The sash of the Theotokos
August 30th, 2008 ~ Orthodox perspectiveTomorrow in Orthros, you may hear a little about the deposition of the sash of the Theotokos (depending on what translation you use, that might also be ‘belt,’ ‘girdle’ or ‘cincture.’) It’s rare for the synaxarion to be read during the service, so I thought I’d quote it just in case anyone was as curious as I was about that:
Today in the Holy Orthodox Church we commemorate the placing of the holy Sash of the Theotokos in Constantinople’s Halkoprateia district during the reign of the emperor Theodosius the Younger. At her Dormition (August 15), the most holy Mother of God left her Sash to the holy Apostle Thomas.
This Sash was later taken to Constantinople and kept there in a sealed casket in the church of the Mother of God at Blachernae. This casket was never opened until the time of the Emperor Leo the Wise (886-912). Leo’s wife, the Empress Zoë, was taken sick in soul and, as the result of a mysterious vision, desired that the Sash of the holy Theotokos be placed upon her. The Emperor asked the Patriarch, who opened the casket and found the Sash completely whole and undamaged by time. The Sash was taken out and placed upon the sick Empress, who immediately recovered. They sang hymns of thanksgiving to the Most Holy Theotokos, and then returned the venerable Sash back into the casket and resealed it.
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September 1st, 2008 at 8:45 pm
This didn’t load for me yesterday, I’m so glad it did today. Fascinating. The 31st is my birthday, but I’d never heard much about the sash, so I appreciate it very much.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:59 am
Sorry about that. I had done a cut and paste straight from a Word file, and it threw in a bunch of stupid formatting junk I didn’t need. I didn’t notice it until yesterday.
On the sash, our church bulletin had a little additional info. Apparently, part of the sash is still around, in a church in Georgia. A daughter of another Byzantine emperor was healed with the sash, and when she was betrothed to a Georgian emperor, she was allowed to take a portion of the sash with her. (I’m assuming that the portion that stayed in Constantinople disappeared, as so many religious treasures did, when the city fell to the Turks.) Later on, Russian emperor Alexander I ordered that a special church be built in Zugdid, and that portion of the sash is still there.
So there you go — pilgrimage destination! Ortho-road-trip! Well, maybe we’ll wait till things calm down in Georgia a little bit, right?
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Yes, I’d totally be in on that! I’d love to go to Georgia (after the current crisis calms, naturally)