Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis
Encyclopedia
The Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis is a catalogue of Arabic, Coptic
, Syriac
, Armenian
, and Ethiopian
hagiographic materials, including ancient literary works on the saint's
lives, the translations
of their relics
, and their miracles
, arranged alphabetically by saint
. It is usually abbreviated as BHO in scholarly literature. The listings include MSS
, incipits
, and printed editions. The BHO along with the BHG
and BHL
are the most useful tools in the research of literary documents concerning the saints.
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
, Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, and Ethiopian
Ge'ez language
Ge'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the northern region of Ethiopia and southern Eritrea in the Horn of Africa...
hagiographic materials, including ancient literary works on the saint's
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
lives, the translations
Translation (relics)
In Christianity, the translation of relics is the removal of holy objects from one locality to another ; usually only the movement of the remains of the saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony...
of their relics
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
, and their miracles
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
, arranged alphabetically by saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
. It is usually abbreviated as BHO in scholarly literature. The listings include MSS
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, incipits
Incipit
Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...
, and printed editions. The BHO along with the BHG
Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca
The Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca is a catalogue of Greek hagiographic materials, including ancient literary works on the saint's lives, the translations of their relics, and their miracles, arranged alphabetically by saint. It is usually abbreviated as BHG in scholarly literature. The...
and BHL
Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina
The Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina is a catalogue of Latin hagiographic materials, including ancient literary works on the saint's lives, the translations of their relics, and their miracles, arranged alphabetically by saint. It is usually abbreviated as BHL in scholarly literature. The...
are the most useful tools in the research of literary documents concerning the saints.
Editions
- Bibliotheca hagiographica orientalis, ed. Paul Peeters, Subsidia Hagiographica 10 (Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes , 1910 [reprinted 1954, 1970]).