#after Antiochus's mother

[wishesofeternity]

"Antiochos’ and Stratonike’s activities in the eastern part of the [Seleukid] empire are largely shrouded in mystery, but, as Engels has argued, Antiochos was far from idle since he embarked on a large building programme and was active in securing the frontier. There is some evidence to suggest that his new bride accompanied him for much of this period. We can perhaps identify Stratonike’s presence with her new husband in the Upper Satrapies through the gold coinage minted in Susa and Baktria in c . 287. The two gold coin sets are of the same type, the obverse features the laureate head of Apollo facing right and the reverse features Artemis in an elephant biga facing left with the legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ in exergue.

Figure 1: Coin of Seleukos I from Baktria Depicting Apollo on the Obverse and Artemis with Elephant Biga on the Reverse (Houghton and Lorber 2002, SC I no. 163).

Figure 2: Coin of Seleukos I from Baktria Depicting Apollo on the Obverse and Artemis with Elephant Biga on the Reverse (Houghton and Lorber 2002, SC I no. 257).

The reverse image of Artemis in the elephant biga is within the same design type as a large range of other coinage issued by Seleukos I celebrating the success of his elephants and thus his eastern campaigns. The appearance of Artemis is however unique to these coin types. This suggests the emphasis on the close links between the twin gods, Artemis and Apollo, depicted on the obverse and reverse of this coinage . Since there appears to be as a close link between Apollo and Antiochos as there is between Zeus and Seleukos, the presence of Artemis could be seen as a symbol for Stratonike. This would create a series of parallels: Seleukos/Zeus, Antiochos/Apollo, and Stratonike/Artemis. The first two reflect what we see for these two kings at the list of priests of Seleukid kings in Seleukeia in Pieria . Additionally, it may be notable that the sister-wife ideology [...] appears to be evident later in the reign of Antiochos.

As all of the Apollo/Artemis cointypes were produced on high value gold coinage, this suggests that it was issued in order to commemorate a significant event. While the type was similar to other Seleukid coinage, the shift from Athena to Artemis was clearly discernible and unique. The arrival of the new joint-King and Queen in the region to take up residence would have been a suitable moment for the issuing of the new coin type. This advertisement of their new rule certainly falls in line with Seleukos’ wedding speech which confirmed their new roles."

-David Engels & Kyle Erickson, "Apama and Stratonike – Marriage and Legitimacy", "Seleukid Royal Women" (edited by Edited by Altay Coşkun and Alex McAuley). The pictures of the coins are screenshots from the book.

[numinousmysteries]

A Miracle, Perhaps

@eightnightsofmulder

@today-in-fic

Eight Nights of Mulder Day Five: Miracles

[on Ao3]

November 1994

Hanukkah falls early this year, beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Mulder hasn’t mentioned anything about going to visit his mom so Scully isn’t surprised to see him in the office on Monday morning.

“How was your Thanksgiving?” he asks as she turns to hang her coat up.

“Fine,” she says, not wanting to elaborate.

In truth, it had been an awkward affair. She hadn’t realized how much her family’s congenial rapport depended on everyone being on their best behavior for her father. Without the captain to steer them, tensions flared. Thinking he’d be free of Bill Scully Sr.’s judgment, Charlie made his first appearance at his mother’s table in years with his long-term boyfriend Harry, only to face Bill Jr.’s wrath. This led to a very drunk Melissa “accidentally” knocking a full glass of red wine onto Bill’s shirt as she gestured wildly in her little brother’s defense. Once Charlie stormed off with Harry trailing behind him (apologizing to Maggie and thanking her for the food as quickly and quietly as he could) Bill turned his anger on Dana. He argued that by staying with the FBI even after her abduction she was only asking to get killed.

It all ended with Maggie retreating to her bedroom to cry, Melissa vomiting in the bathroom, Bill cursing into his whiskey at the table, and Dana silently washing dishes in the kitchen.

“Did you spend the holiday with your family?” she asks, coming to sit across from him at his desk.

Mulder shakes his head. “Nope. Frohike made his famous chicken wings, which is close enough to turkey for me.”

“What about Hanukkah? You celebrated with your mother last year,” she says, hesitating as she eases into new territory.

Two years into their partnership and they still do this awkward dance around each other when it comes to anything remotely personal. She’s more than partly to blame herself since she doesn’t willingly share much about her own life.

“‘Celebrate’ is a generous word,” Mulder says. “We didn’t exactly light the menorah and spin a dreidel around. My mom started taking her sleeping pills earlier and earlier each day until she was basically conking out after lunch. I don’t think she really likes having me around.”

“That can’t be true.”

Mulder shrugs. “I think I just remind her of Samantha. Or rather Samantha’s absence.”

“What about your father?” Scully says, trying to change the subject.

“It’s funny,” he says. “My dad’s family was Jewish and my mother only converted before they got married, but as long as I can remember he never wanted anything to do with religion. Besides, Hanukkah isn’t even a very significant holiday. It just happens to fall around Christmas so it’s gotten swept up in that all-American, gift-giving, capitalist fervor.”

“What’s the story again?” She’s familiar with the basics of the holiday but she knows Mulder likes weaving a tale for her, and she likes to listen as he does.

“Well, it all started with the rise of the Greek king Antiochus the fourth in the second century BCE. The Greeks had a mostly live-and-let-live attitude toward the Jews until then, but Antiochus wasn’t a big fan. He forbade Jews from practicing their religion and demanded they worship Greek gods instead. This all came to a head when Antiochus invaded Jerusalem, killing thousands of Jews and turning the Holy Temple into a shrine to Zeus. He also forced Jewish people to eat pork, which was strictly forbidden by the Torah, but now that I mention it, oddly puts me in the mood for bacon.”

Scully smiles but shakes her head at him.

“Anyway, a small group of Jews known as the Maccabees formed an army and managed to overpower the much larger Greek forces. They retook the temple and got rid of all the Greek idols but ran into a little problem when they went to rededicate it by lighting the menorah with pure olive oil. Because the Maccabees were soldiers returning from the battlefield, they themselves couldn’t produce pure oil until waiting seven days after having handled dead bodies. All the oil in the temple had been defiled by the Greeks except for one jug that supposedly only had enough to last for one night. But of course, as the legend goes, it ended up keeping the menorah lit for eight days, just in time for the Maccabees to start churning out their own oil. Since this all went down after the Torah was written, the only biblical allusion to the Hanukkah is actually in the New Testament when Jesus visits Jerusalem to observe the holiday—”

“—in the book of John,” Scully finishes his sentence.

“Someone paid attention in Sunday school,” he says, and she fights the feeling of a blush rising to her cheeks.

“Are you surprised?” she asks with a smile.

“Not at all,” he says, returning her grin. “Of course, some scholars consider the Maccabees to be religious fundamentalists who even killed fellow Jews they didn’t consider to be hardcore enough. And some versions of the story don’t include any reference to the so-called ‘miracle of oil,’ so who’s to say what really happened?”

“Mulder, you are willing to believe in claims of parasitic alien life forms, shape-shifting mutants, and widespread government conspiracies, but miracles don’t pass muster?” Scully asks, the corners of her lips creeping up into a smile.

He shifts in his chair, leaning forward, closer to her. “I recently witnessed one miracle that I believe in.”

“Which was?”

“Watching you go from the brink of death in that hospital bed a few months ago to sitting here and debating Talmudic wisdom with me right now. If that isn’t a miracle I don’t know what is.”

She instinctively pulls back, bracing her hands on the armrests of her chair. He doesn’t budge, keeping his eyes locked on her.

“Mulder, I can’t clarify what happened to me, why I was returned or why I recovered,” she says quietly, “but when I was unconscious in the hospital, I saw things that I believe can only be explained by the existence of a higher power.”

She hadn’t confessed this to Mulder before and she isn’t sure why. This is a man who believes in werewolves and time-traveling killers. Why is she scared to tell him about her own visions?

“What did you see?” He asks, softly, leaning in towards her.

“I saw my father. I saw my sister—and I saw you,” she says quietly. “But it wasn’t just seeing. I felt your presence.”

Mulder pauses for a beat, opening his lips to speak but not saying anything.

