A Byzantine Panegyric Collection with an Unknown Homily for the Annunciation
Smith, Morton Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Apr 1, 1959; 2, 2; ProQuest pg. 137

A BYZANTINE 
PANEGYRIC COLLECTION 

With an Unknown Homily 
for the Annunciation 

MORTON SMITH 



5 

10 

15 

T HE MS HEREIN DESCRIBED is now in the collection of Brown 
University. It is said to have been purchased in Athens 

shortly after the Second World War. Otherwise, its proveni­
ence is unknown. If the number on the binding (see p. 141 
below) is a library number the codex must have come from a 
large collection. 

Sixteenth/Seventeenth Century, paper, 200 x 145 mm., 373 
folia (numbered 15-350, 356-392), single columns, 20 lines 
per page. 

15r-1Sr: Exaltation of the Cross, Philotheus of Constantinople, 

18v: 
29r: 
41r: 
50r: 

61r: 
70r: 
80v: 
S6v: 

98v: 
I05r: 
122v: 
130r: 
137v: 
146v: 
157r: 
186r: 

201v: 

'E1TfLO~ T~'> 7TpWTTJ,> Kat (Ma'> (conclusion only). 
Exaltation of the Cross, Andrew of Crete,l :£ (Tav)pou 7TaV7}yupw. 

Christmas, Chrysostom, IIapaooeov P.UCfT~PLOV Kai ~(vov. 
Christmas, Chrysostom, '01ToTav am) xnp.wvo<> KpUfpOU. 

Epiphany, 'H YLVOP.(VT] OiKov.op.ta TOU aya()ov Kat q>LAav()pW1TOU ()(fO)V 

~p.wv 1TPO'> TOV avov. 
Epiphany, Gregory the Thaumaturge, "AVOpf'> CPLMxptCfTOL. 

In. Baptist, Chrysostom, 'Iwavvou TOU Ba1TTtCfToU 1TaV1}yuptv. 

Publican, Chrysostom, Ka()w,> DTav CfUvopap.oUCft aVyvHpa (I). 
Prodigal Son, Chrysostom, IIaVTOTf p.£v T (~v) cptAaV «()pW1T) tav 

TOY ()w;'. 

Presentation, IIuCfa OfCf1TOTLK~ (OPT~ Kat 7Tavfyvpt,>. 

Veneration of the Cross, Chrysostom, ~ ACffta lCatvov &'> ",aUwp.fv. 

Annunciation, Chrysostom, BafftAtKWV aOfAq>Ot P.UCfTTJp{WV (OPT~V. 

Annunciation, Tfl OfCf1TOVY P.OU TOV 1TO()OV a.7T{)OtOOV,>. 
Lazarus, Chrysostom, I1uCfa p.£v fV () (f) 0 OtOaCfKaA{a tXft. 
Palm Sunday, Chrysostom, Twpa ~'> OfCf1TOTLK~'> (OPT~'> 7TP0Ac1P."'OUfft. 

Monday of Holy Week, Joseph Ephraim, '0 ()(fO)'> TOU 'A{1paap.. 

Repentance and the 10 Virgins, Chrysostom, "Apa yf ytVWffTJCfTE 

(I) 1TO()fV. 

Wednesday of Holy Week, Anointing, Chrysostom, 'ApKfTW'> 

~p.a,>. 

220v: 
20 224r: 

231r: 
239v: 

Betrayal and Passion, Chrysostom, :£TUY~V T~V fKKATJCftav {1A(1TW. 

Good Friday, Passion, Chrysostom, To XP(o'> TOV EXO(CftVOV T~{p.aToi. 

Resurrection, Chrysostom, 'AV(CfTTJ rii TptTTl ~P.(pq.. 

Thomas, Chrysostom, "HAOa iva a7ToowCfw TO XP(Qi. 

1 The attributions in this table of contents - except for the first - are 
those made in the MS. The identification of the first homily, now akephalos. 
lowe to the kindness of Fr. F. Halkin. 



140 

249v: 
257r: 

25 269r: 

283v: 
287v: 
290r: 

299v: 

MORTON SMITH [GRBS 2 

The Women with Myrrh, Kat ~ 7rapouua KVPLaK~. 
Paralytic, IIoUwv Kat p,€yaAwv KaKWV. 

