The Woman with the Flow of Blood in the Homily of Pseudo-Chrysostom and the Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist
Abstract
The piece considers the story of the woman with the flow of blood (haimorrhoousa) in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke as it is represented in two works: the homily of Pseudo-Chrysostom (PG 59,575-578) and Kontakion 12 (in the Oxford edition) of Romanos the Melodist. Interpretations of this episode from the gospels touch upon the issue of ritual purity in the Jewish law as well as the attitude of Christian authors toward female menstruation. The texts mentioned above are examined, along with statements from the Fathers of the Church on menstruation, in an attempt to answer the question of whether Christian authors embraced the idea that menstruating women should be excluded from social and religious life. The article shows that the attitude of Christian authors towards menstruating women was in fact generally positive.
Keywords:
haimorrhoousa, menstruation, Romanos the Melodist, Pseudo-Chrysostom, Greek patristic tradition, ritual purity, illness, Mt 9:20-22, Mk 5:25-34, Lk 8:43-48References
Primary texts
Asterius Amazenus, Homilia in Iairum et in mulierem sanguinis profluvio labentem (PG 104, 221–224).
Dionysius Alexandrinus, “Epistula ad Basilidem,” The Letters and Other Remains of Dionysius of Alexandria (ed. Ch.L. Feltoe) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1904) 94–105.
Gregorius Nazianzenus, Oratio 40 (PG 36, 401–404).
Joannes Chrysostomus, Homilia XXXI (PG 57, 369–376).
Metzger, M. (ed.), Constitutiones Apostolorum. Les constitutions apostoliques (Sources Chrétiennes 329; Paris: Cerf 1986) II.
Pseudo-Chrysostomus, In principium indictionis novi anni, et in martyres, atque in mulierem quae sanguinis fluxum patiebatur (PG 59, 575–578).
Romanus Melodus, “Kontakion 12,” Sancti Romani Melodi Cantica Genuina (eds. P. Maas – C.A. Trypanis) (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1963) 88–93.
Secondary works
Amundsen, D.W., Medicine, Society and Faith in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (Baltimore, MD – London: Johns Hopkins University Press 1996).
Baert, B. – Kusters, L. –Sidgwick, E., “An Issue of Blood: The Healing of the Woman with the Haemorrhage (Mark 5.24B–34; Luke 8.42B–48; Matthew 9.19–22) in Early Medieval Visual Culture,” Journal of Religion and Health 51 (2012) 663–681. (Crossref)
Baert, B., “General Introduction. Touching the Hem,” The Woman with the Blood Flow (Mark 5:24-34). Narrative, Iconic, and Anthropological Spaces (eds. B. Baert – N. Schalley) (Art & Religion 2; Leuven – Walpole, MA: Peeters 2014) 1–32.
Carpenter, M., Kontakia of Romanos, Byzantine Melodist. I. On the Person of Christ (Columbia: University of Missouri Press 1973).
D’Angelo, M.R., “(Re)presentations of Women in the Gospels: John and Mark,” Women and Christian Origins (eds. R.S. Kraemer – M.R. D’Angelo) (New York – Oxford: Oxford University Press 1999) 129–149.
D’Angelo, M.R., “Power, Knowledge and the Bodies of Women in Mark 5:21-43,” The Woman with the Blood Flow (Mark 5:24-34). Narrative, Iconic, and Anthropological Spaces (eds. B. Baert – N. Schalley) (Art & Religion 2; Leuven – Walpole, MA: Peeters 2014) 81–106.
Evangelatou, M., “Virtuous Soul, Healthy Body: The Holistic Concept of Health in Byzantine Representations of Christ’s Healing Miracles,” Holistic Healing in Byzantium (ed. J.T. Chirban) (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press 2010) 173–241.
Grosdidier de Matons, J., “Hymne de l’Hémorroïsse,” Romanos le Mélode, Hymnes (Sources Chrétiennes 114; Paris: Cerf 1965) III, 79–85.
Haber, S., “A Woman’s Touch: Feminist Encounters with the Hemorrhaging Woman in Mark 5.24-34,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 26 (2003) 171–192. (Crossref)
Krueger, D., “Healing and the Scope of Religion in Byzantium,” Holistic Healing in Byzantium (ed. J.T. Chirban) (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press 2010) 119–130.
Kubiś, A., “The Hemorrhaging Woman and Jairus’ Daughter as Representatives of Israel. An Attempt at the Symbolic Reading of Mark 5:21-43”, The Biblical Annals 10/3 (2020) 355–387. (Crossref)
Lampe, G.W.H. (ed.), Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1961).
Lefteratou, A., “From Haimorrhoousa to Veronica? The Weaving Imagery in the Homeric Centos,” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 57 (2017) 1085–1119.
Levine, A.-J., “Woman with a Twelve-Year Hemorrhage,” Women in Scripture. A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament (eds. C. Meyers – T. Craven – R.S. Kraemer) (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 2001) 408–409, 424–425; 443–444.
Maisano, R., “Romanos’ Use of Greek Patristic Sources,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 62 (2008) 261–273.
Marx, B., Procliana: Untersuchung über den homiletischen Nachlass des Patriarchen Proklos von Konstantinopel (Münster: Aschendorff 1940).
Morris, S., “Blood and Holy Communion: Late Antique Use of Luke 8:42-48,” Studia Patristica 44 (2010) 195–199.
Robbins, V.K., “The Woman Who Touched Jesus’ Garment: Socio-Rhetorical Analysis of the Synoptic Accounts,” New Testament Studies 33 (1987) 502–515. (Crossref)
Schork, R.J., “The Medical Motif in the Kontakia of Romanos the Melodist,” Traditio 16 (1960) 353–363. (Crossref)
Schroeder, R., “Healing the Body, Saving the Soul: Viewing Christ’s Healing Ministry in Byzantium,” Holistic Healing in Byzantium (ed. J.T. Chirban) (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press 2010) 253–275.
Selvidge, M.J., “Mark 5:25-34 and Leviticus 15:19-20: A Reaction to Restrictive Purity Regulations,” Journal of Biblical Literature 103 (1984) 619–623. (Crossref)
Viljoen, F., “The Law and Purity in Matthew; Jesus Touching a Bleeding Woman and a Dead Girl (Mt 9:18-26),” Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif 55 (2014) 443–469. (Crossref)
Wassen, C., “Jesus and the Hemorrhaging Woman in Mark 5:24-34: Insights from Purity Laws from Qumran,” Scripture in Transition: Essays on Septuagint, Hebrew Bible, and Dead Sea Scrolls in Honour of Raija Sollamo (eds. A. Voitila – J. Jokiranta) (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 126; Leiden: Brill 2008) 641–660.
Zwiep, A.W., “Jairus, His Daughter and the Haemorrhaging Woman (Mk 5.21-43; Mt. 9.18-26; Lk. 8.40-56): Research Survey of a Gospel Story about People in Distress,” Currents in Biblical Research 13 (2015) 351–387. (Crossref)
University of Warsaw
Katarzyna Maria Dźwigała received her PhD in classics from the University of Warsaw in 2019. The title of her dissertation is The Images of Female Characters in the kontakia of Romanos the Melodist. Her research interests focus on the Greek literature and the Eastern Mediterranean in Late Antiquity.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8548-3923License
The author(s) grant (s) to the Licensee a non-exclusive and royalty-free license in accordance with the provisions of the Appendix: LICENSE TO USE THE WORK
