Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/October 26 2007

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος της Θεσσαλονίκης) was a Christian martyr who is said to have lived in Thessaloniki in the early 4th century. During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints, often paired with Saint George. His memory is celebrated on 26 October.

The name of St. Demetrios the Megalomartyr was commonly rendered as St. Dimitrios by Byzantine scholars. This name is still used by Greek immigrants in Australia, Canada and the United States. He is known in Lebanon as Mar Dimitri or Mitri for short, which is a common name among Christian Lebanese.

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.

The origins of his veneration are obscure; the first evidence of his systematic veneration comes about 150 years after his martyrdom. Therefore some modern scholars question the historicity of the man (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.

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. Unsurprisingly, 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. These are now also kept in Hagios Demetrios.

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)
Prayer: