Love, forgiveness, and reconciliation

I've been slowly reading through Eleonore Stump's massive book, Wandering Through Darkness. Recently, I was in an emotionally abusive relationship. Not so much a significant other as it was with a friend who I thought I might have been in love with at one point. She was incredibly toxic, dismissive of my emotions, and declared me manipulative for trying to communicate with her when I was being stonewalled. I've been told by numerous people that the behavior on her end was far more consistent with gaslighting and projection, that it was not Christlike behavior that was shown toward me, and that I need to stay away from her. I was struggling with whether permanently staying away from her was consistent with forgiveness so I asked a priest who explained that forgiveness does not mean that we cannot set up reasonable boundaries. In such a case where you are dealing with emotional abuse and the other refuses to even self-reflect, it's necessary to abandon the cause.

Reading through Stump's fifth chapter of Wandering Through Darkness, which is introducing concepts to the core of her main argument, she addresses the question of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation through the perspective of Thomistic moral theology. Stump is Thomistic and Augustinian in her theology and has written much addressing concepts in both Thomistic and Augustinian theology. Starting with the core essence of love in Thomism, love is about the desiring of the good of another. That other may not necessarily desire the good for themselves. So when people were telling me that the friendship was toxic, they were acting in love toward me. They desire the good for me. That which is healthy and no emotionally draining. And emotionally abusive relationship, whether it's with parents or with children or with friends or with a significant other, can have real harm on the psyche of the person being abused.

Part of forgiveness though is a desire for reconciliation. But there remains a question as to whether reconciliation is possible or not. Stump addresses this. Reconciliation is the goal of forgiveness under normal circumstances. We may look toward the Parable of the Loving Father where the Father anxiously awaits the return of his son who squandered his entire inheritance. But what if there is a situation where that reconciliation is not possible? What if there is a situation more akin to Pharaoh, who despite all of the plagues and punishments, refuses to repent for his heart has become hardened. We can still forgive someone who is like that. If there is ample reason to doubt that a person's repentance is sincere or genuine, or if the person refuses to repent or seek reconciliation, then we may need to establish healthy boundaries. In the case of Pharaoh, that boundary was determined by his watery grave in the Red Sea.

In the case of an abusive situation on social media or in real life, that may include blocking or filing a restraining order with the other. Often, it is impossible to tell the real reasons why someone has chosen to be emotionally manipulative or abusive. It is impossible to determine whether that someone is sincere. And when there is no self-reflection, or there is constant accusations made by that person against you, the only thing you can do is walk away from the situation. If someone tells you one thing and does another and makes it seem like you are the one being paranoid for wondering why this is happening, that person is not a healthy person to be around or near. I've been around many people like that.

But this goes to the key point that Stump addresses. Reconciliation may not always be possible when it comes to forgiveness. In such situations, only the desire for reconciliation can be maintained. It'd be one thing if I wanted my abuser to stay an abuser, because then I would not be desiring the good for her. It's a much different thing if I acknowledge that reconciliation with my abuser is not possible at the moment because there is no sign that the manipulative behavior has changed. I can walk away from that person comfortably, knowing that I have not failed to forgive them. I desire reconciliation with that person, I just don't know if reconciliation will ever be possible with that person.

Internet rad-trads

So the past few years, when COVID mandate policies forced us into isolation, I delved heavily into the darkness of social media. I would not like to go back to those mandates for any reason whatsoever. I do not think those mandates have created a healthier society, but a society that doesn't know how to interact with each other and have appropriate interactions with one another. We have become eroded as a society where we are willing to exclude one another. That's what people did centuries ago. And I think more appalling to list among those types of people is the Traditionalist Catholics. Catholics in general, but Traditionalist Catholics to be specific. I have noticed in many places Catholic culture is, overall, eroded by social media presence.

