Homily on Mary the God-Bearer

Homilia de Maria Deipara

Standard abbreviation: Hom. Theotok.

Clavis number: ECCA 260

Category: Dormition Accounts

Related literature: Reading Concerning the Apostle Thomas, Questions of Bartholomew, Vision of Theophilus

Compiled by Marcin Krawczuk (University of Warsaw)

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Marcin Krawczuk. “Homily on Mary the God-Bearer.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/homily-on-mary-the-god-bearer/.

Created January 2025.

1. SUMMARY

The Ethiopic Homily on Mary the God-Bearer is first attested in manuscripts from the late 14th century. It is almost certainly an original Ethiopian composition, although it may incorporate some translated material. The homily first appears in the so-called Rǝtuʿa Hāymānot (“The Orthodox”) homiliary, a collection of homilies for major Church feasts, sharing stylistic features as well as certain theological themes, such as eschatological views, anti-Jewish imagery, and concerns regarding the Eucharist.

Considerable portions of the homily are textually identical to the Reading Concerning the Apostle Thomas, though without the critical edition of the homily, the direction of influence remains unclear. This narrative (see its respective entry for details) recounts how, after her death, Mary met the Apostle Thomas on her way to heaven. Upon his return to his fellow apostles, it is revealed that they had abandoned Mary’s body in fear of a Jewish mob.

Roughly speaking, the narrative edited and translated by Arras is placed at the beginning (§ 2–16) and the end of the homily (§ 18–37), while the intervening text is not directly related to Mary and does not contain apocryphal material. It consists of a series of discourses that are loosely connected, and may have originally been independent texts.

These include, among others, a description of the veneration of Thomas’ tomb in India, from which a miraculous vine sprouted, producing grapes that Christians eat in place of the Eucharist; an observation of how Christians in different regions partake in communion in different ways; an apology for the “Jacobite faith” in Egypt; and an account of how it is permitted for Egyptians to marry their relatives, a practice intended to preserve their religious identity.

The initial portion of the homily offers praise for Mary, using abundant Old Testament imagery. It explains how she is exalted above all humans due to her physical contact with God, whom she nurtured—an idea aligned with the theme of God’s incarnation, central to the entire Rǝtuʿa Hāymānot homiliary.

Named Historical Figures and Characters: Adam (patriarch), Aseneth, Bartholomew (apostle), Caiaphas, Diocletian, Gabriel (angel), John (the Baptist), John (son of Zebedee), Joseph (patriarch), Judas Iscariot, Lazarus, Mary (Virgin), Moses (patriarch), Peter (apostle), Stephen, Thomas (apostle), Yabo.

Geographical Locations: Aksum, Bethlehem, Egypt, India, Jerusalem, paradise, Qusqam, Rome.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Ethiopic (CAe 1640)

3.1.1.1 Transmitted as part of the Rǝtuʿa Hāymānot homiliary (CAe 2222)

ʾAddis ʾAbabā, Manbara Lǝʿul Qəddus Mārqos, EMML 12, fols 133^v–145^r (1925/1926) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

ʾAddis ʾAbabā, Qǝddǝst Śǝllāse, EMML 1194, pp. 278–306 (1965/1966) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

ʾAnkobar, ʾAnkobar Mikāʾel, EMML 2375, fols. 109^r–122^r (18th cent.) ~ catalog; Beta Masaheft; HMML

ʾAnkobar, Masč̣ā Māryām, EMML 2584, fols. 95^r–110^v (18th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Ašatan, Māryām Church, EMML 7028, fols. 102^v–119^v (14th/15th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Atkanā, Giyorgis Church, EMML 8913, fols. 30^r–46^r (15th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Bǝčäna, Bǝčanā Giyorgis, UNESCO 8-9, fols. 85^r–92^v (1750-1796) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin–Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ms. or. quart. 1166, fols. 6^r–21^r (14th/15th cent.) ~ Qalamos; Beta Masaheft; Berlin

EMML 7019, fols. 157^v–160^v, 165^r–166v, 161^r–164^v, 167^r–168^v 

EMML 9084, fols. 195^r–201^v 

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, d’Abbadie 80, fols. 120^r–122^v, 127^r–128^v, 123^r–126^r, 129^r–133^r (14th/15th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; Gallica

