Kim jest Jezus Chrystus dla ruskich i rosyjskich Świętych? Teologiczna analiza Żywotów Świętych św. Dymitra Rostowskiego

The subject of this research is the largest printed compilation of the lives of the saints venerated by the Russian Orthodox Church – “Lives of the Saints” by St. Dimitry of Rostov (1689-1705). Despite a widespread opinion that the only printed book on the Russian history until the middle of the XVIII century was the “Synopsis” by Innokenty Gizel, the author refers to “Lives of the Saints” as a landmark of historical writing that reflects crucial events in the Russian history from ancient times until early XVIII century. Traditionally viewed as a literary and hagiographical landmark, “Lives of the Saints” by St. Dimitri Rostov were out of the scope for the researchers of Russian historiography. This article is the first to conduct comprehensive analysis of historical records contained in the lives of Russian saints as part of the compilation “Live of the Saints”. Emphasis is places on the representation of events of the past. The research demonstrates that “Lives of the Saints” included descriptions of the milestones in Church and political history. Featuring certain aspect of scientific writings (accuracy of dates, critical analysis of sources, reference apparatus), they conveyed a special, Christian perception of Russian history as a chain of miracles of the saints and the Virgin Mary. The conclusion is made on the considerable importance of “Lives of the Saints” in proliferation of information on the Russian past among broad population, and formation of historical memory of the Russian society of the XVIII – XIX centuries.

Lives of Saints at the Beginning of the 14th Century in the Divided Glass Walls of Saint Nazaire’s Cathedral in Béziers. Since 1734-39, the new decorative display of the stain glass of the choir in Saint Nazaire’s cathedral in Béziers - which was entirely rearranged and adapted to new cults and tastes - has completely transformed the old gothic glass walls (dating from the beginning of the 14th and mid-15th centuries), which have been re-used as “raw material”. For decorative or economic reasons or for respect ? More particularly, the medallions which were part - at the beginning of the 14th century - of legendary glass walls displaying the lives of Christ and saints and whose subjects, which were cut out and scattered on purpose, have nowadays almost disappeared from the collective memory. After their mutilation, which was often uncontrolled, the scenes of the Lives of Saints have never been described and nobody even at least tried to identify them. Granted, it would be a difficult and tedious endeavour to describe them. The aim of this study is, first, to try and locate in that huge iconographic jigsaw puzzle the thirty odd pieces of scenes that belong to some Lives of Saints ; to describe them as accurately as possible in a catalogue ; to suggest identifications likely to give an idea of the three original hagiographic cycles that are today entirely scattered in eight windows of the choir and, finally, to rehabilitate them in the history of southern France stain glasses. The largest of those cycles - by the number of pieces (17) that have been preserved - was naturally devoted, as in the old Saint Nazaire’s cathedral in Carcassonne to the two patron saints of the cathedral in Béziers, Nazaire and Celse. But, whereas this glass wall with legendary medallions had originally been put in the sanctuary, not far from the central window devoted to the Life of Christ (childhood and passion), two other hagiographie cycles, a lot less expanded, adorned the windows of the two northern chapels of the nave that had been built a few years after the choir. The shortest one (three pieces preserved) had been put in the small window of Saint Etienne’s chapel, in which the figurative programme devoted to the protomartyr had been cleverly completed by an imposing cycle, painted in a fresco by an Italian artist. Finally, the Life of Saint Eloi, adorned the stain glass of the - larger - window of the neighbouring Saint Eloi’s chapel (9 pieces). In spite of the mutilations, those numerous pieces of hagiographic scenes - miraculously preserved at a time when medieval satin glasses were not considered as an honour to sainthood - show well how, in the first years of the 14th century, beside the traditional and essential central stain glasses dealing with Christ, our region had remained loyal to longer cycles, which were at the time out of date in northern France buildings which were already widely endowed with that type of stain glass in the 13th century. In the cathedral in Béziers, those hagiographic cycles, which were more or less expanded, were meant to be put not only in the liturgical sanctuary - reserved to canons - but also in the lateral northern chapels of the nave, where they have contributed - as early as the beginning of the 14th century - to the teaching of clergymen and the faithful before becoming, in the first decennies of the 18th century, mere decorative ornaments of coloured glass which had been harmoniously reset in the new glass walls of the choir.

In the history of literature, hagiography is taken as a literary rudimentary-religious dowry through which the foundations of later literature are set.Usually, these writings are given a mythological-historical value which is why they are not considered clear segments of literature, while from the perspective of literary historians, they are not acknowledged as sacred writings either.The present research provides a meeting point between the Protestant dogmatic theology and the lives of saints.That is, a general observation on how the lives of saints (and not only) contain the traits of the holy man and the characteristics of holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ.Given the importance that Jesus Christ gives to holiness, this article will show how the Holy Spirit has maintained in the saints the existential character of our Lord Jesus Christ and the basic paradigms of the life He desired.In the conclusions of this study we will report the perspective of Jesus Christ on holiness and the life of repentance, and the way in which the Tradition preserved them.Details on how the life of St. Gerard of Cenad preserved and gave new insights to holiness and to the social life preached by Jesus Christ will also be presented.

