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Greetings on the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God!
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It has been a while since I shared updates on our website, Historical Studies of the Russian Church Abroad. I should finalize posting a couple of interviews by the end of October.
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I have been busy with preparing for lectures teaching a class new for me, Church History at HTOS for both undergrads and graduate students. By an act of God's Mercy, the project This Day in the Life of the Church goes on strongly. Now on Substack (https://andreipsarev.substack.com). It takes time daily to revise, edit, write and analyze "traffic" on Substack, but results are good. I get a new paid subscriber ($80/year or $8.00/monthly) almost every day. Besides making a unique historical theological perspective available these podcasts may with time help me to bridge my monthly budget shortfall. I also slowly, but surely work on turning my PhD thesis into a book.
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My podcasts' content leans heavily toward the ROCOR, although I write on the themes of Byzantine and Russian church history, as you may see below.
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I am offering a special 15% discount, which is available to ROCOR Studies subscribers until October 20, 2024. Pleases follow this link to accept it: https://andreipsarev.substack.com/5f34dd26
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I hope to see you in This Day in the Life of the Church and thank you for your continuing interest,
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Protodeacon Andrei Psarev
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History of the Feast of Protection of the Mother of God
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Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, built in Bogoliubovo in Vladimir region by Prince Andrei in the 12th century. Photo: https://hraniteli-nasledia.com/
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The whole event of the feast is connected with the life of St. Andrew, Fool for Christ. This account was recorded by Priest Nikephoros of Constantinople, who knew the saint. Most likely, St. Andrew lived during the reign of Emperor Leo the Wise (886–912).
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Detail of the Imperial Gate mosaic in Hagia Sophia believed to represent Leo VI asking for forgiveness for his four marriages.
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Andrew was a native of Scythia (an antique term which roughly corresponds to the area of the Pontic steppes, including the Crimean Peninsula). He became a slave of the imperial official Theognostos, who paid for Andrew’s education and practically adopted him.
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St. Paul teaches us: “We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!” (1 Cor. 4:10). Recall also the affluent young youth whose heart was so attached to his wealth that he could not follow the Lord (Matt. 19:16-30). Christ began to knock on the door of Andrew’s heart. Having consulted Fr. Nikephoros, Andrew decided to become a fool in people’s eyes. He wandered around the New Rome, where many people were entrenched in vice and eager for “bread and circuses,” as in the Old Rome. Often, Andrew was subjected to public beatings; he would drink from puddles and sleep in manure with homeless dogs. The alms that he collected would be given to people experiencing poverty.
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In liturgical prayers to the Mother of God, Constantinople is often called “[Her] City.” So, despite the depth of the sin committed by its residents, the Most Holy Theotokos, during the divine service on the eve of a feast in Her honor, appeared to St. Andrew while he was praying at the Zodochos Pigi (“Life-Giving Fount”) in Blachernae in Constantinople. She was approaching the ambo in the company of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Theologian. Besides St. Andrew, Epiphanios, a disciple of St. Andrew, also saw this vision.
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This vision is celebrated in today’s feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, which was introduced in the Russian Church by Prince St. Andrei of Bogoliubovo in the twelfth century. Prince Andrei likely introduced this feast without the sanction of the Byzantine Metropolitan in Kiev. Known in Slavonic as Pokrov, it has since become one of the characteristic feasts of Russian and Ukrainian Orthodoxy. There is no evidence of the existence of this feast in the Byzantine Church. On the same day, the Church commemorates Deacon St. Roman “the Melodist,” a sixth-century hymnographer who wrote in tonic verse and served in Blachernae Church.
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I.V.T., O.V.L., A. Iu. Nikiforova, N.V. Pivovarova, “Andrei Iurodivyi” [St. Andrew Full for Christ], Pravoslavnaia Entsiklopedia [Orthodox Entsiclopedia].
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The icon of Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos from Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. Photo: iconstudio.jordanville.org
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