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SESSION OF FREE COMMUNICATIONS New Feasts, New Sermons: The Cult of Mary on the Eve of Iconoclasm, in Byzantium and Beyond This proposed session aims to explore theological connections between Rome and Byzantium on the eve of Iconoclasm by highlighting both the textual tradition (especially homilies) and the accompanying iconographical developments. By the end of the 6th century, the two major feasts of the Hypapantē (i.e. the ‘meeting’, the Presentation of Christ to Symeon) and of the Koimēsis (or Dormitio) of the Virgin were already a part of the liturgical calendar of Constantinople. The Hypapantē was introduced under Justinian in 542, while the Koimēsis began to be celebrated a few decades later, during the reign of Maurice (582–602). Additionally, this is the time when, according to archaeology, the church at the Virgin’s burial site in Jerusalem (i.e. in Gethsemane) was rebuilt. In Rome, it was under the Greek-Palestinian pope Theodore I (642–49) that the celebration of the Hypapantē was established, with the Latin name of the Natalis Sancti Symeonis, and the Assumption. The Natalis Sancti Symeonis soon metamorphosed into the Purificatio Sanctae Mariae, apparently to add emphasis to the role of the Mother of God in the feast (i.e., her offering a sacrifice of purification for having been a woman in child-bed, as prescribed by the Mosaic Law). By the end of the 7th century in Rome, four Marian feasts are attested: the Purificatio Sanctae Mariae (February 2), the Annunciation (March 25), the Assumption (August 15), and the Nativity of the Virgin (September 8). To complement the new calendars in both Constantinople and Rome, there appeared an increasing number of homilies commemorating these recently formalized feasts. However, it is only from the 8th century onwards that systematic collections of Marian sermons began to be produced in the West. The earliest extant Latin homilies on the Hypapantē are those by Bede (†735) and by Ambrosius Autpertus (†784), while on the Koimēsis there is one by Autpertus. The latter author appears to draw inspiration directly from the Byzantine tradition, so much so, in fact, that numerous parallels of exegesis and imagery surrounding these same feasts can be found among the works of Andrew of Crete, Germanos of Constantinople, and John of Damascus. The Byzantine homilies, in turn, rely upon long-standing eastern hymnographic and homiletic traditions about the Virgin (e.g., in Sophronius of Jerusalem and Maximus the Confessor in the seventh century, but extending back to Romanos the Melode in the sixth, and Ephrem the Syrian in the fourth).
2021 •
The Virgin Mary assumed a position of central importance in Byzantium. This book examines her portrayal in liturgical texts during the first six centuries of Byzantine history. Focusing on three main literary genres that celebrated this holy figure, it highlights the ways in which writers adapted their messages for different audiences. Mary is portrayed variously as defender of the imperial city, Constantinople, virginal Mother of God, and ascetic disciple of Christ. Preachers, hymnographers, and hagiographers used rhetoric to enhance Mary's powerful status in Eastern Christian society, depicting her as virgin and mother, warrior and ascetic, human and all-holy figure. Their paradoxical statements were based on the fundamental mystery that Mary embodied: she was the mother of Christ, the Word of God, who provided him with the human nature that he assumed in his incarnation. Dr Cunningham's authoritative study makes a major contribution to the history of Christianity.
Eirini Panou, The theological substance of St Anne’s motherhood in Byzantine Homilies, in The Reception of the Virgin in Byzantium: Marian Narratives in Texts and Images, Thomas Arentzen and Mary B. Cunningham (eds), CUP, 226-244.
