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Synaxis

{{Short description|Liturgical assembly in Eastern Christianity}}

{{For|the genus of moths|Synaxis (moth)}}

Image:Synaxis of the Theotokos (15th c., P.Korin's house-museum).jpg of the Synaxis of the Theotokos (Pskov, 17th century)]]

A synaxis ({{langx|el|σύναξις}} "gathering"; 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 feast days 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 Major Feast Day 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 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.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

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.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

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 Pascha (Easter) that year.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

=Rite of Constantinople=

The following are Synaxes which are universally observed in the Rite of Constantinople:

  • Synaxis of the Theotokos (December 26)[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103648 Synaxis of the Theotokos]
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100017 Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles] (January 4)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100109 Synaxis of the Forerunner] (January 7)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100284 Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council] (January 23)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100350 Synaxis of the Three Great Hierarchs] (January 30)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100886 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel] (March 26 and [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102017 July 13])
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101462 Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council] (May 22)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=43 Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council] (Sunday before Pentecost)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=48 Synaxis of All Saints] (first Sunday after Pentecost)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101711 Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles] (June 30)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102090 Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council] (July 25)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102555 Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Third Ecumenical Council] (September 9)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=70 Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council] (Sunday on or after October 8)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103133 Synaxis of the Holy Unmercenaries] (November 1)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103244 Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers] (November 8)

=Local observance=

There are also synaxes which have been composed for local observance:

  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100285 Synaxis of the Saints of Kostroma] (January 23)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100479 Synaxis of the Hierarchs of Novgorod] (February 10, October 4, and the third Sunday after Pentecost)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100521 Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Caves Lavra] (second Sunday of Great Lent)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101468 Synaxis of the Rostov and Yaroslavl] (May 23)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101688 Synaxis of the Saints of Ryzan] (June 10)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101689 Synaxis of the Saints of Siberia] (June 10)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=103750 Synaxis of the Saints of Belarus] (June 14)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=49 Synaxis of the Saints of North America] (second Sunday after Pentecost)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=51 Synaxis of All Saints of Pskov] (third Sunday after Pentecost)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101796 Synaxis of the Saints of Vladimir] (June 23)
  • Synaxis of the Saints of Tver (first Sunday after June 29th))
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101949 Synaxis of the Saints of Radonezh] (July 6)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=206391 Synaxis of the Saints of Smolensk] (Sunday closest to July 23)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102256 Synaxis of the Saints of Solovki Monastery] (August 9)
  • Synaxis of All Saints of Moscow (Sunday before August 26)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102418 Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Far Caves in Kiev] (August 28)
  • Synaxis of All Saints of Serbia (August 28)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102428 Synaxis of the Serbian Hierarchs] (August 30)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102702 Synaxis of the Saints of Tula] (September 22)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102712 Synaxis of All Saints of Alaska] (September 24)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102757 Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Near Caves in Kiev] (September 28)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102852 Synaxis of the Hierarchs of Kazan] (October 4)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102871 Synaxis of the Hierarchs of Moscow] (October 5)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102923 Synaxis of the Saints of Volhynia] (October 10)
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103801 Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of Optina] (October 11)
  • Synaxis of the Enlighteners of Karelia (Saturday between October 31 and November 6){{Cite web |title=Arsenius of Konevits – Ortodoksi.net |url=https://www.ortodoksi.net/index.php/Arsenius_of_Konevits |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=www.ortodoksi.net}}
  • [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103910 Synaxis of the Saints of Georgia] (December 11)

See also

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14383a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]

Category:Eastern Orthodox liturgical days

Category:Byzantine Rite

Category:Christian terminology