The paschal spiral and different types of Byzantine and Slavonic lectionaries

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The world of Byzantine manuscripts is fascinating but also confusing. Although they play an important part in modern studies on the history of Christian liturgy and on the textual history of the Bible, a clear overview of the vast amount of these manuscripts in their many different forms is lacking. A new approach in their cataloguing is called for. The present volume brings together a number of specialists in the field of Byzantine, liturgical and Biblical studies with the aim to develop a new methodology for codicological research of the Byzantine manuscripts, taking seriously the original environment of the integral codices in the monasteries and the churches in which they were manufactured and functioned.

Prof. dr. Klaas Spronk is Head of the Research Department Sources of the Protestant Theological University (PThU), location Amsterdam, and chairman of the CBM Academic Board.

Prof. dr. Gerard Rouwhorst is Professor of Liturgical History at the Tilburg School of Catholic Theology and member of the Department of Biblical Sciences and Church History of that institution. He is member of the CBM Academic Board.

Dr. Stefan Royé is member of the Research Department Sources of the Protestant Theological University (PThU), location Amsterdam, and CBM programme coordinator and secretary of the Academic Board.

This paper analyzes the lectionary system of Byzantine and Slavonic manuscripts of the Gospel. In the past, the homogeneity of Byzantine lectionaries has been underlined. It is suggested that different types and classes of lectionaries have to be distinguished. Apparently, these types go back to the time the Byzantine lectionary system was formed. The author suggests using an image of a spiral (the paschal spiral) and gives an explanation of some irregularities of additional readings in manuscripts. The detailed analysis of different types of lectionaries (Alpha, Beta, Kappa and Lambda) is given. The study opens the possibility for a better classification of Byzantine lectionaries.