“Scully, I’ve heard about near-death experiences, people believing their seeing through a portal into the afterlife. But in nearly every case they can be explained by low-oxygen levels or misfiring neurons in the brain.”

“No, Mulder,” she says, looking down at her hands now. “I read my medical report. I never suffered from hypoxia or unusual neurological activity. There’s no scientific explanation for what happened.”

“So you think it was God?”

“I don’t know, Mulder,” her voice quavers. “But I can’t say for sure that it wasn’t.”

“Whatever it was, I’m glad you made it through.”

“Thank you,” she says, feeling the heat rising in her chest.

She doesn’t tell him that along with sensing his presence she felt something more—a fierce devotion bordering on love. Maybe he’s right and it was a miracle that brought her back to him. Or perhaps the miracle is whatever brought them together in the first place.

[jeannereames]

Having read your recent response about an ethnic Greek marriage for Alexander, and how the Greeks perceived their identity, it left me wondering about this. Didn’t the Ptolemies in Egypt create a very distinct line between Greeks and Egyptians in their kingdom? In the sense that at least for government purposes, the Greeks, specifically, ruled?

What you said about not having a unified sense of Greek ethnicity is completely in tune with what I learned as well, but I can’t conciliate this with how the Ptolemies handled ethnicity since the very beginning, right after Alexander’s death (so the very period you answered about). I’m not gonna pretend I’m a specialist in Ptolemaic Egypt but I never read about a specific Egyptian Greek / Alexandria / Naukratis sense of separate identity for this time period, or even remnants of identities of mainland Greek polities, it’s always dealt as this sorta unified sense of “Greeks” versus Egyptians. Suggesting that this idea of greekness existed since Alexander’s day as well. I’m kinda troubled with that. Thanks so much for the attention!

Macedonian-Persian Marriages after Susa

So let me immediately say that I am not much of a Hellenistic historian. But I do teach a class that deals with race and ethnicity in antiquity, so I’d like to recommend my colleague Denise McCoskey’s Race: Antiquity and It’s Legacy. She has a fair bit in there on Ptolemaic Egypt, in fact, and among the things she points out is the problem with the evidence.

She includes not only literary evidence, but other textual evidence including things like tax records, epigraphy, and archaeological evidence…all of which muddy the waters. Outside of the Ptolemies themselves (and there’s some question about them, especially by the end), there was quite a lot of mixing between Greeks and Egyptians. These “mixed ethnicity” individuals might use a Greek name or an Egyptian name, depending on context, and they might hold relatively high office. So, we actually can’t assume someone is Greek due to use of a Greek name.

This was especially true in Alexandria, but other places in Egypt as well. And it contrasts with what’s being presented in at least some of the literature of the period.

What I love about archaeology and epigraphy is that both continually swoop in and mess up our literary textual history. LOL

I was just reading a really good chapter, “Alexander the Great and the Macedonian and Persian Elite: The Mass-marriages in Susa in Context,” by Krzysztof Nawotka for Legacy of the East and Legacy of Alexander (2023), ed. by Nawotka and Wojciechowska. He takes on the perception, oft repeated, that the Macedonians en masse rejected their Persian brides soon after Alexander’s death. For a long time, accepted perception was that the others divorced very quickly, except for Seleukos and his wife Apama (mother of Antiochus I). But we don’t actually have evidence for that, and a bit of evidence to the contrary.

It’s only Krateros who we know for sure divorced his wife in order to marry Phila (Antipatros’s daughter)…which was a political alliance, not necessarily Krateros’s rejection of a high princess of Achaemenid blood (e.g., Darius’s own niece). In fact, it seems that she agreed to the divorce, and may have come out of it better than poor Phila, who was stuck marrying that dweeb Demetrios Poliorketes. 😂 Amastris married the petty tyrant Dionysios of Herakleia, wound up fabulously wealthy, then later married Lysimachos, and had a city named after her. Next to Apama, Seleukos’s wife, she had one of the most distinguished political careers for the Persian elite women…married to three Macedonian/Greek men in succession. Similarly, it would seem that Eumenes stayed married to his wife Artonis, (despite assumption, there’s no record that he divorced her and remarried); she was given his remains after his death following the Battle of Gabiene. Also, with Peukestis’s role, there’s a VERY high likelihood that he, also, kept his wife.

We might speculate that Perdikkas and Ptolemy put aside their wives as both happily played political marriage games, but we’re not actually told as much—unlike with Krateros. I could see Kleopatra demanding that she be sole wife as part of her marriage proposal to Perdikkas. And quite possibly Antipatros demanded the same on behalf of Eurydike, as it seems Krateros divorced his wife in order to marry Phila. Yet Ptolemy certainly kept Laïs around, possibly as a wife. Then Berenike…so why not just keep on Artakama too? It might have been politically advantageous, at least early in his reign, when nobody knew precisely how things would fall out.

Yet the plain fact is…we just don’t know about c. 80+ of the 92 weddings held in Susa.

Anyway, I’ve been among those who assumed/argued the prior position myself—for widespread divorce. But Nowotka’s chapter made me stop and rethink. This presumption that the ancient Greeks were always of the attitude “We’re Greeks and you’re not…and we don’t want your women either, we want PURE Greek children” isn’t nearly as strong as we’ve assumed from literature. I’ve come around in the last 10 years to thinking the Greeks were less ethnocentric, at least at certain times in their history, than we’ve popularly thought. That’s not to say they didn’t care about ethnicity—they manifestly did—but it was only one of several factors.

What DOES seem to be true is that class mattered more. So elite Persian women married to elite Greek men served a purpose. But I do note that Alexander kept in Persia the native women who’d married Macedonian soldiers, and any children, when those men went back to Macedonia. Arrian says he did so for fear that they wouldn’t be welcome, whereas he would provide for them in Persia. (What became of them after his death is, alas, anybody’s guess. Maybe Seleukos continued with the precedent. I’m not sure that we know.)

But hopefully that adds a bit more context to how we look at those marriages. As noted, this is something about which my own opinion has been evolving.

[litcest]

Pericles, by William Shakespeare

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, better known as just Pericles, is a play by Willian Shakespeare (and possibly co-authored by George Wilkins) which was first printed in 1609. Wilkins published in 1608 The Painful Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre which is the prose version of the story, but goes a little different in some aspects. 

The play was based on the (fictional) story of Apollonius of Tyre, which was a widely popular during the Middle Ages all around Europe, being translated and adapted into many languages. It was translated to English as early as the 11th century, but the most diffused version was the one by John Gower in his Confessio Amantis of 1390. Therefore, it isn’t such a surprise that Shakespeare decided to turn this tale into a play.

The plot is kickstarted when the hero of the story is given a riddle by King Antiochus of Antioch in order to win Antiochus’ daughter’s hand in marriage. If the hero can’t answer the riddle correctly, he is to be killed. However, the situation is a tricky one: if the hero tells the answer to the riddle, he will also be killed, since the riddle if about Antiochus incestuous relationship with his daughter and Antiochus doesn’t want anyone knowing.

I’m taking the text from Internet Shakespeare Editions, which disponibilizes the original version of the play, as well as a modern spelling of it (I’ll be quoting only the modern spelling, for easier understanding). As a supplementary material, the site also has Wilkins’ The Painful Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre.

For the Apollonius version of the story, please check my post Historia Apollonii regis Tyri.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s play begins with a chorus, as is traditional of Greek plays, that explains the background of the characters. The chorus introduces King Antiochus, the greatest King in all of Syria, who ruled over a beautiful city. His wife had died, leaving him with only a daughter, who is described as “so buxom, blithe, and full of face, as heaven had lent her all his grace”. When the daughter came of age to be married, Antiochus seduced her. The chorus says that Antiochus ‘provoked her to incest’, which I’m interpreting as he courted her and she corresponded his feelings. I’m highlighting this because in some versions of the story it’s said that the King raped his daughter, but it doesn’t seems to be case in Shakespeare’s Pericles.

Chorus: “With whom the father liking took, And her to incest did provoke. Bad child; worse father! to entice his own To evil should be done by none.”

Since the Princess was beautiful, many foreign princes wanted to marry her and, to not arise suspicion of the incestuous relationship the Princess shared with her father, Antiochus decided to allow her to marry. With one condition: she would only marry the one who managed to solve the riddle he proposed. Those who couldn’t give the right answer to the riddle would be killed.

