Byzantine Hymnography

The Hagiographic and Hymnographic Tradition of Saint Epiphanius of Constantia in the Byzantine and Post-byzantine Periods

by Symeon Paschalidis

Published in greek: "H βυζαντινή και μεταβυζαντινή αγιολογική και υμνογραφική παράδοση για τον άγιο Επιφάνιο Κωνσταντίας", στο: Θ. Γιάγκου - Χρ. Νάσσης (επιμ.), Άγιος Επιφάνιος Κωνσταντίας Πατήρ και Διδάσκαλος της Ορθοδόξου Καθολικής Εκκλησίας. Πρακτικά Συνεδρίου (Παραλίμνι, 8-11 Μαΐου 2008), Αγία Νάπα – Παραλίμνι 2012, σ. 349-376

In numerous hagiographic and liturgical sources, synaxaria, menaia, lectionaries etc. the feast of St Epiphanius is... more In numerous hagiographic and liturgical sources, synaxaria, menaia, lectionaries etc. the feast of St Epiphanius is commemorated on the 12th of May. Early hagiographic texts such as his Vita, divided into four sections and written mainly by his disciples John and Polybius (5/6 c.), consolidated the cult and the hagiographic image of St Epiphanius in the Byzantine world. Of special interest is a little known epistle by the bishop of Constantia Sabinus to Polybius, published in greek only by G. Dindorf at 1859 and providing information about the burial of St Epiphanius inside his basilica at Constantia/Salamis. In the middle-byzantine period his memory was incuded in the great synaxaristic and menological collections which also inform us about the exact place of his commemoration at Constantinople. It is also noteworthy that from St Epiphanius' life and theology derive both seventeen apophthegmata in a special section of the alphabetical collection of Apophthegmata Patrum and two Narrationes animae utiles (BHG 601i, 601m).
Most of the texts which constitute the hagiographic dossier of saint Epiphanius during the byzantine period were paraphrased into the greek language of the Ottoman period in the second half of the 18th century by one of the most distinguished greek scholars of that period, the monk Kaisarios Dapontes. Dapontes included these texts in his "Paterikon of our Holy Father Gregorios Dialogos" (Venice 1780). He also inserted in this book some unedited byzantine hymns and additionally four Megalynaria he composed himself, enriching the poor byzantine hymnographic tradition of St Epiphanius.
In an Annex we republish or edit for the first time some of the previously edited or unedited hagiographic and hymnographic texts for St Epiphanius.

The Akathistos hymn, Theotokology and Artistic Theology

by ionut mavrichi

Liturgical Poetry in the Late Antique Near East: A Comparative Approach

by Ophir Münz-Manor

Journal of Ancient Judaism 1:3 (2010), pp. 336-361
An English version of the Hebrew article from Pe'amim

The article presents a contemporary view of the study of piyyut, demonstrating that Jewish po- etry of late antiquity... more The article presents a contemporary view of the study of piyyut, demonstrating that Jewish po- etry of late antiquity (in Hebrew and Aramaic) was closely related to Christian liturgical poetry (both Syriac and Greek) and Samaritan liturgy. These relations were expressed primarily by common poetic and prosodic characteristics, derived on the one hand from ancient Semitic poetry (mainly biblical poetry), and on the other from innovations of the period. The significant connections of content between the different genres of poetry reveal the importance of com- parative study. Thus the poetry composed in late antiquity provides additional evidence for the lively cultural dialogue that took place at that time.

A Typology of Byzantine Office Menaia of the 9th - 14th cc.

by Roman Krivko

Scrinium, vol. 7, part 2 (2011), in press.