The Theological Substance of St Anna's Motherhood in Byzantine Homilies2019 •
Maria: A Journal of Marian Studies
The many feasts of Mary in the contemporary Catholic liturgy2021 •
The Protevangelium of James (PJ) has been widely diffused among the churches: there is evidence of its use by many of the fathers and it survives (wholly or in part) in Greek, Latin, Syrian, Coptic, and Armenian, and in many later versions. While it is often stated that, in the west at least, it was condemned in the Decretum Gelasianum, this did not lessen its significance. The embarrassment of the source is more than made up for by the long continuity of recollection. The persistence of the feasts derived from the PJ shows that the ritual memory of the Christian church is still a much more complex phenomenon within Christianity than any body of material which might be labelled 'early Christian history'. This complexity is seen most clearly in that the feasts are still celebrated while PJ has been discarded. Ritual memory functions in a more all-embracing way in Christian society than historical reconstruction. While the popularity of PJ from the second century onwards shows that the historical form has always been part of Christian identity, it is as a wondrous tale, with its convenient miracles to reinforce its religious preferences, that it became influential.
On the basis of the analysis of the Byzantine and Medieval Western liturgical books this article investigates the role Heraclius (610–641) and his dynasty played in the development of the Byzantine feast of the Exaltation of the True Cross, as well as the evolution of the image of this emperor in the Byzantine liturgical tradition. The paper suggests that the restoration of the Cross by Heraclius in Jerusalem strongly influenced the Byzantine liturgical practice of the Exaltation feast, and that some references to this act were made during the rule of the Heraclian dynasty, but were later eliminated from the liturgical books because for political and religious reasons. By contrast, the Western liturgical tradition of the Exaltation feast conserved a stage of the liturgy before these changes were made which represented (until Vatican II) an element of the heritage of the Monothelete period.
Historians have never properly dealt with the Twelve Great Feasts (the Dodekaortion) of the Eastern Orthodox Church. While some feasts have received much attention, others have been almost totally ignored, making an understanding of these feasts as a group difficult. More importantly, scholars have largely disregarded the historical causes behind the feasts' existence. When the feasts are studied as a group, it becomes clear that their original purpose was not to commemorate events in Christ's life, as has been claimed (Dix), but rather to put forth theological and ultimately political propositions in an accessible and convincing form. The early Church observed only three feasts as independent celebrations (what I call the Core Group: the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and Pentecost). It was not until centuries later, after the Council of Constantinople, that the other feasts were observed throughout the East. These post-Nicene feasts followed a similar pattern of institution for the most part. A feast usually originated at one specific Church as the popular manifestation of opposition to a particular heresy or schismatic doctrine. Observance of the feasts was at first strictly local. The rest of the Eastern Church usually adopted them for the same reasons that the local Churches had; but, occasionally, because of the Orthodox character of the feasts, their doctrinal potential was redirected toward other controversies. Like so much of Christian theology, whose original simplicity became more and more complicated, the post-Nicene feasts were formed in reaction to the various heresies. The Core Group corresponds to the early stage of Christian theology, commemorating from the beginning the essential tenets of salvation. The Cyrillian Group (the Raising of Lazarus, Palm Sunday, and the Ascension) comprises the first feasts formed in conscious reaction to a heresy--Arianism. Before Cyril of Jerusalem, there were no universal feasts apart from the Core Group; with him, the feast as an anti-heretical device became established. The Epiphany and the Nativity were likewise directed against Arianism, but they derived from pre-existing feasts of local significance that probably had no original connection with heresy. The Marian Group (the Presentation, the Dormition, and the Annunciation) arose in opposition to the next great threat to Orthodoxy, Nestorianism. In this group, the first documentary evidence of institution by imperial decree appears, testimony to the importance of festal practice. The last feast to be adopted, the Transfiguration, seems to have been a statement of the ultimate sanction of Chalcedonian Orthodoxy as the official government position at the end of a long period of Christological argument. The Twelve Great Feasts took on the superficial character of a life cycle of Christ for two reasons. First, by presenting their theology in the form of feasts commemorating events in the life of Christ they became more accessible to the faithful and more likely to make an impression on them. Second, as appeals in theological controversies, they called upon the ultimate theological authority--Christ himself. The canon of the Twelve Great Feasts began to take shape as the great Christological controversies began. By the time those controversies reached their indecisive conclusion, all the feasts had been instituted. Thus, the post-Nicene feasts arose during the period of the great controversies, but the feasts themselves were more than the mere results of these arguments, they played an active, and at times even crucial, part in their outcome. Written when I was a graduate student, this article received prize for best interdisciplinary essay, and is cited as the principal authority on the subject in the 3rd ed. rev. of the highly authoritative Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church).
