Walking About Moscow

Being in Moscow a week ago, in addition to meeting my friends, lecture delivering, meeting members of our international astrological web forum, I had an opportunity to take a walk inside of the Kremlin and to admire its churches. There is a fresco on a wall of one cathedral, the Cathedral of the Dormition, that attracted my special attention. It is an image of Sophia, the God’s Wisdom.

The Cathedral of the Dormition was built in the beginning of XIV century on the place of an old wooden church. But it was rebuilt in the end of XV century.

There are three frescos on the right side (from the main entrance) wall. The last fresco on the right is the image of Sophia.

Sophia, the God's Wisdom. Click to enlarge

We can see the figure of Sophia in the center of the fresco. Shining Sophia sits on the throne. We can see st. John the Baptist on the right side and Virgin Mary on the left side like in the iconography of the Deësis. There is Jesus above Sophia.

The sophiologia, i.e. the doctrine about Sophia, is practically unknown to Roman Catholicism. Only some German mystics (Hildegard of Bingen, Heinrich Seuse) appeal to the figure of Sophia. Some  Protestant mystics (Jane Leade, Jakob Böhme) pay their attantion to Sophia as well.

But Sophia is well known in the Orthodox Church. The figure of Sophia was developed in Byzantium as a symbol of theocratic principle. The state cathedral in Constantinople and the religious center of all Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly a thousand years was called Ἁγία Σοφία, Holy Wisdom.
The advent of Christianity in Russia happened under the sign of Sophia. The christening of Russia was depicted as the coming of God’s Wisdom, i.e. Sophia. Three main churches built in XI century (in Kiev, Novgorod and Polotsk) were devoted to Sophia. And this state cathedral in Moscow, the Cathedral of the Dormition, where were crowned all Russian tsars beginning from Ivan IV the Terrible, has an icon of Sophia on its wall.

Sophia is a central topic in the “sapiential” books of the Old Testament (the Book of Wisdom of Solomon, the Book of Proverbs, the Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach). Not to speak of gnostics and Russian religious philosophy of  XIX-XX cc.

There is another one icon of Sophia in Russian iconography – so called Sophia of Kiev.

Sophia of Kiev. Click to enlarge

This icon is based on the words from the Book of Proverbs:

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars (Prov. 9:1)

There are seven pillars, seven sages, and seven steps leading to Virgin Mary (the house) with Jesus (Who is named the wisdom from God, see 1 Corinthians 1:30).
The names of the seven steps are (bottom-up):

1. faith,
2. hope,
3. love,
4. purity,
5. humility,
6. grace,
7. glory.

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