Transformations of the Edessa Portrait of Christ / Professor Sebastian Brock, Oxford University
August 15th 944 was a day of great jubilation and excitement for the citizens of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, for on it one of the most precious relics, the famous mandylion bearing the imprint of the face of Christ, came to the end of its long journey from Edessa, to be escorted in solemn procession into Constantinople; the following day the relic was taken in procession to the great church of the Holy Wisdom, and then finally found its resting place in a chapel of the imperial palace. An annual commemoration of the image, on 16th August, was inserted into the liturgical calendar.1...
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