Samaritan Woman, Kat T~V ~JMpov ~p,fpav avaf3AV~f.L d~ ~fta8 ~ , 
7rT(YTJ· 

Mid-Pentecost, Chrysostom, ~07rOV Kat faV 0 8f.IT7rOTTJ<; 7r0pWf.TaL. 

J n. Theologian, Chrysostom, ~vVf.KaA€u€v ~pii<; aya7rTJTol. 

Blind Man, Tou K (vp[o ) v Kat U (WT~) P (0).; ~p,Wv 'I (TJuo ) v X (pLUTO) ii 

8L8aUKOVTO~ • 

Ascension, Chrysostom, Xapt£uTaTOv (l~ EJI . .EVa -r7]~ flCKA1]ulafi TtJ 
fJfaTpov. 

30 304v: 
311r: 
324v: 
338v: 
350r: 

Ascension, Chrysostom, AoyapLCi'ovTa~ fyw aKop,L KaTa .pvX~v. 
Pentecost, Tpf.t~ fOpTa~ fWPT~OV oi 'lov8atoL. 

Birth of the Baptist, Chrysostom, 'E7rLTTJ8[ov KaLpou ~p,fpa fOpTij~. 

Transfiguration, "OU€ .. (I) p,£v ai 8f.IT7rOTLlCaL fopTat. 

Transfiguration, Chrysostom, 'EAaTf cp{AOL, ~p,f.pov. 
35 360v: 

370r: 
378v: 
387v: 

Dormition, "OIT7rf.P 7rapa8f.wo~ aUo~. 

Herodias' Dance, Chrysostom, ~OlT7rfP TL<; a~p CPLAfPTJP,o<;. 

Beheading of the Baptist, Chrysostom, IIcfALV ~ tHpwoLa ... 

(Sept. 23?) Conception of Elisabeth, (Chrysostom),2 OV8f tva 

dvaL aV1J1l'"OTaKTOv €i~ TOt'<; 8t:U7rOTLKOV~ opov ... 

As will have appeared from this table of contents, the 
writer used relatively few contractions. Terminal abbrevia­
tions (which I have not indicated) are much more frequent. 
The writing is evidently hasty and the simplification of letters 
into ligatures is frequent and extreme. The writer has occa­
sionally omitted words and has added them, and made other 
corrections, in the margins. Iota subscript is regularly omitted; 
the customary confusions of vowels are not rare. The hand is 
large (averaging 6 lines to 5 em.) and, in spite of the ligatures, 
clear; the lines are level and evenly spaced, the margins are 
straight and wide (25 mm. inside margin; the top, bottom and 
side margins were wider; although they have been trimmed 
they are still 25 mm. or more). The paper is heavy, smooth 
and a pale cream in color (originally it was probably white); 
the ink is very black. Some capitals in the text are in red; the 
initial capitals of the sermons, also in red, are elaborately 

2 The section of the text which contained the attribution has been lost, 
but enough remains to show that an attribution was made, and it was almost 
certainly to Chrysostom. 



1959] A BYZANTINE PANEGYRIC COLLECTION 141 

Horiated by a skilful hand. The book was undoubtedly writ­
ten to be read in church services. The titles of the sermons are 
regularly followed by EV(A6Y71<T )ov 1T( aT )Ep, occasionally (ser­
mons 13, 14, 17, 27, and 30-38 incl.) by EV(A6Y71<T)oV 8E<T1TOTU. 
The difference in the use of these titles does not seem to cor­
respond to any probably difference of source, nor to any likely 
ecclesiastical usage; therefore it suggests that the book was 
written for a church where a bishop was frequently, but not 
constantly, present. 

