E04836: Coptic Homily on *Michael the Archangel (S00181),from the Monastery of the Archangel Michael near Hamouli in the Fayum (Lower Egypt), attributed to Makarios, bishop of Tkow/Antaiopolis (Upper Egypt, ob. 451/2), delivered at the shrine of Michael on his feast day (8 November); supposedly written in the 5th century.
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posted on 2018-02-01, 00:00authored bygschenke
Homily on Michael the Archangel, attributed to Makarios of Tkow
‘A homily which our holy and honourable father Apa Makarios, the bishop of the city of Tkow, delivered on the day of the great Archangel Michael and supreme commander of the force of heaven, presenting it at his holy shrine on day 12 of the month of Hathyr (8 November), when a great multitude had come to him to receive a blessing from him. He also spoke about the salvation of the soul. In God’s peace. Amen.’
(Text and trans. Depuydt 1993, p. 232, slightly modified)
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Construction of cult buildings
Source
This is the fifth (ff. 27v b–37r) of eight homilies all dedicated to the archangel Michael and all contained in the same parchment codex M592. For the other homilies on Michael in M592, see E04640, E04641, E04642, E04835, E04837, E04838, E04839.
The production of the codex is datable to the 9th or early 10th century on the basis of securely dated codices (AD 822/3–913/14) found together with it at the monastery of the Archangel Michael near Hamouli in the Fayum.
Discussion
Saint Makarios, bishop of Tkow (Antaiopolis) is known mainly through his life as described in the Panegyric on Macarius, Bishop of Tkow, by Pseudo-Dioscorus of Alexandria, composed not earlier than the 6th century, seemingly in Greek around Alexandria preserved in Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic translations. There he is praised for his poverty, sanctity and healing powers. He eventually dies as a martyr, being kicked to death for refusing to subscribe to the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon (451/452).
For literature and a brief overview of the Christian Egyptian tradition concerning the special sacred status attributed to Michael, see van Esbroeck 1991.
Bibliography
Text and translation:
Depuydt, L., Catalogue of Coptic Manuscripts in the Pierpont Morgan Library: Corpus of Illuminated Manuscripts (Leuven, 1993), 232.
Introduction and codicology:
Ibid. pp. 230-235
Text, Latin translation and discussion:
Lafontaine, G., “Un éloge copte de Saint Michel, attribué à Macaire de Tkow,” Le Muséon 92 (1979), 301–320.
German translation and discussion:
Moawad, S., “Exegese des Makarios von Tkoou über den Erzengel Michael,” Le Muséon 122 (2009), 11–26.
Further reading:
Esbroeck, M. van, "Michael the Archangel, saint," in: A.S. Atiya (ed.), The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (New York, 1991), 1616–1620.
Johnson, D.W., "Macarius of Tkow, Saint," in: A.S. Atiya (ed.), The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (New York, 1991), 1492–1494.