèdre Day

National Waitstaff Day (a.k.a. Waiters and Waitresses Day)

Strawberries and Cream Day

World Chardonnay Day

Independence & Related Days

Malabon (City Founded; Philippines)

Montenegro (from Serbia, 2006)

New Zealand (Proclaimed a British Colony; 1840)

Southwest Vineland (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Valentia Riqueza and Grandeza (a.k.a. ValeVRG; Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

3rd Tuesday in May

International Dinosaur Day [3rd Tuesday; also 6.1]

National Stop Nausea Day [3rd Tuesday]

Sex Differences in Health Awareness Day [3rd Tuesday]

Taco Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Festivals Beginning May 21, 2024

The Batch Festival (Bath, UK) [thru 5.26]

Sommeliers Choice Awards (Chicago, Illinois)

Feast Days

Adílio Daronch and Manuel Gómez González (Christian; Saint)

Agonalia (Ancient Rome) [also 1.9 & 12.11]

Albrecht Dürer (Artology)

Alexander Pope (Writerism)

Anastenaria (Fire-Walking Ritual; Ancient Greece)

Andrew Bobola (Christian; Martyr)

Arcangelo Tadini (Christian; Saint)

Chen Dayu (Artology)

Christopher Magallanes, and other Saints of the Cristero War (Christian; Saint)

Day of the Twins: Beginning of Gemini (Astrology/Pagan)

Édouard-Henri Avril (Artology)

Emperor Constantine I (Christian; Saint)

Eugène de Mazenod (Christian; Saint)

Felix of Cantalicio (Christian; Saint)

Festival for Vevodus (God of the Dead, Swamps & Volvanic Movements; Ancient Rome)

Festival of Demeter (Greek Barley Mother Goddess)

Festival of Vejovis (Roman God of Healing)

42 Day (Pastafarian)

Franz Jägerstätter (Christian; Saint)

Free Money Day (Church of the SubGenius)

Godrick of Finkley (Christian; Saint)

Green Four-Net (Muppetism)

Harold Robbins (Writerism)

Helena of Constantinople (a.k.a. "Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the-Apostles,” Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion)

Henri Rousseau (Artology)

Hospitius (Christian; Saint)

John Elliot (Episcopal Church)

Nestinarstvo (Fire-Walking Ritual; Ancient Bulgaria)

Nost-na-Lothion (Elven feast for the birth of flowers; Lord of the Rings)

Ponder Pointlessness Day (Pastafarian)

Rudolf Koller (Artology)

Saint Camping’s Day (Discordian)

St. Luke (Positivist; Saint)

Theophilus of Corte (Christian; Saint)

Hebrew Calendar Holidays [Begins at Sundown]

Pesach Sheni (2nd Passover) [13-14 Iyar]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 24 of 60)

Premieres

Agents of Fortune, by Blue Oyster Cult (Album; 1976)

Alison, by Elvis Costello (Song; 1977)

Annie (Film; 1982)

The Conquest of Everest, by John Hurt (Memoir; 1954)

Curtain Razor (WB LT Cartoon; 1949)

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (Film; 1982)

The Deep Blue Good-By, by John D. MacDonald (Novel; 1964)

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Silent Film; 1908)

The Egg Hunt (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1940)

The Foxy Pup (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1937)

Gimme All Your Lovin’, by ZZ Top (Music Video; 1983)

Godzilla vs. Kong (Film; 2021)

Gypsy (Broadway Musical; 1959)

Hassle in a Castle (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1966)

Hot Shots! Part Deux (Film; 1993)

Injun Trouble (WB LT Cartoon; 1938)

I Sing the Body Electric! & Other Stories, by Ray Bradbury (Short Stories; 1969)

Lunch Poems, by Frank O'Hara (Poetry; 1963)

Mad Max 2 (Film; 1982)

Mask of Orpheus, by Harrison Birtwistle (Opera; 1986)

Maybellene, recorded by Chuck Berry (Song; 1955)

McCartney II, by Paul McCartney (Album; 1980)

Mouse for Sale (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1955)

Naked Came the Stranger (Adult Film; 1975)

