Семнадцатая гомилия патриарха Фотия
About the 17 homily of patriarch Photius

Summary/Abstract: The 17 homily was spoken by patriarch Photius on the Great Saturday of 867 (29 March) in St. Sophia of Constantinople. Its first subject is anointing of some members of a sect of quartodecimals, which main particularity was celebration of Easter on 14 Nisan. From one side Photius marks its closeness to the Orthodoxy, from another he mentions about apocrypha and many astrological superstitions of this sect. The main theme of the homily is restoration and apparition of the apse mosaic of the Theotokos. Photius stresses that it was restored due his efforts, i.e. after the Victory of the Orthodoxy 24 years passed before the beginning of restoration of icons in St. Sophia. This homily is very interesting from the theological point of view: Photius artificially uses previous anti-iconoclastic arguments and adds some new and non-trivial. According to Photius the icon has the same theological significance as the Holy Scripture, because the image is equal to the word. He proves this statement by an idea partially borrowed from early Greek philosophical issues about certain “optical rays”, which proceed from human eyes and touch objects ofexternal world. On the theological level it means, that if Christ was seen, He is describable (perigraptos) and therefore He can be depicted. The article is followed by the commented translation of the 17 homily in Russian.

• Details
• Contents