Nipson anomemata me monan opsin

Nipson anomēmata mē monan opsin (Greek: Νίψον ἀνομήματα, μὴ μόναν ὄψιν), meaning "Wash the sins, not only the face,"^[1] or "Wash my transgressions, not only my face,"^[2] is a Greek palindromic phrase which was inscribed upon a holy water font outside the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.^[3] The phrase is attributed to Saint Gregory of Nazianzus.^[2]

The inscription can also be found above the Hagiasma ("Holy Spring") of the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae in Istanbul; around the baptismal font at St. Mary's Church, Nottingham; the font of several churches in Paris, e.g., St. Stephen d’Egres, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Martin des Champs, St. Pierre de Chaillot, Notre-Dame-des-Victoiress; at St. Menin’s Abbey, Orléans; at Dulwich College; and at the following churches: Worlingworth (Suffolk), Harlow (Essex), Knapton (Norfolk), St Martin, Ludgate (London), and Hadleigh (Suffolk).

See also

• Palindrome
• List of Greek phrases

References

1. ^ Barry J. Blake, Secret Language: Codes, Tricks, Spies, Thieves, and Symbols, Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 0199579288, p. 15.
2. ^ ^{a b} Alex Preminger, Terry V.F. Brogan, and Frank J. Warnke, The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 3rd ed., Princeton University Press, 1993, ISBN 0691021236, p. 874.
3. ^ R. Langford-James, A Dictionary of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Ayer Publishing, ISBN 083375047X, p. 61.