The pages are arranged in quaternions, which are not 
numbered. The first of those now preserved, ff. 16-21, has 
lost its outer sheet. This loss took place prior to the numera­
tion of the folia, which is in a nineteenth century hand and 
an ink now faded to grey (except for ff. 15 and 380-92, of which 
the upper outside corners, bearing the first numeration, have 
been lost; these have been renumbered on the outside mar­
gins, by a more recent hand). At the front of the codex the 
top of f. 15 has been lost, ff. 16-30 have been damaged at the 
tops by water and considerable pieces have been lost from 
16-23, inclusive. At the back of the codex, from f. 366 on, 
the tops of the pages, also watersoaked, are beginning to dis­
integrate; from 368 on, pieces of the text have been lost. The 
last of the preserved pages shows the text ending, with a 
tapered series of lines, in the center of the page. Elsewhere, 
such endings are always at the bottom of the page, so this was 
probably the end of the collection. Beside occasional small 
mistakes in numeration (123 for 122v, 115 for 315), the nu­
merator omitted nos. 351-355 inclusive (the text shows no 
break). The present binding - better, the recent binding, for 
it is now a loose wrapper - is leather, the stamping on it 
almost indecipherable and the tops of both front and back 
panels rotted away. It was not the original binding, as shown 
by the fact that the pages have been trimmed. On the inside 
margin of the front panel is written in black ink, "N 940," 
possibly, but not certainly, by the same hand which num­
bered the pages. 

Each page on which a sermon began carried in the mid­
dle of its top margin an annotation, by the writer of the text, 



142 MORTON SMITH [GRBS 2 

giving the number of the sermon. The first of these annota­
tions now preserved is on the top of 29r: A6yo~ A. Therefore 
the preserved text begins with the end of what was originally 
the second sermon, and there were 39 sermons in the collec­
tion. The collection is clearly of Erhard's panegyric type A 3 

- that is to say, it begins with the fixed feasts at the beginning 
of the liturgical year and sandwiches in the moveable feasts at 
places corresponding to the approximate times of their occur­
rence. In particular, it goes from September 8th to August 
29th, has some 20 texts for moveable feasts, and puts Lazarus 
after the 25th of March, which is typical of the A group; the 
only irregularity is no. 39, for the 23rd of September, but that 
is a supplement.4 In contents it reflects also, principally, the 
panegyric collections. It has not been influenced by the Meta­
phrast and it shows none of the post-Metaphrastic texts listed 
by Erhard 1\ as characteristic of the contaminated or expanded 
Metaphrast or of the later menologia and collections of pane­
gyrics which are independent of the metaphrastic tradition. 
Nor has it any important tie with the pre-metaphrastic homi­
laries. What relations it does have with the other one-volume 
collections listed by Erhard are best indicated by the follow­
ing tables, of which the volume and page numbers refer to 
the volumes and pages of Erhard.6 

ALTEN JAHRESSAMMLUNGEN (1.154ff.) 
MS: Athens 1027, pp. 1.155ff. 

J 81m. Patr. 6, pp. I.175ff. 
Sa10niki BIt. 7, pp. 1.185ff. 
Bodl. Bar. 180, pp. 1.191f. 
Taurin. gr. 80, pp. 1.195f. 

SERMONS COMMON 

4 out of 77 
5 out of 118 
2 out of 51 
lout of 27 
2 out of 23 

a A. Erhard, Vberliejerung u. Bestand der hagiographischen u. homiletischen 
{,iteratur der gr. Kirche (Leipzig, 1937-), Texte u. Untersuchungen, 50-52. 

4 These observations lowe to Fr. F. Halkin, who also suggests comparison 
of the MS with Parisinus 1190 (16th century) in Erhard, II.57. 

1\ III.333ff. and 514ff. 
6 When eyer possible, references are to the page on which begins the 

table of contents of the MS containing the similar material. I have not tried 
to note every appearance of the commoner sermons, but only their occurrences 
in those MSS which had several points of contact with this collection. 



1959] A BYZANTINE PANEGYRIC COLLECTION 

ALTEN PANEGYRIKEN (II.3ff.) 
Scor. gr. 236, pp. II.4ff. 
Mosq. gr. 215, pp. II.6ff. 
Patmos 190, pp. II.I0f. 
Athens, Syn. lOS, pp. II.lSf. 
Paris gr. 1179, pp. II.24ff. 

P ATRIARCHALHOMILIAR VON KONSTANTINOPEL 

(HOMIL. II), (III.559ff.) 
composite list pp. III.559ff. 
Andros, Hagias 1, pp. III.57lf. 

