| The woman at Dura-Europos has yet more secrets to reveal. Archival photographs and drawings made by the archaeologists on site show that the supposed absence behind the female figure is not totally silent — it speaks a couple of lines. That is to say, a field sketch of the wall done “to show additional details” depicts two painted lines touching the woman’s back, along with a kind of starburst on the front of her torso, features described as “unexplained” in the archaeological report. But with the new interpretation of the figure, in connection with the Eastern iconography that came later, the lines invite a rather evident meaning. They appear to represent a motion toward the woman’s body and a spark of activity within it, as if something invisible were approaching and entering her — an incarnation. If correct, this woman at a well is the oldest securely datable image of the Virgin Mary. Devotees of the Roman catacombs may demur, since a few female figures there are often presented as Mary. But these are challenging to date with certainty, and many scholars argue that the proposed examples have insufficiently specific iconographic signifiers. Identifying the oldest image of Mary isn’t an end in itself. Reidentifying this woman helps us to ponder anew the distinctive emphases of early Christians in Syria, who in this baptistery celebrated salvation through images of marriage, pregnancy and birth — as much or more than through participation in a ritualized death. This is not to undermine the power of Jesus’ passion and resurrection accounts, but rather to rebalance the perspective of modern Western viewers, looking back after centuries of art focused on the cross. In the extant art from Dura-Europos, we see the hope of new spiritual birth, but the death of Christ is not pictured once. Today the paintings from this church are safe. But further opportunities to understand early Syrian Christianity are slipping away, as the archaeological sites of Deir ez-Zor are being systematically plundered under the auspices of the Islamic State. According to satellite images and reports from the ground, the looting pits at Dura-Europos are innumerable. Even while the human tragedy of the refugee crisis justifiably occupies our attention, the destruction of cultural heritage tells a parallel narrative. |
| But what makes the picture truly remarkable is the figure of Christ who, as usual, stands in an aureole and holds the soul (fig. 2). For he is shown with three heads. The three-headed Christ as a symbol of the Trinity was known in Byzantine art by the thirteenth century 964 . A similar way of representing the Trinity was known (although unusual) in the late-medieval Catholic world, for it was mocked by John Calvin, and later condemned by popes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The combination of this Trinitarian image with that of the Dormition, however, appears to be extremely unusual. Transported into a western cultural context at Rapallo, this iconography presented a challenge to religious opinion. Given the controversy which in the West since the sixteenth century has attended any representation of the Trinity, not least because of doctrinal issues dividing the Orthodox and Latin churches, the promoters of the cult of the Montallegro image have at all periods been at great pains to emphasise its orthodoxy. In their vindication of the icon, its defenders have clarified their position in relation both to Trinitarian theology, and to opponents of the cult of Christian images in general. In the seventeenth century an energetic publicist for the Montgallegro Madonna, a Jesuit named Giovanni Agostino Molfino, attempted to order the destruction of all copies of an engraving made after it which, he claimed, misrepresented the picture in showing Christ’s triple heads emerging from a single body 965 . Molfino issued his own, widely circulated version in which the three heads are attached to three distinct bodies (fig. 3). Thus Molfino purported to find in the picture a Catholic image of the three several Persons of the Trinity. His insistence and achievement – for Molfino’s version became the most familiar, and was in turn reproduced in many ex-votos made for the shrine by grateful devotees (fig. 4) – is the more remarkable given the fact that the original picture clearly shows Christ with, indeed, three heads, but with only a single body 966 . The torso with three heads in this eastern icon represents an idea of the equality of the three Persons of the Trinity which comes closer to Orthodox than to western theology. |
