Oratio metrica de dormitione B. V. Mariae, auctore Iohanne ep. Birthensi
Standard abbreviation: Hom. Dorm. Vir.
Other designations: S5 in van Esbroeck’s classification of Dormition traditions
Clavis numbers: CANT 126; ECCA 157
Category: Dormition Accounts
Related literature: Homily on the Dormition, by Timothy of Gargara; Homilies I-II on the Dormition of the Virgin by Andrew of Crete
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Homily on the Dormition of the Virgin by John of Birth.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/homily-on-the-dormition-of-the-virgin-by-john-of-birtha/.
Created August 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Nothing is known about John of Birtha outside of this text. Its contents are similar to a homily by Timothy of Gargara and to the Homilies on the Dormition by Andrew of Crete, on which it may depend. The similarities between the homilies of John and Timothy may have led to the erroneous attribution of the text to “Timothy of Birtha” in one of the manuscripts (see below). There is not enough narrative information in the text to assign it to either one of the two major categories of Dormition texts: Bethlehem and Palm.
The homily is in written in meter and is said to have been delivered during the festival commemorating Mary’s death. John states plainly that Mary indeed died but asks how it is possible for one such as her to suffer death as humans do. After some words of praise for Mary and for her relationship with her son, John turns to events from the dormition, mentioning the twelve apostles and all the saints standing over her body, choirs of angels singing, and her body giving off a pleasant fragrance. He appeals here to Dionysius the Areopagite for the content of the words spoken at her funeral, but it is not clear what text by Dionysius is meant. Those present asked one another what to do about her burial. Who should carry her? What verses should be used to praise her? etc.
After the funeral, Mary was buried by angels and placed in a tomb by Peter and John. God also was present at the funeral just as he was for Moses. Heaven rejoiced at receiving such a pure soul and the earth was purified by the presence of her body, which shone like the rays of the sun. At this point in the text, John is more equivocal about the nature of Mary’s death: “She is really dead, but her death is not death. She has passed away from temporal life, but lives in God, and is placed in the litter of the dead, but corruption has not touched her. Death is known when the body is corrupted and gives off a bad smell. But if the body does not decay, but gives off a sweet smell, where is there room for corruption?” The body of the one who carried God in her womb cannot be dominated by corruption.
The text continues with additional praises for Mary and words of support for the festival of her death.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: David (king), Dionysius the Areopagite, Gabriel (angel), John (son of Zebedee), Mary (Virgin), Moses (patriarch), Peter (apostle).
Geographical Locations: Eden.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Syriac (BHO 679)
Jerusalem, Saint Mark’s Monastery, 346, fols. 65r–67v (1894) ~ HMML
Jerusalem, Saint Mark’s Monastery (?), 43, fols. 24r–26r (12th/13th cent.)
Paris, Biblothèque nationale de France, syr. 177, fols. 101v–110r (1521/1522) ~ attributed to Timothy of Birtha; CATALOG; GALLICA
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. sir. 128 (1720) ~ cited by Mimouni (perhaps erroneous)
Baumstark, Anton. “Zwei syrische Dichtungen auf das Entschlafen der allerseligsten Jungfrau.” Oriens Christianus 5 (1905): 82–125 (Syriac text based on Jerusalem 43 with facing Latin translation, pp. 100–25).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 Latin
Baumstark, Anton. “Zwei syrische Dichtungen auf das Entschlafen der allerseligsten Jungfrau.” Oriens Christianus 5 (1905): 82–125 (Syriac text based on Jerusalem 43 with facing Latin translation, pp. 100–25).
3.3 General Works
3.3.1 Dormition Narratives
Esbroeck, Michel van. “Les textes litteraires sur l’Assomption avant le Xe siècle.” Pages 265–85 in Les actes apocryphes des apôtres. Edited by François Bovon. Publications de la faculte de theologie de l’Universite de Geneve 4. Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1981.
McNamara, Martin. “Transitus Mariae: General Introduction.” Pages 225–44 in Apocrypha Hiberniae II. Apocalyptica 2. Edited by Martin McNamara et al. CCSA 21. Turnhout: Brepols, 2019.
Mimouni, Simon. Dormition et assumption de Marie: Histoire des traditions anciennnes. Paris: Beauchesne, 1995.
__________. Les traditions anciennes sur la Dormition et l’Assomption de Marie: Études littéraires, historiques et doctrinales. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 104. Leiden: Brill, 2011.
Shoemaker, Stephen J. Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary’s Dormition and Assumption. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
__________. Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.
Wenger, Antoine. L’Assomption de la T.S. Vierge dans la tradition byzantine du VIe au Xe siècle. Études et documents. Archives de l’Orient chrétien 5. Paris: Institut français d’études byzantines, 1955.
3.3.2 Homily on the Dormition of the Virgin, by John of Birtha
Mimouni, Simon C. Dormition et assumption de Marie: Histoire des traditions anciennnes. Paris: Beauchesne, 1995 (pp. 110–12).
__________. “La fête de la Dormition de Marie en Syrie à l’époque byzantine.” Harp 5 (1992): 157–74. Reprinted as pages 229–46 in Les traditions anciennes sur la Dormition et l’Assomption de Marie. Études littéraires, historiques et doctrinales. VC Supp 104. Leiden: Brill, 2011 (pp. 236–37; see also pp. 166–67).
Jugie, Martin. La mort et l’assomption de la Sainte Vierge. Étude historico-doctrinale. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944 (p. 243).