Pericles arrives to take the challenge and Antiochus introduces him to his daughter.

Antiochus: “Nature this dowry gave, to glad her presence, The senate house of planets all did sit, To knit in her their best perfections.”

Antiochus presents Pericles with the riddle, and the Princess wishes him luck (which are her only lines in the whole play). The riddle goes as this:

“I am no viper, yet I feed On mother’s flesh which did me breed. I sought a husband, in which labour I found that kindness in a father: He’s father, son, and husband mild; I mother, wife, and yet his child. How they may be, and yet in two, As you will live resolve it you.”

Pericles quickly understands that the riddle is regarding the King and Princess incestuous relationship and is shocked by it. He loses his interested in marrying the Princess after discovering she has committed the sin of incest. Antiochus presses Pericles to give an answer, but he doesn’t want to, because he thinks that revealing the incestuous relationship might enrage Antiochus and result in the King killing him anyway. As such, Pericles lets Antiochus know that he figured it out without actually making the accusation of incest. Antiochus decides to give Pericles forty days to think about it.

Pericles decides to flee back to Tyre all in his attempt of avoid Antiochus’ rage, but Antiochus sends an assassin after him. And this is the last the see of Antiochus and his daughter for the rest of the play. In Act III, they are mentioned to have died and in the epilogue of Act V, their deaths are said to be the punishment for their actions:

Chorus: “In Antiochus and his daughter you have heard Of monstrous lust the due and just reward.”

As for Pericles, when he arrives in Tyre, he tells what happened to Helicanus, who advises Pericles to leave once more to avoid being hunted down. As he flees, his ship gets wrecked by a storm and he washes up in Pentapolis, where the kingdom is celebration the birthday of Thaisa, daughter of King Simonides. Pericles decides to win her hand in marriage during a jousting contest. Indeed, Pericles wins and the two marry. They stay in Pentapolis until Pericles learns of Antiochus' death and deems it's safe to go home with Thaisa.

While at sea, Thaisa seemingly dies giving birth to a daughter, named Marina. Pressured by the crew, Pericles allows Thaisa’s sealed coffin to be cast overboard and decides to go to Tarsus, where he leaves Marina in the care of his friends, Cleon and Dionyza, and goes back to rule in Tyre.

However, Thaisa hadn't died, and her coffin is found by a doctor, who heals her. Believing that there had been a shipwreck, Thaisa assumed Pericles and Marina to be dead and so becomes a priestess of Diana.

Fifteen years go by and Dionyza becomes jealous of Marina's beauty, and so decides to murder her. Before Marina can be killed, she is kidnapped by pirates and taken to a brothel, where luckily she manages to persuade every man to not violate her.

Pericles decides to go back to Tarsus to see his daughter, but is shown her grave. Distraught, he decides to abandon his duty as a ruler and sail aimlessly. Eventually, he arrives in Mytilene, where Marina works, now not as a prostitute, but as a musician and entertainer.

A friend of Pericles, to cheer him up from his depression, hires Marina to play for them. Marina and Pericles each share theirs laments and realise they are father and daughter. For further rejoice, the goddess Diana then tells Pericles that Thaisa still lives. The whole family reunite and go back to Tyre, where Pericles returns to the throne.

Painful Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre, by George Wilkins

Like I mentioned in the introduction, Shakespeare’s possible collaborator in the play, George Wilkins, published his own prose version of the tale of Pericles. I wasn’t initially planning on reading this, but changed my mind when I discovered that, in Wilkins’ text, Antiochus is explicitly said to have abused his daughter.  The Princess kept silence, unable to tell anyone what happened in shame.

“Antiochus the Great, who was the first founder of Antioch, the most famous city in all Syria, having one only daughter in the prime and glory of her youth, fell in most unnatural love with her. And what by the power of his persuasions and fear of his tyranny, he so prevailed with her yielding heart that he became master of his desires.”

I did a double take when I read this. Had I been wrong in interpreting Shakespeare’s text? Had I read it with rose-tinted glasses, trying so hard to have a consensual father/daughter relationship that I had ignored the signs of abuse? Well, no. Or, if I did, I’m not alone, as Bicks (2021) agrees with me:

“[…] yet none of the play’s quartos, from the 1609 Q1 forward, includes even a hint of Wilkins’s excruciating account of the rape. Rather, they dismiss the daughter from the start as a girl who is complicit in her father’s incestuous lust.”

(Bicks then goes on to say this is an erasure of the Princess story and blah blah blah, but I don’t care for that. I care that Shakespeare’s version has the Antiochus relationship with his daughter as being consensual).

Later, Antiochus and his daughter are revealed to have been killed by lightening (the means of death are not described in the play), which one can suppose was the divine punishment inflicted by Jove (a.k.a. Jupiter or Zeus).

Conclusion

After looking at many versions of the Pericles/Apollonius story, it becomes clear that what was originally a sexual assault was re-worked by Shakespeare into being a consensual relationship. Was it to make the characters more palatable to the audience? Doubtful. Antiochus is the antagonist of the play, having him rape his daughter would fit with his villainous status. Regardless on whether the Princess is being raped by her father or is in love with him, the other characters (and the audience of the time) would find them despicable. Besides, other Shakespearean plays include rape, so it’s clear that the author doesn’t shy away from the topic. Was it, like Bicks suggested, an erasure of the Princess voice? I also don’t think so. 

I prefer to think that Shakespeare read Apollonius and thought that there didn’t need to any rape in that relationship, that the father and daughter could very well be engaging in a consensual relationship and ran with the idea. The effect is the same, in at least Shakespeare doesn’t victimizes the Princess by having her be violently raped and told in details like the others authors had previously done.

References: 

Archibald, Elizabeth. Apollonius of Tyre : Medieval and Renaissance Themes and Variations: Including the Text of the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri with an English Translation. D.S. Brewer / Boydell & Brewer, 1991.

Bicks, Caroline. “‘If I Should Tell / My History’: Memory, Trauma, and Testimony in Pericles and Hamlet.” Cognition and Girlhood in Shakespeare’s World: Rethinking Female Adolescence. Cambridge University Press, 2021. 127–159.

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

september 17_september 30

THE HOLY MARTYR VERA (FAITH), NADEZHDA (HOPE)AND LIUBOV (LOVE) (137)

The Holy Martyrs Saint Sophia and her Daughters Faith, Hope, and Love were born in Italy. Their mother was a pious Christian widow who named her daughters for the three Christian virtues. Faith was twelve, Hope was ten, and Love was nine. Saint Sophia raised them in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saint Sophia and her daughters did not hide their faith in Christ but openly confessed it before everyone.

An official named Antiochus denounced them to the emperor Hadrian (117-138), who ordered that they be brought to Rome. Realizing that they would be taken before the emperor, the holy virgins prayed fervently to the Lord Jesus Christ, asking that He give them the strength not to fear torture and death. When the holy virgins and their mother came before the emperor, everyone present was amazed at their composure. They looked as though they had been brought to some happy festival, rather than to torture. Summoning each of the sisters in turn, Hadrian urged them to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. The young girls remained unyielding.

Then the emperor ordered them to be tortured. They burned the holy virgins over an iron grating, then threw them into a red-hot oven, and finally into a cauldron with boiling tar, but the Lord preserved them.

The youngest child, Love, was tied to a wheel and they beat her with rods until her body was covered all over with bloody welts. After undergoing unspeakable torments, the holy virgins glorified their Heavenly Bridegroom and remained steadfast in the Faith.

They subjected Saint Sophia to another grievous torture: the mother was forced to watch the suffering of her daughters. She displayed adamant courage, and urged her daughters to endure their torments for the sake of the Heavenly Bridegroom. All three maidens were beheaded, and joyfully bent their necks beneath the sword.

In order to intensify Saint Sophia’s inner suffering, the emperor permitted her to take the bodies of her daughters. She placed their remains in coffins and loaded them on a wagon. She drove beyond the city limits and reverently buried them on a high hill. Saint Sophia sat there by the graves of her daughters for three days, and finally she gave up her soul to the Lord. Even though she did not suffer for Christ in the flesh, she was not deprived of a martyr’s crown. Instead, she suffered in her heart. Believers buried her body there beside her daughters.

The relics of the holy martyrs have rested at El’zasa, in the church of Esho, since 777.

Galatians 2:11-16

11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Luke 3:19-22

19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. 21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

22nd November >> Mass Readings (USA)

Saint Cecilia, Virgin, Martyr 

on

Wednesday, Thirty Third of Week in Ordinary Time.

Wednesday, Thirty Third of Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Red: A (1))

(Readings for the feria (Wednesday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Wednesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 The creator of the universe will give you back both breath and life.

It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king, to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.

Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother, who saw her seven sons perish in a single day, yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord. Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage, she exhorted each of them in the language of their ancestors with these words: “I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed. Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man’s beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.”

Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words, thought he was being ridiculed. As the youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him, not with mere words, but with promises on oath, to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his ancestral customs: he would make him his Friend and entrust him with high office. When the youth paid no attention to him at all, the king appealed to the mother, urging her to advise her boy to save his life. After he had urged her for a long time, she went through the motions of persuading her son. In derision of the cruel tyrant, she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language: “Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, nursed you for three years, brought you up, educated and supported you to your present age. I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into existence. Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them.”

She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said: “What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king’s command. I obey the command of the law given to our fathers through Moses. But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God.”

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 17:1bcd, 5-6, 8b and 15

R/ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.

R/ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

My steps have been steadfast in your paths, my feet have not faltered. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word.

R/ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. But I in justice shall behold your face; on waking, I shall be content in your presence.

R/ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Gospel Acclamation cf. John 15:16

Alleluia, alleluia. I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Luke 19:11-28 Why did you not put my money in a bank?

While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’ He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ Then the second came and reported, ‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ And to this servant too he said, ‘You, take charge of five cities.’ Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.’” After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

-------------------------

Saint Cecilia, Virgin, Martyr 

(Liturgical Colour: Red: A (1))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Wednesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Hosea 2:16bc, 17cd, 21-22 I will espouse you to me forever.

Thus says the LORD:

I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.

I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear. or R/ The bridegroom is here; let us go out to meet Christ the Lord.

Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house. So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him.

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear. or R/ The bridegroom is here; let us go out to meet Christ the Lord.

All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold. In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king; behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you.

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear. or R/ The bridegroom is here; let us go out to meet Christ the Lord.

They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king. The place of your fathers your sons shall have; you shall make them princes through all the land.

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear. or R/ The bridegroom is here; let us go out to meet Christ the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia. This is the wise bridesmaid, whom the Lord found waiting; at his coming, she went in with him to the wedding feast. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Matthew 25:1-13 Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[catolinewsdailyreadings]

Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Reading 1

2 MC 7:1, 20-31

It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king, to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.

Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother, who saw her seven sons perish in a single day, yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord. Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage, she exhorted each of them in the language of their ancestors with these words: “I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed. Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man’s beginning, as he brings about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.”

Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words, thought he was being ridiculed. As the youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him, not with mere words, but with promises on oath, to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his ancestral customs: he would make him his Friend and entrust him with high office. When the youth paid no attention to him at all, the king appealed to the mother, urging her to advise her boy to save his life. After he had urged her for a long time, she went through the motions of persuading her son. In derision of the cruel tyrant, she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language: “Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, nursed you for three years, brought you up, educated and supported you to your present age. I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into existence. Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them.”

She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said: “What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king’s command. I obey the command of the law given to our fathers through Moses. But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God.”

Responsorial Psalm

PS 17:1BCD, 5-6, 8B AND 15

R./ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. R./ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

My steps have been steadfast in your paths, my feet have not faltered. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. R./ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. But I in justice shall behold your face; on waking, I shall be content in your presence. R./ Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Gospel

LK 19:11-28

While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, 'We do not want this man to be our king.’ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, 'Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’ He replied, 'Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ Then the second came and reported, 'Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ And to this servant too he said, 'You, take charge of five cities.’ Then the other servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ He said to him, 'With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ And to those standing by he said, 'Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ But they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ He replied, 'I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.’”

After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

[magnetothemagnificent]

Chana (known elsewhere as Miriam), was first mentioned as nameless mother of seven sons in The Book of Maccabees II, Chapter 7. She and her seven sons were captured by Antiochus. Seeking to make an example of them, he orders her first son to consume pork. When he refuses, he tortures him to death. The woman has to watch each of her sons be tortured and killed before her eyes. When he reached her final and youngest son, he offers to spare him if he would only comply to his demands. The woman urges her son to refuse him, and he does, and her final and youngest son is murdered brutally. Overcome with grief, the commits dies. In Eicha Rabbah 1:50, the woman's sons are instead commanded to bow to an idol instead of eat pork. (Personal note: This version makes more sense. One is not required to die rather than eat pork, it is not something one is required to be martyred for). In this version, the woman is named Miriam. As her seventh and final son is taken away, she instructs him to speak to Avraham in the afterlife, to tell him, "Do not be overly impressed with yourself and say: I built an altar and sacrificed Isaac, my son. My mother built seven altars and sacrificed seven sons on one day. Yours was an ordeal, mine was an action." After her final son is killed, Miriam throws herself off of a roof in grief. In the Book of Josiphon, she is named Chana, in association with the stanza in Chana's prayer in Shmuel I 2:5, reading, "While the barren woman bears seven, The mother of many is forlorn." In modern times, the woman is known best as Chana.

Chana and her sons' martyrdom is recounted on Chanukah. Here in my portrayal of her, I associate her seven sons with the seven flames of the Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash. Chanukah is known in popular culture as a celebration of the "Miracle of the Oil", and while that is a big part of the celebration, Chanukah is also a celebration of a military victory over the colonizing Greeks. Many, many people died in the process. Most of the original Maccabees themselves died by the time the Greeks were fully driven out of Judea, and many more unnamed heroes did too.

The miracle of the seven flames of the Menorah lasting for eight days would not have been possible without the sacrifice of many, including Chana's seven sons.

Remembering the sacrifices of those who came before us and how so many were lost in the fight to make our world a better place is a lesson we can all learn today.

[id in alt text]

[hieromonkcharbel]

The Holy Martyrs Saint Sophia and her Daughters Faith, Hope and Love were born in Italy. Their mother was a pious Christian widow who named her daughters for the three Christian virtues. Faith was twelve, Hope was ten, and Love was nine. Saint Sophia raised them in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saint Sophia and her daughters did not hide their faith in Christ, but openly confessed it before everyone.

An official named Antiochus denounced them to the emperor Hadrian (117-138), who ordered that they be brought to Rome. Realizing that they would be taken before the emperor, the holy virgins prayed fervently to the Lord Jesus Christ, asking that He give them the strength not to fear torture and death. When the holy virgins and their mother came before the emperor, everyone present was amazed at their composure. They looked as though they had been brought to some happy festival, rather than to torture. Summoning each of the sisters in turn, Hadrian urged them to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. The young girls remained unyielding.

Then the emperor ordered them to be tortured. They burned the holy virgins over an iron grating, then threw them into a red-hot oven, and finally into a cauldron with boiling tar, but the Lord preserved them.

The youngest child, Love, was tied to a wheel and they beat her with rods until her body was covered all over with bloody welts. After undergoing unspeakable torments, the holy virgins glorified their Heavenly Bridegroom and remained steadfast in the Faith.

They subjected Saint Sophia to another grievous torture: the mother was forced to watch the suffering of her daughters. She displayed adamant courage, and urged her daughters to endure their torments for the sake of the Heavenly Bridegroom. All three maidens were beheaded, and joyfully bent their necks beneath the sword.

In order to intensify Saint Sophia’s inner suffering, the emperor permitted her to take the bodies of her daughters. She placed their remains in coffins and loaded them on a wagon. She drove beyond the city limits and reverently buried them on a high hill. Saint Sophia sat there by the graves of her daughters for three days, and finally she gave up her soul to the Lord. Even though she did not suffer for Christ in the flesh, she was not deprived of a martyr’s crown. Instead, she suffered in her heart. Believers buried her body there beside her daughters.