When I first learned about "rad-trads", I presumed that people were generalizing all Traditionalist Catholics. Let me be clear, they are not. One of my dearest friends that I acquired from social media went by the moniker "JMF" and was deeply a Traditionalist Catholic. She even brought up criticism of the rad-trads as well. Specifically the rad-trads who are demanding that everyone become chicken farmers. I am aware of more Traditionalist Catholics that have critiqued this position too. Rather than honest reflection, JMF was heavily repudiated and decided to close her Twitter/X account as a result. She was even chided at as not being "Trad".

Based on my few years of interaction with Traditionalist Catholics on Twitter/X, one major takeaway I have is that they confuse their radical traditionalism with orthodoxy. When you first hear criticism of the "rad-trads" online, you might be tempted to think that all Traditionalist Catholics are being condemned. So did I. Traditionalist Catholics just want to be able to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass and honor God the way the saints did. That's not an issue at all. But the "rad-trads" are those who push it completely over the edge. When Pope Francis came out swinging at the "rad-trads" as being rigid, a lot of Traditionalist Catholics were rightly offended and upset about it. But if you are a Traditionalist Catholic like myself, and you see that "rad-trad" group in operation, you begin to understand his point.

I should be clear, most Traditionalist Catholics are Western Rite. I am Melkite. But I think any Catholic who affirms the continuity Tradition and sees Tradition as the basis of orthodoxy is a Traditionalist Catholic. Not to mention, any Catholic who desires the survival of the Traditional Latin Mass in the West is a Traditionalist. Yes, I believe the Novus Ordo Mass is also valid, even if major reform is needed in order to bring it back to the rubrics, but if done properly, there really isn't a need to conflict the TLM with the NO at any rate and the disobedient heretics are those who think the NO replaces the TLM. I have seen more disobedience to their proper ecclesiastical authorities from many of these neo-Catholics who run media places like Where Peter Is and National Catholic Reporter than other spots. National Catholic Reporter was required years ago to remove the word "Catholic" from its name by their own bishop. Yet they'll somehow blast orthodox Catholics as not obeying their bishop? So to be clear, there is nothing wrong with Traditionalist Catholicism in its orthodoxy.

The problem is with a certain group of Traditionalist Catholics who are more than just "orthodox", but are rigid. You might have noticed a lot of posts on the internet contending that Pope Francis was a supporter of abortion, or who communes Nancy Pelosi despite her excommunication. And yet both of these positions couldn't be any farther from the truth! Do you know what each member of the House of Commons looks like, you American? Hey, who's the President of Romania? And yet you expect the Pope, who is originally from Argentina, who is the Head of State of Vatican City, one of the tiniest countries in the world, to know everyone and everything about the entire makeup of the U.S. Congress? Absurd! The Pope has condemned abortion on numerous occasions and there has been no statement from the Pope that has hinted at overturning the excommunication of Nancy Pelosi. On the contrary, the Pope has even indicated in the past that the individual bishops of the United States are to have their authority to excommunicate politicians who support heretical social policies excommunicated.

And that's just one example of rigidity. There are numerous examples of rigidity that can be captured. There is a movement dedicated to the position that suits and ties must be worn in Church. I respect the position that one dresses up for God. But modesty and respect are not necessarily about showiness. Of course, there is nothing wrong with wearing a suit and a tie, but to mandate it as a requirement for all of your churchmen is rigid! Likewise, the war on jeans in church is one of the most ridiculous discussions ever. Why is there so much effort against the wearing of jeans? Are jeans disrespectful to wear? Are they immodest? Or are they just less than slacks? And if it's the last one (which it is), maybe that's not a good war to wage. The fact that there are many rad-trads like this shows the Pope's criticisms of "Traditionalists" (rad-trads) as rigid are actually quite valid.

