GB 7-9/2020

Nichiforos Teotokis is the author of the Chiriacodromion, a collection of Sunday sermons, published in Greek and then translated into several languages. In Romanian, the volume was translated by the Moldavian monks Gherontie and Grigorie from the Neamț Monastery and printed in Bucharest in 1801. Although this volume was considerably used in the Romanian churches, known especially by the title of Cazanii, little is known about the author of the sermons. In this study we will therefore provide information about the personality of the scholar hierarch and about how his activity influenced the Orthodox world.

This brief study attempts to reopen the old discussion regarding the identification of the Crăciuna citadel (fortification), which was built by Radu the Handsome, ruler of Wallachia, across the border and inside Moldavia, after his humiliating defeat at the Battle of Sochi in Wallachia against Stephen the Great, on the 7th of March 1471. The next step after establishing the location of Sochi in Wallachia, near the border with Moldavia, was the topographic identification (both in the documentation and in the field) of the place where Stephen the Great diverted the Siret river around Crăciuna citadel, in order to annihilate it strategically. This identification was done in Vulturu de Jos, located in Vrancea county, near Vadu-Roșca, on an old riverbed of the Siret, which today is named Valea Vulturului (Eagle’s Valley), located in Moldavia, across the border and in the immediate vicinity of Sochi

Daoism emerged and developed in the territorial space of today’s China, and, although this philosophical tradition is considered extinct it managed to transcend borders in the last century and had a major global impact on the existing socio-political and religious systems. The art of arranging objects (feng shui), the ecology, the martial arts and Chinese medicine are all part of Daoism. Being born hundreds of years before Christianity, this religion brings a change to the traditional mentality with regard to the role and social situation of women. Starting from a patriarchal structure, in which the man was the pillar and leader of the household, and the woman a simple servant, Daoism succeeded to give women a special status. Thus, women were recognized not only as being equal to men, but, in some cases, they were considered superior in social and spiritual grounds, being the representatives of the yin force, the feminine principle of Dao. In this paper we observe the evolution of women’s position in China, as well as its impact on the encounter with the Western mentality and Christianity.

The present study aims to highlight the concept of philanthropy in the writings of Saint Basil the Great, the manner in which it was materialized during the lifetime of the Great Cappadocian Father and its relevance for the mission of the Orthodox Church in contemporary society. The main themes which the sermons of Saint Basil the Great have approached refer to the man as a social being and philanthropy as a result of the communion of love, following the Trinitarian model. The study aims to show that the philanthropy-centered discourse of Saint Basil the Great would not have any impact if it weren’t reinforced by the personal example, when he shared to the poor all his own wealth and built a whole philanthropic complex on the outskirts of Caesarea. Regarding the importance of Saint Basil’s writings for the current life of the Church, the study points out that the great Father of the Church was actively involved in the social life and tried, with audacity and perseverance, to denounce and correct its inequalities. Acting in this way, he proved to be a leader of the Church whose spiritual, administrative and moral authority was so great that it could no longer be ignored or challenged by the authorities of the state.

This study briefly analyzes a fifteenth-century Byzantine work written by John Kananos, which describes the Ottoman attack of Constantinople led by Sultan Murat II that took place in 1422. This text is the main source for this historical event, as the author himself was an eyewitness of the Ottoman assault. Concerning the reasons for writing his account, Kananos is very clear from the beginning of the treatise. He planned to narrate the defeat of the Ottoman armies by the Byzantine defensive, which was aided by the Panagia to a decisive end. In this regard, the text can also be read as an encomion dedicated to the Most Holy Virgin, as Kananos considered her to be the saviour of Constantinople. The connection between Virgin Mary and the Byzantine capital stretches from the moment of the foundation of the imperial city by Constantine the Great until the end of Byzantium. Hence, since its inauguration Constantinople was dedicated to the Mother of God, and later the Byzantine religious tradition placed Panagia at the center of the City’s numerous salvations from the foreign attacks.In his text, John Kananos describes how the Ottoman armies fled from Constantinople after Panagia showed herself on the fortifications of the City, aiding the poor Byzantine defensive. To create a contrast between the vast and fiercely power of the Ottoman armies and the weak Byzantine troops, the author introduces vast descriptions concerning the assault machines brought by the Ottomans to conquer Constantinople. Moreover, in order to parallel the divine aid received from the Theotokos with the prophetical predictions made by the Persian scholars and the Turkish ‘patriarch’ Mersaites on the fall of Constantinople, Kananos vividly describes the outcome of the armed conflict, which brought together divine and earthly powers, on the one hand, and many nations, both Christian and Muslim, on the other. In general lines, Kananos’ narration is a vibrant description of a medieval siege, an important Byzantine source for the history of late Byzantium, an anti-Ottoman work infused with late Byzantine perceptions on Islam, as well as a miracle tale dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God. The study is followed by the first translation into Romanian of this Byzantine work, which had been annotated, offering to the reader historical and philological explanations, as well as bibliographical references.

Life is a sacred gift because it springs from the Divine Life, God being the One who enhances the life of created existences. Although the man, member of contemporary society, is moving further and further away from the natural, teantropic meaning of life – by his way of being and by his interrelation with the other existential structures –, he must remain conscious of his origin and the telos or transcendental destiny of his life. It is imperative that, during his lifetime, the man should be aware of his belonging to both the terrestrial and the sacred, divine environment; accordingly, his actions are always synergic, in a continuous dynamic of material and spiritual progress. In such a hypostasis, that lives his life as a moment of deification, the man identifies himself with the true sense of the phrase “man – crown of creation”.