Polycarp of Smyrna

Polycarp (69-155 AD) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna (modern-day Turkey). According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he passed away a martyr, bound & burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body. Polycarp is regarded as a saint & Church Father in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, & Anglicanism.

Irenaeus & Tertullian said that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Jesus’ disciples. This is Polycarp’s primary claim to fame. John the Apostle was the 1 who ordained Polycarp as Bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp is regarded as 1 of 3 chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome & Ignatius of Antioch.

In an period before the New Testament was fully formed into its modern version, Polycarp represented the “Living Voice.” If a dispute came around about what Jesus had meant, people went to Polycarp because he’d heard it from people who were actually there.

The only 1 authentic surviving work credited to Polycarp is the: Epistle/Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians. This Epistle/Letter is essentially a “mosaic” of early Christian writings. Polycarp quoted or alluded to almost 1/2 of the New Testament books (including Paul’s letters, 1 Peter, & the Gospels).

As early as the 2nd century, Polycarp was already fighting Docetism. This is the idea that Jesus only seems to have a body. He called, famously, anyone who denied the reality of Christ’s physical suffering “the 1st born of Satan.”

In particular, Irenaeus had heard the account of Polycarp’s discussion with John & with others who had actually seen Jesus. Irenaeus reports that Polycarp was converted to Christianity by the apostles, was consecrated a presbyter, & communicated with many who had seen Jesus.

Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey) was the center of “Emperor Worship.” In 26 AD, it won the right to build a Temple to the Emperor Tiberius. Smyrna also had a large, & influential, Jewish population. The tense relationship between the synagogue & the emerging Christian “sect,” which would play a role in Polycarp’s eventual arrest.

In his old age, Polycarp traveled to Rome (circa 154 AD) to meet with is fellow Syrian, the Bishop of Rome, Pope Anicetus. They come together to talk through a major secular & religious disagreement: Quartodecimanism.

Polycarp & the Eastern Churches celebrated Easter on the 14th of Nisan (the Jewish Passover), regardless of what day of the week it fell on. Rome, however, insisted it must ALWAYS be a Sunday. The Pope & Polycarp couldn’t find a compromise. This would become a problem in later centuries.

But Polycarp & the Pope stayed respectful, & friendly, towards each other. Pope Anicetus even let Polycarp celebrate the Eucharist in his own church in Rome as a sign of respect.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp is the 1st recorded account of a Christian martyrdom outside the New Testament. During a period of local unrest, the crowd in the Smyrnaean stadium began shouting for Polycarp. Initially, he didn’t flee but retreated to a small farm.

When he was eventually betrayed by a young servant under torture, he welcomed the guards, fed them a meal, & asked for an hour to pray. The Roman Proconsul, Quadratus, didn’t want to actually kill Polycarp. He pleaded with Polycarp to “have respect for our age” & to simply say, “Away with the atheists” (in this case, “the atheists” were the Christians).

Polycarp looked at the pagan crowd in the stadium, pointed at them (the pagans), & said “Away with the atheists!” Also in Martyrdom of Polycarp, Polycarp is reported to say on the day of his death: “Eighty & six years I have served Him, & He has done me no wrong.”

Polycarp was sentenced to death for not burning incense to the Roman Emperor. He was “burned” at the stake but the flames arched around him like a sail, refusing to touch him. Eventually, he was killed with a dagger/spear.

Relics of Polycarp are under the main altar of the church of Sant’Ambrogio della Massima. The right arm of St. Polycarp had been kept at the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos-Saint Polycarp, in Ampelakiotissa near Nafpaktos, Greece, for over 500 years.

It was stolen on March 14, 2013 & was never found. A fragment, however, taken from the arm on a previous occasion, was discovered & returned to the monastery on July 14, 2019.

In the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, & Greek Catholic Churches, the feast day of St. Polycarp is February 23. In the Coptic Orthodox Church, his feast day is on Amshir 29 (March 8 in the Gregorian Calendar). In the Church of England, he was honored with a Lesser Festival on February 23. In the Lutheran Church, his feast day is on February 23.

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St. Anne

According to Christian tradition, St. Anne was the mom of the Virgin Mary, wife of St. Joachim, & was Jesus’ maternal grandma.

Her name isn’t in the Bible’s canonical Gospels. In writing, Anne’s name, & Joachim’s come from New Testament apocrypha. The Gospel of Thomas (written circa 150 AD) seems to be the earliest that mentions them. She’s mentioned in the Quran, but not by name.

The Immaculate Conception was eventually made dogma by the Catholic Church following an increased devotion to Anne in the 12th century. In Eastern Christianity dedications start as early as 6th century.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne & Joachim are attributed to the title Ancestor of God. Both the Nativity of Mary & the Presentation of Mary are celebrated as 2 of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church.

The Dormition of Anne is also a minor feast in Eastern Christianity. In Lutheranism, it’s believed that Martin Luther chose to enter religious life as an Augustinian friar after invoking St. Anne was jeopardized by lightning.

In the 4th century, & in the 15th century, a belief arose that Mary was conceived of Anne without original sin. The Immaculate Conception is often confused with the Annunciation of the Incarnation (Mary’s virgin birth of Jesus). The 13th century Speculum Maius includes information regarding the life of St. Anne.

In the Eastern church, the veneration of Anne herself may go back as far as circa 550, when Justinian built a church in Constantinople in her honor. The earliest pictorial sign of her veneration in the West in an 8th century fresco in the church of Santa Maria Antique, Rome.

The Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary had reached southern Italy by the 9th century. In the Latin Church, St. Anne wasn’t venerated. Except, perhaps, in the south of France, before the 13th century. A shrine at Douai (in northern France) was 1 of the early centers of devotion to St. Anne in the West.

The Anna Selbdritt was a type of iconography showing 3 generations of the “Holy Family,” St. Anne, the Virgin Mary, & Jesus (grandma, mom, son). This style of iconography emphasized the humanity of Jesus. It drew on the earlier conventions of the Seat of Wisdom. (The Seat of Wisdom is/are icons/sculptures that shows the Virgin Mary is seated on a throne with Jesus, as a kid, on her lap.) This was popular in northern Germany in the 1500s.

Two well-known shrines to St. Anne is that of Ste-Anne-d’Auray in Brittany (France) & that of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre near the city of Quebec. The number of pilgrims to the Basilica of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre is the greatest of St. Anne’s Feast Day (July 26), & the Sunday before the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8). In 1892, Pope Leo XIII sent a relic of St. Anne to the church.

By the middle of the 7th century, a distinct feast day, the Conception of St. Anne (Maternity of Holy Anne) celebrating Mary by St. Anne, was observed at the Monastery of St. Sabas.

It’s now known in the Greek Orthodox Church as the feast of “The Conception by St. Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos.” It’s celebrated on December 9th. In the Catholic Church, the Feast of Saints Anne & Joachim is celebrated on July 26. The alleged relics of St. Anne was brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople in 710 & was kept there in the church of St. Sophia as late as 1333.

During the 12th & 13th centuries, returning crusaders & pilgrims from the East brought St. Anne’s relics to some churches, including most famously those at Apt, in Provence, Ghent, & Chartres. St. Anne’s relics have been preserved & venerated in the many cathedrals & monasteries dedicated to her name.

For example, in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, & Greece in the semi-autonomous Mount Athos, & the city of Katerini. Duren has been the main place of pilgrimage for Anne since 1506, when Pope Julius II decreed that her relics should be kept there, after they were stolen from the church of St. Stephen in Mainz.

The Church of St. Anne in Beit Guvrin National Park was built by the Byzantines & the crusaders in the 12th century. This is known in Arabic as Khirbet Sandahanna, the mound of Maresha being called Tell Sandahanna.

St. Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, housewives, women in labor or who want to be pregnant, grandmothers, moms, & educators. She’s also a patroness of horseback riders, cabinet-makers, & miners.

As the mom of Mary, this devotion to St. Anne as the patron of miners arises from the medieval comparison between Mary & Jesus & the precious metals: gold & silver. Anne’s womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were mined.

