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Sinai icon of the All-holy Theotokos dated to the thirteenth century.
Τὴν οὐράνιον πύλην καὶ κιβωτόν, τὸ πανάγιον ὄρος, τὴν φωταυγῆ, νεφέλην ὑμνήσωμεν τὴν οὐράνιον κλίμακα, τὸν λογικὸν Παράδεισον, τῆς Εὔας τὴν λύτρωσιν, τῆς οἰκουμένης πάσης, τὸ μέγα κειμήλιον, ὅτι σωτηρία, ἐν αὐτῇ διεπράχθη, τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ ἄφεσις, τῶν ἀρχαίων ἐγκλημάτων. Διὰ τοῦτο βοῶμεν αὐτῇ· Πρέσβευε τῷ σῷ Υἱῷ καὶ Θεῷ, τῶν πταισμάτων ἄφεσιν δωρήσασθαι, τοῖς εὐσεβῶς προσκυνοῦσι, τὸν πανάγιον τόκον σου.
Let us praise the heavenly pillar and ark, the all-holy mountain, the luminous cloud, the heavenly ladder, the spiritual Paradise, the redemption of Eve, the great treasure of all the world, because salvation for the world was effected in her, and forgiveness of the ancient transgressions. For this we cry to her: Pray to thy Son and God, that he may grant forgiveness of offences to those who piously venerate thine all-holy giving of birth.
This hymn honouring the All-holy Theotokos is chanted after the Third Ode of Matins on the Sunday of All Saints. It is a cascade of Old Testament typologies and New Testament fulfillments that inform both Orthodox hymns and icons.
The chapel of Saints Cosmas and Damian is at the southwest corner of the Sinai basilica. The holy table faces east, but the iconostasion is aligned with the wall of the basilica. The panel beneath the icon of the All-holy Theotokos depicts a repeating pattern of rosebuds. The iconostasion dates from the eighteenth century.
Saint Ignatius, known as Θεοφόρος, ‘the God-bearer’, was bishop of Antioch. Around the year 107, he was arrested and sent to Rome, condemned to death by being thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheatre. At two stopping points, he was able to write letters to various churches. In his Epistle to the Ephesians he writes,
Ὅθεν πρέπει ὑμῖν συντρέχειν τῇ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου γνώμῃ· ὅπερ καὶ ποιεῖτε. τὸ γὰρ ἀξιονόμαστον ὑμῶν πρεσβυτέριον, τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄξιον, οὕτως συνήρμοσται τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ὡς χορδαὶ κιθάρᾳ. διὰ τοῦτο ἐν τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ ὑμῶν καὶ συμφώνῳ ἀγάπῃ Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἄδεται. καὶ οἱ κατ’ ἄνδρα δὲ χορὸς γίνεθε, ἵνα σύμφωνοι ὄντες ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ, χρῶμα Θεοῦ λαβόντες, ἐν ἑνότητι ᾄδητε ἐν φωνῇ μιᾷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τῷ πατρί, ἵνα ὑμῶν καὶ ἀκούσῃ καὶ ἐπιγινώσκῃ, δι’ ὧν εὖ πράσσετε, μέλη ὄντας τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. χρήσιμον οὖν ἐστὶν ὑμᾶς ἐν ἀμώμῳ ἑνότητι εἶναι, ἵνα καὶ Θεοῦ πάντοτε μετέχητε.
So then it becometh you to run in harmony with the mind of the bishop; which thing also ye do. For your honourable presbytery, which is worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop, even as its strings to a lyre. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, each and all, form yourselves into a chorus, that being harmonious in concord and taking the key note of God ye may in unison sing with one voice through Jesus Christ unto the Father, that He may both hear you and acknowledge you by your good deeds to be members of His Son. It is therefore profitable for you to be in blameless unity, that ye may be partakers of God always.
An icon lamp catches the sunlight at the noonday reading of the Third and Sixth Hours.
The icon lamp in the Chapel of Saint James, First Bishop of Jerusalem, at the beginning of Mesonyktikon, the Midnight Office.
When pilgrims enter the Sinai basilica, they light candles in prayers for those who are living, or in commemoration of those who have gone to their rest.
‘They bee great offerers of Candles’, as the English merchant Richard Chancellor wrote when he visited Moscow in 1553. (The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiqves and Discoveries of the English Nation, published in 1598.)
Sinai Greek 172, folio 67 recto, the beginning of the Gospel according to Mark.
Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Sinai Greek 172, folio 66 verso, the illumination of the holy Evangelist Mark.
Sinai Greek 172, folio 11 recto, the beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew.
Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, υἱοῦ Δαβίδ, υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ.
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Sinai Greek 172 is a manuscript of the Four Gospels. On folio 197 recto we read the following inscription.
+ Ἐτελειώθη σὺν θ(ε)ῶ ἡ θεόπνευστος βίβλος αὕτη· διὰ χειρὸς ζαχαρίου πρεσ(βυ)τ(έρου) πανελαχίστου, του πραιτωριότ(ου)· ἐξεπιτροπῆς θεοδώρου μ(ε)γ(άλου) ὑπάτ(ου) καὶ τεποτ(ηρη)τ(οῦ) κολωνείας τοῦ γαβρᾶ· καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ συνεύνου εἰρήνης· πρὸς σκέπην καὶ διατήρησιν καὶ ὑγείαν καὶ σ(ωτη)ρίαν καὶ ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν· + μηνὶ μαΐω ινδ(ικτιῶνος) Ε΄· ἔτους ͵ϛφοε΄· επὶ βασιλέως αὐτοκράτορος ῥωμαίων κων(σταν)τ(ίνου) τοῦ δοῦκα + οἱ ἀναγινώσκοντες, εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ τοῦ γράψαντος ἅμα τῷ κτησαμένω την βίβλον ταύτην· + διὰ τὸν κ(ύριο)ν· +
+ This God-inspired book, finished with the (help) of God by the hand of the presbyter Zacharias, the smallest, the praetoriotes, on the commission of Theodoros Gabras, great hypatos and tepoteretes (governor) of Koloneia and his wife Irene; for protection, preservation, health, salvation, and forgiveness of their sins; in the month of May, indiction 5, year 6575 (1067) in the reign of Constantine Doukas, emperor of the Romans. + May the readers (of this book) pray for him who wrote this book as well as for him who acquired it + for the sake of the Lord. +
Theodore Gabras recaptured Trebizond from the Seljuks in 1075. Alexis I Komnenos appointed him governor of Chaldia, the historical region in northeast Anatolia. In the late eleventh century, Theodore Gabras was de facto independent ruler of Chaldia. In 1098, he was defeated in battle and given an ultimatum, ‘Renounce your faith, or die’. He confessed his faith in Christ, for which he suffered many torments. He remained steadfast, and at last received the martyr’s crown. His memory is celebrated on October 2. Saint Theodore the Great Martyr is held in special veneration by the Greeks from Pontus.
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