Abstract:
Michael Modrekili is one of the greatest and at the same time,
least studied figures of our past. He is the compiler and one of the
authors of a unique collection – “Iadgari” (978-988), in which he
gathered the entire hymnographic repertoire that existed at that
time in the Georgian language – both translated and original. This
is a “Mekhuri” collection which contains the ancient notation signs
– neumes. This collection, along with other Greek and Georgian authors,
preserves 4 hymns composed by Michael Modrekili himself. Among
them is an extensive hymnographic canon – “The Hymn of the Holy
Fathers”, which testifies to the author’s great theological education
and poetic talent. The study of the hymn revealed a new aspect of
Michael Modrekil’s work – his contribution directly to the liturgical
sphere.
In the “Hymn of the Holy Fathers” we come across 425 commemorations.
Among them are Georgian saints too. The hymn is supplemented
with Michael Modrekili’s colophon, in which he classifies
these commemorations. The study of the colophon revealed that
along with the remarkable example of the hymnography, we actually
deal with “Michael Modrekili’s Calendar.”
As is known, around the same period another unique collection
was compiled – “The Calendar of Ioane-Zosime”. A comparison of the
two texts revealed common commemorations.
As research has shown, one of the main sources for Michael
Modrekil is the ancient – Keimenic texts. Dozens of commemorations
included in “Michael Modrekil’s Calendar” appeared common
to “Keimena”. In all cases, the relevant hagiographic texts – “Martyrdoms”
are preserved in “Keimena”.
The old Georgian “Calendars” and “Keimenon” texts preserve
lots of such commemorations, the restoration of which today becomes
possible only with their help.
