Asmild Abbey was a house of Augustinian canonesses with a close connection to the Augustinian canons at Viborg Cathedral in north central Jutland , Denmark from 1165 until reformation.
64-491: The relatively large church, which predated the nunnery, had its beginnings about 1090 as a parish church dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch during the reign of King Olaf I of Denmark , sometimes called Olaf Hunger. It functioned as the cathedral of Viborg until the new cathedral at Viborg was finished in 1133. It was constructed of granite and limestone in the Romanesque style with rounded arches and few windows. The church
128-471: A connection existed. If people lost confidence in the abbey's ability to keep a strict rule, no noble family would entrust a daughter or sister to the nuns at Asmild. The Reformation brought about the end of Asmild Abbey when Denmark became a Lutheran state in October 1536. The nuns were permitted to live at the abbey until their death, though without income. The abbey estate came under crown control and Asmild
192-399: A copper hammer at his face. Byzantine Rite#List of Churches of Byzantine liturgical tradition Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The Byzantine Rite , also known as
256-1034: A first marriage consists of three distinct services: the Betrothal, the Mystery of Crowning , and the Taking off of the Crowns, but nowadays these are performed in immediate succession. There is no exchange of vows. Since its founding, the Church spread to different places and its leaders in each region came to be known as episkopoi (overseers, plural of epískopos , overseer—Gr. ἐπίσκοπος ), which became " bishop " in English. The other ordained roles are presbýteros (Gr. πρεσβύτερος , elder), which became "prester" and then " priest " in English, and diákonos (Gr. διάκονος , servant), which became " deacon " in English (see also subdeacon ). There are numerous administrative positions among
320-445: A letter of 1461, and then nothing until the 1536 dissolution of the abbey. The lack of information on the last decades of the abbey may be perhaps in part attributed to the local rumors about the immoral behavior of some of the nuns and Augustinian canons at the cathedral. Local tradition has it that a brick tunnel or walkway connected the abbey with the monastery near the cathedral, though no empirical evidence has been located that such
384-490: A new name is given, which becomes the person's name. Children of Orthodox families are normally baptized shortly after birth. Converts to Orthodoxy are usually formally baptized into the Orthodox Church, though exceptions are sometimes made. Those who have left Orthodoxy and adopted a new religion, if they return to their Orthodox roots, are usually received back into the church through the mystery of Chrismation. Properly,
448-516: A partition covered with icons , separates the area around the altar from the nave . The sign of the cross , accompanied by bowing, is made very frequently, e.g., more than a hundred times during the divine liturgy , and there is prominent veneration of icons, a general acceptance of the congregants freely moving within the church and interacting with each other, and distinctive traditions of liturgical chanting. Some traditional practices are falling out of use in modern times in sundry churches and in
512-435: A priest. They are encouraged to increase their prayer rule, adding the prescribed prayers in preparation for communing. Finally, they fast completely from food, drink, and sexual activity from the evening before, a time interpreted variously in sundry locations as: from arising from sleep, or from midnight, or from sunset the previous evening. When one who has committed sins repents of them, wishing to reconcile to God and renew
576-405: A small school on the premises, much like a religious boarding school. It is unclear whether the nuns at Asmild were regular or secular canonesses. Expansion of the abbey in the 13th century changed the architectural style of parts of the building to Gothic with pointed windows and arches. Apparently, there was a fire which destroyed the 'old' cathedral and abbey in the mid-14th century. The church
640-435: Is a patroness of pregnant women, servant maids, kidney-sufferers, and against diabolical infestations. In art, she is often represented as a shepherdess, or pictured escaping from, or standing above, a dragon. While Western iconography typically depicts St. Margaret emerging from the dragon, Eastern Byzantine iconography tends to focus on her battle with the demon in her cell and depicts her grabbing him by his hair and swinging
704-401: Is an act of compassion of the Church towards sinful man. Ecclesiastically divorced Orthodox (not civilly divorced only). Should a married deacon or priest die, it is common for his wife to retire to a monastery once their children are out of the house. Widowed priests are not allowed to remarry (no priest may be married after his ordination) and also frequently enter monasteries. The order of
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#1733093443073768-487: Is eternal. The Church does recognize that there are rare occasions when it is better that couples do separate, but there is no official recognition of civil divorces. For the Orthodox, to say that marriage is indissoluble means that it should not be broken, the violation of such a union, perceived as holy, being an offense resulting from either adultery or the prolonged absence of one of the partners. Thus, permitting remarriage
