Faith · Observations · Society · Paris

The Olympic flame and ancient cults in the post author's reading of Games rituals

In essence, the Olympic Games are in fact a ritual. And by no means a Christian one. Only now, however, does the mystical, dark side of the rites attached to the "Games" become plainly visible. The Olympic flame is a tribute to Prometheus, who stole fire from the

Archive · Faith · The East · Monarchies · Moscow

Handwritten charter of the Council of Constantinople on the founding of the Moscow Patriarchate, on parchment with the lead seal of Jeremias II, Patriarch of Constantinople, May 1590

The text is as follows: "Jeremias, by the mercy of God Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch. Whereas the pious and peaceable Autocrat, Tsar of all the land of Russia, … and lord of other Orthodox Christians, Feodor Ivanovich, … has sought a dignity from us by the election

Archive · Faith · Monarchies · Moscow

Spiritual testament of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich on the division of lands among his sons

The Spiritual Testament, that is, the Will of Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow, Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, behold, I, the sinful and unworthy servant of God, Dmitry Ivanovich, write this spiritual

Faith · Heritage · Society

Greek police prepare to evict 118 monks from Esphigmenou Monastery on Mount Athos

Greek police are preparing to storm the Orthodox pilgrim monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos. In the news reports the monastery is called nothing but schismatic, because for many years Esphigmenou has stood in opposition to the rest of the Holy Mountain, to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and to the

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Death penalty for preventing the celebration of the liturgy in church

For such crimes, the Council Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich prescribed the following:. "And should any miscreant, coming into the church of God during the holy liturgy, by whatever means prevent the divine liturgy from being performed: then, having seized him and established the truth of the matter, that

Faith · Art · Observations

The risen Christ as a gardener and Mary recognising his voice

Mary Magdalene Did Not Recognise the Risen Christ and Took Him for the Gardener. The motif of the risen and unrecognised Christ recurs several times in the Gospel accounts, but it is in the guise of a gardener that the Saviour is at his most enigmatic. Mary did not recognise

NB! · Archive · Faith · Art · Books

The Penitent Harlot Thaïs Burns Her Worldly Goods under the Guidance of Her Spiritual Mentor Paphnutius

The penitent harlot Thaïs burns her worldly goods under the guidance of her spiritual mentor Paphnutius. An illustration from the enigmatic manuscript of the "Smithfield Decretals", a compilation of legal texts commissioned by Pope Gregory IX and dated to the thirteenth century, southern France

Archive · Faith · Science · People

Newton, alchemy and a calculation from the Book of Daniel on a major event around 2060

For more than 30 years Isaac Newton devoted himself to alchemical research, little known in his lifetime and little studied afterwards. Only in recent decades have scholars begun to pay serious attention to the manuscripts from his alchemical laboratory. The study of Newton's writings on alchemy and the

NB! · Faith · Society · Paris

Sixteen French Carmelite nuns who resisted revolutionary state control over the Catholic Church were executed on 17 July 1794 and became the Martyrs of Compiègne

Faith · Books · Observations

When your time comes to die, as soon as your soul has left the sublunary world and the light of the Sun, go to the right along the sacred meadows and groves of Phersephoneia, taking careful heed of temptations

You will come to the well-built temple of Hades. On the right (on the left) is a spring flowing from the lake of oblivion, Lethe; white waters gush forth there, and beside it stands a white cypress. Do not go near that spring, not even close. Here the descending

Still from a TV quiz show: a woman and a man in glasses, with a question about the Holy Synod's ban in 1916 and four answer options below.

NB! · Faith · Mores · Society

The Holy Synod banned the New Year tree in 1916 amid anti-German feeling in the First World War

In 1916 the Holy Synod banned the New Year tree. A tradition that had come from Germany was swept up in the general anti-German hysteria of the First World War

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Church penance as punishment in the 18th century in law and in practice

In the eighteenth century a number of crimes carried ecclesiastical penalties alongside civil sanctions. One such measure was penance, imposed by a church court. In 1716, for instance, the Military Statute obliged offenders to repent of idolatry, sorcery, the charming of firearms, fornication, perjury and manslaughter. Practice, however, could differ