Paradigmatic Piety: Liturgy in the Life of Martha, Mother of Symeon Stylites the Younger

Parker, Lucy

Abstract

The Life of Martha, the mother of the sixth-century stylite Symeon the Younger, has been almost completely neglected in modern scholarship. Yet the text possesses considerable historical interest as evidence for the contested development of a cult, as a literary composition with a unique structure, and as the Life of a holy woman who was neither a martyr nor a nun. Martha’s hagiographer eschews most traditional emphases of the Lives of female saints, such as celibacy and asceticism, presenting instead an original, inclusive vision of piety focused on participation in liturgy and the sacraments.

Citation

Parker, L. (2016). Paradigmatic Piety: Liturgy in the Life of Martha, Mother of Symeon Stylites the Younger. Journal of Early Christian Studies, 24(1), 99-125. https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2016.0009

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2016
• Deposit Date: Jan 17, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Early Christian Studies
• Print ISSN: 1067-6341
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 99-125
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2016.0009
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/27087245
• Publisher URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/611449