Christian martyr (died 306)
Demetrius of Thessalonica
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Born
| 270
Thessalonica
,
Macedonia
, Roman Empire
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Died
| 306 or 305
Thessalonica, Macedonia, Roman Empire
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Venerated in
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Major
shrine
| Hagios Demetrios
, Thessaloniki
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Feast
| Orthodox Churches: 26 October and on All-Saints of Salonica (aka Thessalonica and Thessaloniki), on 3rd Sunday of Pascha (Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women); Roman Catholic Church: 9 April & 8 October
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Attributes
| depicted wearing the
armour
of a
Roman soldier
, usually carrying a spear, often seated on a red horse
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Patronage
| Thessaloniki
,
Siberia
,
Sremska Mitrovica
,
Kosovska Mitrovica
,
Calgary
;
soldiers
;
Crusades
(in Roman Catholic tradition);
agriculture
,
peasants
and
shepherds
(in the Greek countryside during
Middle Ages
);
construction industry
in
Bulgaria
|
---|
Saint Demetrius
(or
Demetrios
)
of
Thessalonica
(
Greek
:
?γιο? Δημ?τριο? τ?? Θεσσαλον?κη?
,
Hagios D?m?trios t?s Thessalonik?s
[a]
), also known as the
Holy
Great-Martyr
Demetrius the
Myroblyte
(meaning 'the Myrrh-Gusher' or 'Myrrh-Streamer';
[b]
3
rd
century ? 306), was a
Greek
Christian
martyr
of the early 4
th
century AD.
During the
Middle Ages
, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox
military saints
, often paired with
Saint George of Lydda
. His
feast day
is 26 October for Eastern Orthodox Christians, which falls on 8 November [NS, "new style"] for those following the
old calendar
. In the
Roman Catholic Church
he is most commonly called "Demetrius of Sermium" and his memorial is 9 April in the 2004
Roman Martyrology
and 8 October in the martyrology of the
Extraordinary Form
.
Life
[
edit
]
The earliest written accounts of his life were compiled in the 9
th
century, although there are earlier images of him, and the 7
th
-century
Miracles of Saint Demetrius
collection. According to these early accounts, Demetrius was born to pious Christian parents in Thessaloniki,
Macedonia
in 270.
[3]
According to the hagiographies, Demetrius was a young man of senatorial family who became
proconsul
of the Thessalonica district. He was run through with spears in around 306 in Thessaloniki, during the
Christian persecutions under the emperor Galerius
,
[4]
which matches his depiction in the 7
th
-century mosaics.
Veneration of sainthood and celebrations
[
edit
]
Evolution during Byzantine Empire
[
edit
]
Transfer to Thessaloniki; gaining of military attributes
[
edit
]
Most historical scholars follow the hypothesis put forward by
Bollandist
Hippolyte Delehaye
(1859?1941), that his veneration was transferred from
Sirmium
[5]
when Thessaloniki replaced it as the main military base in the area in 441/442 AD. His very large church in Thessaloniki, the
Hagios Demetrios
, dates from the mid-5
th
century.
[6]
Thessaloniki remained a centre of his veneration, and he is the
patron saint
of the city.
After the growth of his veneration as saint, the city of Thessaloniki suffered repeated attacks and sieges from the
Slavic peoples
who moved into the
Balkans
, and Demetrius was credited with many miraculous interventions to defend the city. Hence later traditions about Demetrius regard him as a soldier in the
Roman army
, and he came to be regarded as an important
military martyr
.
[7]
From pagan Demeter to St Demetrios
[
edit
]
Demetrius was also venerated as patron of
agriculture
,
peasants
and
shepherds
in the Greek countryside during the Middle Ages. According to historian Hans Kloft, he had inherited this role from the pagan goddess
Demeter
. After the demise of the
Eleusinian Mysteries
, Demeter's
cult
, in the 4
th
century, the Greek rural population had
gradually transferred her rites and roles
onto the Christian saint Demetrius.
