Encomium of the Virgin Mary attributed to Philip of Anatolia
An encomium attributed to Philip of Anatolia survives in two fragmentary manuscripts, praising Mary and recounting events surrounding her life and Christ’s birth.[^1][^2]
Overview
The Encomium of the Virgin Mary attributed to Philip of Anatolia survives in two fragmentary manuscripts, both unedited.1 Its content and style suggest a possible place within the homiletic production of the seventh to eighth centuries.3
Manuscript witnesses
The two witnesses are a ninth-century manuscript from the White Monastery (Dayr Anba Shinudah) and an eleventh-century manuscript preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, MS 819.1 The surviving fragments apparently represent the beginning of the work.2
Contents
The surviving text opens with a prologue praising Mary, followed by an explanation of the significance of each letter in her name.2 It then narrates Mary’s birth, describes the rivers of Paradise, traces Joseph’s lineage, recounts the marriage of Joseph and Mary, and tells of the birth of Jesus.2
Attribution
The Coptic History of the Church includes a story about Philip of Anatolia as a bishop who appealed to the emperors Valens and Valentinianus over unjust treatment of Christians by soldiers at Damascus.4
Two possible explanations for the encomium’s attribution have been proposed, without establishing either as certain:5
- If the account of Philip belongs to the fifth-century redaction of the Coptic History of the Church, the homily’s author may have adopted Philip’s name for reasons that remain undetermined.5
- If that account is instead a seventh-century interpolation, the historical passage and the homily may have been produced by the same editor.5
References
Sources
- 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 644)
However, attributed to him is an Encomium of the Virgin Mary that has survived in two manuscripts, both fragmentary and unedited. A ninth-century manuscript comes from the White Monastery (DAYR ANBA SHINUDAH), and an eleventh-century manuscript is conserved in Dublin at the Chester Beatty Library (MS 819).
- 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 644)
In these fragments, which apparently form the beginning of the work, the author has composed a prologue of laudations to Mary, after which he explains the significance of each letter in her name. He then narrates the birth of Mary, describes the rivers of Paradise, traces the lineage of Joseph, recounts the marriage of Joseph and Mary, and tells of the birth of Jesus.
- 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 644)
The content and style of this encomium indicate that it could be assigned to the homiletic production of the seventh to eighth centuries.
- 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 644)
The Coptic History of the Church contains the following story of Philip of Anatolia, a bishop (ed. Orlandi, 1970, Vol. 2, pp. 16-17). He observed that the soldiers in the command headquarters at Damascus were pagans and heretics, and that whenever they leveled taxes against the Christians, they persecuted the Christians unjustly. Therefore, he wrote to emperors Valens and Valentinianus to bring the matter to their attention and further explained that Christians could not become soldiers because of the apostles' commandments.
- 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 644)
As to the origin of the attribution, two hypotheses are proposed. (1) If the section from the Coptic History of the Church is authentic in the sense that it belongs to the redaction of the fifth century, the author of the homily appropriated Philip's name for undetermined reasons. (2) If this particular section from the history is an interpolation made in the seventh century, as is reasonable to believe because of the mention of Damascus, then both the history extract and the homily could possibly be the work of the same editor.
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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.