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[German Version] This synod ended the first phase of the controversy over the veneration of images (VI). The Synod of Hiereia in 754 (Constantinople: IV, 5) had made iconoclasm the theological teaching of the Empire. The resistance of a few monks led to the destruction of icons and several martyrdoms. The iconophile empress Irene (780–802) worked to reverse the decision. Because only a new ecumenical council could have the authority to annul the decision of the synod in 754, she laid the groundwor…

[German Version] (c. 925, Trebizond – c. 1001, Athos; Orthodox saint, feast day Jul 5) was the founder of cenobitic monasticism on Mount Athos. After studying and teaching in Constantinople, he became a monk at Mount Kymina in Bithynia in c. 952. Critically important was his acquaintance with the later emperor Nicephorus II Phocas (963–969), himself an ascetic…

[German Version] (late 949, Galatea in Paphlagonia – Mar 12, 1022, near Chrysopolis), eminent Byzantine mystic and poet, whose works contain his personal testimony to mystical experience. He was a spiritual student of the Studite (Studios Monastery) Symeon the Pious (917–986/987). At the age of 21, amid prayer and tears, Symeon experienced the first of 970 visions of the divine Logos in the form of immaterial light. In 976 he himself entered the Studios monastery but soon had to leave because he w…

[German Version] (May 31, 1641, Peloponnese – Feb 6/7, 1707, Constantinople). Ordained to the diaconate at the age of 16, Dositheus became metropolitan of Caesarea in September 1666, and in January 1669 patriarch of Jerusalem, a position he held for 38 years, only two of which he spent in residence; the rest of the time he spent on fund-raising journeys in Russia, Asia Minor, and the Balkans. He played a central role in the process protecting Orthodoxy against Calvinistic and “Latin” influences, which dominated the century following the Confessio of C. Lucaris (1629). Of particular…

[German Version] (mid-11th cent. – mid-12th cent.), Byzantine historian and canonist who held high offices under Emperor Alexius I (1081–1118). After the emperor’s death, he became a monk and (besides several shorter works) wrote two major works: (1) a world chronicle ( Epitome historiarum, ed. L. Dindorf, 6 vols., 1868–1875) from Creation to the year 1118 (compiled from earlier sources for the period before 1081, after that independent), distinguished for its balance, which was translated into Slavic, Latin, and Romance languages, and (…

[German Version] (Πεvϑέκτη/ Penthéktē) is the name given to the ecumenical synod convoked by Emperor Justinian II (685–695; 705–711) in Constantinople (IV, 4) in 691/692, as it was meant to resolve the canonical deficits of the 5th and 6th ecumenical councils (Constantinople: IV, 2 & 3). Because it convened at the same location where the 6th ecumenical council was held (the domed hall [Trullos] of the imperial palace), it is also known as “Trullanum II.” In 102 canons (Canons/Canon collections), th…

[German Version] John the Faster (Saint), patriarch of Constantinople, Apr 12, 582 – Sep 2, 595, previously deacon at the Hagia Sophia; because of his asceticism, he was already known during his lifetime as “the Faster” (ὁ Νηστευτής/ ho Nēsteutḗs). This is probably the reason why, from the 11th century on, a majority of the Byzantine literature on penitential discipline written since the 9th century was attributed to him. Popes Pelagius II and Gregory the Great erroneously understood the designation “ ecumenical patriarch,” already attested before John and after him the titl…

[German Version] is, in the Byzantine tradition since the 13th century, an altar cloth consecrated by a bishop and with relics sown to it, necessary for the performance of the divine liturgy, on which is placed the chalice and the paten. It can also represent the altar (III) and make it possible to perform the liturgy in any suitable place. Previously, from the 7th century, it was the designation in the Christian East for the portable wooden altar (Greco-Lat.: anti-mensa, “instead of the altar table”). Heinz Ohme Bibliography I.M. Izzo, The Antimension in the Liturgical and …

[German Version] the eastern extension of the Chalcidian Peninsula, is known as ῞Αγιον ῞Ορος ( Hágion Óros, “Holy Mountain”); to the present day it has been the center of Orthodox monasticism. In the 9th century, monks fleeing iconoclasm (Veneration of images) or arriving as refugees from areas conquered by Islam swelled the number of those already living on Athos as hermits. Anchoritic eremitism, the earliest of the four forms of monasticism practiced in Athos (Monasticism), was put by …

[German Version] (c. 1588, Chios – Jan 18, 1669, Rome), Catholic theologian and learned humanist of Greek origin, promoter of church union and the Counter-Reformation. In 1618, he was appointed Scriptor graecus of the Vatican Library, of which he became custodian in 1660. In 1622/23, he was responsible for incorporating the Bibliotheca Palatina into the collection. He authored some 60 works; 236 autograph volumes remain unpublished. His major work, De ecclesiae occidentalis atque orientalis perpetua consensione (1648), answers Orthodox charg…