Reviewed by: Signs of Devotion: The Cult of St Æthelthryth in Medieval England, 695-1615 Juliet Mullins Signs of Devotion: The Cult of St Æthelthryth in Medieval England, 695-1615. By Virginia Blanton. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. Pp. xvii + 350. 16 illustrations. $65. Although Signs of Devotion is no longer unique in offering a "longitudinal study of an early Anglo-Saxon cult" (p. 5), it is nevertheless a welcome addition to an area which is gaining increased currency in Anglo-Saxon studies. In this monograph, Virginia Blanton emphasizes the multi-disciplinary nature of hagiology and offers an examination of the cult of Æthelthryth that, although primarily concerned with the intersection of textual and visual culture, also places the cult within its historical and liturgical context. The book is chronologically ordered and yet each chapter could be read quite independently; in fact, it is the depth of coverage within each chapter rather than any sense of the chronological development of the cult that is the strength of this study. For this reason, I shall offer a review of each chapter in turn in what follows. As is so often the case with figures from the early Anglo-Saxon church, the story of Æthelthryth begins with Bede, whose account is the focus of the first chapter. In sharp contrast to the other native saints portrayed in the Historia Ecclesiastica, Bede pays little attention to Æthelthryth's success as an abbess or her monastic career; rather, Blanton argues, it is the virgin's control of her body and her successful suppression of all physical desire that draws the interest of her hagiographer. The longest part of the vita is dedicated to the dramatic recounting of Æthelthryth's deathbed scene and the translation that subsequently confirms her saintly status. Blanton highlights the manner in which Bede positions himself at a distance from this account, adopting the stance of the objective historian and allowing [End Page 241] the doctor, Cynefrith, to speak. The first-person narrative is a rare occurrence in the Historia, and, as Blanton points out, therefore worthy of note. Bede allows the doctor to assign meaning to the saint's healed wound and scar, which is perhaps one of the most enduring of the many signs, visual and rhetorical, by which the cult of Æthelthryth is defined. The scar is a mark of identity, a recollection of vanities past, but also an indication of God's present forgiveness: it is the sign of a body tested, punished, and perfected. Blanton suggests, moreover, that the scar is a sign of the sealed body, "of her continued virginity, of what cannot be seen (or what should not be revealed) . . . Literally, it becomes the site of investigation and ultimately the evidence for the abbess" purity (p. 45). Bede's interest in the scar as a visual sign of invisible sanctity is then placed within a wider context: Bede's account of Æthelthryth is compared to Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina, and the enduring importance of Æthelthryth's wound in late medieval iconography is demonstrated. In the subsequent two chapters, Blanton examines the way in which in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, texts and imagery portraying Æthelthryth were adapted so as to suit the needs of a male monastic audience. Under Æthelwold, Æthelthryth-as virgin and abbess-became "the premier female saint of the Benedictine reform" (p. 74). Her position as a link between the universal and native saints, which Blanton notes in the previous chapter when discussing Bede's metrical Life, is developed by Ælfric in his Lives of Saints, where her conjugal chastity links her to established universal saints such as Daria and Chrysanthus and Julian and Basilissa. Likewise, Blanton notes similarities in the Benedictional of Æthelwold between the portrayal of Æthelthryth and the image of Christ that work to place the female saint in the highest echelons of the choir of saints and establish her position in the church hierarchy. The use of a male face for the image of the saint in the Benedictional de-sexualizes and androgynizes Æthelthryth, transforming her from the historical woman, wife, and queen into a symbol or sign of monastic virginity, a...

The greatest challenge which is facing Christian civilization and culture today is the following: The atrophy of spiritual senses. So, we can ask ourselves, What are the most effective steps that we can take to overcome this challenge The answer lies in the early Christian ascetics (patterns from antiquity can be a response to modernity). In this chapter I explore how Christian asceticism can be made relevant to a modern culture in which the idea of “ascetic holy man” has lost much of its power. Regarding the model of holy man, many scholars continue to assume that a distinction must be made between an ascetic and a monk, as every monk is an ascetic, but not every ascetic is a monk. Peter Hatlie says that “Although spiritual authority and “the holy” remain fertile topics for discussion among early Christian and late antique scholars, it receives considerably less attention from Byzantinists working in the generations to follow” (Hatlie in Portraits of Spiritual Authority. Religious Power in Early Christianity, Byzantium and the Christian Orient. Brill, Leiden, 1999, p. 195). In the context of the perceived disintegration of the secular world, monks showed how ascetic renunciation of the world could provide a new style of civic leadership. Susan Ashbrook Harvey manages to capture the relationship between ascetism and society in this way: “During the fourth century monasticism flowered across the Christian realm, and with it a critical role for the ascetic – the holy man or woman – to play in society. By their discipline and their conscious imitation of biblical models, especially from the Gospels, the ascetics enacted the image of Christ. To the public this was more than imitation: in the image of Christ, the holy one could do what Christ had done. The ascetics could intercede for divine mercy, and they could be instruments of divine grace in this world; they were a channel between humanity and God that worked in both directions. The ascetic was the point at which the human and the holy met. Often seen as an attempt to leave the worldly for the spiritual, asceticism in fact carried heavy responsibilities in relation to the larger Christian society” (Ashbrook Harvey in Asceticism and Society in Crisis: John of Ephesus and The Lives of the Eastern Saints. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1990, pp. 20–21). In the desert St. Anthony the Great redefined the ascetic as one who fights with the Adversary face-to-face, in the desolate and un-Christianized wilderness. Antony made “the desert a city”, sanctifying a place where God had not been present. And he did more: he brought that strength back into Christian society. By the sixth century, the ascetic’s role in society had both expanded and become an orderly part of how society functioned. “We should seek holiness, not clothing, food and drink”, says St. Neilos the Ascetic, because “possessions arouse feelings of jealousy against their owners, cut off their owners from men better than themselves, divide families, and make friends hate one another […]. Why do we abandon hope in God and rely on the strength of our own arm, ascribing the gifts of God’s providence to the work of our hands? Job considered that his greatest sin was to raise his hand to his mouth and kiss it (Job 31:27)” (St. Neilos 14, in Philokalia 1, 1979, p. 208). Now when bodily concerns predominate, “everything in man is asleep: the intellect, the soul and the senses” (St. Neilos 16, in Philokalia 1, 1979, p. 210), and this indicates the state of one whose reason is closely absorbed in physical things. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness and the population of entire towns came out to him; the miraculous life of this humble desert-dweller is acclaimed until this day, and his memory is greatly revered by all. For “the renown of holiness is eternal, and its intrinsic virtues proclaim its value” (St. Neilos 20–21, in Philokalia 1, 1979, p. 214). But false teachers are blind to such examples, and arrogantly tell men what to do. For in their foolishness they have extinguished the light of contemplation. So their contemplative understanding is immediately destroyed.

