“Make This the Place Where Your Glory Dwells”: Origins
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“MAKE THIS THE PLACE WHERE YOUR GLORY DWELLS”: ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF THE BYZANTINE RITE FOR THE CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Vitalijs Permjakovs ____________________________ Maxwell E. Johnson, Director Graduate Program in Theology Notre Dame, Indiana April 2012 © Copyright 2012 Vitalijs Permjakovs All rights reserved “MAKE THIS THE PLACE WHERE YOUR GLORY DWELLS”: ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF THE BYZANTINE RITE FOR THE CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH Abstract by Vitalijs Permjakovs The Byzantine ritual for dedication of churches, as it appears in its earliest complete text, the eighth-century euchologion Barberini gr. 336, as well as in the textus receptus of the rite, represents a unique collection of scriptural and euchological texts, together with the ritual actions, intended to set aside the physical space of a public building for liturgical use. The Byzantine rite, in its shape already largely present in Barberini gr. 336, actually comprises three major liturgical elements: 1) consecration of the altar; 2) consecration of the church building; 3) deposition of relics. Our earliest Byzantine liturgical text clearly conceives of the consecration of the altar and the deposition of the relics/“renovation” (encaenia) as two distinct rites, not merely elements of a single ritual. This feature of the Barberini text raises an important question, namely, which of these major elements did in fact constitute the act of dedicating/ consecrating the church, and what role did the deposition of relics have in the ceremonies of dedication in the early period of Byzantine liturgical history, considering that the deposition of relics Vitalijs Permjakovs became a mandatory element of the dedication rite only after the provisions to that effect were made at the Second council of Nicaea in 787 CE. This dissertation examines in special detail the origins and development of the consecration of the altar and the church with oil or chrism as evoking significant parallels to the ritual action of initiation liturgies (washing, anointing, vesting). Such connection provides a glimpse into the early theology behind the act of consecration of a liturgical space. A thorough study of the Byzantine dedication rite also allowed us to reevaluate a prominent role of the liturgies of major imperial cities and cultural centers (Jerusalem, Constantinople) in the formation of the Byzantine liturgical tradition. To my grandfather Ivan Vasilyevich Piskun (1919- 2004), who taught me to love history Вhчна# пам#ть! ii CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 PART I. THE RITES OF CHURCH DEDICATION IN THE CHRISTIAN EAST: THE FORMATIVE PERIOD (FOURTH-FIFTH CENTURIES). ....................... 31 CHAPTER 1: SEARCHING FOR THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIAN DEDICATION RITES: SCRIPTURES AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY..................................... 33 1.1 Dedications of the Temple and Tabernacle in the Old Testament ........................ 33 1.1.1 Consecration of Moses’ Tabernacle. ............................................................ 33 1.1.2 Purification of the Tabernacle on the Day of Atonement. ........................... 34 1.1.3 Dedication of the First and Second Temples. .............................................. 36 1.1.4 Heavenly Temple Traditions. ....................................................................... 38 1.2 New Testament. .................................................................................................... 42 1.3 Philo of Alexandria and Josephus. ........................................................................ 46 1.4 Clement and Origen of Alexandria. ...................................................................... 48 1.5 Graeco-Roman Rites of Dedicatio and Consecratio. ........................................... 53 CHAPTER 2: DEDICATION OF CHURCHES IN THE CHRISTIAN EAST, 4TH – 5TH CENT.: JERUSALEM, PALESTINE, SYRIA. .................................................... 61 2.1 Dedication of the Basilica at Tyre. ....................................................................... 66 2.2 Dedication in Jerusalem, 335 ................................................................................ 76 2.2.1 The Feast of Encaenia in Jerusalem in 380s: Egeria. ................................... 89 2.2.2 The Feast of Encaenia in Jerusalem: Sozomen. ........................................... 93 2.2.3 The Feast of Encaenia in Jerusalem: The Armenian Lectionary. ................ 94 2.2.4 Later Hagiographical Traditions Pertaining To The Encaenia In 335. ...... 101 2.3 Dedication of Churches/Altars in Syria: Ephrem the Syrian .............................. 106 2.3.1 Consecration Of An Altar In Hagiography: The Case Of Julian Saba. ..... 110 2.4 Anointing of the Altar in the 4th Cent. Jerusalem? – Homily on the Church by Bishop John II ................................................................................................ 116 2.5 Dedication of the Basilica in Gaza, 406 .............................................................. 130 2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 137 iii CHAPTER 3: DEDICATION OF CHURCHES IN THE CHRISTIAN EAST, 4TH CENT.: CONSTANTINOPLE, EGYPT, ASIA MINOR. .................................. 139 3.1 Dedication of Churches in Constantinople, 4th Century ..................................... 139 3.2 Athanasius and His Apologia to Constantius ...................................................... 152 3.3 Gregory of Nyssa on Preparation of the Altar .................................................... 156 3.4 Allusions to the Dedication of Church and Altar in the Works of John Chrysostom ......................................................................................................... 159 3.5 Synesius of Cyrene: Dedication of a Church as a Means of Property Seizure ... 165 3.6 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 169 PART II THE FORMATION OF THE BYZANTINE RITE FOR THE CONSECRATION OF AN ALTAR AND A CHURCH ................................... 176 CHAPTER 4: THE BYZANTINE (CONSTANTINOPOLITAN) RITE FOR THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH. ....................................................................... 177 4.1 The Byzantine Rite of Dedication of a Church According to the “Old” Recension (Barberini Gr. 336 et alia)................................................................. 178 4.1.1 The Rite of Consecration of the Altar and the Church (Text and Translation). ................................................................................................ 185 The Rite of Kathierôsis (Consecration of an Altar and a Church). ............ 185 The Rite of Encaenia. ................................................................................. 196 4.1.2 The Structure of the Rite in Barberini Gr. 336. ......................................... 199 4.2 “Encaenia” in Barberini Gr. 336 and the Dedications of Churches in Constantinople in the 6th-10th Centuries. ............................................................ 204 4.3 The Western Rites for the Consecration of a New Altar: Washing, Anointing, Deposition of Relics (8th -9th Cent.). ................................................................... 211 4.4 Ὡς Επι Του Aγιου Βαπτισματος: The “Baptism” of the Altar in the Byzantine Rite? A Problem of Interpretation ....................................................................... 221 4.5 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 230 CHAPTER 5: THE ORIGINS OF THE BYZANTINE RITE FOR THE TH TH CONSECRATION OF AN ALTAR Ι: BYZANTINE JERUSALEM (5 -7 CENT.). ............................................................................................................... 232 5.1 Encaenia in the Georgian Lectionary .................................................................. 235 5.1.1 September 13 and the Octave of Encaenia In the Georgian Lectionary. ... 239 5.1.2 Dedications of Other Jerusalem Churches in Georgian Lectionary. .......... 247 5.1.3 “Depositions of Relics” in the Jerusalem Lectionary and Dedication. ...... 271 5.1.4 Dedication of Churches and Palestinian Monasticism. .............................. 276 5.1.5 The Rites of Foundation and Dedication of a Church in the Georgian Lectionary. .................................................................................................. 283 Foundation of a Church. ............................................................................. 284 The Dedication of a Church. ...................................................................... 291 5.2 The Feast of Dedication in the Georgian Iadgari ................................................ 302 5.2.1 The Hagiopolite Tropologion/Iadgari: Status Quaestionis ........................ 302 5.2.2 Hymnography of the Georgian Tropologion for September 13................. 309 “Church as Temple”: Recurring Themes in the Iadgari for September 13. 317 “Church as Sion” in