Pavle of Serbia
550 years since the fall of Constantinople

Published by the Serbian Orthodox Church

May 29,  1453 - 2003

ELGRADE, May 29, 2003 - Excerpts from the letter of His Holiness Patriarch of Serbia Pavle to His Beatitude Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and all Greece  in which he extended greetings to the participants of a solemn convocation in Athens marking the 550th Anniversary of the fall of Constantinople.

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        IT IS the city of Aghia Sophia, that miraculous temple, which according to the words of the newly-glorified Saint of the Orthodox Church Nicholai of Ochrid and Zhicha is "the most faithful and most glorious exposition of Christian doctrine, Christian celebration". "It", according to the same Godly-wise Saint, "manifests the beginning and the end of the world". "It is," he continues, "the heart of the Orthodox people and their soul; their eternal hope and inspiration". The name alone, Aghia Sophia, means the Incarnate God, the eternal Wisdom of God, and the physical structure of the temple represents a testimony to the revelation of the Mystery of the Incarnation.

        VIEWING the Fall of Constantinople in that spirit and everything that follows it to this day represent the visible and tangible participation of not only The City, but also the Church of God in the mystery of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection, in the mystery of Christ's Kenosis and the Kenosis of His Divino-Human Body - the Church. As such, this Holy City is also the confirmation and eschatological truth of the Church, that "we have no city, which remains here, but wait for The City, which is to come".

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Part of Constantinoupolis on the web section of Elpenor's history resources. Cf. The Orthodox Church * Mouravieff : Introduction of Christianity into Russia (988-1015) * Dostoyevsky : Constantinople can not but belong to Russia! * Constantelos : Greek Orthodoxy - From Apostolic Times to the Present Day

Greek Word Library

Reference address : https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/pavle-constantinople.asp?pg=2