Author: Julia Zlatkova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Keywords: holiness, marriage, wonders, opposition, family cult
Abstract:
This paper presents a peculiar type of a female saint, a type of a married saint, which was rare and not so popular. The cult of St. Mary the Younger was a family cult that was promoted in spite of the strong opposition of the church hierarchy, and in contrast to the traditional ideal of sainthood. The appearance of this type of sanctity in that particular period (ninth-tenth century) reflects the changing attitudes toward female sanctity in the Byzantine hagiography and society. The emperor Leo the Wise (886–912) by no means influenced those hagiographic and social novelties by his unconventional and highly controversial views and practices regarding women and family relations.
(English translation by Voronca Ștefan)
Pages: 115-152