| So she seems to be admitting this. Mr. Daleiden: Absolutely, absolutely. Everyone admitted at the end of the day that it constituted as some kind of financial benefit to Planned Parenthood. Nobody denied that when the media spotlight wasn’t on them. And Dr. Mary Gatter, who is the president of Planned Parenthood’s medical directors council, she described the arrangement that Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles has had with Novogenix Laboratories and said, “It was very easy. We didn’t have to do anything,” yet they still received so-called “compensation” for it. Mr. Allen: David, also at issue in this video is patient consent. For researchers to use the fetal tissue or body parts, the specimens need to remain intact, which could mean that the providers would have to use a different method to abort first-trimester fetuses. But, per Planned Parenthood’s own protocols, women who decide to donate their fetal tissues are told that their care will not be changed in any way based on their decision. Do your videos, past or future, provide evidence that Planned Parenthood is or has violated this protocol by using different methods to maintain intact fetuses so they can be sold or harvested? Mr. Daleiden: Planned Parenthood is lying to their patients and lying to pregnant women who come into their clinics, because Planned Parenthood… Every single Planned Parenthood doctor that we talked to was happy to modify their abortion technique in order to get higher quality baby parts for sale. And they’re not just willing to make slight alterations; they’re willing to use flat-out illegal abortion procedures in order to get those body parts… Mr. Allen: Wow. Mr. Daleiden: ...like the partial-birth abortion technique, which is where you use ultrasound guidance to convert the fetus to a breech position, you pull the baby out of the mother feet-first, keeping it all in one piece, because, as the baby’s body gets bigger from the legs to the torso to the shoulders, it helps to increasingly dilate the birth canal so you can get a fully intact fetus out of the mother. And that’s exactly the procedure that Dr. Nucatola, the senior director of medical services for Planned Parenthood, described to our investigators that she and other Planned Parenthood doctors could use in order to get higher quality fetal hearts and brains and livers in order to sell. And that procedure is completely illegal according to federal law, and that’s an issue that Planned Parenthood—that’s an argument that they’ve completely dropped for the past five or six weeks. They won’t even address that issue because they have no defense for it. |
| Подобную же многочисленность сюжетов и развитие известных идей символическими сценами мы находим, иногда, и в языческих саркофагах; так, например, в барельефе подобной гробницы, по всей вероятности, конца II-ro или начала III-ro столетия, сохраняющейся теперь в Капитолийском музее в Риме [Lubke, Geschichte der Plastik, zw. Auf. erst. Band; см. также перевод этого сочинения г-м Чаевым, Москва, изд. К.Т. Солдатенкова, и Torso, Kunst, Kunstler und Kunstwerke des Griechischen und Romischen Alterthums von Adolf Stahr zw. Aus., Braunschweig 1878, zw. Theil, S. 455–7] изображена судьба души человека следующим образом: четыре стихии переданы аллегорическими фигурами; среди них, обнимаются Амур и Психея; далее – Прометей формирует фигуру человека, которой богиня Афина дает душу, держа над головою ее бабочку – эмблема Психеи, т. е. души. Возле, гений смерти опрокидывает на грудь лежачего человека факел, на вершине которого изображена душа, снова под видом бабочки, тогда как Меркурий, провожатый душ, уводит, под видом фигуры Психеи, в подземное царство душу умершего. Подле, виден Прометей, прикованный к скале и освобожденный Геркулесом, пускающим стрелу в клюющего его ястреба. Ряд этих сюжетов начинается изображением Адама и Евы, стоящих у дерева, в чем проявляется влияние христианства на умирающее язычество и, вместе, синкретизм, т. е. сближение разных сект, преобладавший в эту эпоху в римском обществе. Отражение христианских идей заметно в барельефах языческих саркофагов III-ro столетия так же и потому, что в них часто символически передана надежда на будущую жизнь, на загробное существование. Мысли подобного рода гораздо чаще выражаются в барельефах римских гробниц после распространения новой веры, чем до того времени. 921 Образчики подобных саркофагов читатель может видеть у Р. R. Garrucci «Storia dell’ arte cristiana». По гравюрам этого сочинения, можно проследить постепенный ход упадка христианской скульптуры на западе до III-ro столетия. 923 Тот же характер имеет саркофаг более позднего времени, но в котором, вероятно, повторился тип, уже установившийся несколько веков тому назад в Византии. Это, именно, мраморная гробница великого князя Ярослава I-ro, находящаяся в Софийском соборе в Киеве. К несчастью, саркофаг этот прислонен двумя сторонами к стене, так что его нельзя обойти кругом, и до половины зарыт в землю. На крышке, имеющей вид покатой, на обе стороны, кровли, – что встречается довольно часто и в равеннских саркофагах, – изображены, подобно тому, как на последних, не образ человека, а символические христианские знаки и фигуры, принадлежащие к ранней символике верующих, как, например, пальмовые ветви, виноградная лоза с плодами, две рыбы по сторонам верхнего бруса равностороннего креста и возле – греческие слова ИС ХС HIKA, т. е. Иисус Христос Победитель; птицы на деревьях и, на одной из боковых сторон саркофага, монограмма следующей очень древней формы – . |
