A synaxis ( "gathering"; Church Slavonic: собор, sobor) is a liturgical assembly in Eastern Christianity (the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite).
Synaxes of feast days
In
Constantinople, the clergy and faithful would often gather together on specific
at a church dedicated to the saint of that day for liturgical celebrations. These gatherings were referred to as
synaxes. These synaxes came to have services written specifically for them. A Synaxis often occurs on the day following a
Great Feast and is in honor of saints who participated in the event. For example, services on the Feast of Theophany (the revelation of the
Trinity at the Baptism of Jesus in the
River Jordan) would be held at
Hagia Sophia; then, the next day, a Synaxis was observed in honor of St. John the Forerunner at the church dedicated to him. Over time, the synaxes came into general use and are now celebrated in every church.
Synaxis can also refer to a common commemoration of a number of saints in a single service, such as the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles. Each individual saint may have his or her own separate feast day, but they are all commemorated together on their synaxis.
Most synaxes are observed as fixed feasts, being celebrated on the same calendar date year after year, though some occur on the nearest Sunday to a particular date. Other synaxes are celebrated on the Paschal cycle, moving backward or forward in the calendar according to the date of Easter (Easter) that year.
Rite of Constantinople
The following are Synaxes which are universally observed in the Rite of Constantinople:
Local observance
There are also synaxes which have been composed for local observance:
See also
External links
