The Catalog of Good Deeds

The Hetoimasia (Gr. ἑτοιμασία, “preparation”), or Throne of Preparation, is one of the most widespread images in iconography, particularly in Orthodox Christianity. It very rarely dominates any composition it is part of, so the image and its significance can be overlooked. In this article, the image and its history is explored through three interpretations of what the Throne represents.

The empty throne representing Christ

The empty throne is a pre-Christian symbol of invisible or absent authority. Empty thrones are used in ancient art to represent gods in a wide range of cultures, whilst the Etruscans literally placed empty seats at the head of a table during religious feasts for the god to invisibly join the company. From the time of Alexander the Great onwards, the empty throne is also used in Greek culture to represent human monarchs where they were absent from proceedings. This was carried on into the Christian era, so that at the First Ecumenical Council, for example, an empty throne bearing the royal insignia was present to represent the Emperor Constantine, who otherwise did not take part in the bishops’ meeting.

By the time of the second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, a Gospel Book rests upon empty throne, not representing the Emperor, but Jesus Christ. Using the throne to represent Christ is obvious, given the clear references to Jesus as king in the Scriptures. During holidays, the Christian ruler of the Byzantine Empire would sit on a throne which itself was situated to the right of an even grander, empty, throne representing Christ and His sovereignty over all. Iconography of the same period (i.e. the first millennium) often shows the throne as backless with a footstool. Draped over the throne is a robe, in Tyrian purple or else elaborately decorated to represent imperial authority. Also present are symbols of the Passion: the Cross, the spear, and the sponge soaked in vinegar. The ancient symbol of victory – the laurel wreath – is hung on the Cross to declare the message of the Passion being a moment of victory for Christ.

The specific arrangement of items around the Throne in iconography may be a reflection of how the physical “empty throne” of Christ was displayed on feast days. Regardless, the composition persisted into the medieval period and is still present today. The only variation is the occasional presence of a chalice (or other vessel) representing the Eucharist, nails of the Crucifixion, or the rendering of the laurel-wreath as the crown of thorns worn by Christ. These later variations change the emphasis of the Hetoimasia slightly, away from the image of Christ as victorious monarch, and onto the crucifixion and the Eucharistic sacrifice. However, both forms of the Empty Throne exist side-by-side.

An image of the Holy Trinity

It must be stressed that the Hetoimasia as described above does not represent Christ as an “absent” king, but as an invisible presence. In this sense it hearkens back to the original use of the throne to represent divine, rather than absent secular, authority. In some icons of Pentecost, the Throne of Preparation is used to show the presence of God and the descent of the Holy Spirit (e.g. The Pentecost Mosaic of San Marco, Venice).

Here a dove represents the Holy Spirit, and resting upon the Throne we suddenly see the Hetoimasia as a symbol of the Holy Trinity: the dove is the Spirit, the Gospel Book is the Son (the Word), and the throne itself is the Father.

The throne of the Last Judgment

As already described, the Hetoimasia is found as a detail in icons of Pentecost. It is also a detail in icons of Holy Wisdom, as well as in the top-centre of Russian icons of Saints, where it is short-hand for the Holy Trinity. In Russia it is also found on the back of some icons, so that no space is left blank during processions, such as on the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. However, overwhelmingly the most common place to find the hetoimasia is on icons of the Last Judgment.

This is the answer to the question: what is the “Throne of Preparation” prepared for? The answer is the Second Coming of Christ, where the hetoimasia is the “sign of the Son of man” of Matthew 24:30: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”. The “sign of the Son of Man” is also interpreted as the Cross, however as the hetoimasia also has a cross there is no contradiction. The Throne as the symbol of the Judgment is also drawn from the Psalms: “But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment.” (Ps 9:7). The Book of Revelation contains the most references to the Judgment Seat, particularly in chapter four. Whilst its true that the book of Revelation describes the throne as occupied, the iconography of the Last Judgment is dynamic and so Christ can be viewed as descending upon the empty Throne ready to judge the world.

***

Although the image of the Throne of Preparation has changed over the centuries, the three main interpretations: the invisible presence of Christ, the Holy Trinity, and the Last Judgment, have co-existed for almost as long. Indeed, the three representations compliment each other: Christ is always invisibly present with us, the Holy Spirit sits on the throne and acts as the vicar of Christ, and at a time we don’t expect we will be brought before the Throne to face God’s Judgment.

