Обнова култа светих Ермила и Стратоника и њихове савремене представе у београдским xрамовима

Abstract

At the end of the previous and especially in the first two decades of this century, an initiative to revive the cult of Sts. Hermylos and Stratonikos, the only early Christian martyrs to have died for their faith in classical Singidunum, was launched in the territory of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci. The watershed event in establishing the cult of these two saints was the decision of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to dedicate a parekklesion at the Temple of St. Sava in the Belgrade neighborhood of Vračar to them. Their existing regular menaion service was expanded to become a Vesperal service, and depictions of Hermylos and Stratonikos began to appear in the imagery of newly established churches in the territory of the City of Belgrade. However, their iconography and place in the painted program differ from one church to another. The pair can be featured in almost any part of the church – in the bottommost and upper fresco zones alike. The martyrdom of Hermylos and Stratonikos does not appear in any churches or icons; instead, they are always painted as individual full-length and half-length figures or busts in medallions. They have acquired new epithets – ‘of Belgrade’ and ‘protomartyrs’ and, at the Temple of St. Sava, they were given the status of great martyrs (megalomartyrs). Hermylos is usually shown as a young, beardless deacon, as had been customary when his iconography took shape, or, alternatively, as a middle-aged or elderly martyr. Stratonikos can appear as a mature or young man. It seems that the deliberated revival of the cult of Hermylos and Stratonikos was primarily intended to underline the long sacral history of Belgrade. Besides the veneration of Hermylos and Stratonikos, systematic efforts are being made to revive early Christian and modern martyrs whose martyrdom can be associated with the Serbian capital, all of which suggests the intention to form a council of Belgrade’s saints and martyrs, which is only just beginning to take shape.