Skip to content

Synaxis

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes

Synaxis ( synaxis from synago ) means gathering, assembly, reunion. It is exactly equivalent to the Latin collecta (from colligere ), and corresponds to synagogue ( synagoge ), the place of reunion. In Christian and liturgical use the Synaxis is the assembly for any religious function, either in the abstract sense ( nomen actionis ) or concretely for the people assembled (cf. German Sammlung and Versammlung ). The verb synago occurs frequently in the New Testament, for gathering together a religious meeting ( Acts 11:26 ; 14:27 etc.), as also for the Jewish services and councils (e.g. John 11:47 ). So also in the Apostolic Fathers (Didache, ix, 4; xiv, 1; I Clem., xxxiv, 7; in general for the union of the church, Ignatius, "Magn.", x, 3). We must distinguish the liturgical (eucharistic) from the aliturgical Synaxis, which consisted only of prayers, readings, psalms, out of which our Divine Office evolved. Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite uses the word only for the eucharistic service ("De eccles. hier.", iii, in P.G., III), and Cardinal Bona thinks that so it may have a mystic meaning, as referring to our union with God or Communion (Rerum liturg., I, iii, 3). But it occurs frequently for any religious assembly, and in this sense was adopted in the West by St. Benedict ("Regula Ben.", 17: "Vespertina Synaxis" — Vespers ) and by John Cassian ("Collat.", IX, 34: "ad concludendam synaxim"; ed. Hurter, Innsbruck, 1887, p. 315) etc. In this signification the word is now archaic in Greek and Latin. It is preserved, however, in the Byzantine Calendar as the title of certain feasts on which the people assemble in some particular church for the Holy Liturgy, and therefore corresponds with the Roman statio . Thus 4 January is the "Synaxis of the Holy Seventy", that is the feast of the seventy disciples (Luke, x, 1, where the Vulgate has seventy-two, on which day the assembly was once made in some church (at Constantinople?) dedicated to them ( Nilles, "Kalendarium manuale," I, 2nd ed., Innsbruck, 1896, p. 52); 26 December is the "Synaxis of the Theotokos and of Joseph the spouse and guardian of the Virgin", a feast in memory of the flight into Egypt, on which again the station was at a special church (ibid., 366).

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Prayer of the Day logo
Saint of the Day logo

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.