| That is what Suvorov taught! A soldier must be healthy, brave, firm, decisive, upright, and pious! A. V. Suvorov Imitation is pitiful, emulation is praiseworthy… Emulation is the impulse of a noble soul who wants to prove his challenged advantage. A. V. Suvorov “…Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven…” Ten chipper young voices in chorus count the times chin touches bar. “Twenty-eight!!!” Dimitry Yakushin barely touches the cold metal for the last time, and breathing heavily, jumps down from the bars. Steam is rising from his heated, steely torso. No small frost today—minus 23 C! The boys of the military-patriotic club named after Prince Dimitry Pozharsky embrace their friend and shake his hand. It looks like they’ll be the winners today… / On February 16–17, in the Vladimir region of Russia, ran the fifth Interregional Suvorov Military-Patriotic Club competition, with other children and teen military-patriotic groups. The choice of venue was not accidental. Here, on the outskirts of the ancient Russian town of Lakinsk—once the location of the village of Undol—was one of Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov’s estates. The mansion itself was destroyed during the revolution. Now there is a birch grove here. The Kazan Church, where the great army commander often prayed and sang in the choir, was preserved and is now functioning. Nearby is the village of Fetinino, where the estate of “Suvorochka,” Alexander Vasielivich’s beloved daughter, Natalia Suvorova-Zubova. Its buildings were also destroyed, but the church and bell tower which she sponsored still stands. Over 250 boys participated in twenty-two teams from the central regions of Russia, the Central Transvolga, and Siberia. The youngest participant was eight, the oldest, seventeen. The event was organized by the Center for the National Glory of Russia; the Apostle Andrei the First-Called Foundation; the Ushakov Group; “Orthodox Russia” social benefit organization; the military department of the Moscow Patriarchate and Vladimir Diocese; and representatives of local government. |
| Senate Democrats Defeat Bill To Ban Abortion On Babies Capable of Feeling Pain From Abortion Source: LifeSiteNews Washington, D.C., September 22, 2015 Senate Democrats have blocked a Senate bill that would have protected babies capable of feeling pain from being aborted. The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1553) received a majority of votes in the Republican-controlled chamber, by a vote of 54-42. But it fell short of the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Restoring the procedural block was one of the first moves made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when he assumed leadership in January. The filibuster had been abolished by his predecessor, Democrat Harry Reid, who used the opportunity to push through vast swaths of President Barack Obama " s legislative agenda and pro-abortion judicial nominees. Pro-life critics, especially Sen. Ted Cruz, have criticized Mitch McConnell for holding " show votes " that he knew would be thwarted in the chamber. Three pro-life – Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Bob Casey of – voted yes. Two Republicans, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine, voted no. Presidential hopefuls cast their vote on the bill, as well. Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio all voted yes. Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, voted against the measure. " Today’s failure of the Senate to pass a law preventing most abortions after babies are old enough to feel pain is beyond belief, " said Lila Rose, the president and founder of Live Action. " It should sicken every American that our elected leaders refuse to protect the most vulnerable in our society, even when science has proven that at just 20 weeks old, children in the womb can feel the intense pain of the abortionists’ tools tearing their arms and legs from their bodies. " " Every senator who voted against this legislation is telling the public loud and clear that he supports the barbaric, horrific practice of tearing limb from torso and poisoning to death five-month, seven-month, and even eight-month-old babies in the womb, " she said. |