832-479: Is normally given immediately after baptism as part of the same service. It may also be used to formally receive again lapsed members of the Orthodox Church. As baptism is a person's participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, so chrismation is a person's participation in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost . A baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christian is a full member of the Church and may receive
896-569: Is not reserved only for the dying or terminally ill, but for all in need of spiritual or bodily healing, and with reception of this sacrament comes forgiveness of sins. In Greece, during the Ottoman occupation, when parish priests were not allowed to hear confessions, it became the custom to administer this mystery annually on Great Wednesday to all believers so that all could commune the following days through Pascha. In recent decades, this custom has spread to many other locations. Two main strata exist in
960-453: Is of a shortage of married priests, a monk-priest may be assigned to a parish. A deacon or priest would have to abandon his orders, i.e. be liaised, to marry after ordination; it is common for widowed clergy to enter a monastery. Also, widowed wives of clergy, who are discouraged from remarrying, often become nuns when their children are grown. Only men can take holy orders, although deaconesses had both liturgical and pastoral functions within
1024-582: Is united to the Body of Christ by becoming a member of the Orthodox Church. During the service, water is blessed. The catechumen is fully immersed in the water three times, once in the name of each of the figures of the Holy Trinity. This is considered to be a death of the "old man" by participation in the crucifixion and burial of Christ, and a rebirth into new life in Christ by participation in his resurrection. Properly
1088-528: The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the midst of the Divine Liturgy with the rest of the church. The bread and wine are believed to be transubstantiated as the genuine Body and Blood of the Christ Jesus through the operation of the Holy Spirit. Communion is given only to baptized Orthodox Christians who have prepared by fasting, prayer and confession. The wine is administered with a spoon directly into
1152-505: The Catholic Church , it serves to unite a woman and a man in eternal union and love before God, with the purpose of following Christ and His Gospel and raising up a faithful, holy family through their holy union. The church understands marriage to be the union of one man and one woman, and certain Orthodox leaders have spoken out strongly in opposition to the civil institution of same-sex marriage . Jesus said that "when they rise from
1216-773: The Eucharist . The full cycle of services are usually served only in monasteries, cathedrals, and other Katholika (sobors). In monasteries and parishes of the Russian tradition, the Third and Sixth Hours are read during the Prothesis ( Liturgy of Preparation) ; otherwise, the Prothesis is served during matins, the final portion of which is omitted, the Liturgy of the Catechumens beginning immediately after
1280-561: The Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople , is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian church of Constantinople . The canonical hours are extended and complex, lasting about eight hours (longer during Great Lent ) but are abridged outside of large monasteries . An iconostasis ,
1344-668: The parish church of the British Houses of Parliament in London . There is also a Saint Margaret Shrine in Bridgeport, Connecticut . She is recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church , being listed as such in the Roman Martyrology for 20 July. She was also included from the 12th to the 20th century among the saints to be commemorated wherever the Roman Rite was celebrated, but
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#17330934430731408-566: The troparion following the Great Doxology . The Midnight Office is seldom served in parish churches, except at the Paschal Vigil as the essential office, wherein the burial shroud is removed from the tomb and carried to the altar. The sundry Canonical Hours are, in practice, grouped together into aggregates so that there are three major times of prayer a day: Evening, Morning and Midday. The most common groupings are as follows: On
1472-527: The Eucharist regardless of age and, indeed, does so beginning at the first liturgy attended after chrismation, infant communion being the universal norm. The sanctification of chrism may, in theory, be performed by any bishop at any time, but in longstanding practice is performed no more than once a year by hierarchs of most of the autocephalous churches, although some autocephalous churches obtain their chrism from another church. Anointing with it substitutes for
1536-776: The Nativity Fast, Apostles Fast, and Dormition Fast on days when the Lenten alleluia replaces "God is the Lord" at matins, which may be done at the discretion of the ecclesiarch when the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated. In addition to these public prayers, there are also private prayers prescribed for both monastics and laypersons; in some monasteries, however, these are read in church. These include Morning and Evening Prayers and prayers (and, in Russia, canons ) to be prayed in preparation for receiving
1600-456: The Russian tradition, on any day for Christmas, Theophany), Vespers (with the Liturgy in most instances) is served earlier in the day and so Great Compline functions much as Great vespers does on the vigils of other feast days. Baptism transforms the old and sinful person into a new and pure one; the old life, the sins, any mistakes made are gone and a clean slate is given. Through Baptism a person