St. Anne is the patron saint of Brittany (France); Cuenca (Ecuador); Chinandega (Nicaragua); the Mi’kmaq people of Canada; Castelbuono (Sicily); Quebec (Canada); Santa Ana (California); Norwich (Connecticut); Detroit (Michigan); Adjunta (Puerto Rico); Santa Ana & Jucuaran (El Salvador); Berlin (New Hampshire); Santa Ana Pueblo, Seama, & Taos (New Mexico); Chiclana de la Frontera, Marsaskala, Tuadela, Atarfe & Fasnia (Spain); Town of Sta Ana Province of Pampanga, Molo, Iloilo City, Balasan; Iloilo, Hagnoy, Santa Ana, Taguig City, St. Anne Shrine, Malicboy, Pagbilao, Quezon, & Malinao, Albay (Philippines); Santana (Brazil); St. Anne (Illinois); Sainte Anne Island; Baie Sainte Anne & Praslin Island (Seychelles); Bukit Mertajam & Port Klang (Malaysia); Kl’ucove (Slovakia) & South Vietnam.

The parish church of Vatican City is Sant’ Anna dei Palafrenieri. There’s a shrine dedicated to St. Anne in the Woods in Bristol, United Kingdom.

Anne is also revered in Islam, recognized as a highly spiritual woman & as the mom of Mary. She’s not named in the Quran. She’s called “the wife of Imran.” The Quran describes her remaining childless until old age. One day, Anne saw a bird feeding its young while sitting in the shade of a tree, which awakened her desire to have kids of her own.

She prayed for a kid & eventually conceived. Imran, her husband, died before the kid was born. Anne expected the unborn kid to be a boy, so she vowed to dedicate “him” to isolation & service in the Second Temple.

Anne had a daughter (Mary) instead. Anne named her: Mary. Anne’s words upon delivering Mary reflect as a great mystic, realizing that while she’d had wanted a son, this daughter was God’s gift to her.

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Church of Norway apologizes to LGBTQ+ community for 'discrimination and harassment'

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/world/church-of-norway-lgbtq-apology

Entering Heaven Alive

This is also called ascension, assumption, or translation. This is the belief that’s held in a variety of religions.

Sine death is the normal end to an individual’s life on Earth & the beginning of afterlife, entering Heaven without dying 1st is considered exceptional & usually a sign of a deity’s special recognition of a person’s piety.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are 2 people, Enoch & Elijah, who are to have entered Heaven alive. But both wordings are subject to debate. Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” But it doesn’t say whether he was alive or dead nor where God took him.

The Book of Kings describes the prophet Elijah being taken towards the Heavens in a whirlwind. But the word can mean can mean either Heaven as the home of God or the sky.

According to the post-biblical Midrash, 8 people went to, or will go to, Heaven alive. This is also referred to as the Garden of Eden & Paradise. The 8 people were: 1) Enoch, Noah’s great-grandpa (Genesis 5:22-24). 2) Elijah (II Kings 2:11). 3) Serah, the daughter of Asher, the son of Jacob. 4) Eliezer, the servant of Abraham who chose Rebecca to be Isaac’s wife. 5) Hiram I, King of Tyre, who helped Solomon build the First Temple. 6) Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian 7) Jaabez, the son of Judan ha-Nasi, who was the editor of Mishnah 8) Pharaoh’s daughter, sometimes called Bithiah

There were also 4 rabbis who visited Heaven. 4 entered the orchard: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (also known as Elisha Ben Avuya) & Rabbi Akiva. One looked & died. One looked & was harmed. One looked & cut down the trees. The last one went up in peace & went down in peace.

Jesus is considered by vast majority of Christians to have passed away before being resurrected & ascending to Heaven, bodily, to sit at the right hand of God with a promise to someday return to Earth.

There are some people who believe that Jesus didn’t die. These are known as the Swoon hypothesis & Docetism. The Virgin Mary is thought in Eastern Orthodoxy to have passed away before being translated into Heaven. Roman Catholicism believe this also.

Protestants generally believe that Mary died and passed away naturally like another mortal person. Then Mary entered Heaven in a pretty usual manner. But certain observers belonging to the Evangelical Catholic tradition of Lutheranism & the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism believe in the Assumption of Mary. Others in these traditions reject the Assumption of Mary.