Source: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/hetoimasia-the-throne-of-preparation/#more-1863

"The Seven Youths of Ephesus: Maximilian, Iamblicus, Martinian, John, Dionysius, Exacustodianus (Constantine) and Antoninus, lived in the third century. St Maximilian was the son of the Ephesus city administrator, and the other six youths were sons of illustrious citizens of Ephesus. The youths were friends from childhood, and all were in military service together.

When the emperor Decius (249-251) arrived in Ephesus, he commanded all the citizens to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Torture and death awaited anyone who disobeyed. The seven youths were denounced by informants, and were summoned to reply to the charges. Appearing before the emperor, the young men confessed their faith in Christ.

Their military belts and insignia were quickly taken from them. Decius permitted them to go free, however, hoping that they would change their minds while he was off on a military campaign. The youths fled from the city and hid in a cave on Mount Ochlon, where they passed their time in prayer, preparing for martyrdom.

The youngest of them, St Iamblicus, dressed as a beggar and went into the city to buy bread. On one of his excursions into the city, he heard that the emperor had returned and was looking for them. St Maximilian urged his companions to come out of the cave and present themselves for trial.

Learning where the young men were hidden, the emperor ordered that the entrance of the cave be sealed with stones so that the saints would perish from hunger and thirst. Two of the dignitaries at the blocked entrance to the cave were secret Christians. Desiring to preserve the memory of the saints, they placed in the cave a sealed container containing two metal plaques. On them were inscribed the names of the seven youths and the details of their suffering and death.

The Lord placed the youths into a miraculous sleep lasting almost two centuries. In the meantime, the persecutions against Christians had ceased. During the reign of the holy emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450) there were heretics who denied that there would be a general resurrection of the dead at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some of them said, "How can there be a resurrection of the dead when there will be neither soul nor body, since they are disintegrated?" Others affirmed, "The souls alone will have a restoration, since it would be impossible for bodies to arise and live after a thousand years, when even their dust would not remain." Therefore, the Lord revealed the mystery of the Resurrection of the Dead and of the future life through His seven saints.

The owner of the land on which Mount Ochlon was situated, discovered the stone construction, and his workers opened up the entrance to the cave. The Lord had kept the youths alive, and they awoke from their sleep, unaware that almost two hundred years had passed. Their bodies and clothing were completely undecayed.

Preparing to accept torture, the youths once again asked St Iamblicus to buy bread for them in the city. Going toward the city, the youth was astonished to see a cross on the gates. Hearing the name of Jesus Christ freely spoken, he began to doubt that he was approaching his own city.

When he paid for the bread, Iamblicus gave the merchant coins with the image of the emperor Decius on it. He was detained, as someone who might be concealing a horde of old money. They took St Iamblicus to the city administrator, who also happened to be the Bishop of Ephesus. Hearing the bewildering answers of the young man, the bishop perceived that God was revealing some sort of mystery through him, and went with other people to the cave.

At the entrance to the cave the bishop found the sealed container and opened it. He read upon the metal plaques the names of the seven youths and the details of the sealing of the cave on the orders of the emperor Decius. Going into the cave and seeing the saints alive, everyone rejoiced and perceived that the Lord, by waking them from their long sleep, was demonstrating to the Church the mystery of the Resurrection of the Dead.

Soon the emperor himself arrived in Ephesus and spoke with the young men in the cave. Then the holy youths, in sight of everyone, lay their heads upon the ground and fell asleep again, this time until the General Resurrection.

The emperor wanted to place each of the youths into a jeweled coffin, but they appeared to him in a dream and said that their bodies were to be left upon the ground in the cave. In the twelfth century the Russian pilgrim Igumen Daniel saw the holy relics of the seven youths in the cave.

There is a second commemoration of the seven youths on October 22. According to one tradition, which entered into the Russian Prologue (of Saints' Lives), the youths fell asleep for the second time on this day. The Greek Menaion of 1870 says that they first fell asleep on August 4, and woke up on October 22.