1664-417: The Russian tradition, the " all-night vigil " is served in every church on Saturday nights and the eves of feast days (although it may be abridged to be as short as two hours) while elsewhere, it is usual to have matins on the morning of the feast; however, in the latter instance, vespers and matins are rather less abridged but the Divine Liturgy commences at the end of matins and the hours are not read, as
1728-788: The West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr ( Ancient Greek : Ἁγία Μαρίνα ) in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity , on 30th of July ( Julian calendar ) by the Eastern Orthodox Church , and on Epip 23 and Hathor 23 in the Coptic Orthodox Church . She was reputed to have promised very powerful indulgences to those who wrote or read her life or invoked her intercessions ; these no doubt helped
1792-402: The bishop's residence (Danish:bispegård) as evidenced by the excavations done in the 1950s. The work of the canonesses under the abbess of the abbey was in daily prayers and meditation and education of young women of noble birth. They were assisted in the day-to-day life by lay men and women who did much of the house and farm work required to keep the abbey going. It may be assumed that there was
1856-692: The cathedral rite of Constantinople, called the asmatiki akolouthia ("sung services") and the Palestinian Rite of Jerusalem, the Hagiopolitan (Gr. "of the Holy City") in Greek, chiefly through the monastic typikon of the Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem. Later developments were usually connected to monasteries at Constantinople and Mt. Athos patronized by the imperial court, such as Studion , whose Rule formed
1920-540: The century to which she belonged is uncertain". Doubts about her story are not new: by the Middle Ages , hagiographer Jacobus de Voragine (author of the well-known Golden Legend ) considered her martyrology to be too fantastic and remarked that the part where she is eaten by the dragon was to be considered a legend. The Greek Marina came from Antioch in Pisidia (as opposed to Antioch of Syria ), but this distinction
1984-659: The church celebrates the dedication of a church to her name. Saint Mary church in Cairo holds a relic believed to be Margaret's right hand, previously moved from the Angel Michael Church (modernly known as Haret Al Gawayna) following its destruction in the 13th century AD. In 2022, Margaret was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day she shares with Catherine of Alexandria and Barbara of Nicomedia on 24 November. Margaret of Antioch
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2048-459: The church. This has fallen out of practice, the last deaconess having been ordained in the 19th century; however, in 2016, Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria decided to reinstate the order of deaconesses and, in February 2017, Patriarch Theodoros II appointed six nuns to be subdeacons. Anointing with oil, often called "unction", is one of the mysteries administered by the Orthodox Church and it
2112-603: The clergy that carry additional titles. Bishops are always monks. Although someone who is not a monk may be elected to be a bishop, which frequently happens with widowed priests, he must receive a monastic tonsure before consecration to the episcopate. Deacons and priests, however, are typically married, and it is customary that only monks or married men be ordained. It is considered preferable for parish priests to be married as they often act as counsel to married couples and thus can draw on their own experience. Unmarried priests usually are monks and live in monasteries, though when there
2176-449: The day are read therein; otherwise, on or when the Liturgy is served at vespers, the typica has a much shorter form and is served between the ninth hour and vespers. Also, there are Inter-Hours for the First, Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours. These are services of a similar structure to, but briefer than, the hours. Their usage varies with local custom, but generally they are used only during
2240-512: The dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven" (Mk 12:25). For the Orthodox Christian this passage should not be understood to imply that Christian marriage will not remain a reality in the Kingdom, but points to the fact that relations will not be "fleshy", but "spiritual". Love between wife and husband, as an icon of relationship between Christ and Church,
2304-530: The diaspora, e.g., the faithful standing during services, bowing and prostrating frequently, and priests, deacons, and monastics always wearing a cassock and other clerical garb even in everyday life ( monastics also sleep wearing a cassock) and not shaving or trimming their hair or beards. In addition to numerous psalms read every day, the entire psalter is read each week, and twice each week during Great Lent , and there are daily readings of other scriptures; also many hymns have quotes from, and references to,
2368-423: The elements of Holy Communion , the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist , in the texts of the Divine Liturgy , the prayers before and after communion, and elsewhere, as, for example, in the first petition of the ectenia after communion, "Arise! Having partaken of the divine, holy, pure, immortal, heavenly, life-creating, and awesome Mysteries of Christ, let us worthily give thanks to the Lord." Also termed
2432-464: The eves before Great Feasts and, in some traditions, on all Sundays, this grouping is used. However, the All-night vigil is usually abridged so as to not last literally "all-night" and may be as short as two hours; on the other hand, on Athos and in the very traditional monastic institutions, that service followed by the hours and Liturgy may last as long as 18 hours. When the feast is a weekday (or, in