[uesp]

The Cause of Death of Each Septim Emperor

Tiber I -- Unknown, seemingly old age. Bizarrely, Oblivion Mobile claims he died in battle at Sancre Tor. 3E 38

Pelagius I -- Assassination in the Temple of the One. 3E 40

Kintyra I -- Unknown, seemingly old age. 3E 53

Uriel I -- Unknown, seemingly old age. 3E 64

Uriel II -- Unknown, seemingly old age. 3E 82

Pelagius II -- Believed to have been poisoned by a bitter former advisor. 3E 98

Antiochus I -- Believed to have been assassinated by Potema, the Wolf Queen. He proved to be surprisingly resilient, despite his poor lifestyle. 3E 120

Kintyra II -- Deposed by Uriel III, the son of Potema in 3E 121. Was executed under the orders of Uriel III while in captivity. The exact date of her death is a matter of debate, with 3E 114, 3E 121, 3E 123 Frost Fall 23, and 3E 125 all given as possible dates.

Uriel III -- Burned alive by an angry mob while en route to a trial to charge him for his crimes after he was captured at the Battle of Ichidag in Hammerfell. 3E 127

Cephorus I -- "Fell from his horse". The historical drama The Wolf Queen suggests this was an elaborate posthumous assassination plot by Potema, the Wolf Queen. 3E 140

Magnus I -- Seemingly old age or stress from the duties of the throne following the civil war. There is a legend that his death was actually patricide by his successor, Pelagius III. These are almost definitely inaccurate exaggerations that were attached to his infamous character later on, as Pelagius III was in Skyrim when his father died in his sleep in the Imperial City. 3E 145

Pelagius III -- Fever while being treated for his madness at a Temple of Kynareth. Pelagius III spent most of his reign being sent to various healers and asylum for treatment, sadly all of which were ineffective. The historical drama The Wolf Queen also puts his madness as another scheme of revenge from Potema. If you support all of the narratives, that would arguably put the deaths of five of the last six Emperors at her feet. 3E 153 Suns Dawn 2 (although the records of the exact day may be wrong)

Katariah I -- Died in battle in Black Marsh. While her death in battle is known, the circumstances around it are the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. Spent most of her husband's reign as regent, and became the ruling Empress upon his death. 3E 200

Cassynder I -- Poor health. Cassynder had actually already given up the rule of Wayrest to his half-brother Uriel (who he had legally adopted into his family to make him legally a Septim) willingly due to his poor health, yet was still pressured to take the throne after his mother's death. Unsurprisingly, this quickly led to his death. 3E 202

Uriel IV -- Unknown, seemingly old age. His legal heir Andorak was disinherited by the Elder Council in favor of someone with a more clear relation to Tiber Septim, causing a civil war. 3E 246

Cephorus II -- It is unclear if he even died. While the records list the crowning of his successor in 3E 268, there is no mention of what happened to Cephorus II.

Uriel V -- Believed to have died in battle in Akavir. Notably, one of the early story ideas for Skyrim was that Uriel V did not actually die, and returned to Tamriel to retake his throne. His recorded date of death is 3E 290.

Uriel VI -- "Fell from his horse". Notably, he spent his reign battling the Council and his own mother for the right to rule. Shortly after managing to gain some small amount of control of his Empire, he "fell from his horse". 3E 313

Morihatha I -- Assassinated. The suspected mastermind behind her death was the Councilman Thoricles Romus, although he protested his innocence until his own execution. 3E 339

Pelagius IV -- Unknown, seemingly old age or stress. 3E 368

Uriel VII -- Assassination by the Mythic Dawn. His notably long reign was partially due to him being imprisoned in Oblivion by his battlemage Jagar Tharn. 3E 433

Martin I -- Sacrificed to summon Akatosh. 3E 433

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate the Seven Holy Maccabees, their mother Solomonia, and their teacher Eleazar. The Holy Martyrs Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus, their mother Solomonia and their teacher Eleazar suffered in the year 166 before Christ under the impious Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This foolish ruler loved pagan and Hellenistic customs, and held Jewish customs in contempt. He did everything possible to turn people from the Law of Moses and from their covenant with God. He desecrated the Temple of the Lord, placed a statue of the pagan god Zeus there, and forced the Jews to worship it. Many people abandoned the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but there were also those who continued to believe that the Savior would come. A ninety-year-old elder, the scribe and teacher Eleazar, was brought to trial for his faithfulness to the Mosaic Law. He suffered tortures and died at Jerusalem. The disciples of Saint Eleazar, the seven Maccabee brothers and their mother Solomonia, also displayed great courage. They were brought to trial in Antioch by King Antiochus Epiphanes. They fearlessly acknowledged themselves as followers of the True God, and refused to eat pig’s flesh, which was forbidden by the Law. The eldest brother acted as spokesmen for the rest, saying that they preferred to die rather than break the Law. He was subjected to fierce tortures in sight of his brothers and their mother. His tongue was cut out, he was scalped, and his hands and feet were cut off. Then a cauldron and a large frying pan were heated, and the first brother was thrown into the frying pan, and he died. The next five brothers were tortured one after the other. The seventh and youngest brother was the last one left alive. (Cont.) (at Judea) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgsM9e9veCN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[paganimagevault]

Statues of Mount Nemrut 62 BCE. The bottom picture is an artistic representation of what the monuments would look like restored. Left to right: Apollo, Tyche (fertility Goddess of the Commagene's), Zeus, Antiochus I Theos, and Herakles. The other images are the statues in their current state. The monuments were ordered constructed by Antiochus I Theos of Commagene, who was half Greek half Iranian. There are more images and descriptions on my blog, link at bottom.

"A large inscription is carved into the back of the colossal statues at the East- and West-Terrace. At the back of the Zeus statue, you can read the letters N O M O [ (Nomos). Here, the Holy Law of Antiochos begins. The Nomos of the Nemrud can be regarded as the testament of Antiochos.

...

The Great King Antiochos, the God, the Righteous One, the Manifest (Deity), the Friend of the Romans and the Greeks, the Son of King Mithridates Kallinikos and of Laodike the Brother-loving Goddess, the Daughter of King Antiochos Epiphanes, the Mother-loving, the Victorious, has recorded for all time, on consecrated pedestals with inviolable letters the deeds of his clemency.

I have come to believe that, for mankind, of all good things piety is both the most secure possession and also the sweetest enjoyment. This judgment became, for me, the cause of fortunate power and its blessed use; and during my whole life I have appeared to all men as one who thought holiness the most secure guardian and the unrivaled delight of my reign (or kingdom). By this means I have, contrary to all expectations, escaped great perils, have easily become master of hopeless situations, and in a blessed way have attained to the fullness of a long life. After taking over my father’s dominion, I announced, in the piety of my thought, that the kingdom subject to my throne should be the common dwelling place of all the Gods, in that by means of every kind of art I decorated the representations of their form, as the ancient lore of Persians and of Greeks–the fortunate roots of my ancestry–had handed them down (to us), and honoured them with sacrifices and festivals, as was the primitive rule and the common custom of all mankind; in addition my own just consideration has further devised still other and especially brilliant honors. And as I have taken forethought to lay the foundation of this sacred tomb, which is to be indestructible by the ravages of time, in closest proximity to the heavenly throne, wherein the fortunately preserved outer form of my person, preserved to ripe old age, shall, after the soul beloved by God has been sent to the heavenly thrones of Zeus Oromasdes, rest through immeasurable time,

…. so I chose to make this holy place a common consecrated seat of all the Gods; so that not only the heroic company of my ancestors, whom you behold before you, might be set up here by my pious devotion, but also that the divine representation of the manifest deities might be consecrated on the holy hill and that his place might likewise not be lacking in witness to my piety.

Therefore, as you see, I have set up these divine images of Zeus-Oromasdes and of Apollo-Mithras-Helios-Hermes and of Artagnes-Herakles-Ares, and also of my all-nourishing homeland Kommagene; and from one and the same quarry, throned likewise among the deities who hear our prayers, I have consecrated the features of my own form, and have caused the ancient honor of great deities to become the coeval of a new Tyche. Since I thereby, in an upright way, imitated the example of the divine Providence, which as a benevolent helper has so often been seen standing by my side in the struggles of my reign. Adequate property in land and an inalienable income therefrom have I set aside for the ample provision of sacrifices; an unceasing cult and chosen priests arrayed in such vestments as are proper to the race of the Persians have I inaugurated, and I have dedicated the whole array and cult in a manner worthy of my fortune and the majesty of the Gods. I have decreed the appropriate laws to govern the sacred observances thus established for everlasting, so that all the inhabitants of my realm may offer both the ancient sacrifices, required by age-old common custom, and also new festivals in honor of the Gods and in my honor. The birthday of my natural body, the sixteenth of Audnaios, and the tenth of Loos, the day of my accession to the throne, I have consecrated to the manifestation of the great deities, who were my guides in a prosperous beginning and have been the source of universal blessing for my whole kingdom.

