FOREWORD

The revival of Byzantine hagiography observed nowadays is not incidental. It is part of the general tendency of contemporary theological thought, to return to the sources of Orthodox Tradition.

Byzantine hagiography is an excellent example of the Church's Tradition. This sanctified art form with its superb compositions, its spirituality and its mystical world, both teaches and inspires. It teaches the truths of the Orthodox Faith, as dogmatized by the Church and as manifested through the ages by the Church's body of the faithful. It projects the truths and proclaims them, with its iconographical circles, the arrangements of the portrayed forms, and the opulence of its colours. The steadfastness of Byzantine hagiography kept aloft the flag of Orthodoxy, and with its peculiar style, helped to plant its trophy.

To the faithful, Byzantine hagiography is an inexhaustible source of inspiration and an unspent spiritual treasure. It conveys the faithful to the heroic eras of the Church, to the convening of the Ecumenical Synods, where the truths of the Faith were boldly proclaimed and succinctly set forth. It guides them through the untrodden and arid desert of Christian asceticism, so that they might loosen their footwear before the Saints and the Blessed Ones of the Church, who have enclosed in their shell-like, frail bodies the spiritual juices of faith, hope and love. It opens up Paradise 's realm for them, and invites them to attain it.

In ministering - with its publications - to the propagation of the faith and the securing of Tradition amongst the faithful, the Apostoliki Diakonia has released this book into circulation; with its scientific standing and its educational character, it will assist both clergy and laity, especially those teaching and learning religious lessons, so that they may become acquainted with, appreciate and utilize, Byzantine hagiography.