[German Version] (patriarch; Aug 11, 715 to Jan 17, 730; b. before 669, d. after 730; feast day: May 12). Germanus became metropolitan of Cyzicus c. 705; in 712 he signed a declaration in support of Monotheletism, which he retracted in 713. From 727 to 729, he wrote a number of letters directed against the rise of iconoclasm, but gave up in the face of the iconoclastic policies of Emperor Leo III and was sent into exile. Anathematized by the iconoclasts in 754 (Anathema), he was rehabilitated in 7…

[German Version] (1110–1140, Constantinople – after 1195, Constantinople), a Byzantine canonist. As deacon of the Hagia Sophia, Balsamon combined the supreme authority for all affairs of the patriarchate (as its “Chartophylax”) with a juridical office in the service of the state (“Homophylax”). Having fallen out of favor after 1180, Balsamon became the patriarch of Antioch, although he never left the capital. His chief works – which remain fundamental for Orthodox canon law – are the commentaries on the Nomocanon 14 titulorum and on the Synodal and Patriarchal Canons. Heinz Ohme Bibl…

[German Version] (1536, Anchialos – Sep, 1595, Constantinople), patriarch of Constantinople (1572–1579, 1580–1584, 1587–1595), contributed to the consolidation of Orthodoxy with important decisions: in his correspondence with Tübingen theologians (1573–1581) concerning the Confessio Augustana Graeca (Augsburg) he had been sent, he rejected their positions in three written responses. In 1583 and 1593, he refused to adopt the calendar reforms of Gregory XIII and a new edition of the Union and effected reconciliation with the Russi…

[German Version] (May 17, 1887, Lixurion – Aug 14, 1969, Athens) was professor of canon law and practical theology in Athens 1919–1956; academically, ecclessially and politically, he was one of the most important personalities in the Greek church in the 20th century. He authored almost 300 publications, co-authored the Church Constitution of 1923, organized the first Orthodox theological congress in Athens in 1936, was a pioneer in the ecumenical movement beginning in 1920, and was a member of the executive committee of the WCC from 1948 to 1968. Heinz Ohme Bibliography G.I. Konidares…

[German Version] (from Gk σύναξις/ sýnaxis, assembly). In the Orthodox churches, the Synaxarion contains the information on the daily propers for the liturgical commemoration of the saints (Saints/Veneration of the saints: III, 2). This information usually includes the day of the month, an epigram concerning the saint, brief historical notes, information about the saint’s commemoration, place of burial, and any translations of his or her relics, and an abridged vita. This information for the liturgical year, summarized in a book for the church in Constantinople (…

[German Version] (660, Damascus – Jul 4, 740); Orthodox saint, feast day Jul 4. Andrew became a monk in 678; later he became archbishop of Gortyna and Metropolitan of Crete. More than 40 of his homilies for feasts of the Lord, Mary, and many saints are extant. Georgian, Latin, Arabic, and Slavonic translations attest to their wide popularity. But …

[German Version] (died after 1346). A monastic priest and canonist, c. 1335 Blastares compiled a handbook of Byzantine ecclesiastical law ( Syntagma kata stoicheion), in which kanones and nomoi were arranged in alphabetic association with juristic lemmas. It comprises 24 chapters, each with subdivisions. It came into widespread use in Slavic as well as Byzantine areas. Heinz Ohme Bibliography Sources: G.A. Ralles & M. Potles, eds., Σύνταγμα τῶν θείων καὶ ἱερῶν κανόνων, vol. VI, 1859 PG 144, 959–1399 On Blastares: A. Soloviev, “L'œuvre juridique de M. Blastares,” SBNE 5, 1939, …

[German Version] (1869, Kios – 1935, Athens), professor of theology and ethics at Chalki (1895–1911) and Athens (1911–1935). Androutsos was a preeminent figure in 20th-century Greek theology. His Dogmatics has been considered the first complete and authentic systematic exposition of Orthodox doctrine. To “neopatristic” theologians, Androutsos embodies a scholastic theology infiltrated by Western rationalism, unrooted in the life of Orthodoxy. Heinz Ohme Bibliography Works (Greek and Romanian): Συμβολική ἐξ ἐπόφεως ὀρθοδόξου, 21930 Δογματικὴ …

[German Version] Into the 4th century, synods did not call their decisions “canon” or “regula.” In the Greek East, they used the term horos as the older term for ecclesiastical decisions (Ankyra, cc. 6, 19, et passim). In the Latin language sphere, designations including placita, statuta, instituta, decreta, sententiae were drawn from Roman legal language as the specific terminology applicable in such cases. The designation as canons appeared for the first time at the Synod of Antioch c. 330 (cc. 19 etc.) and quickly established itself in the East (Bas. Ep. 188, cc. 4, 10). Th…

[German Version] (Barsanorius; feast: Feb 6), an ascetic author of Egyptian origin. He died c. 545 as a hermit in the monastery of Abba Seridos near Gaza. Together with the hermit John “the prophet,” he gave spiritual advice by answering letters sent to him by monks, bishops, and laypersons. Approx. 850 such questions and responses were collected ( biblos psychophelestate). They afford deep insights into the life of the Palestinian church in the 5th/6th centuries, attest to the reception of the asc…