King David of Israel, King Solomon, and the United Roman-Ruthenian Church

King David of Israel

By Jean DuBois

ROME-RUTHENIA 9 October 2023 (NRom)

King David of Israel and his son Solomon, of the Tribe of Judah, are two of the most important historical figures in the Jewish tradition. They are ancestors of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, and therefore of the Incarnate Jesus Christ. They also are part of the historic ancestry of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church, among the few churches with such legacy.

The story of David and Goliath is a well-known Biblical account. Later, while King, David fathered Solomon with Bathsheba, the wife of a general, Uriah the Hitite. Solomon went on to build the famous temple on Temple Mount in Jerusalem and was known for his leadership abilities and great wisdom.

Jerusalem. The gold dome of the Dome of the Rock near
the centre marks the location of Temple Mount, where
once stood the temple built by Solomon. It was also the
location of the headquarters of the Knights Templar
during the Crusades. (Photo from the archives of the Church.)

As given in Scripture, the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph were of the House of David, and it was into that genealogy that Christ was born in His earthly Incarnation. The Davidic line went around the world by the Jewish diaspora, in particular through the Exilarchs of Babylon (an exilarch was a ruler of a group or nation in exile). Centuries after the Resurrection of Christ and the Jewish dispersal, the Davidic line came to Europe and certain royal houses. This would eventually come into the lineage of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church and the Pontifical Imperial State of Rome-Ruthenia.

The Apostolic See of Sts. Stephen and Mark (United Roman-Ruthenian Church) is an Apostolic church of ancient origins and Orthodox and Catholic heritage. The Church, today an ethno-religious minority, is rooted in the ancient Apostolic Churches of Rome, Constantinople, Syria, Russia, Alexandria, and Armenia and represents a rare convergence of Apostolic faith and tradition that is both Orthodox and Catholic, both Western and Eastern. Though the Church stands on its own, it has received confirmation of its autocephalous and canonical status from various ecclesiastical and secular authorities over the years. The church's historical temporal wing, the Pontifical Imperial State of Rome-Ruthenia, is in hereditary descent from Rome and Russia and, like the United Roman-Ruthenian Church, in Apostolic Succession from Saints Peter, Andrew, Thomas, Thaddeus, and Bartholomew. It is ecclesial heir to the Roman Empire and Old Russian State. Through the Pontifical and Imperial Household and through the Merovingian Dynasty, protectors of the Gallican Rite of the Church, it descends from King David of Israel and King Solomon, ancestors of the Incarnate Jesus Christ. Today the United Roman-Ruthenian Church and Pontifical Imperial State constitute an ethno-religious nation without political territory and a state unto itself, representing people across multiple modern political countries. Its Davidic heritage remains a treasured part of its legacy.