12/17/2022 0 Comments The gift of the magi![]() ![]() With the departure of the Crusaders under Emperor Michael Paleologos, the priceless gifts were returned again to Constantinople - until its fall to the Turks in the year 1453.Īfter the fall of the great city the pious Princess Mara of Serbia, the Christian wife of Sultan Mourat II (1421-1451) and the stepmother of Mohamed II of Porthetou, brought them in person to the Holy Monastery of St. Along with other holy relics, the Gifts were then brought for their safety to Nicaea in Bithynia, the temporary capital of Byzantium, where they remained for about sixty years. Based on theological studies, it is believed that many of these “words,” which comprise the teachings and events of the life of Jesus Christ, were passed on by the Theotokos to Luke, who of course included them in his Gospel.ĭoubtless, along with the holy “words” of Christ, His Mother would have also kept everything dealing with the earthly life of the Lord, naturally including the extraordinary Holy Gifts she had received upon His birth.Īccording to historical and religious tradition, before her Dormition she delivered these Gifts, together with the Holy Sepulcher of Christ, and the Holy Shroud, to the Church of Jerusalem, where they remained until the year 400 AD.Īt that time, Emperor Arkadios brought them to Constantinople for the appreciation of the faithful and the protection and promotion of the Queen City.Īnd there they remained, undisturbed, until the sack of the city by the Crusaders in 1204. The Apostle Luke, known as “The Evangelist,” writes of the Virgin Mary, or Panagia, that she “kept all these words in her heart” (Luke 2:19, 51). The story of the transportation of the Holy Gifts – which are miraculously preserved to this day – to the Holy Monastery of St. ![]()
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