The Christmas preach of St. Sophronius of Jerusalem Cover Image

Dorul după „Apa fântânii” de la Poarta Betleemului. Predica de Crăciun a Sfântului Sofronie al Ierusalimului din anul cuceririi arabe a Betleemului
The Christmas preach of St. Sophronius of Jerusalem

Author(s): Nicolae Jan
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion
Published by: Facultatea de Teologie Ortodoxă Alba Iulia
Keywords: Christmas; Saint Sophrony of Jerusalem; sermon; pilgrimage to Bethlehem; the Arabian conquest

Summary/Abstract: The Christmas homily of Saint Sophrony, preached in 634, ends by the confession of everybody’s yearn to see Christ, the water from the fountain of Bethlehem, fortress which had been conquered that year by the Saracens. We are dealing with a compact homily, dominated by the mix of doxological joy and jeremiahthic prophetical sadness, over which something from the complex of the sieged fortress sails. Theo dramatic Liturgy and Homily, developed around the Holy Places, specific to Palestinians and which is found within the genre of dialogued sermon, is less present within this homily, which is rather imbued with a historical dramatization. This homily represents an important historical document which attests the first interferences between Christianity and Islam throughout the VIIth century, but it is at the same time one of the most brilliant, by its lyricism, out of the homiletic pearls inherited from Saint Sophrony.

  • Issue Year: XV/2010
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 133-155
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Romanian
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