Notting Hill (Film; 1999)

Ohio, by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Song; 1970)

The Optimist's Daughter, by Eudora Welty (Novella; 1972)

Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo (Opera; 1892)

Past Perfumance (WB MM Cartoon; 1955)

Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be, sung by Doris Day (Song; 1956)

The Real World (TV Series; 1992)

The Return of the Pink Panther (Film; 1975)

The Rhinemann Exchange, by Robert Ludlum (Novel; 1974)

Riptide, by Vance Joy (Song; 2013)

The Road Warrior (Film; 1982)

The Secret of the Hittites, by C.W. Ceram (History Book; 1956)

Shrek Forever After (Animated Film; 2010)

Snow Excuse (WB MM Cartoon; 1966)

Sour, by Olivia Rodrigo (Album; 2021)

Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (UK Film; 1980)

Terminator Salvation (Film; 2009)

Touch of Evil (Film; 1958)

Twin Peaks: The Return (TV Series; 2017)

The Twisker Pitcher (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1937)

Under the Boardwalk, recorded by The Drifters (Song; 1964)

What’s Going On, by Marvin Gaye (Album; 1971)

Today’s Name Days

Christoph, Constantin, Josef, Julio (Austria)

Elena, Konstantin, Kosta, Kostadin, Kostadinka, Lenko, Stoyan (Bulgaria)

Dubravka, Eugen, Kristofor (Croatia)

Monika (Czech Republic)

Helene (Denmark)

Kindel, Konstantin, Kostel, Tiino (Estonia)

Konsta, Konstantin, Kosti (Finland)

Constantin (France)

Hermann, Konst, Wiltrud (Germany)

Constantine, Constantina, Elena, Elene, Eleni, Helen, Konstantina, Konstantinos, Lena, Nantia (Greece)

Konstantin (Hungary)

Angelo, Giulia, Vittorio (Italy)

Ernestine, Ingmārs, Vinija (Latvia)

Vaidivutis, Valentas, Vydmina (Lithuania)

Eli, Ellen, Helene (Norway)

Donat, Donata, Jan, Kryspin, Przecława, Pudens, Tymoteusz, Walenty, Wiktor, Wiktoriusz (Poland)

Constantin, Elena (România)

Zina (Slovakia)

Cristóbal, Virginia (Spain)

Conny, Konstantin (Sweden)

Constance, Constantine, Helen (Ukraine)

Adelric, Adiel, Audric, Keaton, Kendrick (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 142 of 2024; 224 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 21 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 10 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 14 (Yi-You)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 13 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 13 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 22 Magenta; Oneday [22 of 30]

Julian: 8 May 2024

Moon: 96%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 1 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Luke]

Runic Half Month: Ing (Expansive Energy) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 64 of 92)

Week: 3rd Full Week of May

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 1 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Gemini (The Twins) begins [Zodiac Sign 3; thru 6.21]

Saint Paul (Catholicism) [Month 6 of 13; Positivist]

[dreamconsumer]

Prince Davyd Yuryevich (1167-1228) and Princess Euphrosine (1175-1228; Saints Peter and Fevronia) of Murom.

Davyd Yuryevich was the second son of Duke Yuri of Murom the Grand Prince of Kiev and his second wife Helena of Constantinople, grandson of Yaroslav I of Murom and Ryazan, the first Grand Prince of Ryazan.

Davyd was seriously ill with leprosy. Many doctors attempted to heal the prince; still, nobody could. During a vision, it had been revealed to the prince that the daughter of a bee keeper would be ready to heal him: the pious maiden Euphrosyne, a peasant from the rural Village of Laskovo in Ryazan Governorate. Euphrosyne was beautiful, pious and kind, moreover she was a wise woman, who knew the properties of herbs and knew how to treat ailments. Davyd fell in love with Euphrosyne for her piety, wisdom and kindness and made a vow to marry her after being healed; later the peasant healed the prince and have become his wife.

[cruger2984]

The Pretty Cures and its Saints: Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure

In celebration of the franchise’s 20th anniversary, I have to share with you all with their birthday corresponding with feast days that is honored and recognized by the Roman Catholic Church!

