The Emergence and Development of Christian Funeral Rites in the Byzantine Empire in the X–XII Centuries

Abstract

The article analyses the structure of the Byzantine funeral rites in the X–XII centuries and explores the thematic heterogeneity of their earliest elements, namely prayers, biblical readings, and hymnography. The exploration of the funeral rites from the X–XII centuries allows to identify which of their earliest elements were omitted from liturgical practices over time. The authors study the prayers corresponding to the categories of the deceased, as well as the lectionary of the funeral rites within the specified period.

Keywords

• liturgics
• euchologion
• hymnography
• rite
• funerals