Holy Seven Youths of Ephesus, Troparion, in Tone IV

In their sufferings, O Lord,/ Thy martyrs received imperishable crowns from Thee, our God;/ for, possessed of Thy might,/ they set at nought the tormentors and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons.// Through their supplications save Thou our souls.

Kontakion, in Tone IV, "Having been lifted up..."

Spurning the corrupt things of this world and accepting gifts of incorruption,/ though they died yet did they remain untouched by corruption./ Wherefore, they arose after many years,/ burying all the unbelief of the wicked.// O ye faithful, praising them today in laudation, let us hymn Christ!

Source: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com.by/2011/08/holy-seven-youths-of-ephesus.html

The miraculous image of the all-holy Theotokos, “The Joy of All Who Sorrow”, which is enshrined in the Chapel of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, at the headquarters of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, in New York City, is one of many icons which miraculously renewed themselves during and after the Russian Revolution and Civil War.

The Wave of Self-Renewals

The phenomenon of miraculous self-renewal was first noticed in southern Russia, which had of late been drowned in torrents of blood. Moreover, it extended not only to icons, but also to crosses on the domes and roofs of churches. Gradually, the phenomenon spread eastward, across Russia, to Irkutsk (1919) and Vladivostok. In the latter city, an icon with multiple images of the Theotokos, as well as those of several saints, renewed itself on Friday of Cheesefare Week (February 3rd) 1923. It had been so dimmed from age that its subjects could no longer be identified; yet the patina of age, which lay over it like a cataract on an eye, miraculously cleared and revealed the images hidden beneath for so long. Throughout the Great Fast and Paschal period of 1923, the incidents of miraculous renewal increased in number.

In Russia, the renewals made a profound impression on the masses, whose commitment to Holy Orthodoxy was consequently deepened. Indeed, the faithful hastened en masse to any church where an icon was renewed. Agents of the G.P.U. (the organ of state security, forerunner of the K.G.B.) made every effort to conceal the miracles: they appointed committees, gathered the people together, scrubbed unrenewed areas on the icons with soap and lye, and tried to prove that the self-renewal was nothing more than a fraud and charlatanry, a trick of the priests, as a consequence of which the clergy held themselves completely aloof from the matter. Yet the signs of grace-bearing renewals, as if to confound the foes of religion more completely, only increased in frequency; and all the efforts of the enemies of the Truth to reverse the rise in religious devotion were in vain. There were even members of the very committees set up to prove the falsity of the miracles who were shaken by the extraordinary phenomenon. One such was a certain doctor who, having inspected a self-renewed image, said: “Yes, it is very strange!”

Having reached the Pacific coast at Vladivostok, the wave of self-renewals turned south, into Manchuria, and was manifested in the Diocese of Harbin. It came to the city of Harbin itself on November 8th, 1923, when an icon of the holy martyrs George and Alexandra renewed itself.

The Miraculous Renewal of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Joy of All Who Sorrow”

The icon of the Mother of God, “The Joy of All Who Sorrow” was the second icon to be renewed in the city of Harbin. It was kept in the chapel of the “House of Charity”, which Bishop Nestor of Kamchatka had built as a facility for the chronically ill, the elderly and the orphaned. The chapel was dedicated to the Mother of God, in honor of her icon “The Joy of All Who Sorrow”, and one of the bishop’s helpers, the pious Catherine I. Kurmaya, who owned a copy of this icon, donated it to the chapel. The icon was painted in traditional Orthodox style, but was so darkened with age that it was almost impossible to make out the faces of the saints, let alone the various inscriptions on the scrolls they held.

Bishop (later Metropolitan) Methodius (Gerasimov) of Harbin & Manchuria (+1932) had closely inspected the icon, both before its renewal and afterwards. He saw that the gold and pigments of the icon had become bright and vivid, yet spots which evinced the ravages of time and areas which had been repainted were also preserved, as though to bear witness to the miracle.

