Christian Novels from the Menologion of Symeon Metaphrastes

A landmark of orthodox Christianity, Symeon Metaphrastes's tenth-century Menologion is one of the most important Byzantine literary creations. This was a liturgical book, usually in multiple volumes, that included various texts regarding the saints--mostly Passions (martyrdom accounts, or martyria) and Lives (biographies, or bioi)--arranged according to the sequence of feast days in the fixed Byzantine liturgical year that began on September 1. Its primary purpose was the provision of a text dedicated to each saint on his or her feast day to be read aloud during liturgical services (usually vigils, especially in monasteries, but also in urban churches). From the vast corpus of Metaphrastes's menologion, the following six texts were edited and translated into English for the first time in this volume: Life, Conduct, and Passion of Saints Kyprianos and Ioustina; Life and Conduct of Saint Pelagia of Antioch; Life, Conduct, and Passion of the Holy and Glorious Martyrs Galaktion and Episteme; Miracle Concerning Euphemia the Young Maiden; Passion of the Holy and Triumphant Martyr of Christ Barbara; Life, Conduct, and Passion of the Holy Martyr of Christ Saint Eugenia and Her Parents. The