Mirabilia Ars, nº 2 (2015 /1), Institut d'Estudis Medievals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2015, p. 200-226
Byzantine iconography of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the light of a homily of St. John Damascene2015 •
As a result of the fact that the New Testament mentions little episodes and provides very few details of the real life of the Virgin Mary, several pious apocryphal legends emerged during the first centuries between the eastern Christian communities, which tried by all means to solve this hermetic silence surrounding the birth, childhood, youth, adulthood and death of the Mother of Jesus. These apocryphal accounts were then assumed and interpreted by numerous Church Fathers, theologians and sacral orators. These reflections of such prestigious thinkers structured a solid corpus of doctrine from which several devotions and Marian liturgical feasts of great importance would arise shortly after. The supernatural birth of Mary, after her miraculous conception in the womb of her elderly and sterile mother Anne, is a primary milestone in her “imaginary” life. As natural fruit of these heterogeneous literary and theological sources, the European medieval art and, in a very special way, the Byzantine one, addressed with remarkable enthusiasm the iconographic theme of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary, especially since the 10th-11th centuries, as one of the most significant episodes in the life of the Theotókos. On this basis, our paper proposes a triple complementary objective. First and foremost, it will highlight the content of the apocryphal sources and some thoughts or patristic exegesis on the subject, with particular emphasis in the homilies of St. John Damascene. Secondly, it will look at some Byzantine paintings on The Nativity of Mary, to determine to what extent the apocryphal accounts and the exegetical or doctrinal reflections on this Marian event are reflected in the characters, situations, attitudes, accessories and scenic items represented in these paintings. Finally, it will suggest some author’s interpretations which seem plausible on the possible symbolic meanings underlying in this relevant, dogmatic core and in its corresponding iconographic theme. Resumen: Como consecuencia de que el Nuevo Testamento menciona escasos episodios y brinda muy pocos detalles de la vida real de la Virgen María, entre las comunidades cristianas orientales surgieron durante los primeros siglos varias leyendas piadosas apócrifas, que trataron por todos los medios de suplir ese hermético silencio en torno al nacimiento, infancia, juventud, adultez y muerte de la Madre de Jesús. Esos relatos apócrifos fueron luego asumidos e interpretados por numerosos Padres de la Iglesia, teólogos y oradores sacros. Esas reflexiones de tan prestigiosos pensadores constituyeron un sólido cuerpo doctrinario del que se derivarían poco después varias devociones y fiestas litúrgicas marianas de extraordinaria importancia. Hito primordial en esa “imaginaria” vida de María es su sobrenatural nacimiento, tras su milagrosa concepción en el seno de su anciana y estéril madre Ana. Como fruto natural de esas heterogéneas fuentes literarias y teológicas, el arte medieval europeo y, de modo muy especial, el bizantino, abordaron con notable entusiasmo el tema iconográfico de la Natividad de la Virgen María a partir, sobre todo, de los siglos X-XI, como uno de los episodios más significativos de la vida de la Theotokos. Sobre esta base, en nuestra Ponencia nos proponemos un triple objetivo complementario. Pondremos, ante todo, en luz el contenido de las fuentes apócrifas y algunas consideraciones o exégesis patrísticas sobre el tema, con especial énfasis en las homilías de San Juan Damasceno. En segundo lugar, analizaremos algunas obras pictóricas bizantinas sobre la Natividad de María, para determinar hasta qué punto los relatos apócrifos y las reflexiones exegéticas o doctrinales sobre este acontecimiento mariano se reflejan en los personajes, situaciones, actitudes, accesorios y elementos escenográficos escenografía representados en esas pinturas. Por último, sugeriremos ciertas interpretaciones personales que juzgamos plausibles sobre los posibles significados simbólicos subyacentes en este relevante núcleo dogmático y en su correspondiente tema iconográfico.
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