September 20 - Sora Harewataru (Cure Sky)

St. Andrew Kim Taegon: 19th century Korean martyr who was first Korean-born Catholic priest. In the late 18th century, Roman Catholicism began to take root slowly in Korea, and was introduced by scholars who visited China and brought back Western books translated into Chinese. Born of yangban (a part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty), parents were converts and his father was subsequently martyred for practising Christianity, and after he baptized at 15, he studied at a seminary in Macau. Andrew also spent time in study at Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan in the Philippines, where today he is also venerated. During his trip to Korea, Andrew is canonized as a saint by Pope St. John Paul II, along with 102 other Korean Martyrs, including Paul Chong Hasang on May 6, 1984.

July 16 - Mashiro Nijigaoka (Cure Prism)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Nuestra Señora del Carmen): A Marian title that is given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order (Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel), particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid-13th century. They built in the midst of their hermitages a chapel which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the 'Lady of the place.' Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular. Traditionally, Mary is said to have given the Scapular to an early Carmelite named Simon Stock, a prior general of the order in 1251. She is honored as the patron of Chile, as well as protection from harm, dangerous situations and Purgatory.

May 21 - Tsubasa Yuunagi (Cure Wing)

St. Helena of Constantinople: 4th century empress and is known as the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, who is later a saint. Helena is honored as an important figure in the history of Christianity. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during which ancient tradition claims that she discovered the True Cross.

August 8 - Ageha Hijiri (Cure Butterfly)

St. Dominic de Guzmán: Spanish priest who is widely known as the founder of the Order of Preachers aka the Dominicans. According to one story, Dominic’s mother, Bl. Joan of Aza, made a pilgrimage to the Abbey at Silos, and dreamt that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a flaming torch in its mouth (it later becomes one of the saint’s attributes), and ’seemed to set the earth on fire.’ The spread of the Rosary, a Marian devotion, is attributed to Dominic’s teachings, and has it for centuries been at the heart of the Order. The Dominicans have been instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary for centuries. His major shrine can be found in Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, and he is the patron of astronomers.

[maypoleman1]

18th August

St Helen’s Day

Cima da Conegliano by Giovanni Battista. Source: Britannica.com

Today is St Helen’s (or St Helena’s) Day. Helen was the fiercely Christian mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I, the first Christian Emperor, who on a trip to the Holy Land in 326, personally located the True Cross of Christ which she brought back in triumph to Rome (it was later transferred by her son to the new capital of the Empire, Constantinople). Given Helen’s impeccable Roman and Middle Eastern pedigree, it is curious that a number of English curative wells are named after her, notably the one at Walton, near Wetherby in Yorkshire. The Walton well is supposed to be good for curing eye ailments, particularly if the supplicants rub their infected eyes with a rag and then pin it to the well, in an exercise in sympathetic magic. Perhaps the St Helen connection is not so mysterious - her name sounds enough like the Celtic water-goddess Elen for ownership of places of curative magic to transfer to an imperial Christian saint.

Further pagan remembrances are associated with the skull of Theophilus Brome who died on this day in 1670 at Chilton Cantelo in Somerset. His skull put down roots in the house and could not be moved, the legend says, and when later tenants of the house tried to bury it, the skull let out a mournful and terrifying wail. The head was then left in peace until the early nineteenth century when it was briefly converted into a drinking vessel. These type of skull stories were an echo of ancient Celtic beliefs that the severed head possessed magical powers. If one drunk from a skull, the headhunting Celts believed, the virtues and courage of the deceased would pass to the imbiber.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Wednesday, June 7 2023

mai 26_june7

Commemoration of the third discovery of the venerable head of the holy prophet, forerunner, John, baptist of the Lord 

THE MANY FINDINGS OF THE HEAD OF ST JOHN-THE-BAPTIST.

The Holy Tradition tells us that after the beheading of St John the Baptist, Herodias did not allow to bury the severed head of the prophet with his body. She defiled the honourable head and buried it near her palace. The disciples of St John secretly took the saint’s body and buried it. The wife of King Herod's steward knew where Herodias had buried the head of St John. She decided to rebury her in one of Herod's estates on the Mount of Olives.