2496-462: The laying-on of hands described in the New Testament , and according to the prayer of consecration of chrism, the apostles made the initial chrism, laying their hands on it, for priests to substitute for laying on of hands for sundry practices, where only the apostles could perform said laying on of hands. The Eucharist is at the center of Orthodox Christianity. In practice, it is the partaking of
2560-507: The mistake made, and how to effect its cure. Because full participatory membership is granted to infants, it is not unusual for even small children to confess. Though the scope of their culpability is far less than an older child, they also have an opportunity for spiritual growth. From the Eastern Orthodox understanding of marriage , it is one of the holy mysteries or sacraments. As well as in many other Christian traditions, for example in
2624-407: The mystery of Baptism is administered by bishops and priests; however, in emergencies any Orthodox Christian can baptize. In such cases, should the person survive the emergency, it is likely that the person will be properly baptized by a priest at some later date. This is not considered to be a second baptism, nor is it imagined that the person is not already Orthodox, but rather it is a fulfillment of
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2688-450: The night and day according to the following table: The typica is used whenever the divine liturgy is not celebrated at its usual time, i.e. , when there is a vesperal liturgy or no liturgy at all. On days when the liturgy may be celebrated at its usual hour, the typica follows the sixth hour (or matins, where the custom is to serve the Liturgy then) and the Epistle and Gospel readings for
2752-560: The nucleus of early monastic communities in Bulgaria and Kievan Rus' . In the early modern period, the traditions of the rite received further elaboration from the interface of Christian and Islamic mystical traditions fostered in the Ottoman court. By the mid-17th century, the practices of the Russian Church differed to those of other Orthodox Christians, who followed contemporary Greek practices. Patriarch Nikon made efforts to correct
2816-408: The number has no dogmatic significance and, up to the 17th century, individual authors varied greatly in the number of rites considered "mysteries". Despite the historical differences, modern Orthodox and Catholic faithful are generally united in viewing the West's seven sacraments and Orthodoxy's looser number of sacred mysteries—seven only by convention—as effectively equivalent. The Catholics regard
2880-420: The priest lays his hands on the penitent's head while reciting the prayer of absolution. Sin is a mistake made by the individual, but there is the opportunity for spiritual growth and development. An act of penance ( epitemia ), if the spiritual guide requires it, is never formulaic, but rather is directed toward the individual and their particular problem, as a means of establishing a deeper understanding of
2944-516: The proper form. The service of Baptism used in Orthodox churches has remained largely unchanged for more than 1500 years. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), in his Discourse on the Sacrament of Baptism , describes the service; it is largely consistent with the service currently in use in the early 21st century. Chrismation grants the gift of the Holy Spirit through anointing with Holy Chrism . It
3008-444: The purity of original baptisms , they confess their sins to God before a spiritual guide who offers advice and direction to assist the individual in overcoming their sin. Parish priests commonly function as spiritual guides, but such guides can be any person, male or female, who has been given a blessing to hear confessions. Spiritual guides are chosen very carefully, as this is a mandate that once chosen must be obeyed. Having confessed,
3072-403: The recipient's mouth from the chalice. From baptism young infants and children are carried to the chalice to receive holy communion. Because of the Orthodox understanding of mankind's fallen nature in general, those who wish to commune prepare themselves in a way that reflects mankind in paradise. First, they prepare by having their confession heard and the prayer of repentance read over them by
3136-473: The rite is the product of a long cultural synthesis that developed in the years after the 8th-9th century Iconoclasm , in which monasteries and their cultural contacts with the Holy Land played a decisive role. From the 9th to the 14th centuries, the influence of the Palestinian Rite exerted a dominating influence and the rite has been called a "hybrid" between an earlier ceremonial rite which scholars have dubbed
3200-522: The rite, those places that have inherited the traditions of the Russian Church which had been given only the monastic Sabbaite typicon which she uses to this day in parishes and cathedrals as well as in monasteries, and everywhere else where some remnant of the cathedral rite remained in use; therefore, the rite as practiced in monasteries everywhere resembles the Russian recension, while non-Russian non-monastic customs differs significantly. For example, in
3264-565: The sacred mysteries is a broad theological category including the seven sacraments defined in the Western Church but differing slightly in emphasis—stressing their ineffable character and forgoing the intense theological definitions which emerged in the centuries following the Reformation . Although all modern Orthodox churches customarily observe the same seven sacraments as in Catholicism ,