Because of the multitude of offering and the magnificence of the celebration I have consecrated two additional days, each of them as an annual festival. The population of my empire I have divided up for the purpose of these assemblies, festival gatherings, and sacrifices, and directed them to repair by villages and cities to the nearest sanctuaries, whichever is most conveniently located for the festival observance. Moreover, I have appointed under the same title that, in addition to the observance just named, my birth on the sixteenth and my accession on the tenth shall be observed every month by the priests. Now that these regulations have been established, to be observed continually as the pious duty of men of understanding, not only in my honor but also in the blessed hope of their own good fortune, I have, in obedience to the inspiration of the Gods, ordered to be inscribed upon sacred, inviolable stelae a holy law, which shall be binding upon all generations of mankind who in the immeasurable course of time, through their special lot in life, shall successively be destined to dwell in this land; they must observe it without violation, knowing that the stern penalty of the deified royal ancestors will pursue equally the impiety occasioned by neglect as that occasioned by folly and that disregard of the law decreed for the honor of the heroes brings with it inexorable penalties. For the pious it is all a simple matter, but godlessness is followed by backbreaking burdens. This law my voice has proclaimed, but it is the mind of the Gods that has given it authority. NOMOΣ – LAW The priest who is appointed by me for these Gods and heroes, whom I have dedicated at the sacred tomb of my body, on the topmost ridges of the Taurus range, and who shall at a later time hold this office, he, set free from very other duty, shall without let or hindrance and with no excuse for evasion keep watch at his memorial and devote himself to the care and the proper adornment of these sacred images. On the birthdays which I have established forever as monthly and annual festivals of the Gods and of my own person, throughout the whole year he shall, himself decently garbed in Persian raiment, as my benefaction and the ancestral custom of our race have provided, crown them all with the gold crowns which I have dedicated as the sacred honors due the deified ancestors; and out of income from the villages, which I have designated for the sacred honors of the heroic race, he shall offer on these altars rich additional offerings of incense and aromatic herbs, and also splendid sacrifices in honor of the Gods and in my honor,

….. in worthy wise setting up sacred tables with appropriate foods and filling jars from the winepress with precious drink (that is, wine mixed with water). He shall hospitably welcome the whole of the assembled people, both the native and the foreigners who stream hither, and he shall provide for the common enjoyment of the feast by the assembled multitudes, in that, as is the custom, he shall take for himself a portion, as a gift in honor of the priestly office, and then distribute the rest of my benefaction to the others for their free enjoyment, so that during the holy days everyone may receive a never failing sustenance and may thus be able to celebrate the festival without running the risk of malicious calumny. The drinking cups, which I have dedicated, are to be used by them as long as they remain in the holy place and participate in the general assembly for the feast.

The group of musicians whom I have chosen for the purpose and those who may later be consecrated, their sons and daughters, and also their descendants shall all learn the same art and be set free from the burden of every other responsibility; and they are to devote themselves to the observances which I have established to the end, and without any evasion are to continue their services as long as the assembly requests it. No one, no king or ruler, no priest or official shall ever make slaves of these hierodules, whom I have, in accordance with the divine will, consecrated to the Gods and to my own honors, or their children or the descendants of their children, who shall continue their family to all later time; he shall neither enslave them to himself nor alienate them to anyone else in any way, nor injure one of them, nor deprive him of this ministry; but the priests shall take care of them, and the kings, officials, and all private persons shall stand by them, and the favor of the Gods and heroes will be laid up for them as a reward for their piety.

It is equally not permitted for anyone to appropriate or to alienate the villages which I have dedicated to these Gods, to sell them or to devote them to some other purpose, or in any way to injure those villages; or to reduce the income from them, which I have dedicated to the Gods as an inviolable possession. Nor shall anyone go unpunished who shall devise in his mind against our honor some other scheme of violence or of disparaging or suspending the sacrifices and festal assemblies which I have established. Whoever shall presume to rescind or to injure or guilefully to misinterpret the just tenor of this regulation or the heroic honors which an immortal judgment has sanctioned, him the wrath of the daemons and of all the Gods shall pursue, both himself and his descendants, irreconcilably, with every kind of punishment.

A noble example of piety, which it is a matter of sacred duty to offer to Gods and ancestors, I have set before the eyes of my children and grandchildren, as through many other, so too through this work; and I believe that they will emulate this fair example by continually increasing the honors appropriate to their line and, like me, in their riper years adding greatly to their personal fame. For those who do so I pray that all the ancestral Gods, from Persia and Macedonia and from the native hearth of Kommagene, may continue to be gracious to them in all clemency. And whoever, in the long time to come, takes over this reign as king or dynast, may he, if he observes this law and guards my honor, enjoy, through my intercession, the favor of the deified ancestors and all the Gods. But if he, in his folly of mind, undertakes measures contrary to the honor of the Gods, may he, even without my curse, suffer the full wrath of the Gods."

-The Nomos: The Holy Law of King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene

More images (tumblr only lets me upload 10 per post):

https://paganimagevault.blogspot.com/2020/04/statues-of-mount-nemrut-62-bce.html

[romegreeceart]

Famous people

Tag list of famous people from Ancient Rome and Greece. A few hellenistic rulers and some Etruscans are also included.

And for some reason the page is not working properly. The HTML code is there, but it only works on my dashboard. On this page links are inactive. I figure that page only understands “/tagged/Agrippina-the-Elder” - versions, but I’m too lazy / busy to rewrite the code. So if you want to check a tag, you’ll have to copy and paste it after the word “ .../tagged/”. And same goes for all the lists below.

URLs + copy&paste:

https://romegreeceart.tumblr.com/tagged/

https://romegreeceart.tumblr.com/archive/tagged/

A

Aelia Flaccilla- Pillar of the Church

Agrippina the Elder

Agrippina the Younger

Aemilia Lepida and her descendants  v emperor Nero

Aeschylus

Aetius

Alaric

Alcibiades

Alexander the Great

Ancus Marcius

Antinous

Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus III the Great

Antisthenes (philosopher, cynic school)

Antonia Minor - mother of Claudius and Germanicus

Antoninus Pius

Apicius

Apollodorus of Damascus

Apollonius of Tralles (Greek sculptor)

Aristotle

Arsinoe II

Arsinoe III

Artemisia II of Caria

Aspasia

Atticus (Cicero’s friend)

Attila

Augustus

Aulus Rustius Verus (Pompeian politician)

Aurelianus

B

Baltimore painter (Apulia, 4th century BCE)

Berenike II

Britannicus

Brygos Painter

Brutus (liberator, founder of the republic)

Brutus (assassin)

C

Caesarion

Caligula

Callimachus

Caracalla

Carausius (Roman Britain, emperor)

Carinus

Cassius Dio

Catiline

Cato the Elder

Cato the Younger

Cicero

Claudia Antonia (emperor’s daughter)

Claudius

Claudius Gothicus

Cleopatra

Cleopatra Selene

Cleopatra III

Clodius Albinus

Commodus

Constantine the Great

Constantius II

Constantius Chlorus

Corbulo

Cornelia Africana

Cornelia Minor (Caesar’s wife)

Crispina

Crispus (Constantine’s eldest son)

Croesus

Cynisca (Spartan princess, olympic winner)

D

Darius III

Decius

Demosthenes

Didia Clara (daughter of Didius Julianus)

Didius Julianus

Diocletianus

Dioscorides Pedanius (physician, botanist)

Diva Claudia (daughter of Nero)

Domitianus

Drusus Caesar (son of Germanicus)

Drusus the Younger (son of Tiberius)

Drusus the Elder (son of Livia)

E

Elagabalus

Eumachia (Pompeian priestess and patroness)