In the recent past, I once was chided at by a rad-trad for stating that all sexual sin was intrinsically disordered. The charge was that I "diminished the sin of homosexuality". The funny thing is that his charge against me diminished all sexual sins that weren't homosexuality. There is apparently categorization of sins by the "sins that cry out to Heaven" and the "seven deadly sins". That's besides the point. The problem is that both Byzantine moral theology and Latin moral theology are accepted orthodoxies in the Catholic Church. Latin moral theology tends to rank one sin as worse than another sin while Byzantine moral theology ranks one sin as leading to the same damnation as all the other sin. But this is what's most important. What we are looking at is categorization. The sins that cry out to Heaven and the seven deadly sins are sin categories, not individual sins. But is a "rad-trad" really going to call out defrauding workers? You don't see that from the "rad-trads" at all. Further, when you are ranking homosexuality as worse than coercing someone into sexual intercourse with you, there is something fundamentally wrong with your reasoning.

Many other examples of "rad-trad-ism" can be pointed out. But I think if one's interactions with Traditionalist Catholics on the internet is limited to the Fish Eaters forum, one does not come across this segment of Traditionalist Catholicism. Vox Clamatis has historically done a quality job preventing dissemination of conspiracy theories (like the notion that there was an impostor Sr. Lucy) because there has been tremendous backlash against "rad-trads" who have rightfully been seen as conspiracy theorists. If your only interaction with Traditionalist Catholics online has been in a forum like that, you might see a lot of in-fighting and squabbling among us Traditionalists one week, but then the next week, we're all brothers again. Hopefully, we can bring that forum back to life again. Right now, it's down. But it's important to point out that people are not talking about those people when they criticize "rad-trads". They are not talking about JMF when they criticize Traditionalist Catholics.

Star Wars: Death Troopers

The last time I did a book review was on my other blog. But I wanted to do a book review on Star Wars: Death Troopers as it looked very interesting. It's not the first time that Star Wars has mixed into the horror genre. One would have to go to the Galaxy of Fear series to see the first time. Those were probably the first and only horror novels I could actually handle as a younger kid while others read things such as Goosebumps. That, and the more comedic horror children's novel called Bunnicula about the vampire bunny-rabbit that sucks the juices of all the vegetables. But anyway, this particular book, Death Troopers, I remember coming across at a book store when I was in high school and expressing interest in it. But I don't think we were looking into getting Star Wars books on that run though and I didn't have the money at the time. A couple of weeks ago, when I was shopping, I saw it in the book section and decided to finally get a look at it.

The topic of the book dealing with a contagious virus spreading throughout the ship gave eerie reminders of the past couple years. As we all wore masks and got vaccinated to prevent ourselves from spreading a contagious disease. Yet the medical droid in the book who was the infectious disease expert gave the sentiment that such PPE was more than likely useless. Let's face it, COVID still spread despite our best efforts to stop it. And COVID, being a disease one could get multiple times, wasn't going to be put out of business by a vaccine. That said, I've probably disobeyed more COVID rules than others, as long as I could get away with it, and have never had COVID myself. I'm not saying the virus unleashed in the book is at all like COVID. Oh no. This virus literally turns the flesh of sentient lifeforms into zombies.

There's a ton of horror fiction about zombies and much of it typically devolves into the science fiction genre. I think this is because when it comes to zombies, there is manipulation of lifeforms. Much like when it comes to Frankenstein, we see the manipulation of life by Victor Frankenstein and how that manipulation of life ends up haunting him, demanding more, and rebelling against the creator. I think much of sci-fi horror is based on this idea of how manipulation of life ends up killing the creator who thought himself God, or at least destroying that creator's loved ones. Especially with Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. And perhaps Anthony Fauci would have done well to read Death Troopers before tampering with the corona virus.

Most of the book is dark and atmospheric when you are on the prison barge, though the mood seems to change along with the atmosphere as our characters escape to the Star Destroyer that they are boarding for spare parts. It's later revealed that nothing was wrong with the barge, but it was a tractor beam that had forced the barge on board. The characters soon discover the genetic manipulation of this viral substance that ended up leaking, though some of the Imperial officers believed that it was intentionally leaked onto the crew, and exposed the entire crew of the Star Destroyer. Eating alive the flesh of its victims and then taking over their carcasses, the Empire, we learn, was actually experimenting the potential use of such a virus in the lab.