Witnesses to the renewal, inmates of the “House of Charity”, have left us the following description of the miracle:

“On Thursday, 23 November/6 December [1923], after 9:00 A.M., the image began to change outwardly. Gradually, in a manner completely undetectable to the eye, the brightness of the various colors and the tone of the individual brush-strokes began to grow clearer. The change that was becoming manifest was like the lifting of a fog from the air. As far as one could observe, the change was accomplished in the following order: first, the halos surrounding the faces of the holy ones, which constitute a symbolic representation of the aura of holiness, grew brighter; later, the inscriptions present on the icon grew clearer; and finally, the raiment and the faces of the saints of God, and the all-holy Theotokos and the preëternal Infant, became clear. Somewhat before the lightening of the faces of the Mother of God and the Savior, the depictions of the two angels on the left and right sides of the icon, who hold a banner bearing words of praise in honor of the Theotokos, stood out. Only at the very end did the colors of the roundel at the top of the icon, containing an image of the Lord of Sabaoth, lighten. Over a 24-hour period beginning on 23 November/6 December the changes proceeded in a noticeable yet almost imperceptible way. One must consider the morning of 24 November/7 December, the feast of the Greatmartyr Catherine, to be the main period of alteration, during which outlines of complete clarity, bringing the image to its actual appearance, appeared at about 2:00 P.M.; although, in fact, the process of its renewal continued even longer, until late evening, and even throughout the whole night of 25 November/8 December. Many of the hospice’s employees and inmates noticed the renewal of the icon, as well as the donor of the icon, who arrived at the church in the evening of November 23rd for the vigil service and decorated the church. A number of those who regularly attended services in that church likewise noted the altered appearance of the image, but, fearing ridicule, not all of them shared news of the renewal with others. Only in the morning of 24 November/7 December, before the beginning of the divine liturgy, when the congregants approached to venerate the icon, did they first remark publicly on the genuine changes taking place on the image; and after the liturgy those who worked at the hospice and in the church were openly and spontaneously speaking to one other of this fact, recognizing that the wondrous renewal of the icon was totally beyond dispute.”

The sign of the renewal that occurred becomes even more striking if one adds to what is set forth above the testimony of the former owner of the icon. We cite it here in full:

“27 November/10 December 1923. The image of the all-holy Theotokos, “the Joy of All Who Sorrow”, which I donated to the church at the orphanage, was an heirloom of the Bologov family, from which I am descended. As far as I know from family lore, the icon is about three hundred years old, at least. The icon passed down from generation to generation, and reached me and my sister, Sofia Ivanovna Bologova, through my late mother, who died three years ago in Odessa, where I was living at the time, and from which I traveled, arriving in Harbin on February 27th (N.S.) of last year. For as far back as I can remember, this icon has always been so dark that the faces of the saints and the inscriptions have been illegible. Neither my late parents, nor less myself, knew just which saints were depicted on the icon. Suffice it to say that my late husband always honored the memory of John the Warrior, while I honored the martyr Antipas, who when I was a child saved me from blood poisoning due to a dental abcess. Both my husband and myself, whenever we were in the holy churches, would always try to find the images of these saints, to bow down and light candles before them. Neither of us was aware that these saints appeared on the icon that has now been renewed. Only the miraculous lightening of the icon now enables me to testify that these saints are depicted on the icon. Wondrous are Thy works, O Lord!”

The striking miracle of the grace of God, the renewal of the holy icon, rocked the whole city of Harbin. Believers from all over began to come to the newly-revealed holy object to worship and pray; and the renewed image became one of the principle holy objects, not only of the church, but of all Orthodox Harbin.

There lived in Harbin at that time a pious couple, V. E. and A. I., Krislamov. They had as a servant a young girl named Shura [Alexandra]. Just before the miracle of the renewal of this icon, Shura came down with a fever so serious that the doctors warned her employers that she would surely die very soon. Filled with grief, the pious woman began to pray fervently before the holy image that the life of her young servant be spared; and, contrary to the doctors’ prognosis, the sick girl survived and recovered her health.

Quite some time later, in the 1950s, after the Chinese Communists had established dominion in the Far East, the following incident occurred. After many difficulties and troubles, a certain woman received the documents necessary for her to immigrate abroad; but having received them, she lost them, dropping them in the street. When she realized what had happened, she literally ran to the House of Mercy and began to pray before the holy icon. She then retraced her steps and discovered her documents, safe and sound, right where she had dropped them, even though she had done so on a busy thoroughfare.