During the Crusades
[
edit
]
Unsurprisingly, he was extremely popular in the
Middle Ages
. Disputes between
Bohemond I of Antioch
and
Alexios I Komnenos
appear to have resulted in Demetrius being appropriated as patron saint of crusading.
[7]
Relics
[
edit
]
Most scholars still believe that for four centuries after his death, Demetrius had no physical relics, and in their place an unusual empty shrine called the "
ciborium
" was built inside
Hagios Demetrios
. What were purported to be his remains subsequently appeared in Thessaloniki, but the local archbishop John, who compiled the first book of the
Miracles
ca. 610, was publicly dismissive of their authenticity.
[8]
The relics were assumed to be genuine after they started emitting a liquid and strong-scented
myrrh
. This gave Demeterius the epithet
Myroblyte
.
[3]
[c]
Veneration in Orthodox world outside Greece
[
edit
]
Demetrius was a patron saint of the
Rurik dynasty
from the late 11
th
century on.
Izyaslav I of Kiev
(whose Christian name was Dimitry) founded the first East Slavic monastery dedicated to this saint.
[
citation needed
]
In the
Russian Orthodox Church
, the Saturday before the Feast of Saint Demetrius is a
memorial day
commemorating the soldiers who fell in the
Battle of Kulikovo
(1380), under the leadership of
Demetrius of the Don
. This day is known as Demetrius Saturday.
[10]
The
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
and the
Romanian Orthodox Church
revere Demetrius on 26 October (
Димитровден
[
Dimitrovden
] in Bulgarian); meanwhile, the
Serbian Orthodox Church
and
Macedonian Orthodox Church (Ohrid)
and the
Coptic Church
have a feast on 8 November (called
Митровдан
[
Mitrovdan
] in Serbian and
Митровден
[
Mitrovden
] in Macedonian).
Derived personal names
[
edit
]
The names
Dimitar
(
Bulgarian
and Macedonian),
Dimitry
(Russian),
Dimitris
(Δημ?τρη?, Greek), Mitri (short form of Dimitri in Lebanon) are in common use.
Iconography
[
edit
]
The hagiographic cycles of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki include depictions of scenes from his life and his posthumous miracles.
[11]
Demetrius was initially depicted in
icons
and
mosaics
as a young man in patterned robes with the distinctive
tablion
of the
senatorial class
across his chest. Miraculous military interventions were attributed to him during several attacks on Thessaloniki, and he gradually became thought of as a soldier: a Constantinopolitan ivory of the late 10
th
century shows him as an infantry soldier (
Metropolitan Museum of Art
). But, an icon of the late 11
th
century in
Saint Catherine's Monastery
on Mount Sinai shows him as before, still a civilian. In Byzantine icons he is depicted in military dress, either standing or riding a horse.
[12]
Another
Sinai
icon, of the
Crusader
period and painted by a French artist working in the
Holy Land
in the second half of the 12
th
century, shows what then became the most common depiction. Demetrius, bearded, rather older, and on a red horse, rides together with George, unbearded and on a white horse.
[13]
Both are dressed as
cavalrymen
. Also, while George is often shown spearing a dragon, Demetrius is depicted spearing the
gladiator
Lyaeus (
Λυα?ο?
Lyaios
; for meaning see
here
), who according to story was responsible for killing many Christians. Lyaeus is commonly depicted below Demetrius and lying supine, having already been defeated; Lyaeus is traditionally drawn much smaller than Demetrius. In traditional
hagiography
, Demetrius did not directly kill Lyaeus, but rather through his prayers the gladiator was defeated by Demetrius' disciple, Nestor.
[11]
A modern Greek iconographic convention depicts Demetrius with the
Great White Tower
in the background. The anachronistic White Tower acts as a symbolic depiction of the city of Thessaloniki, despite having been built in the 16
th
century, centuries after his life, and the exact architecture of the older tower that stood at the same site in earlier times is unknown. Again, iconography often depicts saints holding a church or protecting a city.
