The Middle Eastern Texts Initiative recently rolled out another volume of On This Day. The month of March is now available.On This Day (translated from the Armenian “Yaysmawurk‘”) is a compilation of stories about venerable Christians saints and martyrs from days gone by.The collection was part of the great and varied Armenian liturgical tradition from the turn of the first millennium. The first Yaysmawurk‘ was translated from an existing Greek liturgical collection (the Synaxarion, “where the lives are all collected”). Armenian Christians adopted traditional stories and added their own, ultimately creating multiple versions of the Synaxarion as the culmination of a long and steady development of what is today called the cult of the saints.When we’re finished, there will be series of twelve Armenian-English editions—the first such editions ever published—one for each month of the year.These readings are ideal for personal devotional use or as a valuable resource for anyone interested in religious saints. You also might enjoy this episode of the Maxwell Institute Podcast. It’s a fascinating discussion about martyrdom.On This Day is part of the Maxwell Institute’s Early Christian Texts series.
