Once again, we are happy to share an article by our friend Fr Philip Gilbert, this time on the special commemorations called “synaxes” in the Byzantine tradition. Father Philip is a priest of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church; we have previously published his articles on the feasts of the Holy Cross, the week preceding Great Lent, Vespers of Forgiveness Sunday, etc. We also published photographs and a video of his priestly ordination in 2024.
In the liturgical calendar of the Byzantine Rite, there are several days designated as “Synaxes.” The word “synaxis” means a gathering together, and is also used as the name of the volumes containing a collection of the lives of the Saints (similar to the western Martyrology), i.e., The Synaxarion. But as a title for saints’ and feast days, one may encounter two uses of it.
The first use of “synaxis” is most often seen in iconography, meaning a common celebration or depiction of many or all the saints of a certain place or class. For example, one may see an icon of “The Synaxis of all the Holy Unmercenary Healers”, showing together in a group all the saints of various places and centuries who rendered aid and gave treatment without asking for payment. Or one may see depictions of all the saints who come from the same place, for example, “The Synaxis of all the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Caves Lavra who Repose in the Far Caves” (August 28th) or “All Saints of Mount Athos.” Local synods may add such feasts of saints from their region to their own liturgical calendars, and most would not be celebrated universally. One such synaxis that is celebrated universally is the feast of the holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and all the bodiless hosts of Heaven on November 8th. |
| A 17th-century icon of the Three Holy Herarchs. (image from wikipedia) |
Another notable celebration, though not designated as a synaxis in the calendar, is the feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs, Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen) and John Chrysostom on January 30th. This feast was instituted because each of these great fathers has his own feast in January, and disagreements and divisions arose over which of them was the greatest. Thus, a common feast of the three was instituted so that they would be celebrated together in harmony.
The second use of this term, and the sense that is the focus of this article, denotes a sort of minor feast as part of the celebrations of a preceding greater feast. The synaxis of a great feast highlights a figure or group who have a role in the event being celebrated, but are, so to speak, overshadowed by the main figure; its placement on the calendar is thus determined by the primary feast, rather than by chronology or historical considerations. This sort of synaxis is usually celebrated either on the second day of the greater feast or on the following Sunday.
The most notable examples of day-after synaxes are those of the Holy Spirit on the Monday after Pentecost Sunday; of the Theotokos on December 26th, following the Nativity of Christ, and of the Prophet and Forerunner John the Baptist on January 7th, following the feast of the Lord’s Baptism on January 6th. Others of this category include: the Synaxis of the Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna on September 9th, after the Nativity of the Theotokos on the 8th; of the Holy and Righteous God-receiver Symeon and the Prophetess Anna on February 3rd, after the feast of the Meeting of the Lord (also known as the Encounter, or in the west, Candlemas) on February 2nd; of the Holy Glorious and All-Praiseworthy 12 Apostles on June 30th, after the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul on June 29th, which ranks among the highest of feasts; and of the Archangel Gabriel on March 26th, following the Annunciation. Interestingly, there is another feast called the “Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel” on July 13th; the reason for its institution is not clear, but perhaps due to the dedication of a church in his honor in Constantinople.
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| A Ukrainian icon of the Protection of the Mother of God, ca. 1740, artist unknown. |
On October 1st there falls the feast of the Holy Protection of the Theotokos, which is ironically neglected among the Greeks, but greatly beloved among Slavs, who celebrate it in a fashion similar to the twelve great feasts. October 1st is also the feast of St. Romanos the Melodist to whom is attributed some of the hymnography of the feast, such as the kontakion “Triumphant leader”. This is the day of his death, meaning that despite his connection with the feast of the Protection, his commemoration on that day, is a historical one, and not a synaxis. However, on October 2nd there is the feast of Andrew the Fool-for-Christ, to whom was given the vision of the Protection as the people of Constantinople gathered in the church at Blachernae pleading for deliverance from the enemy siege taking place outside the city walls. Due to his connection to the events of the Holy Protection, it would be reasonable to classify this feast of St. Andrew as a synactic commemoration.
A second type of synactic feast is celebrated on the Sunday after a great feast. There are three great feasts that have Sundays before and after celebrated as preparation for or in continuation of the greater feast. The Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the Theophany (Baptism) of our Lord have these designated Sundays; they are observed with special epistle and gospel readings at the Divine Liturgy, and other hymnography, but with no festal observation of saints. However, on the Sunday following the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, (which, as already mentioned, has a synaxis on the following day) there is a commemoration of some of the members of Jesus’ family: the holy prophet and psalmist King David, Christ’s ancestor in the flesh; Christ’s foster-father Joseph the Betrothed; and James the Brother of God, who according to the Eastern tradition was Joseph’s son from a previous marriage. Similarly, the two Sundays preceding the Nativity of our Lord commemorate the righteous prophets, ancestors and forefathers of Christ.
