For all you Georgiaphiles out there, this is of interest:
Byzantine, Texas: Remains of St. Queen Ketevan may have been found
(h/t to Josephus Flavius)
Her story, here, and here.
Byzantine, Texas: Remains of St. Queen Ketevan may have been found
(h/t to Josephus Flavius)
Her story, here, and here.
7 comments:
Wow. Holy St. Queen Ketevan, pray to God for us.
Thanks to your blog, I am now a Georgiaphile. I picked up A Short History of The Georgian Church from HTM... it is somewhat dry but very educational.
I was wondering if you have seen any other Georgian Church histories?
I'll second Ranger's request. God willing, I am all set to go on a Georgian Monastery tour in June/July and would dearly love to be more informed -- and I look forward to being informed once I get there.
And thank you for increasing my knowledge of God's wondrous Saints; Holy Queen and Martyr Ketevan, pray to God for us!
Ranger,
Yes, that book is a bit dry, which is unfortunate, as there is nothing dry about Georgian history. The best book--no, the essential book--is "Lives of the Georgian Saints." St. Herman Press sells them for $29. I believe these are cloth bound. I bought a hardbound for $35. I suggest trying to find a hardbound copy--you will be glad you did. If you are going to read one book on Georgia and the Georgian church, then THIS IS THE BOOK. Other good references are: "Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints" by David Marshall Lang, (1956); "Life of Saint Nino" by Margery Wardrop and reprinted by Gorgias Press; "The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography" by Constantine B. Lerner, and the great Georgian epic "The Man in the Panther's Skin," by Shot'ha Rust'haveli, from the 12th century. The 2005 reprint by Nekeri Publishing House is a very nice copy. This has nothing to do, specifically, about the Georgian church, but if you want to understand the romanticism of Georgia, then this a good place to start. But really, "Lives of the Georgian Saints" is your best bet.
Ian,
Please see the book recommendations in my post to Ranger.
I am excited for you. I assume you are going on John Graham's Monastery tour? You are in for quite a life-changing experience. I cannot go this year, but am mentally making plans for 2010, God willing. I became great friends with 2 of your fellow Australians on the monastery tour. They are Patrick and Pamela from Perth. If you want to discuss the tour, what to expect, etc., please email me (my address is on the upper left-hand side of the site.) Or if you do facebook, I do that as well.
And yes, St. Queen Ketevan's story is inspiring. The thing is, there are so many stories just like hers. In the Small Compline, we chant "Adorned in the blood of Thy Martyrs throughout all the world as in purple and fine linen, Thy Church, through them, doth cry unto Thee..." Many times this puts me in mind of these Georgian saints. Like St. Ketevan, many of the martyrs and saints were Georgian royalty--not at all what we are used to in our Western tradition. The Georgian monarchs were generally close to their people and close to the Church.
John: indeed I am. And am greatly looking forward to it. Perhaps I may have the pleasure of meeting you on a future tour.
My sincerest thanks for the book recommendations too.
Oh -- and I may take you up on the information offer. Thank you.
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