When rumours about the preaching of Christ and the miracles that He performed reached the royal palace, Herod, together with his wife Herodias, decided to check whether the head of John the Baptist was still where they had left it. Not finding it, they began to think that Jesus Christ was the resurrected John the Baptist. The Holy Gospel bears witness to their mistake (see Matt. 14:2).

Jerusalem. The First Acquisition of the Head of John the Baptist

Many years later, during the reign of King Constantine Equal-to-the-Apostles, his mother, St Helena, began reviving the shrines of Jerusalem. Many pilgrims began to flock to the Holy Land. Among them were two monks from the East who came to venerate the True Cross and the Holy Sepulcher. It was them whom St John counted worthy of finding his honourable head. Today, we only know that he appeared to the monks in a dream and that after seeing the leader in the place indicated by the prophet, they decided to return home. They met a poor potter from the Syrian city of Emesa on the way. Poverty had forced him to go to the neighbouring country for work. Either out of negligence or laziness, the monks entrusted their new companion to carry the bag with the sacred relic. He held it until St John appeared and ordered him to escape from the negligent monks taking along the bag with the relics.

The Lord also blessed the potter's house with every good thing for the blessed head of St John the Baptist. The potter lived his whole life remembering his benefactor. He was never proud and gave alms generously. Shortly before his death, he handed the relic over to his sister, instructing her to pass it on to God-fearing and virtuous Christians.

After being passed along from one person to another for a long time, the precious head fell into the hands of Hieromonk Eustaсius, a supporter of the Arian heresy. Afflicted people turned to him for help and received healing, not knowing that the reason for this miraculous help was not the apparent piety of Eustaсius. Still, the grace came from the relic he was hiding. Soon the deception was revealed, and Eustaсius was expelled from Emesa. A monastery was shortly founded near the cave where the hieromonk lived and where the head of John the Baptist was buried.

Emesa and Constantinople. Second and Third Uncoverings of the Honourable Head

After many years, the Second acquisition of the precious head took place. This is known from the testimony of archimandrite Markell of the Emesa monastery and from the life of the Venerable Matrona († November 9), compiled by the Venerable Symeon the Metaphrast. According to the former, the head was revealed to him on February 18, 452. A week later, Bishop Uranius of Emesa established special veneration of the relic, and on February 26 of the same year, it was transferred to the newly built church in honour of St John. This event is celebrated on February 24 (March 9, or March 8 in a leap year) on par with the celebration of the First Acquisition of the honourable head.

After some time, the head of John the Forerunner was transferred to Constantinople, where it remained until iconoclastic times. Pious Christians leaving Constantinople secretly hid the relic in Kamani (near Sokhumi), where St John Chrysostom died in exile (407). After the VII Ecumenical Council (787), restoring the Orthodox veneration of icons, the head of St John the Baptist was returned to the Byzantine capital (about 850). The Church celebrates this event on May 25 (June 7) as the Third Acquisition of the venerable head.

Fourth Crusade and Travel to the West

The story about the head of St John usually ends with an episode related to its Third Acquisition. This is because its further history is connected with the Catholic West. Let's turn to the lives of the saints, according to the Menology of St Demetrius of Rostov, after describing the acquisitions of the precious head. We will find a footnote in small print, often overlooked by readers. This citation became a real revelation for us after we had unexpectedly discovered the head of the Baptist in France a few years ago. s...Continue reading St Elizabeth Convent 

2 CORINTHIANS 4:6-15 

6 For it is the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed- 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you. 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

LUKE 7:17-30 

17 And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.18 Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. 19 And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" 20 When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?' " 21 And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blinds He gave sight. 22 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. 24 When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.' 28 For I say to you, among those born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29 And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

[basileuspalaiologos]

welcome THEODORE PALAIOLOGOS. you hail from BYZANTIUM and have been risen to the position of an EMPEROR. you are a member of the house of PALAIOLOGOS and will go down in history as the DOOMSAYER. though you are MACHIEVALLIAN & INSATIABLE, you are blessed with being ERUDITE and GREGARIOUS.

links.  character  study  /  playlist  /  pinterest  /  threads

━━ BASIC INFO.

