The Rites of Episcopal Ordination of the Syrian-Orthodox Church of Antioch - Critical Edition and Translation
The venerable ordination rites codified by Patriarch Michael the Great in the late 12th century are still in use today in the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch as well as in the Syrian Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, although with manifold modifications. This fact makes the lack of a critical edition of this eminently significant text which has been preserved in five very old manuscripts and a number of more recent ones all the more surprising. My PhD project aims to remedy this shortcoming, at least in part, by producing an edition and German translation of the rite of episcopal ordination. Furthermore, I will also edit and translate another, previously unexplored West Syrian rite of episcopal ordination from a Jerusalem manuscript.
Research Questions
1. Is MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, syr. 113 the autograph copy written by Patriarch Michael the Great himself?
2. Does the rite of episcopal ordination preserved in MS Jerusalem, Saint Mark’s Monastery Library, 109 belong to the so-called "Rite of Tagrit"?
3. What theological concepts are expressed in the West Syrian rites of episcopal ordination?
Goals and Methods
The main goal of my PhD project is a critical edition of two West Syrian rites of episcopal ordination: 1. Of the rite, as found in the so-called “Pontificale” of the famous Patriarch Michael the Great, which is well known in the form of early modern and 20th century Latin translations, but has been largely neglected by scholars in its original Syriac version. 2. Of the rite contained in MS 109 of the library of the Syrian Orthodox St. Mark’s Monastery in Jerusalem. With regard to the former, in the course of the collation of the manuscripts and the subsequent publication of the text, an attempt will be made to re-examine the question whether MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Syr. 113 is in fact the autograph of Patriarch Michael the Great. Regarding the Jerusalem manuscript, I intend to demonstrate that it is the only known (independent) textual witness of the rite of episcopal ordination for the Maphrianate, i.e., the eastern part of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. In the commentary accompanying the German translations, special attention is given to texts from pseudo-apostolic church orders (esp. Testamentum Domini and Constitutiones Apostolorum) used in these two ordination rites.
Even if MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, syr. 113 were to be confirmed as Michael the Great’s autograph copy, the edition of the rite from the Pontificale of Michael the Great will offer an eclectic text, since even autographs do not provide an absolute guarantee of the best possible textual quality. The second rite, contained in MS Jerusalem, Saint Mark’s Monastery Library, 109, is edited in a semi-diplomatic manner, i. e., only obvious copying errors made by the manuscript’s scribe will be corrected. The translations and commentaries aim to provide even readers unfamiliar with Syriac with a tool to understand the complex liturgical texts as well as possible.
Sources
MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, syr. 113 (Autograph?)
MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, syr. 112
MS Città del Vaticano, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. sir. 51
MS Damaskus, Syrisch-Orthodoxes Patriarchat, Orth. 5/52
MS Jerusalem, Saint Mark’s Monastery Library, 109
Supervisor
o. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhard Meßner
Institut für Bibelwissenschaften und historische Theologie
PhD Candidate
Mag. phil. fac. theol. Lic. phil. Hubert Alisade
Institut für Amerikastudien
