Cincture of the Virgin Mary
Encyclopedia
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
of the Theotokos
Theotokos
Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
(Blessed Virgin Mary) which is venerated
Veneration
Veneration , or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches...
in the Orthodox Church. The word "cincture" (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: zone) is sometimes also translated as "belt", "sash" or "girdle".
Tradition
According to the Sacred TraditionSacred Tradition
Sacred Tradition or Holy Tradition is a theological term used in some Christian traditions, primarily in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church authority....
of the Orthodox Church, at the time of her Dormition, the Theotokos was buried by the Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem. Three days later, Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
, who had been delayed and unable to attend the funeral
Christian burial
A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian ecclesiastical rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation, and practised inhumation almost exclusively, but this opposition has weakened, and now vanished...
, arrived and asked to have one last look at the Virgin Mary. When he and the other apostles arrived at Mary's Tomb
Mary's Tomb
Mary's Tomb is a tomb located in the Kidron Valley, on the foothills of Mount of Olives, near the Church of All Nations and Gethsemane garden, originally just outside Jerusalem...
, 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.
Traditionally, the cincture was made by the Virgin Mary herself, out of camelhair. It was kept at Jerusalem for many years, until it was translated
Translation (relics)
In Christianity, the translation of relics is the removal of holy objects from one locality to another ; usually only the movement of the remains of the saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony...
to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in the 5th century, together with the Robe of the Virgin Mary, and deposited in the Church of St. Mary at Blachernae
Blachernae
Blachernae was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. It was the site of a spring and a number of prominent churches were built there, most notably the great Church of St. Mary of Blachernae , built by Empress Pulcheria in circa 450,...
. This relic was embroidered with gold thread by the Empress Zoe, the wife of Emperor Leo VI, (in gratitude for a miracleous cure) and, divided into three sections, is presently kept in a silver reliquary at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Vateopedi on Mt. Athos.
Placing of the Cincture
During the 12th century, the Emperor Manuel I Komninos (1143–1180) an official feast day for the cincture was established on August 31August 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
August 30 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Sep. 1All fixed commemorations below celebrated on September 13 by Old Calendarists-Saints:*Hieromartyr Cyprian, bishop of Carthage *St. Paulinus, bishop of Trier...
on the Orthodox liturgical calendar
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Associated with each date are passages of Holy Scripture, Saints and events for commemoration, and many times special rules for fasting or feasting that correspond to the day of...
.
Later, the Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354.-Early life:Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of a Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was a descendant of the reigning house of...
(1347–1355) donated the cincture to the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, where it remains to this day, in a silver reliquary
Reliquary
A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...
of newer manufacture which depicts the Monastery.
Public adoration
In the fall of 2011, the venerated object was brought to Russia to allow Russian Orthodox Christian piligrims to reverence it in different cities. In St.Petersburg it attracted a 2km-long line of people to the Resurrection Nunnery on Moskovsky Prospect virtually blocking automotive traffic on adjacent streets, totalling 200 thousand, with Vladimir PutinVladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
being among the first ones. The second city was Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
where about 150 thousand of people from nearby territories came, including regional governor Alexander Misharin
Alexander Misharin
Alexander Sergeevich Misharin is the current governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast, a region in Russia. He was appointed in 2009 after resignation of the previous governor, Eduard Rossel.- Biography :...
.. The next cities were Norilsk (50 thousand, a quarter of Taymyr Peninsula
Taymyr Peninsula
The Taymyr Peninsula is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of mainland Eurasia and Asia...
population) and Vladivostok, the further voyage is planned until the end of November.
External links
- The Placing of the Cincture (Sash) of the Most Holy Mother of God Orthodox synaxarion and iconIconAn icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...