Virgin Mary in Byzantium, c.400-1000 : : Hymns, Homilies and Hagiography / / Mary B. Cunningham.

• VerfasserIn: Cunningham, Mary (Lecturer in historical theology and Othodox Christian studies),
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge ;, New York, NY : : Cambridge University Press,, 2021.
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xi, 275 pages)

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 semi-divine being. 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.

Table of Contents

Praise of Mary in song : the early hymnography -- From Theotokos to Intercessor : the early homiletic witness (ca. 400-600) -- Panegyrics and supplication : homilies from ca. 600-1000 -- Theology in verse : middle Byzantine hymnography -- Narratives about the Panagia : miracle stories, hagiography and apocalypses.