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RSGAEG
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - PICS - LETTER 4
ST. JOHN OF WISDOM III TOOK CAROLYN BESSETTE TO THE HAGIA SOPHIA TO SHOW HER WHAT SHE
WASN'T GOING TO HAVE
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - CAROLINE E. KENNEDY
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - HAGIA SOPHIA
DECEMBER 24, 2006
LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE
E. KENNEDY______________________________
HAGIA SOPHIA
THE MOTHER CHURCH
*****NOTES OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM
III....
THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE DOME OF HAGIA SOPHIA:
OCTOBER 1990 ART AGNOS SENT BACK A LETTER TO
MARK KARRAS ARCHBISHOP OF BYZANTIUM DECLINING TO CONVERT ALCATRAZ INTO THE NEW BYZANTIUM....THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED...
"THE
NEXT MORNING THE CITY WAS SHROUDED IN FOG,, UNHEARD-OF AT THE END OF MAY; THE SAME NIGHT THE DOME OF ST. SOPHIA WAS SUFFUSED
WITH AN UNEARTHLY RED GLOW THAT CREPT SLOWLY UP FROM THE BASE TO THE SUMMIT AND THEN WENT OUT. THIS LAST PHENOMENON WAS ALSO
SEEN BY THE TURKS IN GALATA; MEHMET HIMSELF WAS GREATLY DISTURBED.....
Hagia Sophia or Holy Wisdom is the mother
church of all Eastern Christians of the Byzantine liturgical tradition both Orthodox and Greek Catholic. Early accounts suggest
that the site of this, the grandest church in Christendom, in the first millennium had been the site of a pagan temple appropriated
for the service of the new religion. The first church on the site was built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantius, son
of Emperor Constantine, who had liberated the Christian faith from centuries of persecution. Constantius' church was consecrated
in 360 AD. At first it was known as the Great Church because it was the largest at the time. Later it became known as Holy
Wisdom, a name attributed to Christ by theologians of the 4th century.
In 404 AD the church was destroyed by mobs
set into action when Emperor Arcadius sent Archbishop John Chrysostom into exile for his criticism of the Empress. In 415
AD Emperor Theodosius II rebuilt the church. It too fell victim to a rampaging mob at the time of Monophysite heretics in
532 AD. The new Emperor Justinian, firm defender of orthodoxy, made short work of the howling heretics and ordered that construction
begin on a new basilica such as had never been seen before. The construction work lasted from 532 to 537; the new church was
consecrated by Patriarch Menas on December 27, 537.
Architecturally the grand basilica represented a major revolution
in church construction in that it featured a huge dome which necessitated the implementation of new ideas in order to support
the weight of this dome, a feat which had not been attempted before. The dome which became universal in Byzantine church construction
represented the vault of heaven thus constituting a feature quasi-liturgical in function. In the days when there was no steel
used in construction, large roofs and domes had to be supported by massive pillars and walls. The dome of Hagia Sophia was
supported by four piers (the solid supports from which the arches spring), each measuring about 118 square yards at the base.
Four arches swing across linked by four pendentives (the parts of a groined ceiling springing from the pillars). The apices
of the arches and the pendentives support the circular base from which rises the dome which is pierced by forty single-arched
windows which admit light to the interior.
The church itself measures 260 x 270 feet; the dome rises 210 feet above
the floor and has a diameter of 110 feet. The nave is 135 feet wide, more than twice the width of the aisles which measure
62 feet. Because Constantinople lies in an earthquake-prone region, the massive structure of the Great Church was deemed sufficient
to meet the threat. That expectation however was disappointed when in later years earthquakes destroyed parts of the church
and dome, requiring massive repairs including the construction of large buttresses to support the walls which in turn held
up the dome. (1)
In 1204 AD, Roman Catholic crusaders of the Fourth Crusade attacked and sacked Constantinople (2)
and the Great Church, leaving behind a legacy of bitterness among Eastern Christians which continues to this day. For more
that 1000 years Holy Wisdom served as the cathedral church of the Patriarch of Constantinople as well as the church of the
Byzantine court but that function came to an end on May 29, 1453, when the Ottoman Turkish Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror seized
the Imperial City and converted the Great Church into his mosque. It remained a mosque until 1935 when Turkish head-of-state
Mustafa Kemal converted it into a museum. Years later the plaster which had been applied by the Muslims to cover the icons
was removed revealing for the first time to modern eyes the extent of the desecration perpetrated by the Muslims in their
effort to render the structure appropriate for their own purposes. See HAGIA SOPHIA at: http://www.byzantines.net/byzcathculture/hagiasophia.html
In its heyday as the Imperial church, Hagia Sophia was served by 80 priests, 150 deacons, 60 subdeacons, 160 readers,
25 cantors and 75 doorkeepers. It was the model for other Byzantine churches throughout Eastern Christendom as seen for example
in the Church of Holy Wisdom in Kyiv. In the Slavic East the style was modified to suit the Slavic esthetic sensibilities,
most notable in Russia where the soaring but narrower domes top the many beautiful churches.
