Married Saints in the Orthodox Tradition

Is the ancient adage true, that the Church's "law of prayer" establishes her "law of belief"? The author takes up this question in regard to the sacrament of matrimony in the Orthodox tradition. After surveying the perspectives of contemporary theologians on the meaning of marriage, he reviews recent research into its historical status in Middle Byzantine society. These two inquiries set the stage for the centrepiece of the book, an investigation into the manner in which married saints are depicted in the actual texts of the Menaion, the twelve-volume service book for sanctoral commemorations in the Byzantine Rite. The picture that emerges from the colourful array of characters feted in these pages challenges any ready equation of lex orandi and lex credendi. By an intriguing process of literary repression, transference and co-optation, the hymnography ends up promoting an ambivalence toward conjugality in marked contrast to the positive estimation accorded it in Orthodox theology today. This book will appeal to liturgists, moral theologians and students of the Eastern Church, as well as to all those interested in the convoluted relationship of sexuality and spirituality.