There is so much talk now about the coming end of the world in 2012 that I am sure that even the most staunch skeptics await the predicted date with some trepidation. What will happen? Today, almost every natural disaster, every economic crisis, every armed clash, many will certainly associate with the signs of the impending apocalypse. We will not wonder what awaits us in 2012, but on the contrary, we will go back almost a thousand years ago. After all, it turns out that exactly the same moods reigned in the world in those years.
It would be a prophecy …
Many Christian philosophers of the early Middle Ages carried to the masses the idea that God had given humanity only a thousand years. That at the end of this period the world awaits the apocalypse described in the biblical Revelation of John the Theologian with all the predicted consequences: heavenly fire, epidemics, locust plague, and so on. In the same period, Jesus will return to earth and defeat his eternal enemy - the Antichrist. The prerequisite for such expectations was the works of the early Christian author Hippolytus of Rome. He, interpreting the Bible, argued that the devil was defeated and bound by Christ for only a thousand years. At the end of this period, Satan will be freed and will reign on earth for three and a half years.
There would be a prophecy, but the signs will be found. For example, one of the forerunners of the events described by John, people considered the capture of a huge part of Europe by the army of Otgon I the Great and the creation in 962 of the First Reich. There was also a prediction that the apocalypse would take place when Easter coincides with the Annunciation. In 992, the Annunciation fell on Good Friday, and of course. people were waiting for this day as the last. When the end of the world didn't happen. the mystics began to assert that it would come within three and a half years (after all, this is how much the Antichrist is allotted to wander around the Earth). But in 995 and 996, nothing happened. To everyone's surprise, the year 999, which was considered nothing other than the inverted number of the devil - 666, has safely passed. And so gradually the world approached the change of the millennium.
At this moment, Christian countries were seized by a pre-apocalyptic panic. Many Catholics immediately recalled the teaching of Christ that on the Day of Wrath, wealth will not help, and only those who do good deeds and lead a godly life will be saved. People began to distribute property to the poor, donated land for the benefit of the Roman Church, went to monasteries and atone for their sins in churches for days on end. There is also a version that since then they began to bury the dead in the city center. After all, if we take Revelation literally, after the second coming of Christ, the dead will rise from their graves.
So why, for example, should the deceased grandparents go far?.. By the way, this tradition was observed for almost six centuries, and only from the 16th century did the authorities begin to prohibit burying the dead within the city.
According to the prophecies, the Antichrist was to be born among people, and, most likely, become a military leader, and therefore it seemed most likely. that he will appear in some country that has not accepted Christianity. The fight against paganism immediately intensified, and, as a result, in 1000 Norway, Iceland and Hungary officially accepted Christianity.
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Adjustment for the age of Christ
But the second millennium came, and the promised apocalypse never happened. The excitement around this event has subsided. Some people, especially those who lost their property, began to grumble at the Church. And then the priests proposed a new date: it turns out that the words of Hippolytus of Rome were misinterpreted. The fact is that Christ descended into hell, defeated the devil and bound him for a thousand years after he was resurrected. This means that the date of the apocalypse must be counted not from the moment of the birth of Jesus, but from the day of his crucifixion. This was also mentioned in the apocryphal scripture of the 4th century "The Revelations of Methodius of Patarsky". This means that the events described by John the Theologian were to begin around 1033. Plus three and a half years that the devil will walk on the earth, and it turns out that the apocalypse will happen in about 1037. But Europe met such a statement more calmly. There was no such reaction as in 1000. But this time Russia, which recently adopted Christianity, entered the apocalyptic game. It was not affected by the European panic of the end of the millennium, since then the Christian ideology had not yet been sufficiently formed in the state.
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev
Preparing for the second coming
The Russians considered the most probable year of the second coming of Christ to be 1038 - it was in this year that the Annunciation coincided with Great Saturday. Not Kiriopasha, of course, when, according to the Orthodox calendar, the Annunciation is combined with Easter, but still the difference is only one day.
In Russia then Yaroslav the Wise ruled. And, of course, the Grand Duke of Kiev decided to thoroughly prepare for the coming of the Messiah. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, it was in 1037 that the famous Golden Gate was built in the southern part of Kiev. It is assumed that their main function is to meet the Savior who appeared on earth. The appearance of the building speaks in favor of this version: the architecture resembles a temple more than just an entrance to the city and military fortifications. The gate was crowned by a gate church of the Annunciation, decorated with rich mosaics and paintings. A strange design for a defensive structure, isn't it? Moreover, the Golden Gate was located so that the traveler could see from a distance - he was approaching the Christian city.
Was the Golden Gate built to meet the Savior who appeared on earth?
In the same year 1037, many chronicles date the construction of the St. Sophia Cathedral. For the XI century, this was a grandiose act. Masters from Constantinople were invited to build Sophia, they were helped by Russian architects. The architecture of the cathedral turned out to be very unusual for that era - its analogues were not found either in Russia or in Byzantium.
Jesus did not appear
In its original form, St. Sophia Cathedral had a pyramidal composition. The number of its chapters - 12 - corresponded to the number of the apostles, and four domes were located above the rest and meant the four evangelists who spread Christianity throughout the world. The central, highest dome symbolized Christ. Perhaps the St. Sophia Cathedral was built not just as the main temple of Russia, but as a place for a solemn ceremony, which was to take place immediately after the arrival of the Messiah in Kiev.
It seems that the chroniclers were preparing to meet the great guest. For this, as some scholars believe, they created one of the Russian chronicles - "The most ancient annals". This document could be something like a report of Yaroslav the Wise to the Lord. So, apparently, the Grand Duke seriously believed that it was Kiev that was destined to become the new Jerusalem, which would receive the Savior during his second coming.
And then came the long-awaited Great Saturday and the Annunciation of 1038. As the chronicles say, on this day, Metropolitan Hilarion read his famous "Word on Law and Grace", explaining to people that for salvation one must be baptized and observe rituals. All Christian Russia was looking forward to the appearance of Christ. But nothing happened.
The Russians were in for the same disappointment as the Europeans had in their time. Years passed, and neither Christ nor the Antichrist appeared before the inhabitants of Kiev. And only St. Sophia Cathedral and the Golden Gate have stood on the Kiev land for almost a thousand years, recalling the end of the world that never happened.
Oleg Torosov. Secrets of the 20th century magazine