NAME:  theodoros  NICKNAME:  theodore,  theo  AGE:  thirty-five  PLACE OF BIRTH:  palace  of  blachernae,  constantinople  IMPERIUM:  byzantium  GENDER:  cisgender  man  PRONOUNS:  he/him  ORIENTATION:  homosexual  RELIGION:  greek  orthodox,  somewhat  of  a  mystic  PARENTS:  konstantinos  &  helena  SIBLINGS  andronikos,  sophia  LANGUAGES:  greek,  latin,  arabic,  french  (  fluent  )    italian,  german,  farsi  (  conversational  )    english,  mandarin  (  learning  )  EDUCATION:  private  tutoring  with  the  professors  of  the  pandidakterion  TITLE:  basileus  rhomaíōn,  see  also:  autokrator,  kyrios,  despotes  INTERESTS:  theology,  philosophy,  wargames,  mathematics,  alchemy  HOBBIES:  reading,  writing,  horseriding,  going on long walks  LABEL  the  doomsayer

━━ PERSONALITY.

mbti. infj-t  enneagram. 1w2,  the  activist  instinct. sp/sx  character inspo. rhaegar targaryen,  a  song  of  ice  and  fire  /  kendall  roy,  succession  /  paul  atreides,  dune  /  hektor,  the  iliad  /  rodion  raskolnikov,  crime  and  punishment

erudite,  gregarious,  perceptive,  dutiful

machievellian,  insatiable,  melancholic,  secretive

━━ SNAPSHOT.

character  study  HERE

known  most  everywhere    as  the  emperor  of  a  kingdom  yet  to  realise  it  has  already  fallen,    the  basileus  of  the  roman  empire  is  a  man  out  of  time.    the  clock  is  running  down  on  him  and  his  empire,    and  yet  he    (    poor  fool  that  he  is!    )    tries  to  save  the  imperium  that  was  his  birthright.    charming  and  conciliatory,    he  has  made  great  strides  in  establishing  links  towards  the  successor  kingdoms  of  his  empire’s  former  western  half    —    setting  aside  orthodox  pride  over  the  great  schism  if  only  to  stave  off  the  bleeding  of  byzantium.    one  might  almost  be  tempted  to  ask  what  the  basileus  might  sell  off  next,    if  only  to  further  exact  an  assurance  for  the  salvation  of  his  people. 

in  truth,    the  basileus  might  have  been  a  man  better  suited  for  the  monastery  than  the  rooms  encrusted  with  porphyry.    as  a  child,    he  always  had  his  nose  stuck  in  some  crumbling  tome,    his  mouth  always  firing  off  incessant  questions  to  counfound  the  philosophers  who  would  claim  their  didactic  lineage  all  the  way  to  aristotle.    yet  his  perception  also  gave  rise  to  a  profound  insight  when  he  was  young:    he  was  the  inheritor  of  a  kingdom  about  to  die,    and  this  changed  him  greatly.    he  could  never  be  the  sort  of  warrior  that  would  stem  the  ottoman  tide,    but  there  is  one  thing  he  can  do,  and  that  is  to  shift  his  focus  from  the  finer  intricacies  of  the  celestial  hierarchies  to  the  far  more  material  hierarchies  of  this  earth    —    a  change  that  he  still  grieves  for  in  his  heart.

━━ TIMELINE.

1397.  theodoros is born.

1398.  his brother,  andronikos,  is born.

1403.  his sister,  sophia,  is born.

1432.  he arrives at the court of king charles of france.

━━ PLOTS.

possible  betrothal  connections,    prior  overtures  he’s  made,    trading  contracts  he’s  in  the  process  of  securing,    religious  brethren  he’s  trying  to  mend  the  schism  for,    etcetc    —    is  it  obvious  i  forgot  to  write  this  part  and  just  put  it  in  haphazardly  at  the  last  minute  upon  noticing  my  lapse?