7/28/2019 g Radle Dezv Rit Matrim Sin Gr 957

1/3

Gabriel Radle

The Development of Byzantine Marriage Ritesas Evidenced by Sinai Gr. 957*

Among the manuscripts in the library of St Catherines Monastery at Mt

Sinai, Egypt, there exists a medieval codex catalogued as Gr. 957. It com-prises what remains of a Greek euchology, containing an incomplete for-

mulary of prayers for use in the celebration of the liturgy and sacraments.

Of relatively small dimensions, measuring only mm 123 ! 87, it consists

today of 86 folia, only a portion of its original form. The codex begins inter-

rupted, during an ambo prayer for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts,

and ends interrupted, during the eighth Sunday Matins gospel reading.1

Paleographical and liturgical indications in Sinai Gr. 957have allowedscholars to suggest a Palestinian origin.2 It is generally catalogued today

as belonging to the tenth century,3 although Dmitrievskij, who published a

partial transcription of the manuscript in 1901, dated it to the ninth-tenthcentury.4 Both the tenth-century dating,5 as well as Dmitrievskijs ninth-

tenth century dating,6 have found acceptance among liturgical scholars. An

early tenth-century dating would correspond with the year 933/4 given on

the inner cover of the manuscript.

The euchology appears to be a synthesis of Constantinopolitan and local

* Originally given as a talk at the international conference of the Society of Oriental Lit-

urgy, which met in Volos, Greece, May 2010. Abbreviations employed in the text are found at

the end of the article.1 G. Radle, Sinai Gr. 957(Unpublished PIO Licentiate Tesina, Rome 2010) 10. An adapted

version of this work is being prepared for publication.2

Jacob, Note 142; Parenti-Velkovska, Barberini 49.3 K. Clark, Checklist of Manuscripts in St. Catherines Monastery, Mount Sinai, microfilmedfor the Library of Congress, 1950 (Washington, D.C. 1952) 10; M. Kamil, Catalogue of all manu-scripts in the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai (Wiesbaden 1970) 110; K. Aland,Kurz-gefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments (Berlin 1994) 273.

4 Dmitrievskij 1.5 Parenti-Velkovska,Barberini 49; Jacob, Note 142.6 M. Arranz, Les prires presytrales de la Tritoekt. Ire Partie: Textes et Documents,

OCP43 (1977) 85; I. Fountoulis, !"#$"%&'"()*+,-(./0, vol. 1 1,(23.)4 (Thessaloniki 1969) 6;Passarelli, Stefanoma 389.

OCP 78 (2012) 133-148

Radle.indd 133Radle.indd 133 18/05/2012 10:02:1918/05/2012 10:02:19

7/28/2019 g Radle Dezv Rit Matrim Sin Gr 957

2/3

THE DEVELOPMENT OF BYZANTINE MARRIAGE RITES 147

following marriage seems to have its origin in these rites and customs

surrounding the bridal week of marital consummation.

4. The rites of marriage found in present-day Byzantine euchologies do

not, as is often stated, simply take their origins from two rites, the Of-

fices of Engagement and Marriage. Rather, they also originate from a

third place: the home. The group of marriage rites originally performed

at home would especially include todays Prayer of the Common Cup

and the above-cited Prayer for the Removal of the Crowns on the Eighth

Day (j.1QC*'I'3'*3E8'*3#%).Sinai Gr. 957 gives us a colorful example of how, prior to the prac-

tice of marriage within the church building, Christian peoples celebrated

marriage with priestly blessings at home. The Church came to the couple,

entering their home as they sought to begin their journey forming a new

household together at the inauguration of their conjugal life.

Such nuptial-chamber blessings can be found throughout the Christian

world. As we saw, rites of this nature traditionally exist among Chaldean

Catholics and Assyrian Orthodox. The West even has its own tradition of

nuptial chamber blessings. Some folk customs involving the nuptial cham-

ber can still be seen to this day in Europe, particularly in Greece.