In the 1000 years that
Hagia Sophia was the see of the Patriarch it was also seen as the mother church of the Christian East. The liturgies which
evolved there in the full panoply of the splendor of the Imperial court gave them the dignity and stunning beauty which they
possess today, in contrast to the more restrained liturgies of other traditions. Thus Eastern Christians of the Byzantine
liturgical tradition are the inheritors and descendants of Byzantium, recalling whenever the Divine Liturgy is celebrated
the glory of the Great Church in its ancient days.
Where once potentates and patriarchs, prelates and priests, saints
and sinners moved in solemn procession, tourists now loiter and stare. The images looking down from the walls are no longer
the windows to heaven but silent witnesses to the profanities of the Muslims and the vulgarities of the tourist trade. Gone
are the chanting priests; gone too are the smells and bells of the East. No longer do the cherubim descend to accompany and
to praise the Holy Mysteries. The Great Church is little more than a mound of architecturally ordered stones devoid of the
life of liturgy. Away from the rule of the heathen Turk, in other places where orthodox Christians may gather one can still
perceive imperfectly that vision of the splendor of heaven unfolded in the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, for ours is truly a royal
worship, the prayer of kings.
Hagios 0 Theos
Hagios Iskiros
Hagios Athanatos
Eleison imas.
EPILOGUE
With the fall of Constantinople and the desecration of the Great Church in 1453, the Turks were free to complete the conquest
of the Christian peoples of the Balkans. Greeks, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Montenegrans, Croats, Slovenes, Romanians
and Hungarians came under the yoke of the oppressor. Twice, in the following centuries, in 1529 and 1683, the Turks appeared
at the gates of Vienna only to be turned back miraculously. Only with the growing awareness of the emerging states in central
and western Europe and with the defeat of the Turkish fleet at Lapanto in 1571 by the combined fleets of Venice, Spain and
the Papal States was the march of Islam into the heart of western Christendom stopped. Thus was central and western Europe
spared the fate of the Christian populations in southeastern Europe. Five hundred years of Turkish oppression and forced conversions
to Islam were met with stout resistence by the Christians of the Balkans. Enslavement and martyrdom befell those who resisted.
Time and again Christians were called upon to witness the faith and to win the crown of martyrdom. One can only speculate
about the extent to which the valor of the faithful through resistance and rebellion kept the Turks from pressing further
with their efforts to subject all Europe to the rule of Islam. The Christian neomartyrs (3) of the Turkish yoke are remembered
each year on the third Sunday after Pentecost.
TROPARION
The new martyrs, who with unremitting battle have cast
down the ancient deception, have exalted the Faith of the Orthodox; for, having abolished the worship of the iniquitous and
professed Christ boldly, they now unceasingly entreat Him as perfect God, that He grant us great mercy.
KONTAKION
Rejoice mystically, 0 Church of Christ, beholding Thy children, the new martyrs, standing around Thy table in their relics,
like newly planted olive shoots; and cry aloud to the Creator of all: Thou art the confirmation of the martyrs, 0 Christ!
