Menologium

Detail ofMenologium,showing saints and martyrs of December, January and February, painted byJohn Tokhabi,11th centurytetraptych,kept at theSaint Catherine's Monastery.

"Menologion" redirects here. For Byzantine dating formula, seeMenologem.

Amenologium(/mɛnəˈloʊdʒiəm/,pl.menologia), alsoknown by other names,is any collection of information arranged according to thedaysof amonth,usually a set of such collections for all the months of theyear.In particular, it is used forancient Romanfarmers'almanacs(menologia rustica); for the untitledOld Englishpoemon theJulian calendarthat appears in a manuscript of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle;for theliturgical books(also known as themenaia) used by theEastern Orthodox ChurchandEastern Catholic Churchesfollowing theByzantine Ritethat list thepropersforfixed dates,typically in twelve volumes covering a month each and largely concerned withsaints;forhagiographies(also known assynaxaria) andliturgical calendarswritten as part of this tradition; and for equivalents of these works amongRoman Catholicreligious ordersfor organized but private commemoration of their notable members.

Name

A reconstruction of theRoman calendarknown as theFasti Antiates Maiores

Menologiumis theLatinform ofGreekmenologion(μηνολόγιον,menológion), which is also used in English, particularly in the context of Eastern Orthodoxy. Thepluralof both the Latin and Greek forms of the name ismenologia.The Greek term derived frommḗn(μήν,"month") +-o-(-ο-) +lógos(λόγος,"writing,recording") +-ion(-ιον), together meaning a monthly record or account. Although properly referring to the thing recorded,menologyis sometimes used as a synonym to mean the menologium itself. More rarely,menologeis as well,borrowedfromFrenchménologe.

Historical

Roman almanacs

Main article:Menologia rustica

Theancient Romanfarming menologia(Latin:menologia rustica) were given their name byTheodor Mommsenin the first volume of theCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum,date from theimperial period,and seem to derive from a single source, now lost.They provide the average lengths ofdayandnightfor each month at thelatitude of Rome,astrological notes,the month'stutelary deityandtemples in Romeby their day of dedication, agricultural tasks within the month, and other information but they omit most of the important agriculturalfestivalsand, based on the listedharvestdates, were originally intended for a location rather north of Rome.

Old English poem

See also:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Menologium, also known as the Old English Metrical Calendar, is an untitled late 10th-centuryOld Englishpoemcovering theAnglo-Saxonliturgical yearwithin the context of theAnglo-Saxon Church'sJulian calendar.Harttentatively identifies its author asByrhtferth,aBenedictine monkatRamsey AbbeyinCambridgeshire,England.The Menologium serves as an prologue to a manuscript of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle,introducing the year.There are similar but distinct equivalents in documents from theCeltic Churchand in other Anglo-Saxon texts, generally known askalendars.It has been printed in 18 separate editionsbeginning withGeorge Hickesin 1703.Hickes entitled the poem "A Calendar or Poetical Menologium" (Calendarium seu Menologium Poeticum),picked up bySamuel Foxand the probable origin of its usual name.Most editions to date have added various emendations of the preserved text and several include misspellings and other errors,including in one instance changing summer to winter.

Eastern Orthodoxy

Dimitry of Rostov'sGreat Menaion Reader,printed in Kiev, 1714. The book is open at December 25, the Nativity of the Lord.

Menaia

Main articles:MenaionandEastern Orthodox liturgical calendar

Menaia,also known as menologia, are theoffice booksof the Orthodox Church covering thepropersassigned to fixed dates in the calendar. They correspond with theProprium Sanctorumof theRoman CatholicBreviary.They are usually issued in sets of 12 volumes, one for each month of the year, but are sometimes bound in three, each covering four months together. The propers cover the part of the day'sliturgythat varies from the usualordinary.They thus cover the commemoration ofthe days'saintsin the service and in thecanonssung atOrthros,particularly thesynaxaries.Theselives of the saintsare inserted between the 6th and 7th odes of the canon in similar fashion to the interpolation of the day'sMartyrologiuminto thechoralrecitation ofPrimein Roman Catholicism.

Synaxaria

A page from theMenologiumofBasil II,depicting SaintsCosmas and Damian(11th cent.)

Main articles:SynaxariaandHagiography

Synaxaria,also known as menologia, are collections ofsaints' liveswithout the other liturgical material of the menaia. They correspond with Roman CatholicMartyrologies,although the usual Orthodox style is to provide fewer but fuller entries on the saints' lives. The most famous example is theMenologiumofBasil IIfrom around the year 1000. Some—such as theMenologiumofSymeon Metaphrastesor the Syriac Menologium—bear a close resemblance to medieval Catholiclegendariaand early modern recompilations of them such asSurius'sActa Sanctorum.Delehayefound that Symeon and other hagiographers of his era were largely conservative while compiling their works from earlier synaxaria but sparsely added additional materials from other—now uncertain—sources.

Roman Catholicism

Private commemorations

In theearly modern period,someRoman Catholicreligious ordersbegan to compile the names andeulogiesof their notable members. Saracenus'sMenologium Carmelitanum( "Menologium of theCarmelites") printed atBolognain 1627 may have been the earliest of these, but did not yet include a daily arrangement and only listed formallycanonizedmembers of his order. This was soon followed byCrisóstomo Henríquez'sMenologium Cisterciense( "Menologium of theCistercians"), printed atAntwerpin 1630. NurembergandNádasiwrote similar works for theJesuits,although they did not title them menologia. The earliest Jesuit compilation using the title was printed in 1669, withGiuseppe Antonio Patrignanicreating a greatly expanded volume in 1730andFrançois Elesban de Guilhermygathering materials for a series (published posthumously) that provided a separate menologium for each of the Jesuits' separate assistancies (now known asconferences).

These compilations quickly began to include respected but uncanonized members and to organize them for commemoration according to a calendrical schedule. Such members might be reputed for their holiness or simply their learning. Published by private authority, these works were intended for private consultation or remembrance within the order but not for inclusion into theliturgy.The Church prohibited reading from such works as part of theDivine Officebut allowed them to be read aloud in thechapter-houseorrefectory.Henríquez's menologium had already included the remark that "it would not appear unsuitable if it were read aloud in public or in chapter or at least in the refectory at the beginning of dinner or supper" and it remained the custom to read aloud from such works in Jesuit refectories as part of the evening meal into the 20th century.TheMenologium Franciscanum( "Menologium of theFranciscans") published byFortunatus Hüberin 1691 was similarly intended for such open recitation but noted that the concluding formula of the Roman Matyrology ( "Et alibi aliorum... ") should be replaced as theferialis terminatio cuiuscumque dieiwith the three verses ofRevelationbeginning "Post hæc vidi turbam magnam... "

See also

• Menologium der Orthodox-Katholischen Kirche des Morgenlandes– volume of hagiography by Probst Mayhew, published in Berlin in 1900.Pages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Horologium,the book of hours in Eastern Orthodoxy

References

Sources

• "Menologium",Catholic Encyclopedia.