Building a Catholic Church in the 21st Century: Tradition Observed, Part II Frank Mitjans 10. The image of Christ in the West: 10.1. Tradition Observed Before suggesting some answers to his challenge, let us look more closely at some facets of the question of images, first with regard to the image of Christ. 1. Romanesque (Norman) churches were almost without exception painted. The main figure was the image of Christ in majesty, painted on the semi-spherical ceiling of the apse, towards which the eyes of priest and the people converged, as in the case of the church of St. Clement at Tahull in the Catalan Pyrenees, from the beginning of the12th century (Figure 10.1). In this case, Christ holds on open book with the words: EGO SUM LUX MUNDI, spelling out the message that He is the Oriens at which the Christian faithful gaze. He is surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists; below are paintings of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St John the Evangelist, and other Apostles. 2. The Romanesque Crucifix, moreover, was usually painted on a wooden cross of large dimensions so as to be prominent within the apse (Figure 10.2.1). At times the symbols of the four Evangelists would be placed at the four extremes of the cross; in other cases Mary and John would be presented standing at the foot of the cross on their own or with the holy women. Angels would complete the composition and perhaps other figures such as the Risen Christ1 and saints above the scene of the Crucifixion, and even the hand of God the Father at the very top. 3. The first type of panel painting to evolve in Italy was in fact the crucifix, often on a very large scale (for instance, the Pisa crucifixes 1 The combination of Christ on the Cross and the Risen Christ above would continue, see for instance Giotto’s crucifix (circa 1310) that hung in the sanctuary of the Arena Chapel (in this case, Mary and John appear also on the end of the horizontal crossbeam). Antiphon 15.3 (2011): 216-248 217 Building a Catholic Church in the 21st Century: Tradition Observed, Part II Figure 10.1: The image of Christ in the West Image of Christ in Majesty painted on the apse of the church of San Clemente de Tahull, Spain (consecrated on 10 December 1123). The image of Christ is at the East end of the church. Christ, Alpha and Omega, holds the open book of Sacred Scripture on which the words EGO SUM LUX MUNDI are written spelling out that He is the Oriens at which the Christian faithful gaze. The painting of Christ is surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists; the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John, and other Apostles, are painted below.. Free photograph downloaded from Wikimedia Commons. 218 Frank Mitjans Figure 10.2.1: Romanesque Crucifix The Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and St John kept at the Medieval and Renaissance Gallery of the V&A, museum number 850-1900. Photo© Victoria and Albert Museum, London Oil painting on canvas laid on wooden panel, Italian, 12th century, In this case Christ on the Cross is painted with open eyes and His body is almost straight. This is in contrast with the closed eyes and strongly curving body of Italian crucifixes after 1250. In the top terminal is Christ in Majesty with two angels, at the lower terminal is the Denial of St Peter. In the side terminals are, on the left, Christ descending into hell after the Resurrection, and, on the right, the Holy Women at the Sepulchre. The several ways of portraying Christ illustrate Ratzinger’s assertion that each portrait of Christ includes the suffering Christ, the risen Christ, and Christ in Majesty. 219 Building a Catholic Church in the 21st Century: Tradition Observed, Part II are about 4m high). The earlier ones depicted Christ still alive. By the beginning of the 13th century Christ on the cross is shown already dead, but surrounded by scenes depicting episodes that followed the Crucifixion: On the same panel are often to be found the Crucified Christ and the Risen Christ, and...

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The unexpected appearance of Jesus Christ at the end of Aleksandr Blok’s The Twelve has caused much debate among scholars. This essay attempts to discover a key to decoding this image in the light of a much-discussed remark in Blok’s diary: “A terrible thought from the present times: the problem is not that the Red Guards are ‘unworthy’ of Jesus Christ who walks with them now; rather, the problem is that it precisely He who walks with them, when an Other is needed”. This remark suggests that the author himself could not fully explain this controversial idea he introduced in the poem. In the light of this remark, this article reads the ending of the poem as Blok’s attempt to deconstruct the symbolism of the traditional image of Christ. For Blok, such an attempt was necessary because at the time of writing the old image of Christ was already obsolete for Blok, and the new meaning had not yet crystallized for him. As a result, we are presented with a puzzling, transitional image that stems from the author’s searching for a new meaning.

In this study, the relationship between one’s self-perception of personality and his or her image of Jesus Christ was studied within a sample of 153 undergraduate students, of whom 130 were Christian and 23 were non-Christian; 23 Protestant pastors; and 55 Protestant laypersons. Using two forms of the NEO Personality Inventory (Self and Observer), ratings of the Big Five personality factors were obtained for both self and Jesus Christ. Results indicated significant positive correlations between ratings of self and Christ in each of the subgroups of Christian individuals. No correlations were found between ratings of self and Christ for the non-Christians. A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant differing correlations between groups. Christian persons may project perceptions onto Christ or attempt to mold themselves in a way more consistent with their own images of Christ. Further implications of the results as well as direction of the relationship between self-perception and image of Christ are discussed.

Salvation is a consistent theme in Russian Literature, found through suffering, substitution, and through the life of the Holy Fool, such as the central character of Goncharov's novel Oblomov.