This book, if not clear already, is written from the perspective of the Empire and the criminals that the Empire had caught. We aren't given much information on two of the main characters' father Von Longo other than he was apparently acknowledged as a good man by the Imperial officer who tortured him to death. The way the book humanizes all of the characters gives you much more sympathy for them. Jareth Sartoris, who killed Von Longo during interrogation proceedings, ends up developing as a character midway through the book. As the book peers into his character, you get to see much more of his character as a human being. Trig and Kale remain as kids throughout who are put through Hell. Trig, being the youngest, has to learn to toughen up the most. Zahara Cody is the Imperial doctor who ends up being one of the central heroes in the early ongoing of the disease's outbreak, developing the vaccine that saves Han Solo and Chewbacca who happen to be prisoners as well.

And yet, despite the fact that most of these people are working for the Empire, we see in the officers a sense of human duty. Both toward each other and toward their fellow sentients. Politics and past lives of crime are put aside. Han Solo is Han Solo. He doesn't trust the Empire or anyone working with the Empire, but he softens up in the situation. This character trait of Solo's is even present throughout the original trilogy of Star Wars too. He's just a smuggler who was paid out by Obi Wan Kenobi and then out of situational awareness, decided to come back and save the friends he had just met. Death Troopers is definitely a book not like any other Star Wars book. And I think that's a huge part of it. You see the Empire in a much different light. Not as a political villain, but as fellow humans performing human duty toward each other. And the epilogue of the book brings the circle of human duty toward each other to a full closure.

The identification of the True Cross

When the Empress Helen discovered the sacred relic of the True Cross, it was not known as to which one the one in which Christ was crucified on was. Helen led the excavation team which found the three crosses. One was the True Cross and the other two were the ones that the thieves alongside Christ had been crucified on. During the crucifixion, at the earthquake, the footbeam on the True Cross had been twisted to reveal the judgment of the two thieves. One to Heaven and the other to Hell. The True Cross had been made with three types of wood, fashioned like that together in order to reveal the Holy Trinity. Having established with Faith that the Cross was the one with the plaque indicating that Jesus was the King of the Jews, St. Helen wanted to confirm this before all.

As a funeral procession was meandering by, the Empress proclaimed the finding of the Cross to the Holy Bishop. The Bishop wanted to test this great finding. For years, the Pagans had attempted to cover up the Cross with shrines and temples dedicated to their gods hoping that when Christians would pay homage to Christ, they would actually be rendering homage to the deities of the ancient Romans. But such was a laughing case. When homage is paid to God, it is done to Him, even in the presence of the wicked. The Bishop now saw that the temples of these demons had been desecrated. Could this really be the True Cross? Indeed, he called for the funeral to be paused and the crosses to be brought forward.

One by one, the crosses touched the dead man. The first cross touched him and nothing happened. The second cross touched him and nothing happened. The True Cross, the one proclaimed to be the True Cross by the Empress, touched him and the dead man came alive. The True Cross, which grants resurrection and life to all for Life itself was hanged upon the wood of that Cross, brought the dead man back to life as it does for all of us who are dead to sin. This was a joyous moment and the Jew who had helped Helen find the Cross declared that he was now in allegiance with Christ and accepted baptism. He would eventually become a bishop of the Church too during the reign of the Apostate Emperor Julian.

The Cross remained in the possession of the Christians for many years until it was seized by the Persians hoping to demoralize the Christians. This did nothing to demoralize the armies of the Romans. For the Emperor Herakleios would lead his men to reclaim the property that was rightly of the Christian Faith. Marching into Persia, the Emperor reclaimed the Cross for the glory of the Lord and took it back to the Empire. But it was not to remain there, for it was better that the Cross be returned to Jerusalem where Our Lord was crucified. The Emperor would carry it.

