The ''Synaxarion of Constantinople'' (or ''Synaxarion of the Great Church''), "Synaxarion containing abstracts of deeds of the blessed saints and martyrs for the whole year";
la, Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, "Synaxarion of the church of Constantinople". is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

collection of brief notices of saints commemorated in the churches of Constantinople arranged by

feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

. Each notice contains a short biography and the date and location of the commemoration (''

synaxis {{For, the moth genus, Synaxis (moth) A synaxis ( el, σύναξις "gathering"; Slavonic: собор, ''sobor'') is a liturgical assembly in Eastern Christianity (the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the ...

''). It also contains descriptions of liturgical

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

s in the city. It was commissioned by the Emperor

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Kar ...

during his sole reign (944–959) and compiled by the deacon and librarian Evaristos. It is an important source for the urban topography of Constantinople. The notices are

hagiographical A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

in character and rarely run more than a paragraph in length. They are generally abstracts of longer saint's lives. There is an emphasis on

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

. The latest saint included is Patriarch

Antony II of Constantinople Antony II Kauleas ( el, Αντώνιος Β΄ Καυλέας , translit=Antōnios II Kauleas), (died 1 February 901) was Patriarch of Constantinople from 893 to February 12, 901. Life A monk by age 12, Antony Kauleas became a priest and the abbo ...

, who died in 901. Some recensions of the ''Synaxarion'' from the 12th century and later included verses from the hagiographical poems of

Christopher of Mytilene Christophoros of Mytilene ( gr, Χριστόφορος Μυτιληναῖος, Christophoros Mytilenaios; ca. 1000 – after 1050) was a Greek-language poet living in the first half of the 11th century. His works include poems on various subjects ...

. There are over 300 manuscript copies of the ''Synaxarion''. An

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

translation was produced in the 11th century for the

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic Semitic root, ro ...

community. It contains some additional Melkite saints. Joseph, a deacon of Constantinople, is said to have made an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

translation in 991–992, which formed the basis for an expanded Armenian synaxary composed around 1240. In the 13th and 14th centuries,

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...

translations were produced. The ''Synaxarion of Constantinople'' was often transmitted with liturgical rubrics to assist in the celebration of the

daily office In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

. In the monastic tradition, it was sometimes combined with the ''

typikon A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite of ...

''. Readings from the ''Synaxarion'' are also incorporated into the ''

menaia The Menaion ( el, Μηναῖον; Church Slavonic language, Slavonic: Минїѧ, ''Miniya'', "of the month") is the liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox Churchand those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite containi ...

''. The largest number of manuscripts, however, do not contain any such rubrics and represent the "pure" ''Synaxarion''.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend Christian hagiography Eastern Orthodox saints 10th-century books Eastern Orthodox liturgical days