Synaxaria and the Synaxarion of Constantinople

The word synaxarion, which comes from the Greek word σύναξις, in its specifically Christian sense of an ‘ecclesiastical celebration’, is related to the liturgical hagiographical sphere of the Orthodox Church. It can refer equally to the list of feasts that were periodically included in Tetravangelia, Praxapostoloi and Biblical lectionaries, or to individual hagiographical notices in prose. The manuscript tradition of the Constantinopolitan Synaxarion is extremely complex and intricate. Closely linked to recensio D* of the Constantinopolitan Synaxarion is the so-called Melchite Synaxarion. This is the liturgical book translated from Greek into Arabic and designed for the followers of the Chalcedonian creed who spoke Arabic and lived in the territories ruled by the Arabs, but technically belonging to the Patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Oriental Synaxaria are much more verbose than the Constantinopolitan Synaxarion, as their hagiographical entries are much more developed.