When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published a new hymnbook in 1985, it began with a preface by the First Presidency articulating their hopes for the new volume: “The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members. . . . Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns.”1 In the Latter-day Saint tradition, hymns serve to instruct and reinforce doctrine.Of all the doctrines contained in the hymnal, one most familiar to Latter-day Saints relates to the Savior's atonement.2 The hymns are often used to add insight to this key doctrine. President Russell M. Nelson recalled comforting a tearful missionary who asked, “Why did the Savior have to suffer so much?” In response, President Nelson opened a hymnbook and answered the question by quoting from a hymn: “And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, / Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, / That on the cross my burden gladly bearing / He bled and died to take away my sin.”3This article examines how hymns published in the first three hymnals (1835, 1840, and 1841) and the 1985 edition depict the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane and his death on the cross. We selected these four hymnals to identify potential historical contrasts between the early hymns of the church and those sung in the late twentieth century.There is a disconnect between what the hymns teach and emphasize regarding the Savior's atonement and what many church members typically believe. In a previous study, researchers (including one of the present authors) asked 992 Latter-day Saint adults, “Where did Jesus Christ atone for our sins?” In response, 55 percent wrote only about the events of the Garden of Gethsemane, and 42 percent included Gethsemane and Calvary.4 A separate survey of 792 Latter-day Saint adults asked, “Where would you say Christ's Atonement mostly took place? A. In the Garden of Gethsemane, B. On the Cross at Calvary, or C. Equally in Gethsemane and Calvary.” In response, 58 percent chose “Gethsemane only.”5These survey results indicate that a majority of Latter-day Saints focus on Gethsemane as the central location of Christ's atoning for sin. That this is the case has been observed by scholars such as the anthropologist Douglas J. Davies who wrote, “Mormonism relocates the centre of gravity of Christ's passion in Gethsemane rather than upon the cross and Calvary.”6 Similarly, historian of American religion John G. Turner argues that Latter-day Saints see “the principal scene of Christ's suffering and, thus, his atonement, was at Gethsemane rather than on the cross.”7 Moreover, Kent Brown, a BYU religion professor writing in the influential Latter-day Saint publication the Encyclopedia of Mormonism states, “For Latter-day Saints, Gethsemane was the scene of Jesus’ greatest agony, even surpassing that which he suffered on the cross.”8It has not always been the case that Latter-day Saints have emphasized Gethsemane over Calvary. The Crucifixion was once at the heart of Latter-day Saint understandings of the atonement. This was the central thesis of Michael G. Reed's Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo published in 2012.9 Our own work has made the same points.10 The personal writings and sermons of Joseph Smith do not mention Christ atoning for our sins in Gethsemane; in contrast, they frequently mention Jesus's death.11 Through the 1930s the word “Gethsemane” was used in general conference ten or fewer times per decade.12The powerful descriptive language used by James E. Talmage in Jesus the Christ (first published in 1915) likely played a role in the increasing emphasis on Gethsemane.13 More forceful words were spoken by Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith in a 1944 general conference address, in which he explicitly attributed greater atoning efficacy to Gethsemane than to Calvary.Over the next forty years, Latter-day Saint apostles made eight similar statements in books or in general conference.15 Church curriculum materials in the 1970s and 1980s utilized these quotations, leading some church members to believe that what transpired in Gethsemane had more soteriological significance than what happened on Calvary.16In the twenty-first century, church leaders have emphasized the atoning significance of both Calvary and Gethsemane, and the above-mentioned quotes that give preeminence to Gethsemane are no longer used in curriculum. Nevertheless, the quoted survey results suggest that Latter-day Saints continue to prioritize Gethsemane. This emphasis is interesting because Calvary is emphasized much more frequently than Gethsemane in scripture,17 by Joseph Smith,18 and in the collective teachings of church leaders.19 As we will demonstrate in this article, the hymns also give atoning priority to Calvary. The specific questions this article answers are as follows: How many hymns in the 1835, 1840, 1841, and 1985 hymnbooks describe Christ's atonement in Gethsemane and Calvary?What do the hymns teach about Gethsemane and Calvary? Have these teachings changed over time?In this study we identify hymn references that can be explicitly connected to either Gethsemane or Christ's Crucifixion. The references come from four English hymnbooks: A Collection of Sacred Hymns (Kirtland, 1835), A Collection of Sacred Hymns (Manchester, England, 1840), A Collection of Sacred Hymns (Nauvoo, 1841), and Hymns (Salt Lake City, 1985).To determine what these hymnbooks teach about Gethsemane and Christ's Crucifixion, two researchers read through all the hymns in each book and noted every statement that could be explicitly connected with Christ's death or his sufferings in Gethsemane. They did not include hymns that did not make clear reference to the Crucifixion or Gethsemane even if the Savior's death or Gethsemane could be inferred.24 Some hymns contained multiple references to Gethsemane and/or Calvary; these were only counted once, unless the hymn included references to both the Crucifixion and Gethsemane. In that case it was counted once in each category.25 They did not include any generic references to the “cross” unless it could be reasonably inferred to be referencing to Calvary.26 Hymns that contained references to Christ's death only in connection with the fact that he now lives were also excluded.27 In addition, the researchers did not count references to the blood of Christ, unless explicitly spoken of in relation to the Crucifixion or Gethsemane.28With this list, the researchers read the relevant hymn text, looking for common themes. A process of emergent coding led to eight themes that were used to code each reference. Table 1 summarizes this coding structure.Each reference received at least one code but could receive more than one depending on its content. For example, the following hymn received codes for both “Love” and “Salvation” based on these lyrics: “Here's love and grief beyond degree, / The Lord of glory died for men!”29Two independent raters read each hymn and assigned codes based on the descriptions. If the codes disagreed, a third rater reviewed their work and made a final determination.Table 2 summarizes the number of hymns in each hymnbook, and what percentage of these