NEOMARTYRS OF THE TURKISH YOKE
HAGIA SOPHIA IDEALIZED (4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
1) SUGGESTED READING: Hagia Sophia - Architecture Structure and Liturgy of Justinian's Great Church
by Rowland J. Mainstone ISBN: 0500279454; Early Christians & Byzantine Architecture by Richard Krautheimer ISBN: 0300052944;
A History of Russian Architecture by William C. Brumfield ISBN: 0521597242
2) Throughout its history Constantinople
had been attacked many times. In 626 during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610 - 641), a combined force of Turkic Avars and
Persians laid seige to the city. Eventually they were driven off and a thankful city rejoiced with a hauntingly beautiful
hymn to the Theotokos, known as the "Ti Ipermaho" which appears in the Triodion. In translation it reads as follows:
0
Champion General, I your city now inscribe to you
Triumphant anthems as the token of my gratitude,
Being rescued from
the terrors, 0 Theotokos.
Inasmuch as you have power unassailable
From all kinds of perils free me so that unto you
I may cry aloud, Rejoice, 0 unwedded Bride.
3) For more information about the 500 year martyrdom of Christians
following the fall of Constantinople, the reader is invited to examine: Witnesses For Christ, by Nomikos Vaporis, ISBN:0881411965
and CHRISTIAN FLIGHT FROM THE MIDDLE EAST (http://www.byzantines.net/byzcathculture/christflight.html)
4) Above is
an idealized image of the Great Church as it might appear today, had it not been desecrated by the Turks first as a mosque
and later as a tourist attraction. The minarets have been removed and the life-giving cross restored to the dome.
Our
Church:
Our Identity | Parish History | Our Temple | Byzantine Metropolia
Instruction-Canon Law | Greek Catholic Union
| Four Hierarchs-Four Martyrs
Garden of All Saints | Parishioners in Iraq
Our Traditions:
Theophany-Epiphany
| The Diaconate | Our Lady of the Willow
Frankincense | Water | Iconostasis | Hagia Sophia | St.Nicholas of Myra
Pentecost
| Theotokos | Cosmology | Ordination of Married Men
The Orthodox Brethren:
Eternal Memory | Mother of Churches
| Christ the Savior
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - EPHESUS
DECEMBER 28, 2006
LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF
WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY_________________________
EPHESUS: THE LIBRARY OF CELSUS
The famous
Ephesus Library was situated to the south of the Agora. This elegant monument was built in A.D. 135 by Julius Aquila in memory
of his father, Celsus Polemaeanus of Sardis, Roman Senator and Proconsul of the province of Asia.
Move the
mouse over the picture to find the hotspots that take you to the other panoramas.
© Berta Lledo and Tufan Turanli
HOME NEXT: The Curetes Street
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - EUROPA & THE SEABULL
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - EUROPA & THE SEABULL
DECEMBER 28, 2006
LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF
WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE. KENNEDY____________________________
Europa and the Sea Bull: The Missing Link
Between Phoenicia and France
***NOTE: JFK, JR. TOOK CAROLYN BESSETTE FOR A SAIL ON THE ARAGON SEA WHICH IS A REACTMENT
OF A PAST LIFE WITH ME NOT HER....
EUROPA WAS A DAUGTHER OF GOD......AND CAROLYN BESSETTE'S FATHER WAS NOT A GOD........
By now, most readers should be familiar with the story of the Quinotaur, the mythical sea beast (part-bull, part-fish)
that sired the race of Merovingian kings. But what has heretofore served as the beginning of the Merovingian
saga is only part of the story. For the first part of the drama, we must go back to the ancient sea peoples of Phoenicia.
One of the strange legends of the Phoenicians involves the disappearance of Europa, the daughter of Canaan
1, the son of Poseidon. In some versions of the story, Europa was a princess, in others, the daughter of a god. She was said
to be exceedingly beautiful, and her father's favorite. One day a servant came into the palace and told Europa that a beautiful
white bull had appeared mysteriously on the beach. Intrigued, Europa went down to see the unusual creature. The bull, we are
told, was indeed very beautiful, and seemingly very tame and playful. Europa wrapped garlands of flowers around its horns,
and frolicked beside it. Encouraged by the creature's gentleness, she climbed atop it, and it ran about the beach to her utter
delight. Then, unexpectedly, the creature turned and ran toward the ocean. The servant ran after the two, but it was no use.
The bull had run into the waves and had begun to swim out to sea. Europa's handmaiden could only watch in helpless horror
as the vision of the princess disappeared off into the distance.