This is a prefinal, revised and corrected, version of the article. The classification of about sixty Byzantine office... more This is a prefinal, revised and corrected, version of the article. The classification of about sixty Byzantine office Menaia of the 9th–14th cc. is based on the system of liturgical genres represented by Menaia during the Studite era and the time of the byzantinization of peripheral rites in Palestine and Italy, as well as in the period of the development of the neo-Sabbaitic synthesis, when the so-called Jerusalemite Typikon was introduced into the Byzantine rite. The typologically significant genres originally represented only by Palestinian or only by Constantinopolitan traditions (makarismoi, exaposteilaria, kontakion, and festal troparion) have been revealed. The additional classification criterion applied in the article is the order of chants. This made it possible to describe the development of office Menaia of the Studite era as an interaction between the central (Constantinopolitan) and peripheral hymnographic traditions and liturgical rites as attested by Palestinian, early Italo-Greek, and early Old Bulgarian sources (although the content of the latter sources is to a certain extent a subject for critical and historical reconstruction).
The earliest office Menaia of the 9th–12th cc. have been divided into two groups.
The peripheral and the central archaic groups testify to the interaction between the centre (Constantinople) and the periphery of the Byzantine Commonwealth. The younger Menaia (12–14th cc.) are characterized by the rise and final prevalence of the central traditions, on the foundation of which the so-called innovative type of Menaion was established.
The peripheral archaic group is characterized by the absence or reduced liturgical usage of kontakia and the absence of the daily exaposteilaria (both genres are of Constantinopolitan origin). The Menaion of this type regularly consists of kathismata, stichera, and kanons arranged regardless of their liturgical position. Normally the lesser genres precede the kanon, while in a few cases the kanon can be found at the beginning of the office. The central peripheral group has the same genre content expanded by kontakia with more than one stanza, exaposteilaria, and, occasionally, festal troparia which are represented as incipita referring a user to the Synaxarion, a book of Constantinopolitan origin. Makarismoi are observed in both archaic groups, they are not, however, attested in manuscripts younger than the 11th c. The innovative group was established on the basis of the central archaic group, which testifies to the gradually achieved predominance of the liturgical practices originating in Constantinople. This group is characterized by the liturgical ordering of all of the chants, the combination of different kanons chanted on the same date, the elimination of the makarismoi as an archaic genre as well as the elimination of second odes, which are not observed in the manuscripts younger than the 13th c., and, finally, by the gradually introduced structural innovations influenced by interactions with the Synaxarion, Prophetologion, and Lectionary. The innovative trend toward the neglect of archaic features caused makarismoi to be eliminated from the Menaia after the 11th c., when the Synaxarion was for the first time attested in Menaia and the kontakion became an unvariable structural part of the office Menaion.
Neo-Sabbaitic office Menaia are characterized by the changes in the liturgical rite caused by the Jerusalemite Typikon, which was gradually introduced into the Byzantine Commonwealth in the 11th–14th cc. Through the number of genres and their liturgical ordering, the practical use of the Menaion became more efficient. This made the Menaion a kind of general liturgical book easy to apply at Vespers, Matins, and at the liturgy. Therefore the neo-Sabbaitic Menaia became functionally similar to the younger Tropologion. The best representatives of the neo-Sabbaitic office Menaia are printed ones, while the manuscripts attest to a remarkable variety of genre content and terminology.

Life According to Nature: Ascetic Ideals in a Sticheron by Kassia

by Kosta Simic

Crkvene studije / Church Studies 6, The Centre of Church Studies, Niš 2009, pp. 111-121.

Структура богослужебных последований в Тропологии VIII–IX вв. и Минеях IX–XIV вв.

by Alexandra Nikiforova

Структура богослужебных последований в Тропологии VIII–IX вв. и Минеях IX–XIV вв. // Вестник ПСТГУ. Филология. В.1(27). М., 2012. (в печати)

In this article the structure of the services is discussed on the ground of the Greek manuscript Tropologion of 8–9... more In this article the structure of the services is discussed on the ground of the Greek manuscript Tropologion of 8–9 cc. and Menaia of 9–14 cc., mostly from the libraries of Sinai and Grottaferrata. The research has led to the following findings. The services of the Tropologion of 8–9 cc. were organized by the liturgical order of the chants (stichera eis Kyrie ekekraksa – kanon – stichera eis aineite). Then in the Menaia of 9–11 cc. this structure was changed by another one – genre’s structure (kathisma – stichera eis Kyrie ekekraksa – kanon). In the manuscripts of 12 c. more often you can trace the liturgical order again. This liturgical structure prevailed from 13–14 cc. everywhere on the score of user comfort.