hymns reference Christ's suffering in Gethsemane and/or his death on Calvary. Our analysis of these four hymnbooks indicates that approximately 17 percent of the hymns in the first three hymnals focused on Christ's Crucifixion with that total dropping to about 12 percent in 1985. Thus, while the percentage of hymns referencing Calvary decreased in the 1985 hymnbook, the atoning power of the cross is still frequently mentioned. In the first two hymnbooks there were no direct references to Christ in Gethsemane, with two in the 1841 hymnbook and four in the 1985 hymnal. This finding may suggest a need to nuance the extent to which hymns effectively communicate doctrine. As explained, Latter-day Saints tend to emphasize Gethsemane as the place where Christ mostly atoned for our sins. Although approximately 16 percent of hymns across the four hymnbooks we analyzed speak of Christ's Crucifixion, fewer than 1 percent reference Gethsemane. This highlights a mismatch between what the hymns teach and what many church members appear to believe.The four hymnbooks we analyzed contain six references to Gethsemane. One defining feature of Gethsemane is that Jesus sweat great drops of blood, a unique detail from the gospel of Luke.30 This suffering is referenced in the 1841 hymnbook where lyrics say: Legions of angels. . . .They heard him [Christ] in the garden groan,And saw his sweat of blood;They saw his pierced hands and feetNail'd to the cursed wood!31The other hymn from the 1841 hymnbook to refer to Gethsemane states, “Oh garden of Olivet / dear honor'd spot / The fame of thy wonders shall ne'er be forgot / The theme most transporting to seraphs above / The triumph of sorrow, the triumph of love.”32The 1985 edition is the only hymnbook in our corpus that explicitly used the word “Gethsemane,” which occurs in two different hymns. One of these hymns states, “He answers privately, / Reaches my reaching / In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.”33 This hymn personalizes Gethsemane to describe times of sorrow experienced by the singer. The other hymn to use the word reads, “Our Savior, in Gethsemane / Shrank not to drink the bitter cup / And then, for us, on Calvary / Upon the cross was lifted up.”34 Eliza R. Snow in her hymn “Behold the Great Redeemer Die” alludes to this same statement Christ made in Gethsemane. After describing several elements of Christ's Crucifixion she describes the Savior as saying, “Father from me remove this cup / Yet, if thou wilt, I'll drink it up.”35 Finally, the hymn “Reverently and Meekly Now” appears to connect the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane and Calvary. The lyrics state (in the voice of Jesus), “With my blood that dripped like rain / Sweat in agony of pain / With my body on the tree / I have ransomed even thee.”36It is interesting to note that the two earliest hymnbooks make no reference to Gethsemane. The fact that four of the hymns in the 1985 hymnal connect to Gethsemane may suggest a small shift towards emphasizing it. However, no hymns in any of the four hymnbooks we analyzed make an explicit statement regarding the soteriological significance of Gethsemane. These findings stand in contrast to the survey data where a majority of church members locate Christ's Atonement primarily in Gethsemane.Across the four hymnbooks in our corpus, a total of 156 hymns reference Christ's death. Some of these hymns appear in two or three hymnals and two of them appear in all four hymnbooks.37 After eliminating duplicate hymns, a total of 110 unique hymns in this corpus refer to the Savior's Crucifixion. The following sections describe themes taught by these hymns with respect to the Savior's sacrifice on Calvary, organized by most to least common themes, with miscellaneous appearing last.Out of the 110 hymns containing references to the Crucifixion, 58 (53 percent) related to salvation, making it the most frequently mentioned theme. Three specific groups are consistently identified as recipients of salvation: individuals, sinners, and all humanity. Collectively the messages of salvation for these groups teaches the inclusive nature of his sacrifice.Roughly 25 percent of the hymns about salvation emphasize the individual nature of Christ's sacrifice. These hymns frequently include lyrics that focus on the redemption of the individual's soul, such as “[Jesus] died, my poor soul to redeem,”38 or statements of praise and awe, such as “How vast the love that him inclin'd, / To bleed and die for thee!”39 In addition to hymns that teach that Christ died for the individual,40 about a quarter of the salvation hymns teach that Christ specifically died for sinners. These hymns are most common in the 1840 and 1841 hymnbooks, which include lyrics that teach that Christ “did for every sinner die”41 and that the Messiah came “to bleed and expire for poor guilty man.”42 Three hymns specifically mention that Christ “[gave] his life to save his foes”43 or make statements like, “The very foes who slay thee, / Have access to thy grace.”44 By drawing attention to the fact that the Savior might save those who crucified him, these hymns emphasize the comprehensive nature of his death.The remaining hymns that reference salvation teach that Christ died not only for the individual and for sinners but for all humanity. A hymn that appears in both the 1840 and 1841 hymnals emphasizes this universality: “Bid their hearts rejoice / In him who died for all! / For all my Lord was crucified: / For all, for all my Saviour died!”45Other hymns contain similar statements regarding the inclusive nature of the Savior's death, describing Christ as “him who died for all.”46 Five hymns specifically state that Christ has saved the whole “world,”47 emphasizing the full extent of his redeeming death with declarations such as “all the world through thee may live.”48In addition to emphasizing the universality of salvation, we identified additional themes related to the saving power of the cross. A few hymns draw heavily on the imagery of Christ's death opening or unlocking the path to heaven. For example, the following lyrics appear in the 1835 hymnbook: “Twas Jesus, my friend, when he hung on the tree, / Who open'd the channel of mercy to me.”49 Three additional hymns in the 1985 hymnbook contain similar references, with statements such as “He who was slain on Calvary / Opens those pearly gates for me”50 and that he alone “could unlock the gate / Of heav'n and let us in.”51 The third hymn portrays similar imagery: We'll sing all hail to Jesus’ name,And praise and honor giveTo him who bled on Calvary's hillAnd died that we might live.He seized the keys of death and hellAnd bruised the serpent's head;He bid the prison doors unfoldThe grave yield up her dead.52Seven hymns specifically use the word “ransom” to describe the salvific nature of Christ's death on the cross. Some describe Christ himself as the payment, stating that he “gave himself a ransom,”53 or describe his death as “the precious ransom's paid.”54 Others instead emphasize our identity as sinners as “thy ransom'd ones.”55 Four of these seven hymns appear in multiple editions of the hymnbook, with two appearing in all four of the analyzed This indicates a emphasis across