S out of 50 
6 out of 71 
3 out of 20 
3 out of 45 
4 out of 47 

67 out of 57 
4 out of 108 

Analysis of these relationships yields the following: 

143 

7 This supposes that no. 21=the homily by Philotheus of Constantinople 
which our MS uses for the Exaltation of the Cross. See Erhard, III.572, note 2. 

8 10 is here the number of sermons over and above those from the com­
posite list referred to previously. 



OCCASION SERMON SAMMLUNGEN P ANEGYRIKEN HOMILIAR ..... ..... 
Exaltation 'E1TftO~ T~" 1TpWTTJ" 1I1.559( ?)571 
Exaltation l.TaVpOV 1Ta~yvpLv 1.191 11.4,6,24 &c.9 

Christmas napaoo~v P.VUT~PtoV 11.4 &c. ---
Christmas "01T!Jrav 6.1T0 XfLP.WVO" 11.24 ---

5 Epiphany "R YLVOP.f.VTJ ollCovop.la 111.571 
Epiphany "AVOPfS CPLAOXPLUTO' 11.4,610 &c. 
In. Baptist 'Iwavvov Toii B. ---
Publican KaO~ .. DTav uvvopap.ovcJ"t 1.185 &c. I1.24 

~ Prodigal ITUVTOTf P.fV T~V cpLAav. 1.155,185 &c. 11.4,18,24 &c. 0 
10 Presentation ITaua OW1TOTLIC~ fOPT~ 111.571 ~ 

Veneration of C. l' Au/-tU lCal.VOV ~ 
0 

Annunciation BaULALICWV ••• P.VUTTJptwV 1.175 11.6,10,18 ---- Z 
Annunciation Tn OW1T0V{J P.Oll --- C/J 

~ Lazarus ITaO"a P.fV £V Of~ 11.4,6 --- -~ 15 Palm Sunday Twpa Tij .. OfU1TOTLlCij .. 11.4 &c. ---- ::c 
Joseph "0 Of 0 .. TOV ' Af3 paap. --- 11.10 
Ten Virgins "Apa yf YLVWO"TJO"Tf --- ----
Anointing • AplCfTW" ~p.a .. --
Betrayal l.' "A' TVYV7JV TTJV flCK TJO"Lav --- ----

20 Good Friday To Xpf.o" Tot; £XOwLvoii ----
9 "&c." in this table indicates that the sermon is found in other collections c;') 

of the same type, but with so few parallels to the present MS as to seem un- ::r,:, 
worthy of inclusion in the table. ~ 

c" 
10 In II.4 this sermon is attributed to Gregory of Nyssa. 

~ 



Resurrection 'AV'UT'Y/ Tfi TptT'{} 1.175 --- -I.CJ 

Thomas -rHA(}a tva a'lT"o8wuw 1.175 II.6 
(,jt --- I.CJ 

"'--' 

Myrophoron Kat ~ 'IT"apovO'a ---- III.559 
Paralytic TIoAAwv Kat P.rycfAwv III.559 

25 Samaritan Kat T~V mJP.fpOV 1I1.559 > 
Mid-Pentecost "O'lT"Ol! KaL €UV 0 8fO''IT"6T71'' 1.175, 195 II.6 t::d 

~ 
J n. Theologian ::SwfKaAfufv ~p.a8 --- --- N 

> The Blind Man Tov KV K. O'p<; ~p.v 'Iv Xv ---- III.559 Z 
Ascension XaptfUTaTOV fi<; €p.fva 1.195 &c. II.I0 --- ~ -30 Ascension A 't " 1.155 &c. Z oyapta OVTa<; fyW ----

~ 
Pentecost TPft<; f.0pTa<; ---- III.559 "'d 
Baptist's Birth 'E'IT"tT7]8tol! KatpOV 1.175 II.4,18 > 