This same story is told by the Greeks, the only exception
being that the figure of Canaan is replaced by Aegeanor (from whose name we derive the Aegean Sea.) Perhaps the oddest aspect
of this unusual story is that historical chroniclers deny that its purely mythological. Herodotus says that the story of Europa
was based on a real incident, and that she was in fact an historical personage. Though such a claim is certainly bizarre,
it seems no less bizarre than the fact that the continent of Europe should have taken its name from the central figure in
such a story. Why name a continent after a girl associated with the notion of being taken away by a sea bull? It only starts
to make sense when one considers the story of Europa in conjunction with the story of the Quinotaur. The tale that begins
with the kidnapping of Europa is finished by the myth of the Quinotaur, who sires a race of sacred kings. For the Greeks (and
many scholars), the sea bull of the Europa saga is seen as Zeus, the god traditionally associated with (or personified as)
a bull. But bulls were also associated with many of the gods and kings of Phoenicia and Sumeria. In fact, the figure of the
sea bull can be traced directly to the figure of Dagon, discussed elsewhere in this issue. An alternate name of Zeus was Dyaus,
and an alternate name for Dagon was Daonos. So it would seem that Zeus and Dagon were different labels, applied by different
cultures in different times to essentially the same figure. This of course is a very common process, and one that is encountered
repeatedly in even the most superficial comparisons of one mythology to another. The kings of the most ancient cultures in
time become their gods, and repeatedly the gods of dominant cultures become the gods of less dominant ones. So it is that
the sea bull of Europa is one in the same as the Quinotaur of the Merovingian kings, and as the Quinotaur was the legendary
father of European monarchs, the mother was Europa, after whom they named their continent.
This depiction
of a "Quinotaur" was drawn by Sir Francis Dashwood, notorious founder of the Hellfire Club, and co-conspirator
of Arch-Mason, Ben Franklin. It is believed to have been drawn on Dashwood's first trip to Italy, and based on a statue from
the palace of Nero.
1 Canaan was a historical figure after whom the Phoenician city-state was named.
SEE LINK
http://isisof10000namescmv.tripod.com/
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - EUROPA THE CURRENCY
LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE
E. KENNEDY______________________________
OCTOBER 29, 2006
Sources differ in details regarding her family but
agree that she is Phoenician, and from a lineage that descended from Io, the mythical nymph beloved of Zeus, who was transformed
into a heifer. She is said to be the daughter of the Phoenician King Agenor and Queen Telephassa ("far-shining") or of Argiope
("white-faced")[3]. Other sources, such as the Iliad, claim that she is the daughter of Agenor's son, the "sun-red" Phoenix.
It is generally agreed that she had two brothers, Cadmus, who brought the alphabet to mainland Greece, and Cilix who gave
his name to Cilicia in Asia Minor, with Apollodorus including Phoenix as a third. After arriving in Crete, Europa had three
sons: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. She married Asterion also rendered Asterius. According to mythology, her children
were fathered by Zeus.
There were two competing myths[4] relating how Europa came into the Hellenic world, but they
agreed that she came to Crete, where the sacred bull was paramount. In the more familiar telling she was seduced by the god
Zeus in the form of a bull and carried away to Crete on his back— to be welcomed by Asterion [5], but according to a
more literal, euhemerist version in Herodotus, she was kidnapped by Minoans, who likewise were said to have taken her to Crete.
The mythical Europa cannot be separated from the mythology of the sacred bull, which had been worshipped in the Levant.
The
Abduction of Europa by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1632. The princess Europa is carried away from her companions and across
the sea to the distant land that would bear her name by the god Jupiter (in the guise of a white bull).
"The
Rape of Europa"
According to legend, Zeus was enamored of her and decided to seduce or rape her, the two being
near-equivalent in Greek myth. He transformed himself into a white bull and mixed in with her father's herds. While Europa
and her female attendants were gathering flowers, she saw the bull and caressed his flanks and eventually got onto its back.
Zeus took that chance and ran to the sea and swam, with her on his back, to the island of Crete. He then revealed his true
identity, and Europa became the first queen of Crete. Zeus gave her three gifts: Talos, Laelaps and a javelin that never missed.
Zeus later re-created the shape of the white bull in the stars which is now known as the constellation Taurus. Some readers
interpret as manifestations of this same bull the Cretan beast that was encountered by Hercules, the Marathonian Bull slain
by Theseus (and that fathered the Minotaur). Also known as "The Abduction of Europa" and "The Seduction
of Europa," Roman mythology adopted the tale, substituting the god Jupiter for Zeus.