But in Jerusalem, on that path of blessed suffering which the Lord marched on, the Emperor felt a heavy weight upon him. He was strong enough himself to carry the Cross. There was no issue with his physique. But an angel had pinned him down, preventing him from carrying the Cross. The Bishop would discern what was happening and told the Emperor that unless he humbled himself as Christ had humbled himself, he would not be able to enter into the Holy City where the Lord was crucified. Tossing away his imperial garb, the Emperor put on rags like a beggar and carried triumphantly the Cross of Christ, back to its original place where it would stand.

So let us humble ourselves and attach ourselves to that Cross which grants us life. Let us walk with humility, a living sacrifice to God. And let us glorify the Holy Trinity forever!

I haven't been here in a while

I have not been posting here in a while. I took a break from blogging here, because, truthfully, I wanted to try things out as a different person. That did not go well at all. I wanted to hide myself away from past mistakes. But that does not work at all. I cannot hide from that past or from that filth. I can only pray that people love me and will forgive me for whatever sins and failures I have committed. You may have heard of someone called "Autistic Catholic". That was me. That was my moniker. That is who I am now. I am no longer "newenglandsun". But "Autistic Catholic" has the same exact character flaws as "newenglandsun" did. Only that "Autistic Catholic" was able to get the things that "newenglandsun" didn't get. And getting those things that "newenglandsun" didn't get turned "Autistic Catholic" into a monster.

I have found more emotional abuse in the past year and a half getting the things that "newenglandsun" didn't get than emotionally worthwhile friends. That might be only partially true. I found some very decent friends as Autistic Catholic and made friends that I might not have had if I wasn't. And I think I have found very good and decent friends as Autistic Catholic that I could have also found as newenglandsun if I had genuinely wanted to. And the people who didn't want to be friends with newenglandsun to begin with were probably the ones who eventually turned on Autistic Catholic anyway. It was an interesting experiment for about one and a half years actually allowing myself to admit that I was autistic.

I found that Catholics on social media really like the idea of an autistic person speaking on behalf of the Faith. What they don't like is when that person begins to show more and more character traits associated with autism. I learned a lot of Catholics on social media claim to be empathetic toward autistic people, but turn their backs when character traits associated with autism become more obvious. There is a mixture of welcome and a mixture of hostility toward the autistic community. Spiritual warfare is not seen as a cause by some of these people as a source of problems for autistic people online, but only the exclusively autistic problems. If an autistic person is attacked for being autistic, many of these Catholics will attempt to instruct an autistic person defending that person's dignity as being "Woke" or "playing victim".

I think a lot of this has to do with the failure of Catholic culture on social media in general. I've encountered hostility on Facebook, Instagram, X, etc. Catholic culture on social media should not be seen as representative of the Church. There is a statement made by St. John Henry Cardinal Newman about how the Barque of St. Peter is a truly magnificent ship if you refrain from entering into the boiler room. Too many online Catholics want to step into the boiler room. One of the most recurrent problems in Catholic culture today is a mass of bishops who want to lead their sheep directly into the boiler room. Whether they are disobedient liberals who reject Church Teaching or are the "Rad-Trad" pastors who are relentlessly lamenting about how the Church is persecuting them.

I've been called a hypocrite by Catholics on social media many a times. I've been called a hypocrite once by a woman who claimed she would promote each of my blog posts (she never did because she was a liar). I might very well be a hypocrite. I have to get the plank out of my own eye before getting the speck of sawdust out of my neighbor's eye. The thing is that many sins I've committed have been done directly in my interactions on social media and my brethren there have never given me a chance to display my fruits. I have complained about the double-standards. If I were to block someone on X, I'd be accused by Catholics of "holding a grudge". A person who blocks me is "defining boundaries". Of course, I've felt constantly held to the position of being the one who figures out what those boundaries actually are, rather than them clearly being defined. That was my latest negative interaction on X.

It's always the same scenario. I was once told I was being bullied by a woman by another woman who said that she would block the woman who was bullying me. That woman never did that. She went on continuing being mutuals with the other woman until I finally challenged her trustworthiness and brought up that statement. I was blocked. The woman currently has a backup account and where she mutually follows the woman she said she would block and who was "not a good person". She claims what she did to me was "merciful". It was anything but. It's an expected demand that I be a mind-reader in social interactions. That woman knew and understood autism but apparently did not understand that if definable boundaries are not set, I'm not going to have a clue if I'm expected to be a mind-reader.

