The catechetical value of Byzantine hymnography

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the catechetical vocation of Byzantine hymnography, the author analyzing, on the one hand, the theological “matter” that nourishes it, and on the other - the way in which it is presented to the recipient. Thus, the dogma of the Holy Trinity (including that of trinity unity and intra-Trinitarian perichoresis) animates a series of liturgical songs and is also found in the ekfonises of prayers. No less fertile for Orthodox hymnography is the Christological dimension intimately associated with that of the trinity. To the extent that Byzantine sacred music has Christological and soteriological relevance, it is also the bearer of mariological meanings. Mariological images amplify the sacrificial, eschatological, and epiphanic resonances of Christian liturgy, in general, and of religious music in particular. In conclusion, we will state that, on its catechetical side, Byzantine hymnography has a higher efficiency than discursive theology. Due to the doxological form in which it presents its teachings, it manages to evade sterile didacticism, it communicates vividly with the heart and mind of the believers, fully involving them in the hierophantic exercise.