Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki
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| Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki | |
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 12th-century mosaic depicting St Demetrios, from the Golden-Roofed Monastery in Kiev |
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| "The Megalomartyr"; Mitar | |
| Born | 3rd Century |
| Died | 306 |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholicism |
| Major shrine | Thessaloniki, Greece |
| Feast | 26 October |
| Attributes | depicted wearing the armour of a Roman soldier, often seated on a red horse |
| Patronage | patron of Thessaloniki, Greece; patron of the Crusades (in Catholic tradition only) |
 Saints Portal |
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- Saint Demetrius redirects here. For another saint, see Demetrius of Alexandria.
Saint Demetrius (or Demetrios) of Thessaloniki (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος της Θεσσαλονίκης, Russian: Dmitry (Деметрий)) was a Christian martyr who is said to have lived in the early 4th century. He is also referred to as "the Megalomartyr" by the Greeks. He later became one of the most important Orthodox military saints, often paired with Saint George.
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[edit] Life
The earliest written accounts of his life were compiled in the 9th century, although there are earlier images of him, and accounts from the 7th century of his miracles. The biographies have Demetrius as a young man of senatorial family who was run through with spears in around 306 in Thessaloniki, during the Christian persecutions of emperor Diocletian or Galerius, which matches his depiction in the 7th century mosaics.
[edit] Growth of his cult
The origins of his veneration are obscure; the first evidence of his systematic veneration (his cult) comes about 150 years after his martyrdom, and most modern scholars do not believe there was in fact a historical St. Demetrius martyred in Thessaloniki, Greece. (Skedros 1996) One theory is that his cult was transferred from Sirmium when Thessaloniki replaced it as the main military base in the area in 441/442. His very large church in Thessaloniki, the Hagios Demetrios, dates from the mid-5th century, so he clearly had a large cult by then. Thessaloniki remained a centre of his cult, and he is the patron saint of the city. His memory is celebrated on 26 October.
He is also revered by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Mitar, having a feast of Mitrovdan on 8 November, which is a public holiday in the Republika Srpska part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After the growth of his cult, Thessaloniki suffered repeated attacks and sieges from the new pagan peoples who moved into the Balkans, and Demetrius was credited with many miraculous interventions to defend the city. Hence later traditions about Demetrius regard him as a soldier in the Roman army, and he came to be regarded as an important military martyr.
He was extremely popular in the Middle Ages, and along with Saint George, was the patron of the Crusades.
For four centuries after his death, St. Demetrius had no physical relics, and in their place an unusual empty shrine called the "ciborium" was built inside Hagios Demetrios. What were claimed to be his remains subsequently appeared in Thessaloniki, but even the local archbishop (John of Thessaloniki, 7th century) was publicly dismissive of their authenticity.[1] These are now also kept in Hagios Demetrios.
St. Demetrius is commonly spelled as St. Dimitrios by Byzantine scholars and Greek immigrants in Australia, Canada and the United States.
[edit] Iconography
St. Demetrius was initially depicted in icons and mosaics as a young man in patterned robes with the distinctive tablion of the senatorial class across his chest. Miraculous military interventions were attributed to him during several attacks on Thessaloniki, and he gradually became thought of as a soldier: a Constantinopolitan ivory of the late 10th century shows him as an infantry soldier (Metropolitan Museum of Art).[1] But an icon of the late 11th century in Sinai shows him as before, still a civilian. Another Sinai icon, of the Crusader period and painted by a French artist working in the Holy Land in the second half of the 12th century, shows what then became the most common depiction. Demetrius, bearded, rather older, and on a dark horse, rides together with St George, unbearded and on a white horse. Both are dressed as cavalrymen.
An additional iconographical convention is to depict Demetrius with the White Tower of Thessaloniki in the background. The tower depicted in the icons was built in the 16th century, centuries after his life, as the exact architecture of the older tower that stood at the same site in earlier times is unknown.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Cormack p. 75
[edit] References
- Robin Cormack, "Writing in Gold, Byzantine Society and its Icons", 1985, George Philip, London, ISBN 054001085-5
- James C. Skedros, Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector 4th-7th Centuries CE, Trinity Press International, 1999. Summarized in Harvard Theological Review 89:410 (1996). in JSTOR
- James C. Skedros, "Reponse to David Woods" Harvard Theological Review 93:3:235 (July 2000). at JSTOR
- Kurt Weitzmann in The Icon, 1982, Evans Brothers Ltd, London, ills. pp. 32,51,220 (trans of Le Icone, Montadori 1981), ISBN 0237456451
- David Woods, "Thessalonica's Patron: Saint Demetrius or Emeterius?" Harvard Theological Review 93:3:221-234 (July 2000). at JSTORfree
- David Woods, bibliography on St. Demetrius
[edit] External links
- David Woods, St Demetrius from his Military Martyrs web site. Includes article on Origins of the Cult, the Passion and Miracles by Anastasius the Librarian (BHL 2122 and 2123), images & links.
- The Life Of The Holy Great Martyr Of Christ Saint Demetrios The Myrrh-Bearer of Thessalonica Compiled by Fr. Demetrios Serfes