There were too many interactions like that. I quit. My mental health improved. Honestly, I don't think I will ever go back. One of my dear friends on X though is @fifth_wife (Katherine Howard). She has been a faithful friend almost since the beginning of my tenure on X, even when she thought I was a girl. I have never seen anything from her that has not been unwholesome. I have told her that if she ever converts to Catholicism, I want her to be my goddaughter. I'm referring to people who are exclusively on X though. Not people who I still communicate with via another media form.

I've been looking at my stats here and I might try and blog here more often seeing as people are apparently still viewing this website, even in my absence. I don't recall ever getting that much traffic while...not blogging!

The Holy Empress Theodora

The Holy Empress Theodora's life parallels that of the Empress Irene's in the Church's struggle for orthodoxy over the heresy of iconoclasm. Like Irene of Athens, Theodora was brought before the Emperor as part of a bride show. The Emperor Theophilos, like the Emperor Leo IV, was an iconoclast and Theodora was an iconophile. She had been raised an iconophile by her mother Theoktiste and her mother taught her daughters, in secret, the proper veneration of icons. The Emperor Theophilos, who would severely punish, banish, and even branded two monks with iconoclastic texts on their foreheads. Both the Emperor's stepmother who had arranged the bride show, and the Empress's mother, were iconophiles and they recognized the risks, but the orthodoxy had to prevail somehow. The Emperor's stepmother, Euphrosyne, was herself, a descendant of the Holy Empress Irene, a daughter of the Emperor Constantine VI, who was killed for his treacheries against his mother and his heresies of iconoclasm.

The Empress Theodora bore five daughters and two sons to the Emperor Theophilos. One son died in infancy and one daughter died at a young age as well. She would see five children live into adulthood. Michael III would succeed his father on the throne. The marriage was carried out some time around the year 830. Theophilos would discover his wife and their daughters venerating the icons at some point and she fiercely denied that they were icons but insisted instead that they were "dolls". The Emperor is furious about this iconodulist incident occurring in his courts and he orders that the practice cease. Theodora continued the practice of continuing to see her mother and her mother-in-law in private with her children, continuing to raise her children in the orthodoxy of the Second Council of Nicaea. Theophilos would be infected with dysyntery around the age of 29. Much like the Emperor Leo IV was covered in tumors and perished from disease, so God brings disease to call men to repentance. Unlike Leo IV, Theophilos would repent of his sins. Theodora recorded his repentance and presented it to the church seeking a pardon for his iconoclasm. Indeed, as the Patriarch Methodios recorded the names of the iconoclasts and presented them on the altar of Hagia Sophia, the Emperor Theophilos's name would disappear from the list. In Theophilos's case, his dysyntery would bring his mortal body to an end but it called his soul to repentance that it may soon be filled with eternal life.

Theodora ordered a council held which re-established the faith of the Second Council of Nicaea. This council was held on the First Sunday of the Great Lent that year. Because of this, Greek Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians always celebrate the Feast of the Holy Sunday of Orthodoxy to mark the beginning of Lent. This is not the only imperially established Feast Day on the Church's calendar either. As part of this celebration, the Empress Theodora removed the remains of the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V, the father-in-law of Empress Irene, and had the remains burned. In turn, the remains of the Empress Irene were brought back from Prinkipio and restored to the imperial burial place (Women in Purple, 213). This act further showed the triumph of the iconophiles as the Empress Irene was the one who convened the Second Council of Nicaea, keeping her iconodulist faith hidden from her husband during his briefly lived reign, much as Theodora had to keep her iconodulist faith hidden from her husband as she taught her children to venerate icons.

The Empress was also strong in her leadership.