According to
a hagiographic legend
, best known in Russia in the version retold by
Dimitry of Rostov
(1651-1709), Demetrius appeared in the camp of
tsar
Kaloyan of Bulgaria
during his 1207 siege of Thessaloniki, piercing the king with a lance and so killing him.
This scene, known in Russian as
Чудо о погибели царя Калояна
("the miracle of the destruction of tsar Kaloyan") became a popular element in the iconography of Demetrius. He is shown on horseback piercing the king with his spear,
[14]
paralleling the iconography (and often shown alongside) of
Saint George and the Dragon
.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Saint Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral"
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-02-06
. Retrieved
2013-01-17
.
- ^
"Holy, Glorious Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher of Thessalonica"
.
www.oca.org
. Retrieved
2020-09-26
.
- ^
Woods 2000
, pp. 223?5
- ^
"
"Museum in the Crypt of the Church of St. Demetrios", Macedonian Museums"
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-01-01
. Retrieved
2013-04-21
.
- ^
a
b
Lapina, Elizabeth (2009).
"Demetrius of Thessaloniki: Patron Saint of Crusaders"
.
Viator
.
40
(2): 93?112.
doi
:
10.1484/J.VIATOR.1.100423
.
ISSN
2031-0234
.
- ^
Cormack p. 75
- ^
Kurian, George; Nelson, Thomas (2001).
Nelson's Dictionary of Christianity
. Thomas Nelson.
ISBN
9781418539818
.
- ^
"Lives of the Saints"
.
www.oca.org
. Retrieved
2020-09-26
– via kontakia · All troparia. All lives of saints.
- ^
a
b
"Russian Icons"
.
www.iconrussia.ru
. Retrieved
2020-09-26
.
- ^
"Saint Demetrios, The Myrrh-Streamer", The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Demetrios
- ^
"SAINT DEMETRIUS PILGRIMAGE CHURCH, THESSALONIKI"
.
Μοναστ?ρια τη? Ελλ?δο?
. 2017-01-10
. Retrieved
2020-09-26
.
- ^
"St Demetrius of Thessaloniki", Ruzhnikov
Sources
[
edit
]
- Roth, Paul W. (1993).
Soldatenheilige
(in German).
Graz
,
Vienna
,
Cologne
: Verlag Styria.
ISBN
3-222-12185-0
.
- Kloft, Hans (2010).
Mysterienkulte der Antike. Gotter, Menschen, Rituale
(in German).
Munich
:
C.H. Beck
.
ISBN
978-3-406-44606-1
.
- Robin Cormack,
Writing in Gold, Byzantine Society and its Icons
, George Philip, London, 1985.
ISBN
0-540-01085-5
- Eugenia Russell,
St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages
, Peter Lang, Oxford, 2010.
ISBN
978-3-0343-0181-7
- James C. Skedros,
Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector 4th-7th Centuries CE
, Trinity Press International, 1999. Summarized in
Harvard Theological Review
89
:410 (1996).
in JSTOR
- James C. Skedros, "Response to David Woods"
Harvard Theological Review
93
:3:235 (July 2000).
at JSTOR
- Kurt Weitzmann in
The Icon
, 1982, Evans Brothers Ltd, London, ills. pp. 32,51,220 (trans of
Le Icone
, Montadori 1981),
ISBN
0-237-45645-1
- Woods, David (2000). "Thessalonica's Patron: Saint Demetrius or Emeterius?".
Harvard Theological Review
.
93
(3): 221?234.
doi
:
10.1017/S001781600002530X
.
JSTOR
1510028
.
S2CID
162463136
.
free copy
- David Woods,
bibliography on St. Demetrius
External links
[
edit
]
This audio file
was created from a revision of this article dated 26 November 2006
(
2006-11-26
)
, and does not reflect subsequent edits.
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