Patrick Comerford
This is the second week of Easter, and yesterday (16 April 2023) was Easter Day in the calendar of the Orthodox Church.
Before this day begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading.
As this is Easter Week in the Orthodox Church, I am reflecting each morning this week in these ways:
1, Short reflections on an Orthodox church in Crete;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
Agios Minas Cathedral, Iraklion:
The Cathedral of Agios Minas (῾Ιερός Μητροπολιτικός Ναός ῾Αγίου Μηνᾶ) in Iraklion is the seat of the Archbishop of Crete.
Saint Minas the martyr and wonder-worker (285-309), is the patron saint and protector of Iraklion, the capital of Crete. His feast day on 11 November is a public holiday in Crete.
This is the largest cathedral or church in Crete, and one of the largest in Greece. It was dedicated 128 years ago.
The site of the cathedral was once the garden of a local Turk. The architect, Athanassios Moussis, was also the architect of the Church of Aghios Titos in Iraklion.
The cathedral was built over time, from 1862 to 1895, but building work was interrupted during the Cretan Revolution in 1866-1869. Building work resumed in 1883, and the cathedral was completed in 1895.
The church has a cruciform shape with a central dome. The external maximum dimensions are 43.20 metres long and 29.50 wide. Inside, this is a three-aisle basilica. The right aisle is dedicated to Saint Titos and the left one to the Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete.
There are two bell towers, one in the north-east corner and the other in the south-east corner.
The smaller, older church of Agios Minas and Pantanassa stands beside the cathedral. This church is known to have existed in the Venetian period. An interesting feature is a Gothic window in the north aisle, survives today. After the Turkish occupation of Crete, the church fell into disuse until 1735, when it was refurbished as the metropolitan church or cathedral of Iraklion.
The church had two aisles roofed with two arches. The north aisle is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the south aisle to Saint Minas. The carved, wooden iconostasis or icon screen on the north aisle is gold plated. Many of the icons are the work of 18th century Cretan icon painters.
This church is connected with one of the major atrocities in the history Crete, over 200 years ago. Six bishops of Crete and many priests and lay people from Iraklion were slaughtered by Turks in the ‘Little Church of Saint Minas’ on 24 June 1821. Five years later, tradition recalls, on Easter Day 18 April 1826, while the Christians of Iraklion were in church, a Muslim mob plotted a mass murder. However, an aged officer on horseback, resembling their fiercest warrior, Ayan Agha, intervened, calming the mob and dispersing them.
Why did a well-known Turkish persecutor of the Christians act as their protector at the last moment? The Christians attributed the appearance of the rider to a miraculous intervention by Saint Minas, saying it was the saint and not Ayan Agha, who appeared to the Turks.
Ever since, Saint Minas has been depicted in icons as a Roman general on horseback and honoured as the patron saint of Iraklion.
The church was damaged by an earthquake in 1856, and was restored and renovated a year later. However, by the mid-19th century, it was too small to serve as a cathedral for the growing Christian community in Iraklion.
Saint Minas and the church feature in a number of books by Nikos Kazantzakis, including Report to Greco, in which he writes, ‘whenever the Turks sharpened their knives and prepared to fall upon the Christians, Saint Minas sprang from his icon once more in order to protect the citizens of Megalo Kastro (Iraklion) ... For the Kastrians (the people of Iraklion), Saint Minas was not simply holy, he was their captain. They called him Captain Minas and secretly brought him their arms to be blessed.’
John 3: 1-8 (NRSVA):
1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ 3 Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ 4 Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ 5 Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’
Today’s Prayer:
The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Safeguarding the Integrity of Creation.’ This theme was introduced yesterday by USPG’s Regional Manager for East Asia, Oceania and Europe, Rebecca Boardman, who reflected on ways to get the climate justice conversation started, in the light of this week’s International Earth Day.
The prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (17 April 2023) invites us to pray:
Let us pray for our church communities. May they work together to care for the environment locally and globally, and be beacons of hope for climate justice.
Collect:
Almighty Father,
you have given your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise again for our justification:
grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness
that we may always serve you
in pureness of living and truth;
through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion:
Lord God our Father,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ
you have assured your children of eternal life
and in baptism have made us one with him:
deliver us from the death of sin
and raise us to new life in your love,
in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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