The Cincture of the Theotokos is believed to be a relic of the Theotokos (Blessed Virgin Mary), now in the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos, which is venerated by the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church. The word "cincture" (Greek: zone) is sometimes also translated as "belt", "sash" or "girdle". It is the Orthodox equivalent of the Girdle of Thomas in the Western church, and the Syriac Holy Girdle. Its feast day is September 13. [1]
According to the Sacred Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, at the time of her Dormition, the Theotokos was buried by the Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem. Three days later, Thomas the Apostle, who had been delayed and unable to attend the funeral, arrived and asked to have one last look at the Virgin Mary. When he and the other apostles arrived at Mary's Tomb, they found that her body was missing. According to some accounts, the Virgin Mary appeared at that time and gave her belt (cincture) to the Apostle Thomas. [2]
Traditionally, the cincture was made by the Virgin Mary herself, out of camelhair.
The history of the cincture prior to the reign of Justinian in the sixth century is unknown. It was kept at Jerusalem for many years, until it was translated to Constantinople in the 5th century, together with the Robe of the Virgin Mary, and deposited in the Church of St. Mary at Blachernae. This relic was embroidered with gold thread by the Empress Zoe (d. 899), the wife of Emperor Leo VI, in gratitude for a miraculous cure.
During the reign of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180) in the 12th century, an official feast day for the cincture was established on August 31 on the Orthodox liturgical calendar.
Later, the Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1347–1355) donated the cincture to the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos, [3] where it remains to this day, in a silver reliquary of newer manufacture which depicts the Monastery.
In the fall of 2011, the venerated object was brought to Russia to allow Russian Orthodox Christian pilgrims to reverence it in different cities. In St.Petersburg [4] it attracted a 2 km-long line of people to the Resurrection Nunnery on Moskovsky Prospect virtually blocking automotive traffic on adjacent streets, [5] totalling 200,000, with Vladimir Putin being among the first ones. The second city was Yekaterinburg where about 150,000 people from nearby territories came, including regional governor Alexander Misharin. [6] The next cities were Norilsk (50 thousand, a quarter of Taymyr Peninsula population) and Vladivostok, the further voyage is planned until the end of November.
The Hilandar Monastery is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It was founded in 1198 by Stefan Nemanja and his son Saint Sava. St. Symeon was the former Grand Prince of Serbia (1166-1196) who upon relinquishing his throne took monastic vows and became an ordinary monk. He joined his son Saint Sava who was already in Mount Athos and who later became the first Archbishop of Serbia. Upon its foundation, the monastery became a focal point of the Serbian religious and cultural life, as well as assumed the role of "the first Serbian university". It is ranked fourth in the Athonite hierarchy of 20 sovereign monasteries. The Mother of God through her Icon of the Three Hands (Trojeručica), is considered the monastery's abbess.
The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the Theotokos, and her being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on 15 August as the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Dormition not on a fixed date, but on the Sunday nearest 15 August. In Western Churches the corresponding feast is known as the Assumption of Mary, with the exception of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which has traditionally celebrated the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15 August.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great Feasts. Together with Pascha, these are the most significant dates on the Orthodox liturgical calendar. Eight of the great feasts are in honor of Jesus Christ, while the other four are dedicated to the Virgin Mary — the Theotokos.
September 13 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - September 15
September 30 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - October 2
April 11 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - April 13
July 11 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 13
August 14 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 16
January 20 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 22
The Saint George the Zograf Monastery or Zograf Monastery is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece. It was founded in the late 9th or early 10th century by three Bulgarians from Ohrid and is regarded as the historical Bulgarian monastery on Mount Athos, and is traditionally inhabited by Bulgarian Orthodox monks.
The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. The monastery was expanded several times during its history, particularly during the Byzantine period and in the 18th and 19th centuries. More than 120 monks live in the monastery.
The Panagia Portaitissa also known as the Iviron Theotokos or Iverskaya in Russian, is an Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary in the Georgian Iviron monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where it is believed to have been since the year 999. According to the sacred tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church it was painted by Luke the Evangelist. The icon is referred to as "Wonderworking" meaning that numerous miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the Theotokos by persons praying before it. The synaxis for this icon is on February 12, as well as on Bright Tuesday, and also on October 13 for the translation to Moscow of the Iveron icon.
Marian feast days in the liturgical year are celebrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The number of Marian feasts celebrated, their names can vary among Christian denominations.
The Church of Saint Mary of Blachernae is an Eastern Orthodox church in Mustafa Paşa Bostanı Sokak in Ayvansaray in the Fatih district of Istanbul, just inside the old walled city. During the latter part of the Byzantine period and until its destruction in 1434 it was one of the most important sanctuaries of Byzantium, arguably outstripping Hagia Sophia in importance due to its proximity to the Palace of the Blachernae. Today it is protected by a high wall, and fronted by a garden.
August 30 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - September 1
August 23 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 25
December 25 – Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar – December 27
The Girdle of Thomas, Virgin's Girdle, Holy Belt, or Sacra Cintola in modern Italian, is a Christian relic in the form of a "girdle" or knotted textile cord used as a belt, that according to a medieval legend was dropped by the Virgin Mary from the sky to Saint Thomas the Apostle at or around the time of the Assumption of Mary to heaven. The supposed original girdle is a relic belonging to Prato Cathedral in Tuscany, Italy and its veneration has been regarded as especially helpful for pregnant women. The story was frequently depicted in the art of Florence and the whole of Tuscany, and the keeping and display of the relic at Prato generated commissions for several important artists of the early Italian Renaissance. The Prato relic has outlasted several rivals in Catholic hands, and is the Catholic equivalent of the various relics held by Eastern Christianity: the Cincture of the Theotokos of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Holy Girdle of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
The Holy Girdle, also known as the Girdle of Thomas, Holy Girdle of Mary, Holy Zoonoro, (or) Zunoro, and Holy Belt of Saint Mary the mother of Jesus, is a relic of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is one of the important relics of Syriac Orthodox Church and venerated by Oriental Orthodox communion. The word Zunoro is also translated as "belt", "sash" or "girdle". It is the Oriental Orthodox equivalent of the Girdle of Thomas in the Catholic Church, and the Cincture of the Theotokos in the Eastern Orthodox Church, now located at Mount Athos.
Saint Joseph the Hesychast was a Greek Orthodox monk and elder who led a small group of monks at Mount Athos. He was canonized as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2020. His annual feast is celebrated on August 16.
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