A Greek Homily On the *Maccabees (pre-Christian Jewish martyrs of Antioch, S00303), misattributed to John Chrysostom, is preached during a festival, in the 5th c. or later. Of unknown provenance (perhaps Constantinople).
E02743
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Pseudo-Chrysostom, Homily 3 on the Maccabees (CPG 4354; BHG 1010)
Summary:
This homily is given before a crowd cramped in the church. The author states that he will skip the edifying part of the sermon, in order to proceed swiftly to the praise of the saints. He first refers to Eleazar, first martyr of the Old Testament and a prefiguration of the Apostle Peter. Then to the seven Maccabean brothers, but pressed by the crowd, he skips them too, in order to focus on their mother. She bravely witnessed the deaths of all her sons, and gave them up as an offering to God. She should be taken as an exemplar by certain people who complain at being required to offer some money for the church. We should imitate her and be ready to offer our souls, bodies, and belongings to God.
Summary: E. Rizos
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismCondemnation of other activity associated with cult
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Crowds
Women
Source
This sermon is preserved in five manuscripts, in most cases appearing after the two Chrysostomic Homilies On the Maccabees (BHG 1008, 1009):http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/3095/
(accessed 06/05/2017)
Although it appears among the works of Chrysostom in the manuscript tradition, it is most probably not by him. Nevertheless, it is likely to be a late antique homily, possibly from the fifth century or later.
Discussion
This brief sermon seems to have been given under the pressure of an impatient congregation cramped in a small shrine and demanding the preacher to finish his speech as quickly as possible. A fascinating aspect is the authors allusion to the complaints of members of his community about the collections of offertories in the church.Bibliography
Text:Migne, J.-P., Patrologia Graeca 50 (Paris: Imprimerie Catholique, 1862), 625-628.
Efthymios Rizos
06/05/2017
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00303 | Maccabean Martyrs, pre-Christian Jewish martyrs of Antioch | Ἐλεάζαρος | Certain |
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Efthymios Rizos, Cult of Saints, E02743 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02743