the on Christ's central role in our redemption and ransom'd the of the the for our and the key to the role of Christ's death in our salvation is very in all four More than of the hymns that reference the Savior's Crucifixion specifically teach that Christ died for our identified hymns that to the personal nature of Christ's death, making it the most common theme. One of this personal is in lyrics that the Savior's one third of these hymns our personal role in his pain and how it about our salvation, “And can it be that I / in the / he for who his hymn the of Jesus and the state of he that / For such a as / it for that I have / He upon the these hymns, percent are in first such as the hymn hymns are in first with an additional in first This of hymns that both praise and give to an interesting contrast between both the and the individual nature of Christ's personal sacrifice. These hymns, in both and the that he did for every sinner die, / died for eight of the hymns we as are in most of these are but declarations such as “For you the Saviour / is for The to those who to draw to the Savior, such as his pain he you / by his / by his / in Christ all in and Meekly Now” is unique in that it is from the Savior's The of highlights an from Jesus and / thy most / of thou ransomed / what I for thee have / With my blood that dripped like / Sweat in agony of / With my body on the tree / I have ransomed even percent of the hymns mention love in connection with Christ's Crucifixion. of these hymns describe the of love in Christ's to die for us or of Christ's death as a of his love for For example, the 1985 hymnbook the following lyrics: “He died in / A to / love love is as or This hymn teaches that Jesus that he has love for through his Crucifixion. in other hymns, such and hymn to to his let his love hearts suffer him to die in love is to love to to his no him in, this at his for him who died for lyrics to let the same love that Christ to die for them them to for They invite those singing to think of Christ on the cross when they are and let his love hearts so that he will not have in Similarly, hymn those drops of grief can ne'er / The of love I hymn that appears in both of hymnbooks “the love of thy crucified These lyrics suggest that Christ's Crucifixion the between Christ and his the salvific of what transpired on Calvary. A hymn When I survey the which the of glory . . from his his his and love such love and sorrow so a these that the scene was also with A similar hymn appears in all four of the hymnbooks: “Here's love and grief beyond degree, / The Lord of glory died for identified hymns that describe Christ's suffering on the cross. They of “the of the as with was . . . when for our he suffering They emphasize Christ's from the Crucifixion, his specific and their to our than of these hymns mention Christ's from the Crucifixion. of these hymns are in the first three hymnbooks, a of in previous with more of Christ's A hymn appearing in the first three hymnbooks a personal connection between the sinner and Christ's the my is on his hands . . he on speak for him, they let that ransom'd sinner connection to the of Jesus is also in other hymns. For example, one from the 1840 hymnal describes his as a place of there I would always . . . in the of thy from the 1840 hymnbook us to to Jesus / to those dear of Similarly, these lyrics from the 1985 hymnal a personal connection to the Savior's as a place of of for / me in / the and the blood, / thy which / of the / from and make me addition to the of the Crucifixion, many hymns describe other of the Savior's hymns from the first three hymnbooks refer to Christ's from the cross. They describe the pain he as he let Others describe the atoning nature of Christ's such as his pain he you / by his this was mentioned in the earliest of the hymns that mention Christ's suffering in the 1985 hymnbook contain any references to the of Jesus on the the four hymnbooks, a total of hymns connect Christ's Crucifixion with to the and six to One noted contrast is that hymns and the Savior's death appear more often in the early hymnbooks than the 1985 hymns the and his death appear more frequently in the 1985 hymnbook than in the This of connection between Christ's Crucifixion and is in general conference are unique hymns in the 1840 and 1841 hymnbooks with Christ's These hymns teach that we be with the by his In contrast, the 1985 hymnbook only one hymn that the to the As an of thy thy the who thy great the . . with the Lord and a life hymn first in the 1835 hymnbook, where it was the only one to the Savior's death in that of the six hymns that draw a connection between and the Crucifixion mention the These hymns describe the as an of his with our own body / of the For example, both the 1840 and the 1841 hymnbooks contain these lyrics: For Jesus is the died that we might our the opening to life from the there are few hymns in the three earliest hymnals that draw a direct connection between the and the Savior's death. The 1835, 1840, and 1841 hymnbooks have a total of and hymns in their However, both the 1835 and 1841 hymnals only have one hymn that Christ's Crucifixion with the and the 1840 edition has The following lyrics appear in each of the first three hymnbooks: He took the and and words of he is my body for and the took the and the the new in my he shall of at my and love of the words of the above the other included in the 1840 hymnbook also the with an emphasis in the Savior, stating that we the of our Lord . . . sorrow, and there are few hymns with an explicit connection to Christ's death in the first three there is still a clear emphasis on the of his death in these early contrast, hymns the Savior's sacrifice on Calvary to the are much more in the 1985 hymnbook, which eight hymns of a total of in the that connect his death to this This finding the of increasing between the and the Savior's death on the cross observed in general conference from the to the For example, the 1985 hymnal the now we take the / Our are to thee, / Son of God, who for us, / died on our corpus, we identified hymns that emphasize Christ's Crucifixion in a appear in the 1841 hymnal. In contrast to that often the sufferings of the Crucifixion, these hymns the that can also be with Christ's death. One hymn unique to the 1840 edition to Calvary, me that / The place of thy / in an / And on a crucified the is as state in which the is and . . . of some or or an These words are of many of the other hymns with the they emphasize the and used by the of Christ to his on the hymn appearing in both the 1840 and 1841 hymnbooks to and / on in the triumph of the atoning sacrifice Jesus these suggest that a towards the death of Christ results from an of its significance and that it made redemption and life for all addition to the towards the Crucifixion, these hymns also for the Savior's death on the cross. The following lyrics in each of the first three hymnbooks: might I my his dear cross my heart in to . . Lord, I give all that I can hymn that also in the first three hymnbooks alludes to the of feeling for Christ's love is he died for us, / we In the 1985 hymnal this is also that all a of of the 110 hymns could not be assigned to our codes as many