Šawā Province (unknown library), EMML 7638, fols. 138^r–154^v (15th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Tānāsee, Kebran Gabriel Monastery, 142, fols. 104^r–119^v (15th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; images

Tübingen, Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Aeth. 2, fols. 170^r–189^r (ante 1841) ~ Beta Masaheft; Tubingen

3.1.1.2 Transmitted as part of the “old” Dǝrsāna Māryām (Marian homilies)

ʾAnkobar, Masč̣ā Māryām, EMML 3873, fols. 66^v–76^r (1775–1809) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

ʾAnkobar, Masč̣ā Māryām, EMML 3998, fols. 183^r–207^r ~ Beta Mssaheft; HMML

Gāšoṭ Egzi’abḥēr Ab Church, EMML 4355, fols. 74^r–86^v (19th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Gondar Province, Māḫdara Māryām Church, EMML 8897, fols. 89^r–100^v (15th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Vatican, Bibloteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. eth. 268, fols. 57^v–63^v, 92^r–102^r (14th/15th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; BAV

3.1.1.3 Transmitted as part of the extended Dǝrsāna Māryām collection

Addis Ababa, Qaċanē Dabra Salām Madḫānē Ālam Church, EMML 543, fols. 66^r–71^r (20th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Ambāssal, Monastery of Ḥayq Esṭifānos, EMML 2044, fols. 25^r–53^r (1746) ~ catalog; Beta Masaheft; HMML

Ankobar, Māryām Church, EMML 2461, fols. 109^v–119^r (1842) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Armāneyā, Māryām Church, EMML 3580, fols. 48^r–62^r (18th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Aṭē Wāššā Māryām Church, EMML 4279, fols. 74^r–86^v (19th/20th cent.) ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Enzo Lucchesi, private collection, 1, fols. 65^v–71^r (1888)

3.1.1.4 Unexamined Manuscripts

EMML 5702, fols. 3^r–25^r (19th/20th cent.) ~ Beta Massaheft

Repository unknown, EMML 9108 ~ Beta Masaheft; HMML

Vatican, Bibloteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. eth. 326, fols. 1^r–8^v ~ incomplete

3.2 Modern Translations

3.3 General Works

3.3.1 Dormition Narratives

Aranda Pérez, Gonzalo. Dormición de la Virgen. Relatos de la tradución copta. Apócrifos cristianos 2. Madrid: Editorial Ciudad Nueva, 1995 (general introduction, pp. 15-41; Coptic traditions, pp. 42–59).

Clayton, Mary. The Apocryphal Gospels of Mary in Anglo-Saxon England. Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 26. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998 (pp. 24–100).

Esbroeck, Michel van. “Les textes litteraires sur l’Assomption avant le X^e  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.

Jugie, Martin. La Mort et l’Assumption de la Sainte Vierge: Étude historico-doctrinale. Studi e Testi 114. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944.

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 VI^e au X^e siècle. Études et documents. Archives de l’Orient chrétien 5. Paris: Institut français d’études byzantines, 1955.

3.3.2 Reading Concerning the Apostle Thomas

Erho, Ted M. “New Evidence for the Apocalypse of Peter in Ethiopia?” Pages 318–76 in The Apocalypse of Peter in Context. Edited by Daniel C. Maier, Jörg Frey, and Thomas J. Kraus. SECA 21. Leuven: Peeters, 2024 (includes discussion of the Rǝtuʿa Hāymānot homiliary).

Mimouni, Simon. Dormition et assumption de Marie: Histoire des traditions anciennnes. Paris: Beauchesne, 1995 (pp. 253–56).

Tefera, Amsalu. “Mariology in the EOTC Tradition: Special Emphasis on Dǝrsanä Ṣǝyon.” Journal of Ethiopian Church Studies 2 (2012): 71–96.

Zarzeczny R. Catalogo dei manoscritti etiopici di due collezioni private (Tomasi – Lucchesi) con repertorio dei testi. OCA 309. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 2020 (discussion of the “extended” Dǝrsāna Māryām collection, pp. 269–71).