| Road accident in the Khabarovsk region: a seriously injured priest helped rescue many passengers; 84-year-old survivor baptized Khabarovsk (a port in Eastern Russia near the Chinese border), August 7, 2015 Secretary of the Amur Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Dean of the Cathedral of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Igumen Tikhon (Tyuryumin) was seriously injured in the road accident that occurred on the Khabarovsk-Komsomolsk motorway on August 5. After the accident, Fr. Tikhon was taken to the Clinical Hospital No. 1 of Khabarovsk. According to the doctors, his condition is serious and he is currently in the intensive care unit, reports the Pravostok.ru portal. According to eyewitnesses, at the scene of the accident Fr. Tikhon, with serious injuries (multiple rib fractures, hemathorax, a penetrating wound of the left eye, multiple contusions and abrasions on torso and extremities), nevertheless helped evacuate the injured passengers from the severely damaged buses. On August 7 the clergy of the Khabarovsk Diocese visited the crash survivors at Clinical Hospital No. 1 of Khabarovsk in order to perform holy sacraments. On that day, 84-year-old Maria Ivanovna in the traumatic surgery department was baptized by Hieromonk Innocent (Mitin). In spite of her poor condition (she could hardly sit up on her bed), Maria Ivanovna rejoiced at her Baptism and was grateful for the kind attention. According to the woman, “a bearded man” helped her get out of the bus after that terrible accident – it was Fr. Tikhon (Tyutyurin) from the Amur Diocese. On that day a lady named Elena with her 6-year-old daughter Anastasia were given Holy Communion. Elena lost a close friend in that crash, while little Anastasia was not injured at all. “It was because I was wearing a cross,” said Anastasia, addressing her mother. “I will never take it off again. And you, please, always wear it too.” 10 августа 2015 г. Смотри также Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| The first serious blow dealt to our pro-western orientation was Kosovo. It was a shock. Our rose-colored glasses were gone. The bombing raids on Belgrad became for my generation the same thing as the attack on the Twin Towers was for Americans. Our consciousness took a 180 degree turn; along with the airplane carrying the, then, premier Eugene Primakov flying from Ireland to the USA over the Atlantic Ocean, and who, when hearing about America’s aggressive action, gave the command to turn the plane around and return to Russia. At that time there wasn’t really any kind of anti-western propaganda in our media. Our own NTV explained to us on a daily basis that though dropping bombs on a major European city was…well, excessive, but after all, Milosovich was repulsive beyond anything the world had seen, so we just have to grin and bear it. The satirical cartoon program “Dolls” presented it as a common disagreement in one of our communal housing units where a drunken neighbor is torturing “Citizen Kosovo” and no one can do much about it except her boyfriend—with a powerful torso and the face of Bill Clinton. We took it in, but, already, didn’t believe it. It wasn’t funny anymore. By that time we understood that the Yugoslavia conflict was a precursor to what could happen to us in the future. The second Iraq conflict, Afghanistan, the final separation of Kosovo, the “Arab Spring”, Libya, Syria, though somewhat surprising events, did not shock us. All our illusions were gone: we more or less knew with whom we are sharing our planet. But despite all of that, the entire time we still maintained our Western orientation. The myth of an evil America, but a benevolent Europe continued. The Kosovo fears gradually lost their edge and our compromise position looked this way: yes, of course, we can’t stand shoulder to shoulder with these players, but we can play the big game. After all, whom else can we compete with? Even the parade of several multi-colored revolutions appeared as somewhat minor delinquencies. But then came Euro-Maidan and the subsequent brutal civil war: demonstrating with absolute clarity that absent all procedures and rules, with the “democratic process” lightly sprinkled on the enemy’s territory, we are now up against something more than mere geopolitical toys, but, rather, very real weapons of mass destruction. And it’s the only type of weapon that can be applied against a country that possesses a nuclear shield. It’s all very simple: when you press a button and send a rocket overseas, in response you’ll get back the same massive rocket. But when you deploy a chain reaction of chaos in to the territory of your enemy, you don’t have to prove or justify anything. Aggression? What aggression? This is a natural democratic process! A people’s age-old aspiration to be free! |
| When faced with struggle or temptation, ask God that we might struggle a little more. Give thanks to God that we are being provided an opportunity for our sanctification and salvation in him. Look to Christ as a source of strength—as one who suffered all, and yet without sin. Consider the lives of the Saints, who have imaged Christ in their own struggles. In the end, remember that Christ didn’t suffer so that we wouldn’t have to. He suffered, died, and conquered death-by-death so that we could handle suffering with him. Casting our lot with Christ is a calling to suffering, a calling to carry a Cross—whether great or small. But through Christ, through the mysteries of the Church, and through our own individual struggle and ascesis, we can live as co-heirs of him, prepared for future glory. Gabe Martini On Behalf of All 4 июля 2014 г. Подпишитесь