«Рождение Минеи» // Вестник ПСТГУ. Филология. В.4(22). М.,2010. С.103–123

by Alexandra Nikiforova

The aim of this paper is to amend a statement in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, according to which the first... more The aim of this paper is to amend a statement in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, according to which the first systematic Menaia with hymnography for each day of the year appeared in MSS dating only from 11–12 th cc. In reality, the first Menaia appeared in the 9th century, during the life of their three main authors and compilars – St.Josef the Hymnographer, St.Theophanes and St.George of Nicomedia. The Menaia replaced hymnographical Tropologia, from which they borrowed some chants of the 7–8 th cc., as well as the structure and genres. The main difference from the Tropologion was that the new 12–volume Menaion contained services for each day of the year, which amounted to more than 1000 services in toto. The oldest currently known daily Menaion dates from the 9–10th cc. (Sinait.Gr.607), to the 10th c. go bach dozens of manuscripts, to the 11–12th cc. humdreds. By inertia, some early daily Menaia (as well as Octoechoi and Triodia) are called Tropologia, although typologically they were entirely different books. Menaia of the 11–12th cc. differed considerably from the earlier Menaia due to the structure of the services. In the 9–11th cc. every service began with a kathisma, followed by three stichera and a canon. Starting from the 11th c. and in the 12th c. almost everywhere kathismata followed the third song (ode) of the canon, oikoi and kontakia followed the sixth, exapostilarii followed the ninght. In the 12th c. began deliberate reduction of the second song of canons, which led to destruction of their acrostics and disintegration of the texts.
Getting back to the definition in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, we can state that the above-mentioned period, the 11–12th cc., was not an initial, but already rather an advanced stage in the development of the daily Menaia. They emerged in the 9th c., which is confirmed by extant manuscripts.

«Опознание разбитых статуй».От Тропология к Минее // Флорилегий. М., 2011 (в печати)

by Alexandra Nikiforova

К вопросу о происхождении служебной Минеи о структуре, составе и месяцеслове служебных Миней IX–XII вв. из библиотеки монастыря вмц. Екатерины на Синае

by Alexandra Nikiforova

К вопросу о происхождении служебной Минеи: о структуре, составе и месяцеслове служебных Миней IX–XII вв. из библиотеки монастыря вмц. Екатерины на Синае//Материалы международной научно-богословской конференции «Россия–Афон: тысячелетие духовного единства» (Москва, 1– 4 октября 2006). М., 2008. С.380–389

Синайско-славянские гимнографические параллели / Sinaitic and Slavonic Hymnographic Parallels

by Roman Krivko

Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета. Серия 3: Филология. 2008. № 1/11. C. 56-102.

The article is dedicated to the uncial hymnographic miscellanies, which were newly discovered at 1975 on the Mt. Sinai. The article is dedicated to the uncial hymnographic miscellanies, which were newly discovered at 1975 on the Mt. Sinai.

Rekonstruktion der griechischen Akrostichis im Kanon auf das hl. Mandylion: Zur Bedeutung altkirchenslavischer Übersetzungen für die byzantinische …

by Roman Krivko

Wiener Slavistisches Jahrbuch. 2006. Bd. 52. S. 63-84.

Rémarques sur le Canon des défunts écrit par S. Cassia de Constantinople

by Kassia Senina

published in: Scrinium, t. 5: Symbola Caelestis (2009) 317-322

The article contains an analysis of the hymnographic canon for the deaths written by Kassia of Constantinople. It is... more The article contains an analysis of the hymnographic canon for the deaths written by Kassia of Constantinople. It is shown that all its theotokia (apart from the last one) are taken from earlier canons, including the theotokion of the fifth ode that was previously considered as written by Kassia herself. Concluding from its contents, the canon is to be dated to the 860s.

Kassia: A female hymnographer of the 9th century

by SPYROS PANAGOPOULOS

This paper is about the Byzantine Hymnographer Kassia and her hymnographic paper, especially her hymn "Lord, a... more This paper is about the Byzantine Hymnographer Kassia and her hymnographic paper, especially her hymn "Lord, a woman who fell into many sins.