Sophia, the feminine child, is playing in the world, obvious and unseen, playing at all times before the Creator. That which is poorest and humblest, that which is most hidden in all things is nevertheless most obvious in them,and quite manifest, for it is their own self that stands before us, naked and without care. She wills to be also the unseen pivot of all nature, the center and significance of all the light that is in all and for all. Now the Wisdom of God, Sophia, comes forth, reaching from “end to end mightily.”
I do not speak of her as a Beginning, but as a manifestation. I do not know where she is, in this Beginning. In the Nameless Beginning, without Beginning, was the Light. We do not hear it or see it until it is spoken. Perhaps she is even the Divine Nature, One in Father, Son and Holy Ghost.Īnd perhaps she is infinite light unmanifest, not even waiting to be known as Light. Perhaps in a certain very primitive aspect Sophia is the unknown, the dark, the nameless Ousia. (When the recluses of fourteenth century England heard their Church Bells and looked out upon the wolds and fens under a kind sky, they spoke in their hearts to “Jesus our Mother.” It was Sophia that had awakened their childlike hearts.) We call her “glory.” In Sophia His power is experienced only as mercy and as love. The Diffuse Shining of God is Hagia Sophia. Such is the loving kindness of Wisdom.Īll the perfections of created things are also in God and therefore He is at once Father and Mother.Īs Father He stands in solitary might surrounded by darkness.Īs Mother His shining is diffused, embracing all his creatures with merciful tenderness and light. Thus He shines not on them but from within them. He speaks to us gently in ten thousand things, in which His light is one fullness and one Wisdom. We do not see the Blinding One in black emptiness. His light is diffused in the air, and the light of God is diffused by Hagia Sophia.
The Sun burns in the sky like the Face of God, but we do not know his countenance as terrible. ( Christopher Pramuk in Sophia: the Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2009 ) Image: The Hagia Sophia (Arild VÃ¥gen/ CC BY-SA 3.Hagia Sophia is a prose poem that celebrates divine Wisdom as the feminine manifestation of God.Structured in four parts based on the canonical hours of prayer, it is Merton’s most lyrical expression of “Christ being born into the whole world,”especially in that which is most “poor” and “hidden.” It is a hymn of peace.
No information has been given as to the size of the project. It creates a symbolic link with the Russian occupation that obliges it to protect the region in case of regime collapse, or if the opposition makes some military move against it." Yahya Nana’a, the former head of the Aleppo Provincial Council, told Al-Modon: "Building a church named after the Hagia Sophia is a clever tactic from the militia. Mohamed Rashid, a media commentator, told Al-Modon: "The initiative show loyalty to Russia, a policy pursued by the Orthodox Christian militias of the national defence in the region since 2015." The move is also intended to increase Russian support for Abdullah’s National Defence militia, which is Greek Orthodox in religious orientation. The proposal was then approved by the Duma, Russia’s legislature. His idea was supported by Nicola Baalbaki, who is bishop of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Hama. The site of the cathedral is a few kilometres south of a Turkish military base.Īccording to Lebanese newspaper Al-Modon, the project was the idea of Nabeul Al-Abdullah, the leader of a pro-regime militia, who donated the land for the project. President Bashar al-Assad would never transfer a cathedral from one denomination to another." Vitaly Milonov, a Russian legislator, told RIA Novosti news agency: "Syria, unlike Turkey, is a country that clearly shows the possibility of peaceful and positive interfaith dialogue. The decision is being interpreted as a Russian rebuke to Erdogan. Russia will help to fund a scaled down version in the western Syrian province of Hama, with site preparation work to begin in August.
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