на рассылку Православие.Ru Рассылка выходит два раза в неделю: Смотри также Комментарии Seraphim N. 28 мая 2016, 01:00 A timely bit of encouragement on a day full of physical affliction. Thank you indeed! Dawna Lawrence 20 сентября 2014, 15:00 Wendy, your health issue sounds like mine-including the skin lesions and lack of medical understanding and care. I,too, was stricken pretty bad with the flu in March of 2009. I will pray for you. I understand what you are going through because I am in the same situation. Benjamin Chung 17 сентября 2014, 15:00 Lord has given us way to salvation from sin and death.....Lord help us to follow the WAY of truth. help us overcome our sins and weaknesses.....give us the strength and help us maintain in truth. Amen Wendy 9 июля 2014, 19:00 I am having a hard time. I have a problem with my immune system and so does my daughter. It is really starting to affect our lives. But is most difficult, is that the doctors where I live are not telling the truth. I showed them the report from an Immunologist in Russia, but they keep denying us proper, effective, and most importantly, timely medical care. Instead of helping us, one doctor actually lied straight to my face and said that the scratching and rashes on my daughter " s arms, legs, torso, was lice. What do you do when doctors lie, and the government protects their lies? I have struggled with this since 2009 when we got hit by Swine Flu. I do not want money, fame, or power. I just want medical care for my daughter and I. Just the physical ability to get up in the morning, to stand in prayer, water the garden, clean the house, take care of my family and aging parents. I just don " t understand what I do next. I pray. I pray all the time. I pray for forgiveness of my sins. I pray for peace between nations. I pray for health. I pray for strength for doctors. But no matter what I do, medical help never comes. So now I pray God will take mercy on me and give the strength to carry this cross. But what I really help is just some medical help. |
| Another example provides a 12 th century Novgorodian icon of Our Lady of the Sign (‘Znamenie’ or ‘Blachemitissa’), which has two relic cases on the reverse, in a way “inscribed” in the composition – the upper is between the hands of saints, outstretched to Christ and, at the same time, pointing at the shrine to show that the icon was painted with consideration for the relics preserved in it. This upper shrine is where the lips of the Virgin are represented on the obverse. The lower relic case corresponds to the torso of the Virgin and the lips of the Child – an indication of the value of the relics – presumably, fragments of the Veil and the Robe of the Virgin, or the Robe and the Belt. Engelina Smirnova justly pointed out an associative link of the Novgorodian worship of the icon of Our Lady of the Sign (Apparition) with the Blachernae worship of the Robe and so with the mediaeval Russian cult of the Intercession. As we see it, not merely metaphorical but direct connection could exist, if the relics in the icon had come from Blachernae. That was why the icon was taken out of its small wooden church and placed on the city wall during a siege of Novgorod in 1169. Only indirect references to miracle-working relics in the icon are extant: according to a 17 th century document, a procession carried the Icon of the Sign to the Intercession Church of the Zverin Monastery in Novgorod, July 2, the day of the Deposition of the Robe at Blachernae; a Novgorodian altar cross made at the turn of the 17 th century preserves a secondary relic, the Wood from the icon of Our Lady of the Sign. Possibly, the presence of a semicircular-topped shrine in the reverse of the Novgorodian icon under the image of the Saviour, with arms raised in blessing, influenced the evolution of the Novgorodian iconographic version of the Intercession of the Virgin. The most spectacular testimony to the link between the worship of the Robe and Veil, and Dormition worship is to be found in a cycle of five medallions on the 12 th century West Doors of the cathedral in Suzdal. One detail of the bronze doors deserves special attention – the Protective Veil of the Virgin, which Christ blesses as it is floating in the air literally repeats the headscarf painted in 12 th and 13 th century Russian icons of the Mother of God. Icon-painters were probably aware of the link between the image and the original relic. A small icon of the 1170s, the Virgin Eleousa, of the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, emphasizes the light blue maphorion shining on the head of the Virgin, which the Vita of St. Andrew Salus describes as «radiant as electrum with the Glory of the Lord». Certain Russian icons of the Virgin, especially the early 13th century icon of Our Lady of Belozero, portrays that part of her attire flowing in a cupola form. That “deformation” of the maphorion cannot be explained by artistic style. It evidently alludes to the miracle of the Protective Veil. |
|
|