Z 
Transfigura tion "OAAf<; P.fV ai 8fO''IT"OTtKat --- III.571 ~ 

Transfiguration 'EAaTf, cp{Aot, O'~P.fPOV 1.155 &c. ---- 0 
~ 

35 Dormition "OO''IT"fP 'IT"apa8ftuo<; --- --- III.584 ~ -Herodias' Dance "OO"lT"fP Tt<; av~p 1.155 1I.4 --- () 

Beheading of B. TIaAtV ~ 'Hpw8tcf<; --- () 
0 

Conception of B. Ou8E lva flvQ.t --- ~ 
~ 
~ 
() ...., -0 
Z 

-0+>-
(,jt 



146 MORTON SMITH [GRBS 2 

The numerical predominance of the panegyric collec­
tions in this table is reenforced by the fact that one-volume 
panegyric collections of types other than A yield parallels to 
four more sermons (nos. 17,11 18/2 21/3 and 37 14). Further, 
all the other one-volume collections listed by Erhard yield 
parallels only to two sermons not paralleled in the above list 
or in the panegyric collections just mentioned.111 But in the 
second half, although the arrangement is still that of the pane­
gyrics, the sermons come principally from the early Samm­
lungen and the late homilary; here the panegyrics have con­
tributed only a few sermons and those only for comparatively 
unimportant feasts. 

It might be suggested that the principal parent of our 
anthology was a collection of Chrysostom's sermons, since 
most of the sermons are represented as Chrysostom's. (Of 
those for which parallels have not already been adduced, 
no. 7 = Montfaucon, 1st Venice ed., 11.805; II = M. X1.820; 
19 = M. X.738; 27 = M. X.771.) However, of the 24 ser­
mons attributed to Chrysostom, 20 appear in :M. as spuria. 
Therefore it seems more probable that Chrysostom has been 
added to the collection than that the collection came from 
his works. 

Identification of the sermons in the collection is made 
particularly difficult by the unreliability of its textual tradi­
tion, which is often marked by considerable adaptation of the 
wording to the forms of :Modern Greek. The following is a 
list of the incipits from Erhard and Montfaucon which differ 
from those given in the table of contents above: 

3 MVUT~PLOV ~fVOV Kal 7rapu8o~ov. 

4 '07rOTaV EI<. 
5 Transposes 'YLvo,..,IVTJ OiKovo,..,ta to 

the end of the phrase. 
S Ka8u7rfp VfCPWV uvvSpa,..,ovvTwV. 

11 Erhard II.67. 

9 • Aft ,..,~v T~V TOU 8wu cpo 
10 llaua f.OPT~ Kal 7r. S. 
11 Dl. c1~ and read, for .,&.>..AwI-'fV, 

/J.UWI-'fV • 
14 llaua fv8fO~ SL8auKaAla. 

12 Erhard II.76, attributed to Amphilochius of Iconium. 
13 Erhard II.70, attributed to Eusebius of Alexandria. 
14 Erhard II.53. 
15 Viz.: 20 in III 203 , attributed to "Bishop Eusebius," and 38 in III.443 

and 493 (in the latter, for September 23). 



1959] A BYZANTINE PANEGYRIC COLLECTION 147 

15 "Hll'1 T~i llfCT7roTtlC~ wavrrrvpffJJ'>. 

17 "Apa otllaT'( ,roOfV. 
18 'bavcU~, ~fI4.~. 
19 For {JAlww, read opt;,. 

20 T~ XOfi VwOO'XfO'ffJJ'>. 
22 "HlCw TO XPfCX o'wo8Wowv. 

25 Kat U~P.fPOV ~p''iv. 
26 "Owov 8'",.. 
28 For 8t8"ulC.OVrcx, read 8w.)...(yOP.f-

V01I. 

29 "'at8p6v IUlt TO T~i UcICA. 
30 "En IUlt lCaT¢ "'VX~ ... 
32 EVlCatpcx ~,upa. 
33 Uaua/.. 

34 ~WTf cl8().4>ol. 
37 For BatlUlvt,fTat, read p.alvuat. 

38 Otilltv TO'ii llfCT7roTucoii. 

I have not been able to identify no. 13, and therefore 
print its text here. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



148 MORTON SMITH [GRBS 2 

"-



1959] A BYZANTINE PANEGYRIC COLLECTION 149 

-<' -



150 MORTON SMITH [GRBS 2 



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152 MORTON SMITH [GRBS 2 



1959] A BYZANTINE PANEGYRIC COLLECTION 153 



154 MORTON SMITH [GRBS 2 



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