With the adoption of the Nicene Creed in 325, the ascension of Jesus into Heaven has been officially taught by all Christian churches. It’s celebrated on Ascension Thursday. In the Roman Catholic Church, the ascension of the Lord is a Holy Day of Obligation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the ascension is 1 of 12 Great Feasts.

In the Reformed Churches, which teaches Calvinist theology, belief in the ascension of Christ is included in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, & the Second Helvetic Confession.

Dispensationalists believe in a “rapture.” The rapture is rejected by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, & most Protestants. The rapture comes from a reference to “being caught up” that’s found in I Thessalonians 4:17. This passage says that when the “dead in Christ” & “we who are alive and remain” will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord/God. Christians differ on the interpretation of this Bible passage.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church teach that Mary died a natural death like any other human being. She was buried by the Apostle, except for Thomas (of Doubting Thomas fame), who was late. 3 days later, after Thomas arrived, Mary was found to be missing from her tomb, just like her son Jesus.

They also teach that the Apostles got a revelation during which Mary appeared to them & told them that she’d been resurrected by Jesus & taken body & soul into Heaven. They teach of Heavenly bliss that other saints will experience only after the Last Judgment.

In Mandaeism, the Left Ginza (1 of their holy books) mentions that Shitil (Seth), the son of Adam, was taken alive to the World of Light without a masiqta or death mass.

In the Hellenistic religion, Apollonius of Tyana was said to have been “assumed” into Elysium by Philostratus.

In Hinduism, Yudhishthira, of the Mahabharata, & Lakshmana, of the Ramayana, are believed to be the only humans that were able to cross the plane between mortals & Heaven/Svarga while still in their mortal bodies. Nahusha was admitted to Heaven in his human body, as were several other kings. Tukaram is believed to have taken to Vaikuntha on Garuda. This event is reported to be seen by villagers.

In Islam, Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to Al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. After he lead prayers at the mosque, Muhammad ascended into Heaven alive. In Heaven, he greets, individually, previous prophets. Later, he speaks to Allah. Allah gives Muhammad instructions regarding the details of prayer. Muhammad’s ascent into Heaven was temporary. He came back to Earth later. Islamic texts deny the idea of the crucifixion or death accredited to Jesus by the New Testament.

The Quran says that people (Jews & Romans) sought to kill Jesus. But they couldn’t crucify or kill him. Although “this was made to appear to them.” Muslims believe that Jesus wasn’t crucified but instead he was raised by God into the Heavens. This “raising” is often understood to mean through bodily ascension.

Some Islamic scholars have identified the prophet Idris to be the same person as Enoch from the Bible. This is because the Quran states that God “raised him to a lofty station,” & that has taken to be term for ascending, on which it’s concluded that Idris was Enoch.

Members of various Ascended Master Teachings, a group of New Age religions based on Theosophy. They believe that Francis Bacon underwent a physical ascension without experiencing death. He then became the deity St. Germain.

They believe that there were a lot of others that have undergone Ascension. They were called the Ascended Masters & act as spirit guides to human souls on their spiritual path. The leaders of these religions claim to be able to receive channeled messages from the Ascended Masters, which they then relay to their followers.

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As a Lutheran I don't know if I'm happy for a Augustinian Pope or worried about a Pope Leo 😁😁😁

#Christianity #pope #PopeLeo #catholicism #Lutheranism

Tim #Walz is a Lutheran! He would be the first (or 2nd ... read the article) Lutheran to reach that elected height in the country's history. OTOH, he is from the #ELCA not the #LCMS so there's that; but the majority of the #MissouriSynod tends to not vote for Democrats anyway.

#Lutherans #Lutheranism #HarrisWalz2024

https://www.ncronline.org/news/five-faith-facts-about-harris-pick-tim-walz-minnesota-lutheran-dad

Leafing through the Wikipedia entries on the archbishops of Uppsala - as one does before dealing with taxes - I decided that the zenith of Lutheran clerical vestment chic was achieved by Yngve Brilioth ( 1950 - 58). His successors have looked indistinguishable from their Anglican communion counterparts.

#ChurchOfSweden #ClericalVestments
#Lutheranism
#YngveBrilioth