It is tempting to see in this
story the remnants of oral history about the settlement of the island. Cretans were of course great sailors, as all islanders
must be, and must have come from some mainland area by raft or ship. They must also have brought their cattle and other livestock
with them, since bulls figured prominently in their sports, arts and religious imagery. In the mythological transformation
of history, however, roles are reversed, and the bull provides the transportation for the founding mother of the Minoan people.
Europa in literature
Herodotus
According to Herodotus, Europa was kidnapped by Minoans who were seeking
to avenge the kidnapping of Io, a princess from Argos. His variant story may have been an attempt to rationalize the earlier
myth; or the present myth may be a garbled version of facts — the rape of a Phoenician aristocrat — later enunciated
without gloss by Herodotus.
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - CAROLINE E. KENNEDY
Europa
Europa ("yoo ROH puh") is the sixth of Jupiter's known satellites and the fourth largest; it is the second of the Galilean moons. Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon. orbit: 670,900 km from Jupiter
diameter: 3138 km
mass: 4.80e22 kg
Europa was a Phoenician princess abducted to Crete by Zeus, who had assumed the form of a white bull,
and by him the mother of Minos.
 Discovered by Galileo and Marius in 1610.
Europa and Io are somewhat similar in bulk composition to the terrestrial planets: primarily composed of silicate rock. Unlike Io, however, Europa has a thin outer layer of ice. Recent data from Galileo indicate that Europa has a layered internal structure perhaps with a small metallic core.
But Europa's surface is not at all like anything in the inner solar system. It is exceedingly
smooth: few features more than a few hundred meters high have been seen. The prominent markings seem to be only albedo features with very low relief.
 There are very few craters on Europa; only three craters larger than 5 km in diameter have been
found. This would seem to indicate a young and active surface. However, the Voyagers mapped only a fraction of the surface at high resolution. The precise age of Europa's surface is an open question.
The images of Europa's surface strongly resemble images of sea ice on Earth. It is possible
that beneath Europa's surface ice there is a layer of liquid water, perhaps as much as 50 km deep, kept liquid by tidally
generated heat. If so, it would be the only place in the solar system besides Earth where liquid water exists in significant
quantities.
 Europa's most striking aspect is a series of dark streaks crisscrossing the entire globe. The
larger ones are roughly 20 km across with diffuse outer edges and a central band of lighter material. The latest theory of
their origin is that they are produced by a series of volcanic eruptions or geysers.
Recent observations with HST reveal that Europa has a very tenuous atmosphere (1e-11 bar) composed of oxygen. Of the many
moons in the solar system only five others (Io, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan and Triton) are known to have atmospheres. Unlike the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, Europa's is almost certainly not of biologic origin. It is most likely generated
by sunlight and charged particles hitting Europa's icy surface producing water vapor which is subsequently split into hydrogen
and oxygen. The hydrogen escapes leaving the oxygen.
  The Voyagers didn't get a very good look at Europa. But it is a principal focus of the Galileo mission. Images from Galileo's first two close encounters with Europa seem to confirm earlier theories that Europa's
surface is very young: very few craters are seen, some sort of activity is obviously occurring. There are regions that look very much like pack-ice on polar seas during spring thaws on Earth. The exact nature
of Europa's surface and interior is not yet clear but the evidence is now strong for a subsurface 'ocean'.
Galileo has found that Europa has a weak magnetic field (perhaps 1/4 of the strength of Ganymede's).
And most interestingly, it varies periodically as it passes thru Jupiter's massive magnetic field. This is very strong evidence that there is
a conducting material beneath Europa's surface, most likely a salty ocean.
More about Europa
Open Issues
- How thick is the surface ice? Is there liquid water below? The proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter spacecraft might find out.
- What are the surface streaks? How were they formed?
- Why is the surface so smooth?
- Is Europa being heated by tidal friction like Io? How much? Is there any volcanism, perhaps
hidden beneath the ice?
- The possible presence of liquid water and volcanism on Europa puts it on my list of possible life-bearing bodies, though, of course, the probability is very low.
Home ... Jupiter ... Io ... Europa ... Ganymede ... Data
Bill Arnett; last updated: 2005 Oct 01
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