There are several commemorations in the movable period of the Lenten Triodion that function in the same way. On the Saturdays and Sundays of Lent there are a number of commemorations of figures important for monks; some of these are transferred to the weekend due to the somber nature of the penitential weekdays. Without taking these into account, there are several synactic feasts as well.
The first of these, on the last Saturday before the Great Fast (Lent), is the Synaxis of All Our Holy Ascetical Fathers and Mothers, given to us as an inspiration for the coming labors of the fast.
The first Sunday of the fast is a historical commemoration of the restoration of the icons to the churches after the iconoclast period, known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy. This commemoration became a celebration of the Church’s triumph over all heresies, not just iconoclasm. For this reason, in most churches that use the Byzantine Rite, the second Sunday of the fast is a synactic feast of the 14th century Athonite monk and bishop St. Gregory Palamas. This commemoration was instituted by the Greeks after the triumph of the hesychasts (of which St. Gregory was a leading defender) over their heretical opponents.
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| A Greek icon of the late 14th or early 15th century, representing the restoration of the icons, with the Empress St Theodora, her young son Michael III, and the Father of the Second Council of Nicea. From the icon collection of the British Museum. |
The fourth and fifth Sundays of the fast are the feasts of Saints John Climacus (“of the Ladder”) and Mary of Egypt, both greatly beloved by monastics. In monasteries, St. John’s work The Ladder of Divine Ascent is read at 6th Hour throughout the entire fast, while the life of St. Mary is read at matins on Thursday of the 5th week, together with the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. These two saints are placed before us in these latter weeks of the Fast, when our energy and enthusiasm wane, as examples of great monastic asceticism and conversion.
In the Paschal season, the Sunday after Easter is commonly known as Thomas Sunday, since we read on this day the gospel account of St. Thomas’ encounter with the risen Christ in the upper room. This is certainly a continuation of the feast of Pascha, but not a synactic feast in the same sense, since it simply follows the order of events as recounted in the Gospel.
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| A fresco of the Myrrh-Bearing Women in the Dionysiou Monastery on Mt Athos. |
However, the third Sunday of Pascha is a synactic commemoration of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Salome, and the others, as well as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, those who attended to Christ’s burial by asking Pilate for His body, bringing costly myrrh and spices, and placing Him in the tomb. The noble actions of Joseph and Nicodemus for which they are commemorated took place before the resurrection, meaning that their feast is placed on this third Sunday out of chronological order. As for the myrrh-bearing women, they do of course have a connection to the feast of Pascha itself, since they came to the Lord’s tomb on the third day and found it empty, thus being the first to witness and proclaim the Resurrection. The icon of the myrrh-bearers usually depicts them conversing with the angel in front of the empty tomb. Here it is worth noting that their coming to the empty tomb is not a new act, but a continuation of their faithfully attending to and following Christ through His ministry, passion, and death, and so not exclusively related to the Resurrection. They were, after all, coming to His tomb to finish the appropriate burial rites. A second point to note here is that were this a historical and not synactic commemoration, the myrrh-bearers would be commemorated on the day of Pascha itself, or if transferred for the sake of Bright Week (the octave of Pascha), on the following Sunday.
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| A modern icon of All Saints of Ukraine |
The Sunday after Pentecost is the feast of All Saints, a placement which makes the most sense when seen in the framework of these great feasts and their synaxes. It is through the preaching of the apostles, sent forth with the gifts and guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we, the Gentiles, come to share in the life of God and achieve sanctity. Thus, All Saints is a feast of those who have also received the grace of the Spirit through the Church from the original descent of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem all those many years ago. This point is further driven home by the second Sunday after Pentecost, which is a commonly kept as a feast of all saints of a particular place, i.e., the feast of All Saints of Greece, of Ukraine, of Mount Athos, of North America, etc., those who have walked the same ground that you walk. The gifts of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the Apostles have been received even here, so we have no excuse for not becoming saints ourselves. After Pentecost we begin the “regular” (I hesitate to say “ordinary”) time of the year, counting the “Sundays after Pentecost” until we come again to the beginning of the Lenten cycle. The significance of this is that we are living in the age of Pentecost, of the working of the Spirit and the preaching of the Gospel to all the nations.