of these hymns present on Calvary that is unique to a specific For example, in 1841 hymnal, a missionary to and Savior's / the of his he taught in the that at his And the of the other hymns do not explicitly the cross as they do the and of the cross to For example, one from the 1985 hymnal to the of the cross / . . . for our come hymn I a of the / A of the the early hymnbooks, it was common for hymns to reference following Jesus's of up the cross. For example, one hymn from 1840 of the to take up “the that was in all three of the first hymnbooks like Jesus the / him the / And count all but / For his most However, in the hymnbook, these of hymns were not as but two of the hymns from the 1985 hymnbook that mentioned “the used it in a more when describing Jesus's at interesting of the lyrics in one hymn may indicate in which Christ's Crucifixion was by those the The hymn as of was included in the 1840 hymnbook with the following lyrics: a and / the Lord, the great I / with was / on he In the 1985 the two of this were changed to upon the cross he / now his is the Although it is as to these lyrics were one is that the highlights a Christ while the lyrics emphasize the suffering hymns from the 1841 hymnal the sorrow that will be by those who the One of these hymns states, “Behold on he / shall the / they that pierced him / In and coding the hymns, several references to Christ's blood were because it was they were connected to the Savior's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane or at Calvary. However, upon it clear that most of the hymns referencing blood were likely by their to refer to “the blood of his One of this on the the Savior from his the thou sinners hymns, the one about blood describing the Crucifixion, leading us to believe these were references to Christ's blood at Calvary, not at Gethsemane. For example, the of one hymn reads, “For us his with was One a reference to his blood “For us his precious blood was / To for our By one might that precious was his blood at Gethsemane to for our this hymn in that it is a reference to his as there is no reference to Gethsemane in this A more of how the word has been used may be a of Our findings that likely to Christ's indicate that the emphasis the hymns on Christ's death is even than what we have hymns in our corpus emphasize the of Christ's atonement. that across the four hymnals we only hymns refer to Gethsemane, to 156 that are connected to Christ's Crucifixion, the hymns the Savior's from as the central that to salvation from sin. Latter-day Saints have about Christ's suffering in Gethsemane, these are not in Latter-day Saint emphasis on hymns to Calvary may some to the emphasis in the hymns regarding Christ's Crucifixion, do so many members focus primarily on Although a is beyond the of this study, we that our findings suggest to the power of hymns to when other are As between the 1944 and three church leaders taught on separate that what transpired on Gethsemane had more salvific significance than what happened on Although these teachings were not with of other statements from church leaders regarding Christ's Crucifixion, they influential in church curriculum and other may be that a few direct statements from church through curriculum have had a over the of many church members regarding the atonement than the is also that for the of the hymns. historian explained, has the power to the and One study that across a of Latter-day Saint church approximately contained of Christ in Gethsemane, while fewer than percent had an of Christ's Moreover, the in that an of Christ to be hung in the of all Latter-day Saint include from which leaders can These include Christ in Gethsemane but not on the the of Crucifixion in Latter-day Saint has led some church members to prioritize Gethsemane over we state some Latter-day Saints have in more emphasis to Gethsemane than Calvary, Latter-day Saint hymns focus on Christ's death for the sins of humanity. They a historical focus on the cross of The following included in the first three church a of how Latter-day Saints have the of the the let me / How he / the / To a world from

The article deals with the symbolism of the image of Christ in the Passion cycles of three artists Olena Kulchytska, Osyp Sorokhtei, and Ostap Lozynskyi. The attention is focused on how they interpreted the image of Christ and what idea they put into the Passion theme. The relevance of the study is due to the constant interest of society in religious themes, in particular, in the passionate image of Christ as one of the most eloquent examples of sacrifice and sacrifice. The study of the image of the Savior in the Passion cycle is conducted through the prism of the concepts of E. Levinas, Raymond E. Brown, D. Stott, M. Borg, who considered the significance of Christ's sacrifice, His suffering, mercy and love. It was found that O. Kulchytska in her composition (1915) shows the humble image of Jesus Christ and focuses on his sacrifice. In his Passion cycle (1930-1932), O. Sorokhtei borrows the idea of the Pokuttya “calvary” and presents Christ as an ordinary person-one of us. O. Lozynsky in his project “The Way” (2014) speaks of the importance of the personal relationship between Jesus Christ and man. In our opinion, the creation of these cycles was influenced by the events of the First World War and the Liberation Movement of the Ukrainian people (O. Kulchytska), the events of repression of Ukrainians in the USSR (O. Sorokhtei), and the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war (O. Lozynskyi).

[full article, abstract in Russian; abstract in Lithuanian and English]
 The article aims to summarize the scholarly information on the manuscripts that contain Cyrillic (written in Ruthenian and Old Church Slavonic) versions of the Polish edition “Lives of Saints” written by Piotr Skarga, the first Rector of Vilnius University (Piotr Skarga, Żywoty Świętych, Wilno, 1579). These versions belong to the Cyrillic tradition of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. The article presents the possibly complete list of manuscripts which contain Cyrillis versions of Skarga’s texts and their scholarly editions. The list has been compiled with regard to the latest researches.

Sobór Watykański II zwrócił uwagę na ważność przepowiadania słowa Bożego podczas liturgii. Rozpoczęto poszukiwanie wzorców kazań, które spełniałyby wszystkie cechy dobrego przepowiadania homiletycznego. Jednym z takich przykładów są kazania ks. Jana Berthiera MS. Urodzony pod koniec pierwszej połowy XIX wieku Francuz, był dla ówczesnego kleru wzorem doskonałego misjonarza ludowego, rekolekcjonisty, kaznodziei. Źródłem jego przepowiadania było Pismo Święte i nauczanie Ojców Kościoła oraz pisarzy chrzescijańskich, podparte przykładami z życiorysów świętych. Wzorował się na wielkich mówcach, ale nie przywiązywał wielkiej wagi do zasad retoryki i piękna języka. W swoich kazaniach poruszał przede wszystkim tematy związane z moralnością życia. Stale nawoływał do nawrócenia, przypominając o życiu wiecznym. Jego kazania były proste i łatwe do zrozumienia nawet dla niewykształconych słuchaczy. Swoje kazania doprowadzał do perfekcji zarówno na płaszczyźnie intelektualnej, jak i duchowej.

