Today in Virginia has been strange. Wet. Chilly. Cloudy. And offering home of the Spring soon to some. I am thankful not to have needed to go outside for any reason, having brought in a seat of Duraflame fire logs yesterday! Today’s Gospel reading is Luke’s account of the healing of the Blind Man of Jericho, as a last example of “manifestations” to the Gentiles in the “Gesima” season.
This morning, I was working on further work on the computer database of images and came across a marvellous 11th C. addition to the Hagia Sophia. The image, in its original form, shows the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Christ Child seated between an image of the Byzantine Empress Eirene, which means light, on the left and her husband, Emperor John II Comnenus in the Christ Pantokrator Monastery, part of the Hagia Sophia complex. It was built as a hospital complex for the treatment and healing of both men and women, built between 1118 and 1124. It housed the remains of the both the Comnenus and Palaiologos dynasties of Byzantium. Mary is seated on a bench holding a rather adult-looking Christ Child, who is making the sign of a blessing with His right hand and holding a scroll his His left hand, in her lap. This kind of image was popular in the Byzantine world, implying the blessing the God upon the sitting Emperor. The Comenus (also spelled Komnenos) dynasty was one of the last four to rule at Constantinople. The Byanzantine empire fell to Ottononian rule in 1453 during the reign of Constantine XI Paleologos. For more about the Hagia Sophia, see https://www.pallasweb.com/deesis/history.html
The count of images now stands at over 2400. I’ve been working of cataloguing two collections, the Dreamstime.com and the Can Stock Photo, Inc. catalogues. The task is complicated by the closure of Can Stock Photo, Inc. in 2023. I can no longer access the master datebase to verify credit sources and dates. I’m getting there by cross-checking all uses in our 22 books as well as in the various video series.
Thanks for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!
Anglican Internet Church 
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