Euripides

F

Fabius Maximus Cunctator (”The Shield of Rome”)

Faustina Maior

Faustina Minor

Female painters

Flavian dynasty

G

Gaius Caesar

Galerius

Galba

Galen

Galla Placidia

Gallic emperors

Gallienus

Germanicus

Gelon

Gens Aemilia

Gens Cornelia

Gens Calpurnia

Geta

Gordian I

Gordian II

Gordian III

Gracchi Brothers

Gratian

Greek tyrants

H

Hadrianus

Hannibal

Hegias (Greek sculptor, 5th century BCE

Hellenistic kings

Herennius Etruscus (co-emperor)

Hermione Grammatike

Herodes Atticus

Herodotus

Hippocrates

Historians

Homeros

Honorius

Hostilianus

I

Iaia of Cyzicus (female painter)

Jovianus

Juba II

Julia (Augustus’ daughter)

Julia Aquilia Severa (Vestal virgin and empress)

Julia Domna

Julia Drusilla

Julia Felix (Pompeian business woman)

Julia Flavia (Titus’ daughter)

Julia Maesa

Julia Soaemias

Julian the Apostate

Julio-Claudian family (julioclaudian)

Julio-Claudian dynasty

Julio-Claudian

Julio-Claudian dynasty

Julius Caesar 1

Julius Caesar (2)

Julius Vindex

K

Kings

Kresilas (Athenian sculptor)

Kritios (Athenian sculptor)

L

Lady of Aigai

Lady of Vix (Celtic woman, late 6th century BCE)

Lassia (priestess of Ceres, Pompeii)

Lepidus

Leonidas

Livia

Livilla

Livius

Lucilla (daughter of Marcus Aurelius)

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus

Lucius Caecilius Jucundus (Pompeian banker)

Lucius Caesar

Lucius Herennius Flores (Boscoreale Villa, real owner ?)

Lucius Verus

Lysippos

Lysippos 2

M

Maecenas

Macrinus

Magnus Maximus

Mamia (Pompeian priestess and patroness)

Marcellus (Augustus’ heir)

Marcus Agrippa

Marcus Antonius

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Claudius Tacitus (emperor)

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Marcus Terentius Varro

Marius

Martialis

Masinissa

Maussollos of Halicarnassos

Maxentius

Maximianus

Maximinus Daia

Maximinus Thrax

Members of imperial families

Menander

Miami painter

Milonia Caesonia

Miltiades (Greek general)

Mona Lisa of Galilee

Myron

N

Nero

Nero Julius Caesar (son of Germanicus)

Nerva

Nerva-Antonine family

Numa Pompilius

O

Octavia the Younger (Augustus’ sister)

Octavia (Claudius’ daughter)

Optimates

Otho

Ovidius

P

Paionios (Greek sculptor)

Patronesses

Penthesilea painter

Pericles

Pertinax

Pescennius Niger

Pheidias

Philip the Arab

Philosophers

Philip II of Macedonia

Phryne (Greek courtesan)

Plancia Magna

Plato

Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Younger

Poets

Polykleitos

Pompeius

Poppaea Sabina

Populares

Postumus Agrippa

Postumus (Gallic emperor)

Probus

Ptolemy of Mauretania

Praxiteles

Ptolemy I

Publius Clodius Pulcher

Publius Fannius Synistor

Publius Licinius Crassus (triumvir’s younger son)

Publius Sittius

Publius Quinctilius Varus

Pythagoras

Pyrrhus

Pytheas (a greek explorer)

Q

Queens

R

Roman Caesars (= princes, heirs to the throne)

Roman Civil War Commanders

Roman client kings

Roman consuls

Roman dictators

Roman emperors

Roman empresses

Roman generals

Roman gentes

Romans who declined the throne

Romulus Augustulus

Romulus and Remus

S

Sabina

Sallustius

Sappho

Scipio Africanus

Scopas

Sejanus

Septimius Severus

Seven sages

Severan dynasty

Severus Alexander

Sextus Pompeius

Shuvalov painter

Silanion ( Greek sculptor)

Socrates

Solon

Sophocles

Stilicho

Strabo

Sulla

Sulpicia (Roman female poet)

T

Tacitus

Tarpeia

Tarquinius Superbus

Themistocles

Theodosius

Theophrastus

Thucydides

Tiberius

Tiberius Claudius Verus (Pompeian politician)

Tigranes the Great

Titus

Titus Labienus

Titus Tatius

Titus Quinctius Flaminius

Trajanus

Trebonianus Gallus

Tribunes of the plebs

U

Ulpia Severina  (interim sovereign in 275 CE)

Urban prefects

Usurpers

V

Vaballathus (Palmyran king)

Valens

Valentinianus I

Valentinianus III (murderer of Aetius)

Valerianus

Valeria Messalina

Vel Saties

Velia Velcha (“Mona Lisa of antiquity”)

Velimna family (Hypogeum, Brescia)

Vercingetorix

Vergilius

Vespasianus

Vibia Sabina

Vipsania Agrippina

Viriathus (Lusitanian freedom fighter)

Vitellius

Volusianus

X

Xenophon

Y

Z

Zenobia

[jeannereames]

Hello! I wanted to ask – in polygamous courts in Macedon and the Hellenistic world, were there any formally defined hierarchies when it came to royal wives (or female relatives) or any official titles that any of them were given to denote their precedence and importance? Or was it more unofficial and undefined? I was reading about Demetrius Poliorcetes’s daughter Stratonike, who had the title of queen (šarratu) but was also formally known as “principal wife” (hirtu) during her husband Antiochus’s reign, as seen in the Borsippa Cylinder. The chapter said that this was unique among the Seleukids, so I wanted to understand if there was any precedent for a formal title like this, or if it was more specific and singular for Stratonike?

(the chapter was “Seleukid Women” by Marek Jan Olbrycht in “The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World”, for reference!)

Thank you for taking the time to answer so many asks! I’ve learned a lot from your blog!

First, you're welcome. I'm glad people do actually read these posts!

To answer your question on terminology and royal wives... It seems that, starting with Alexander I (Greco-Persian War and pre-War era), the Macedonians borrowed a number of ideas from the Persian court, polygamy probably one of them. Alexander I, with 5 boys, may have had more than one wife; we simply aren't told. Perdikkas II apparently did have two wives. Archelaos is tagged by the Greeks (who were routinely confused by Macedonian polygamy) as a bastard, the son of a slave or concubine. More likely, he's simply the son of the first wife, of lesser status than a later wife, who gave him the son who initially inherited...and who Archelaos had murdered.

Similarly, in other situations, it seems the status of the mother did have an impact on which son was tagged as heir.

Up through Philip II, they aren't called "queens" any more than the king is actually addressed as "King So-and-so." Yet at least he IS called "king" (basileus) in third person. The wives are just "the king's wives," not "basilissa" (queen).

The change occurs after Alexander's death and especially after the last of the Argeads are eliminated (Philip III Arrhidaios & Alexander IV)...when a lot of things changed of necessity.

By then, the Successors had been exposed to Asian courts and Asian ruling patterns, and of course, Seleukos kept his Persian wife Apama, who had a great deal of influence (as Persian women did, and he was sensible enough to take advantage of). I'd also suggest that Kassandros, the first Macedonian king to use the title for himself (not in 3rd person), was especially keen to elevate his WIFE, an actual daughter of Philip--e.g., an Argead--so "queen" was useful.

As for the "chief wife" title, Persian Great Kings DID have a "chief wife," who was mother of the heir. And they were picky about it, too. The Great King could have as many concubines as he wanted, plus apparently some other wives--from wherever he found them--but the Chief Wife had better be Persian, and enjoyed special prerogatives. If you'd like to look into this before the Hellenistic period, I'd recommend the following three books:

Maria Brosius, Women in Ancient Persia, 559-331 BC

Amelie Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: a Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period

M. A. Dandamaev and V. G. Lukonin, The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran

Hope this helps a bit.

[dots3a]

yesterday my hyperfocus activated and zeroed in on my ancestry research and I have found so much stuff!

I am only following the line starting with my paternal grandfather's mother. Her name was Cora and she lived and died on a farm in Kentucky, completely unwilling to do indoor plumbing or electricity.