Anthony J. Grubbs’s critical edition of Juan de Benavides’s comedia Vida y muerte de San Cristóbal is a welcome study for scholars and students, both graduate and undergraduate.Divided into three sections, the monograph begins with “St. Christopher in Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Hagiographies,” which outlines the saint’s legend and its textual dissemination throughout Spain and Europe. The earliest known Iberian hagiography is the tenth-century Pasionario hispánico, which “forms part of the Visigothic and Mozarabic traditions of Toledo, Spain” (3). This work is one of the few to include the non-Hispanic St. Christopher, which, as Grubbs argues, demonstrates his importance to Iberian culture (3). In the thirteenth century, the Dominican monk Jacobus Voragine published his influential Golden Legend (1258). Due to its popularity and widespread dissemination, this text “was the primary source for pasionarios, legendarios, and other lives of saints in Spain and throughout Western Europe until the post-Tridentine era” (4). In 1575, Luigi Lippomano and Laurentius Surius composed their Vitae sanctorum, which surpassed the Golden Legend as a source text on saints’ lives. From here, Grubbs discusses the Flos sanctorum, the Latin title given to the various hagiographical collections published in early and early modern Spain. Describing these numerous tomes that Grubbs mentions would exceed this review’s limit. From these various tomes, Grubbs points out that elements of St. Christopher’s life (pre- and post-conversion to Christianity) became varied with a myriad of alterations. Due to the popularity of these hagiographies, the Catholic Church became increasingly concerned that Christians were turning to worship saints. As a result, the Council of Trent issued in 1563 an edict “that warned against placing the saints above the Holy Trinity” (7). This religious mandate affected the writing of St. Christopher’s life (and other saints’) in later hagiographies by suppressing or eliminating “the extraordinary pre-conversion details of the numerous saints’ lives as the new iterations redirected their focus on post-conversion evangelizing and martyrdom” (8).Still in the same section, Grubbs briefly describes Spain’s only known lyric poetry collection dedicated to St. Christopher (the Valencian Obras a llaors del benauenturat lo senyor Sant Cristofol (1489)) before outlining the known theatrical performances concerning this saint. Beginning with fourteenth-century Valencian religious processions, the character St. Christopher has appeared in a Valencian play (Lo misteri de Sant Christòfol), two Majorcan plays (Consueta de la conversió de Sant Cristòfor and Consueta de la passió de Sant Cristòfor), and a Castilian Aucto de Sanct Christoval, which “seems to be a transitional piece between the religious and secular stages” (11). During the seventeenth century, two comedias de santos emerged: Juan de Benavides’s Vida y muerte de San Cristóbal and Cristóbal de Monroy y Silva’s El gigante cananeo (or El mayor vasallo del mayor señor). In both, Grubbs indicates that “the playwrights introduced novel twists that might not have been appropriate on the religious stage but were a perfect fit for the commercial theaters of early modern Spain. The secular setting presented a distinct but equally complex set of challenges in the staging of post-Tridentine hagiographical works” (11). This section concludes with a brief mention of the last known early modern play concerning Saint Christopher, the anonymous Majorcan Comèdia de l’invicto mártir de Christo. El gloriós Cananeo S[an]t Christòfol (early eighteenth century).What makes this edition attractive to undergraduate students is that Grubbs concludes the first part with a comprehensive plot summary of Benavides’s comedia. With this as a guide, students will undoubtedly have an easier time navigating early modern Spanish in verse. Yet, the study elevates the text to be a suitable one for graduate students and scholars.Following the first part is “Study of Vida y muerte de San Cristóbal by Juan de Benavides,” which, as the title suggests, is a discussion concerning its author and the comedia. As a playwright and actor, Benavides composed his comedia, as Grubbs argues, either in the late 1500s or early 1600s, for at the end of the physical manuscript there is a bill of sale with Luis de Benavides’s name, who was active during that time (19). Afterwards, the section turns to a discussion concerning Inquisitional censorship of seventeenth-century plays, especially Benavides’s and comedias de santos. Although this play was composed around the turn of the century, it was not staged until 1643, when theater was under heavier scrutiny by the Church. After Vida y muerte de San Cristóbal premiered, the Inquisition banned it, according to a first-hand account. Grubbs adds, “[u]nfortunately, any definitive clues behind the prohibition of Vida y muerte have proven elusive, and the cause of the expurgation will most likely never be determined due to a lack of details concerning the work’s perceived unorthodox nature” (25). However, he proceeds to postulate why the comedia may have been censored, based on what was deemed to be impropriety in other plays. He offers the third act’s staging of St. Christopher’s head and blood as underscoring its religious message, or the parallels that can be drawn between the portrayal of the saint and Jesus Christ, making them more as equals. Since Benavides composed Vida y muerte before stricter religious reforms were implemented, another possible reason for censorship is the play’s lengthy dedication to St. Christopher’s life before converting to Christianity and evangelization, “since the Church attempted to make anachronisms of pre-Tridentine hagiograhies [sic]” (28). Grubbs concludes this section by suggesting that perhaps the Inquisitional censors took issue with Benavides’s overall comedia due to their continuing efforts to curve the cult popularity of worshipping saints. This second part ends with a brief discussion of the play’s versification and a description of the physical manuscript.Following these two sections is the 1,794-verse comedia itself. The majority of the footnotes presents the play’s textual errors (e.g., rhyming inconsistencies) and omissions of words and even entire verses. When Grubbs utilizes footnotes to clarify verses and word usage, it becomes unclear for whom the edition is intended. For example, he defines Benavides’s use of “Favonio,” as “[a] poetic description of a gentle wind blowing out of the West” (46, n. 14). This would be beneficial to an undergraduate student, but not so much for experienced comediantes, especially since “favonio” is a searchable word in the Real Academia Española’s online dictionary. With that particular footnote, the critical edition appears more designed for undergraduates. Yet, when Benavides uses Apollo as a metaphor for the sun (v. 320), there is no footnote, making this critical edition appear more targeted for scholars.In the study, there is a good number of typographical errors of omitted words and misspellings, but they do not impede overall comprehension. On the second page of the “Introduction to the Legend of St. Christopher,” for example, Grubbs cites Thomas Head. Although an end quote is included, there is no beginning one. Later on, a footnote reads: “Alan Deyermond notes that St. Christopher is missing from the MS10252 in the BNE, which is [sic] Castilian version of the Golden Legend . . .” (4, n. 7). Within the comedia, there are fewer errata, but still present: “The paradoxical statement reflects the Chruch [sic] teachings . . .” (72, n. 24).What, however, becomes problematic are glaring omissions. On the first page of the comedia, where the dramatis personae is presented, the characters Riberio and Belcebú both have footnotes assigned to them (01 and 02, respectfully), but said footnotes are notably absent. In addition, the study is missing two referenced figures. There is an image for the “[r]eceipt of sale of playscript found included with the manuscript” (19, fig. 1) so that the play’s composition can be more accurately dated. When later describing the physical manuscript of the comedia, however, Grubbs mentions two figures that are not present, one for the cover page written with “the copyist’s seventeenth-century hand” (31), and another one with either the document’s list of characters or concluding verses (32).If one overlooks the need of a better copy editor, Anthony J. Grubbs’s edition of Juan de Benavides’s Vida y muerte de San Cristóbal would be a valuable addition, especially if there will be a revised update, to an undergraduate course on the comedia, a graduate study on hagiography, and a scholar’s library.