Mēnologion

work by Simeon Metaphrastes

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June 30, 2026

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The Mēnologion is a 10-volume collection of the lives of early Eastern saints, compiled by Simeon Metaphrastes around the 10th century. Simeon, a Byzantine hagiographer, revised and standardized existing texts to give them a consistent stylistic quality. His version became so popular that older collections were no longer copied, leading to the loss of many saints' lives.1

A menologion also refers to an ecclesiastical calendar and a short martyrology used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, essentially an abbreviated version of the complete Menaion.23

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Simeon Metaphrastes
…was a Byzantine hagiographer whose Mēnologion, a 10-volume collection of the lives of early Eastern saints, achieved wide popularity.
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…was a Byzantine hagiographer whose Mēnologion, a 10-volume collection of the lives of early Eastern saints, achieved wide popularity.
Read More