"She also stood up to the caliphs, according to one historian Bar Hebraeus, who reports that the Arabs thought they could take advantage of a widowed Empress and her young son. 'Seeing that it was a woman who ruled the country, the Arabs regarded Roman homage with contempt and broke the peace. Then Theodora the Queen sent an army against Cicilia in AD 861 and enslaved all the country of the Anazarbos.' There follows the account of an Arab ambassador, a eunuch named Nashif, when the queen offered to make peace but demanded 20,000 Christian prisoners of war in exchange for the 20,000 captured Arabs. When Nashif tried to take them anyway, 'Theodora killed them.'" (235-236)

She also did not hesitate to prosecute the Paulician heresy that was running rampant in the Eastern Empire, persecuting approximately 10,000 of the adherents of this heresy.

Sadly, she did not spend too much time in dedication to her son's education and he was known as "Michael the Drunkard" during his reign. Much like Irene, whose son Constantine VI was a poorly educated and stupid soul, so too was Michael III. Unlike Constantine VI, Michael III would not embrace the iconoclast heresy. But due to his poor ruling, he would ultimately be assassinated by Basil I. Theodora would witness the beginning of the reign of her son's assassination. Having lost the regal authority of being the Dowager Empress, she would not be buried with her husband. Instead, she makes indication to her daughters to be buried beside her mother in Gastria, where her mother lived as a monastic (234). The life of this saint is one of elevation from nothingness to preservation of the faith, to the loftiest of worldly elevations, and then a return back to her own lowly position. But worldly elevations are meaningless for a saint. The glory of an imperial burial might not have been for her but she had in the stead a saintly and holy burial, reaching the end of her life February 11, 867. Though some sources are conflicted and state that her death was in 856 (Thornton, Pious Kings and Right-Believing Queens). This is perhaps why Otto of Freising is also confused as to when to date the assassination of Michael III. It is presumable that the latter date seems most accurate. St. Theodora, Empress Regent and Dowager Empress of the Roman Empire who restored the veneration of icons to Christendom, pray for us!

See also:

Dictionary of Saintly Women, Agnes B.C. Dunbar

Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium, Judith Herrin

St. Synkletike

St. Synkletike was one of the many Desert Fathers who taught on varying ascetical disciplines. Her teachings were recorded by one who wrote under the name "Athanasius". Synkletike's name means "assembly". She was born to prominent parents and had a sister and two brothers were of like mind in both virtue and faith with her. Synkletike, known for her beauty, was visited by many suitors who desired to marry her. But she desired not these suitors nor the vain praise of these men. She fled from them and ended up in a women's monastery. Pseudo-Athanasius compares her to St. Thecla for both were betrothed to Christ and both had the same St. Paul as their bridal escort.

She shunned the vanity of expensive clothes and lived to the fullness of her own ascetical teachings, never engaging in hypocrisy. She also practiced the discipline of fasting with faith and diligence. She practiced it so well that fasting became a source of her own physical health. When she ceased from fasting, she would wither and grow gaunt.

Having fled the secular life and from marriage, she would become very influential in the monastic life among her fellow sisters teaching on various sorts of ascetical disciplines. She would teach on fasting, controlling the mind in its combat against sinful passions, and on voluntary poverty. She taught regularity in fasting was important and that the mind should be guarded from even the worst and most sinful of thoughts for sin begins first and foremost in the mind. Poverty was an evil unless it was pursued voluntarily and riches were given up voluntarily. The Church's teaching is thus opposed to socialistic doctrines which seeks to center the government as a coercive force to commit itself to an illusion of caring for the poor.

During the end of her life, this most beautiful soul was attacked by Satan. According to Pseudo-Athanasius's description of the events, the Devil started to attack her for he envied her beauty. Having failed to lure her away from her virginity, she was then subjected to what was likely a malignant mouth cancer. Her face began disfiguring and she began to stink so much that the foul stench drove the nuns away from her own cell. She would deteriorate like this until her repose. For her sufferings and her teachings, she is commemorated among the Desert Fathers and Mothers. She is venerated on January 5 in the Greek Church. St. Synkletike, pray for me!