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#17330934430733328-437: The scriptures woven into them. On the numerous fast days there is prescribed abstention from meat and dairy products, and on many fast days also from fish, wine, and the use of oil in cooking. Four fasting seasons are prescribed: Great Lent , Nativity Fast , Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast . In addition, throughout the year most Wednesdays and Fridays, as well as Mondays in monasteries , are fast days. In its present form,
3392-565: The spread of her following. Margaret is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is one of the saints with whom Joan of Arc claimed to have spoken. According to a 9th-century martyrology of Rabanus Maurus , Margaret suffered at Antioch in Pisidia (in what is now Turkey) in c. 304, during the Diocletianic Persecution . She was the daughter of a pagan priest named Aedesius. Her mother having died soon after her birth, Margaret
3456-427: The translations of texts and institute liturgical reforms so that they were aligned with Greek practices. Nikon's reforms were not accepted by all, and the resulting schism ( Raskol ) split Russian Christianity into the present Russian Orthodox Church and the historically persecuted Old Believers , who maintained many archaic practices of worship. The "Holy Mysteries", or "Sacred Mysteries", or similar, refer to
3520-509: The two as identical. Divine Liturgy The divine liturgy may be celebrated on most days, the exceptions, known as aliturgical days , being in or near Great Lent . Typically, however, the liturgy is celebrated daily only in cathedrals and larger monasteries but elsewhere only on Sundays, major feast days, and some other days, especially during Great Lent. These three forms of the eucharistic service are in use universal usage: The daily cycle begins with vespers and proceeds throughout
3584-501: Was a supporter of King Niels of Denmark , who was defeated and killed in the Battle of Fodevig by Erik Emune in 1134. Construction began on Asmild Abbey in 1165 just to the south of Asmild church, which was put at the disposal of the Augustinian nuns. The abbey consisted of three ranges and the church functioned as a disconnected north range, in a quadrilateral layout. The abbey was west of
3648-510: Was cruelly tortured, during which various miraculous incidents are reported to have occurred. One of these involved being swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon , from which she escaped alive when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards. Eventually, she was decapitated. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica , Margaret's story is "generally regarded to be fictitious". The Catholic Encyclopedia states "even
3712-516: Was eventually torn down in 1958. The only remnants of the abbey today are the stone-lined well, Asmild Church, and one of its bells, cast by an anonymous artist in the 15th century which still rings from the low bell tower. 56°26′49″N 9°25′30″E / 56.44694°N 9.42500°E / 56.44694; 9.42500 Margaret of Antioch 17 July ( Byzantine Christianity ) Epip 23 ( Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ) (Martyrdom) Margaret , known as Margaret of Antioch in
3776-452: Was given to the former Bishop of Børglum, Stygge Krumpen (Rosencrantz) as an income property once he was released from prison. The buildings were turned into an estate farm called Asmild Kloster Farm which passed into private ownership in 1673. The abbey burned down in 1713, but was rebuilt. The buildings called Asmild Kloster became the property of Viborg County in 1906. In 1907 the buildings burned down except for one wing which survived but
3840-708: Was lost in the West. From the east her veneration spread towards England, France, and Germany, in the 11th century during the Crusades . In 1222, the Council of Oxford added her to the list of feast days, and so her cult acquired great popularity. Many versions of the story were told in 13th-century England, in Anglo-Norman (including one ascribed to Nicholas Bozon ), English, and Latin, and more than 250 churches are dedicated to her in England, most famously, St. Margaret's, Westminster ,
3904-503: Was nursed by a Christian woman five or six leagues (15 to 18 miles (24 to 29 km)) from Antioch. Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, Margaret was disowned by her father, adopted by her nurse, and lived in the country keeping sheep with her foster mother. Olybrius, Governor of the Roman Diocese of the East , asked to marry her, with the demand that she renounce Christianity . Upon her refusal she
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#17330934430733968-534: Was of an irregular shape with a nave, one side-aisle with an apse, and a square choir also with an apse. The most significant event in the history of the church was the murder of Bishop Eskild of Viborg in front of the main altar of the Asmild church in 1133. The murder according to the Roskilde Chronicle was to be laid directly at the feet of King Eric II of Denmark nicknamed Erik Emune of Denmark. Bishop Eskild
4032-412: Was replaced on a smaller scale. The abbey was rebuilt though on a smaller scale, perhaps because of the strictness of the rule, and the lack of income producing properties. Most abbeys maintained an archive of letters of gift (Danish: gavebrev ) but Asmild's has been lost. There remains only a single 1346 letter offering a gift for continued prayers for a deceased relative. The abbey is last mentioned in
4096-533: Was then removed from the general calendar along with other European saints through the apostolic letter Mysterii Paschalis . The Eastern Orthodox Church knows Margaret as Saint Marina, and celebrates her feast day on 30 July. Margaret is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 20 July . Every year on Epip 23 the Coptic Orthodox church celebrates her martyrdom day, and on Hathor 23
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