Establishment of a Weekly Commemoration of Saint Nicholas of Myra in the Byzantine and Slavonic Paraklitika (Oktoechoi) of 10^th–14^th centuries. Mariya Yovcheva (Sofia, Bulgaria)

In her article the author investigates when and how the weekly commemoration of Saint Nicholas made its way into the Greek and Slavonic Oktoechoi, finally becoming a secondary theme in akolouthiai to be sang on Thursdays. This investigation is based, in the first place, on a thorough study of Oktoechos manuscripts of 10^th–14^th centuries.

The Byzantine sources outline three stages: 1) the earliest (9^th–10^th centuries), when a commemoration of Saint Nicholas was absent from Oktoechoi or occurring there only incidentally; 2) a transitive (10^th–12^th centuries), characterized by the infiltration of this celebration into Oktoechoi becaue of the influence of the Constantinopolitan liturgical tradition of the late 9^th and 10^th centuries; 3) the last stage (13^th century), marked by the final establishment of the commemoration in the Oktoechoi and the stabilization of the repertory for Saint Nicholas. A codification of the hymnographic cycles for this celebration occurred only when the new version of Oktoechos, regulated by the neo-Sabaitic typicon, was introduced, which resulted in a relative unification of the hymnographic books.

In their turn, the Slavonic Oktoechoi are divided into four types. The most archaic type is marked by the lack of any hymns, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, in the offices for Thursday – instead, the secondary theme for this day is represented by the cycles for the apostles Peter and Paul, created by Clement of Ochrid. But after some early revisions (10^th–11^th centuries), the commemoration of the saint was introduced indeed (yet inconsequently) and began to suppress the Clement's hymns. A significant step in the establishment of Saint Nicholas's celebration is represented by a third group of manuscripts, consisting of Serbian and West-Bulgarian Oktoechoi of 13^th–14^th centuries, which relate to the Evergetis Typicon. The fourth type of sources, where the commemoration is finally established and incorporated into the Thirsday akolouthiai and the hymns for Saint Nicholas are standardized, is a product of a cardinal revision of the Oktoechos, accomplished by Bulgarian monks of the Great Laura on Mount Athos in 14^th century in order to introduce the Neo-Sabaitic Typicon into the Slavonic liturgical practice.