Deposition of the Precious Belt of Our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God (395–408)

The deposition of the precious Belt of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God took place in Constantinople, in the church of Blachernae, in the time of the Emperor Arcadius (395–408). According to tradition, this great holy thing was entrusted by the Mother of God herself to the Apostle Thomas, and afterwards it was handed down by inheritance among pious Christians. Many years later, in the reign of Leo the Wise (886–912), the Belt of the Mother of God miraculously healed the emperor’s wife Zoe, who was possessed by an evil spirit.

It was revealed to the empress that she would be healed of her illness by the touch of the Belt of the Mother of God. The emperor asked the patriarch for help. The hierarch opened the sealed coffer in which the holy thing was kept, touched the sick empress with it, and she was healed at once. In thanksgiving a service of supplication to the Most Holy Mother of God was sung, and then the holy thing was placed back in the coffer.

To commemorate the miracle that had taken place, the feast of the Deposition of the Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God was instituted.