The History of the Holy Belt

Two poor but devout women in Jerusalem undertook the preservation of the Holy Belt. A short time before Her Dormition, Our Most Pure Lady had told Saint John the Evangelist to give the same women Her two garments. Pious virgins of this family undertook the safekeeping of the Belt from one generation to the next.

During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Arkadios, son of Theodosius the Great, the Holy Belt was transferred to Constantinople, the glorious capital of the Byzantine Empire. Arkadius placed the relic in a beautiful reliquary, which he called “the holy reliquary”. The Deposition took place on the 31st of August. The relic was to protect the capital of the empire and its inhabitants from attacks of the enemies, misfortunes, and from the machinations of the demons.

Germanos [Herman] I, the Patriarch of Constantinople, (715-730), lyricized that the Holy Belt eternally retains the divine fragrance of the miracles it has brought about, bringing joy to those who approach it with faith and reverence. And Joseph the Hymnographer (ca. 816-866) praises the holy relic because, through the grace of Our Most Holy Lady, it sanctifies those who come reverently to venerate it; elevating them from corruption, and releasing them from maladies and sorrows.

In about 1150, the Holy Belt was to be found in the Great Palace of Constantinople, in the Church of St. Michael. It had probably already been divided into pieces, which were located in different churches.

In the twelfth century, specifically during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), the feast day of the Holy Belt was formally established on 31 August, even though it had previously been celebrated with the feast day of the Garment of the Mother of God, on 2 July.

The largest portion of the Holy Belt which survives today are three pieces that are preserved in Vatopedi monastery. Two pieces had been donated to the monastery; the third, smaller piece resulted when one of the first two pieces was divided when the Holy Belt visited the town of Ainos [Enez] in the eighteenth century.

The donor of the first portion of the Belt was Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1341-1354). He gave a large portion of the Holy Belt to Vatopaidi together with many other valuable treasures and is considered one of the Monastery’s greatest benefactors. Kantakouzenos later abdicated the imperial throne and became a monk by the name of Ioasaf. In all likelihood, he also resided at the Monastery of Vatopedi. In the large chest of the Holy Belt, which was made in 1818 in Moscow, there is a drawing with Emperor John Kantakouzenos holding the Holy Belt and offering it to the Monastery of Vatopedi.

In about 1330, the Bulgarian army was defeated in battle by Prince Lazar, the Great Martyr of Serbia, and the king’s Cross passed into the hands of the Serbs. Forty years later, Lazar donated the King’s Cross of Constantine the Great to the Monastery of Vatopaidi. On the back of the Precious Cross, the following is written in Serbian:I, Lazar, Knez of Serbia and Emperor of Greece, donate this powerful weapon, together with the immaculate Belt of my All-Pure Lady to the Monastery of Vatopaidi in my kingdom. Since then the Holy Belt has been kept in the sanctuary of the main church of the monastery.