I followed her back to Perth, in Scotland, and to England over and over again. There was a man who immigrated from Sweden to Philly. In England and Scotland, I began to discover ties to nobility. An ancestor came over to America and founded Nantucket Island (by apparently actually working out treaties with the indigenous people there instead of just, ya know, murder).

Then I began to write in the names of Princesses and Kings. It seems my ancestor was the Queen consort of the Kings of both France and England, when she was unable to produce a male heir after 15 years, the king of France finally allowed her the annulment she asked for, and she married my ancestor... Henry the 2 of England. One of her daughters is my ancestor.

Further back, the King of Jerusalem and Emperor of Constantinople is my great grandfather. Following threads of ostrogoths and Saxons, suddenly I was putting in the names of Sachsen kings. Then I hit a dead-end, when a King's mother and wife were Freya and Frigg respectively, that's right, I had to put mythological figures into my family tree because that's what the historical documentation says.

I decided to follow a thread from Rome, where a Roman woman wed and had (my ancestors) children with an ostrogoth. For 400 years, my ancestors were Roman noblemen and women, if you follow them all the way back you will find a Roman senator marrying the Princess of Cicilia, both my ancestors.

I am currently taking a break because typing names like Aka I, Julia Iotapa, Antiochus Commagne is making my heart feel like it's going to explode.

I am the descendent of.. SO MANY lines of royalty??? The stories I've been obsessing and reading about for my entire life, they're stories about MY FAMILY.

This is JUST my great-grandma's line! What in taaaarnation!

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Wednesday, August 14, 2024

august 1_august 14

Beginning of the Dormition Fast.

Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord (1164) (First of the three "Feasts of the Saviour" in August_ blessing of honey and poppy seeds).

THE SEVEN HOLY MACCABEAN MARTYRS: HABIM, ANTONIN, GURIAH, ELEAZAR, EUSEBON, HADIM (HALIM) AND MARCELLUS, THEIR MOTHER SOLOMONIA AND THEIR TEACHER ELEAZAR (166 BC)

The seven holy Maccabee martyrs Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus, their mother Solomonia and their teacher Eleazar suffered in the year 166 before Christ under the impious Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This foolish ruler loved pagan and Hellenistic customs, and held Jewish customs in contempt. He did everything possible to turn people from the Law of Moses and from their covenant with God. He desecrated the Temple of the Lord, placed a statue of the pagan god Zeus there, and forced the Jews to worship it. Many people abandoned the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but there were also those who continued to believe that the Savior would come.

A ninety-year-old elder, the scribe and teacher Eleazar, was brought to trial for his faithfulness to the Mosaic Law. He suffered tortures and died at Jerusalem.

The disciples of Saint Eleazar, the seven Maccabee brothers and their mother Solomonia, also displayed great courage. They were brought to trial in Antioch by King Antiochus Epiphanes. They fearlessly acknowledged themselves as followers of the True God, and refused to eat pig’s flesh, which was forbidden by the Law.

The eldest brother acted as spokesman for the rest, saying that they preferred to die rather than break the Law. He was subjected to fierce tortures in sight of his brothers and their mother. His tongue was cut out, he was scalped, and his hands and feet were cut off. Then a cauldron and a large frying pan were heated, and the first brother was thrown into the frying pan, and he died.

The next five brothers were tortured one after the other. The seventh and youngest brother was the last one left alive. Antiochus suggested to Saint Solomonia to persuade the boy to obey him, so that her last son at least would be spared. Instead, the brave mother told him to imitate the courage of his brothers.

The child upbraided the king and was tortured even more cruelly than his brothers had been. After all her seven children had died, Saint Solomonia, stood over their bodies, raised up her hands in prayer to God and died.

The martyric death of the Maccabee brothers inspired Judas Maccabeus, and he led a revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. With God’s help, he gained the victory, and then purified the Temple at Jerusalem. He also threw down the altars which the pagans had set up in the streets. All these events are related in the Second Book of Maccabees (Ch. 8-10).

Various Fathers of the Church preached sermons on the seven Maccabees, including Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Saint Ambrose of Milan, Saint Gregory Nazianzus and Saint John Chrysostom.

ST. NICHOLAS (KASSATKIN), ENLIGHTENER OF JAPAN (1912)

Saint Nicholas (Kasatkin) Equal of the Apostles, Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. Missionary, Founder of the Orthodox Church in Japan, honorary member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. (Name Day: May 9).

Saint Nicholas (in the world John Kasatkin) was born on August 1,1836 in the village of Berezovsky Pogost, Belsky District, Smolensk Province into the family of a deacon. He graduated from the Belsk Theological School and the Smolensk Theological Seminary (1857). Among the best students he was recommended for the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he studied until 1860, when, at the personal request of Metropolitan Gregory (Postnikov) of St. Petersburg, he was given the post of rector of the church at the Russian consulate in the city of Hakodate (Japan), and was also awarded a Ph.D in Theology without having to submit an appropriate qualifying essay.

On June 23, 1860, he was tonsured by the rector of the Academy, Bishop Nektarios (Nadezhdin), and named for Saint Nicholas of Myra. On June 30 he was ordained a Hieromonk.

He arrived at Hakodate on July 2, 1861. During the first years of his stay in Japan, on his own he studied the Japanese language, culture and way of life.

The first Japanese person to convert to Orthodoxy, despite the fact that conversion to Christianity was forbidden by law, was the adopted son of a Shinto cleric, Takuma Sawabe, a former samurai who was baptized with two other Japanese in the spring of 1868.

During his half-century of service in Japan, Father Nicholas left only twice: in 1869-1870 and in 1879-1880. In 1870, through his intercession, a Russian ecclesiastical mission was opened in Japan with its center in Tokyo. On March 17, 1880, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was assigned as vicar of Reval, then vicar of the Diocese of Riga. He was consecrated as a Bishop on March 30, 1880, in Holy Trinity Cathedral at Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

In the course of his missionary work, Father Nicholas translated the Holy Scriptures and other liturgical books into Japanese; he established a theological seminary, six theological schools for girls and boys, a library, a shelter and other institutions. He published the Orthodox journal Church Herald in Japanese. According to his report to the Holy Synod, by the end of 1890 the Orthodox Church in Japan numbered 216 communities with 18,625 Christians in them.

On March 8, 1891, the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Tokyo, called Nikorai-do (ニコライ堂) by the Japanese, was consecrated. During the Russo-Japanese War, he remained with his flock in Japan, but did not take part in any public services. because according to the rite of worship (and the blessing of Japanese Christians to pray for their country's victory over Russia. Bishop Nicholas said: "Today, according to custom, I serve in the cathedral, but from now on I will no longer take part in the public services of our church... Hitherto I have prayed for the prosperity and peace of the Empire of Japan. Now, since war has been declared between Japan and my country, I, as a Russian subject, cannot pray for Japan's victory over my own homeland. I also have obligations to my country, and that is why I will be happy to see that you fulfill your duty in relation to your country."

When Russian prisoners of war began to arrive in Japan (their total number reached 73,000 people), Bishop Nicholas, with the consent of the Japanese government, formed the Society for the Spiritual Consolation of Prisoners of War. For their spiritual guidance, he selected five priests who spoke Russian. The prisoners were provided with icons and books. Vladyka repeatedly addressed them in writing (he himself was not allowed to see the prisoners).

On March 24, 1906, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Tokyo and All Japan. In the same year, the Kyoto Vicariate was founded. In 1911, when half a century of Saint Nicholas' s missionary work was completed, there were already 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church, which included 33,017 Orthodox laymen.

Archbishop Nicholas, the Enlightener of Japan, fell asleep in the Lord on February 3, 1912 at the age of 76, After the Hierarch's repose, the Japanese Emperor Meiji personally gave permission for him to be buried within the city, at the Yanaka cemetery. In Japan, Saint Nicholas is revered as a great righteous man and a special intercessor before the Lord.

He was canonized on April 10, 1970, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate. A Service was composed for him by Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad and Novgorod, and published in 1978.

Saint Nicholas is also commemorated on the Sunday before July 28 (Synaxis of the Smolensk Saints).

Source all text: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-2

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 Fo it is written: 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

JOHN 5:1-4

1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4

For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.