When, after much difficulty, the last rector of the House of Mercy, Archimandrite (later Metropolitan) Philaret also emigrated from Harbin to Australia, and from there to the United States, the renewed icon and the other holy objects remained in that church, though it was closed down after the departure of the rector and its treasures and furnishings were deemed the property of the Chinese government. After protracted, lengthy and troublesome difficulties, Z. L. Tauts-Zverëva, who had latterly carried out the duties of church warden, managed to obtain permission to take the icon out of China. Only in the autumn of 1965, when Metropolitan Philaret traveled to Europe, was the renewed icon, after a lengthy stay in Hong Kong, brought to the United States, where it is enshrined in the Chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh at the headquarters of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, in New York City, to this day.

Source: http://en.nycathedralofsign.org/icon_theotokos.html

A limestone burial box, almost 2,000 years old, may provide the oldest archeological record of Jesus of Nazareth, experts announced.

The ossuary, as the bone boxes are known, dates to A.D. 63 and has an inscription in Aramaic which translates to: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," said Andre Lemaire, an expert in ancient writing who identified the box in Jerusalem last spring.

Aramaic, an ancient Semitic language, was the lingua franca of the Middle East for many centuries. At the time of Jesus' life, Aramaic was the common language of the Jews.

Writing about his findings in the new issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Lemaire, who teaches at the Sorbonne in Paris, called it "very probable" that the box belonged to Jesus' brother James, who by Christian tradition was the leader of the early church in Jerusalem.

Some scholars expressed doubt that the box, which is 20 inches long by 11 inches wide, could be definitively linked to Jesus, a Jewish carpenter by trade revered by Christians as the son of God.

"We may never be absolutely certain. In the work I do we're rarely absolutely certain about anything," said Kyle McCarter, a Johns Hopkins University archaeologist, who said that the finding was probable, but that he had "a bit of doubt."

While most scholars agree that Jesus existed, no physical evidence from the first century has ever been conclusively tied with his life.

Two scientists from the Israeli government's geological survey tested the box last month, inspecting the surface patina and inscription under a microscope. They concurred that the object is more than 19 centuries old, the archaeology magazine reported.

"It's hard to avoid the conclusion that these three names refer to the personages so identified in the New Testament," said Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Writing provides answers

Many of the conclusions reached by experts relied on the inscription written on the ossuary. The boxes commonly were used by Jewish families between 20 B.C. and A.D. 70 to store the bones of their loved ones.

Lemaire said out of hundreds of such boxes found with Aramaic writing only two contain mentions of a brother. From this, scholars infer that the brother was noted only when he was someone important.

James, Joseph and Jesus were common names in ancient Jerusalem, a city of about 40,000 residents. Lemaire estimates there could have been as many as 20 Jameses in the city with brothers named Jesus and fathers named Joseph.

But it is unlikely there would have been more than one James who had a brother of such importance that it merited having him mentioned on his ossuary, Lemaire said.

Lemaire found the box in June by accident, said Shanks, who was able to inspect the box personally.

'Didn't realize the significance'

The owner is reported to be a collector of ancient Jewish artifacts. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the box some 15 years ago from an antique dealer for $200 to $700, Shanks said.

The boxes "are not popular on the market because ... people don't want a bone box in their living room," Shanks said.

The collector, who is Jewish, was not aware that Jesus had a brother. He discovered the interest in the object only when he met Lemaire at a dinner party last spring and asked him to decipher some Aramaic written on a number of collectibles, Shanks said.

The box owner "didn't realize the significance," Shanks said. "He threw up his hands, 'How could the Son of God have a brother?'"

Plans are under way to exhibit the box at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, during the annual meeting of Bible scholars in November, Shanks said.

But he said whether the box belonged to Jesus' brother, it still provides a powerful link with the past.

"This is something that provides a bridge over time," he said. "My reaction is not so much excitement as it is awe."

By Jeordan Legon

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/10/21/jesus.box/

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Top 5 Blog Posts for the Week of October 30th, 2017

Iconographic Analysis of the Hetoimasia, the Throne of Preparation

The Story of the Holy Seven Youths of Ephesus

Ethereal Beauty That Comforted Our Souls: the Royal Voice Festival as Source of Inspiration

The Icon of the All-Holy Theotokos “The Joy of All Who Sorrow”

The Oldest Archaeological Evidence of Jesus

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