The act of associating marriage with the sexual life of a couple is a natu-

ral phenomenon, tied to the essence of being human. For Christians, who

see the self-giving sexual bond as an icon of Christ and his Church, bed

blessings, whether via folk traditions or priestly prayers, are precisely what

one would expect to find.

List of abbreviations employed in this study

Arranz,Eucologio Costantinopolitano = M. Arranz,LEucologio Costantinopolitano agli inizidel secolo XI. Hagiasmatikon & Archieratikon (Rituale & Pontificale) con laggiunta del Lei-tourgikon (Messale) (Rome 1996).

Badger = G.P. Badger, The Nestorians and their Rituals, vol. II(London 1987).Baldanza = G. Baldanza, Il rito del matrimonio nelleucologio Barberini 336. Analisi della sua

visione teologica inEphemerides Liturgicae 93 (1979) 316-351.LHuillier = P. LHuillier, Novella 89 of Leo the Wise on Marriage: An Insight into its Theo-

retical and Practical Impact in The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 32/2 (Brookline,MA 1987), 153-162.

Jacob, Note = A. Jacob, Note sur la prire -3J83'32*iH:3C*de LEuchologe Barberini inByzantion 56 (Brussels 1986), 139-147.

Kashani-Posner, Marriage = R. Kashani-R. Posner, Marriage in G. Wigoder (ed.),Encyclo-paedia Judaica (Jerusalem 1996).

Koulap = V. Koulap, Coniugalia Festa. Eine Untersuchung zu Liturgie und Theologie der chri-stlichen Eheschlieungsfeier in der rmisch-katholischen und byzantinisch-orthodoxen Kir-

Radle.indd 147Radle.indd 147 18/05/2012 10:02:2418/05/2012 10:02:24

7/28/2019 g Radle Dezv Rit Matrim Sin Gr 957

3/3

148 GABRIEL RADLE

che mit besonderer Bercksichtigung der byzantinischen Euchologien. Das stliche Christen-tum, Neue Folge, Band 52 (Wrzburg 2003).

Moussess = C. Moussess,Les livres liturgiques de lglise chaldenne (Beirut 1955).Muraviev = A. Muraviev, Les rites du mariage dans les glises de langue syriaque intudes

Syriaques 3. Les liturgies syriaques (Paris 2006).Neusner (et al.), Life Cycle = Life Cycle in Judaism, in J. Neusner, A. Avery-Peck, W.S.

Green (eds.), The Encyclopaedia of Judaism (Leiden 2000), 803.Parenti, Matrimonio = S. Parenti, Matrimonio. In Oriente. in A. Chupungco (ed.), Scientia

Liturgica. Manuale di Liturgia (Rome 1998),vol. IV, 267-285.Parenti-Velkovska,Barberini = S. Parenti Elena Velkovska, LEucologio Barberini gr. 336.

Seconda edizione riveduta con traduzione italiana (Rome 2000).Passarelli, Stefanoma = G. Passarelli, La Cerimonia dello Stefanoma nei Riti Matrimoniali

Bizantini secondo il codice Cryptense Gb VII(X sec) inEphemerides Liturgicae, 93 (Rome1979), 381-391.Pentkovsky, Mariage = A. Pentkovsky, Le crmonial du mariage dans lEuchologe byzantin

du XIe-XIIe sicle inLe Mariage. Confrences Saint-Serge. LXe semaine dtudes liturgiques(Rome 1994), 259-287.

Ritzer = K. Ritzer,Le mariage dans les glises chrtiennesdu Ier au XIe sicle (Paris 1970).Yousif = P. Yousif, La clbration du mariage dans le rite chalden in La Celebrazione Cri-

stiana del Matrimonio. Simboli e testi (Rome 1986), 217-259.Zheltov = M. Zheltov, 8&*43$-'+-1/.%9: /+/$-:&9"-"&;6&$-'+-+#%*