Definitive, etymological and semantic definition of the terms "typicon" and "statute"

Abstract

The aim of the article is to trace the historical formation of the liturgical statute, to outline the causal relationship of various Byzantine statutes with the Union typicons. Consider in detail the development of the liturgical charter among the Kiev Church, which in the late sixteenth century. restored unity with the Apostolic See.

Research methodology: the basis is the use of a chronological method of presenting the material, although sometimes it may seem that in one or another part of scientific research we go back to the previous era. Such references are quite justified, because the liturgical charter needs multifaceted coverage, even within one era. We will also use the historical-critical method to objectively illuminate the context of the development of the liturgical statutes in different time periods, from the first centuries to the present. In the article we apply analytical and synthetic research methods that are necessary in the analysis of ancient printed types. Of course, it is impossible to do without the method of comparative liturgy, which in this work, however, is only partially used. This is due to the need to analyze the typicons themselves, not the texts of the liturgical books. The method of comparative liturgy will help to more objectively assess the affiliation of a particular typicon to a particular tradition, as well as indicate borrowings from other traditions or statutes.

The scientific novelty is that for the Church of Christ worship is her life and breath. It is the liturgical prayer that allows the Church to be not just an «institution», but already here on earth, to take part in the divine life of the Holy Trinity. Especially the Eastern Church, through worship, helps people to attend the Heavenly Liturgy, so it is not surprising that the Byzantine rite, which is also used by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, is characterized by a very accurate expression «heaven on earth». In order to regulate worship, in the first centuries, there is a need for special statutory books that would help to properly combine the very rich psalmic, hymnographic, song, biblical and ritual heritage of the Church, in a particular worship, on a given day. This is how the first typicons appeared - liturgical books, which contain clear rules for regulating and conducting all worship services. Unfortunately, in the Greek Catholic Church, with the exception of the study of Mr. Igor Vasylyshyn, Doctor of Liturgical Theology, there have been no attempts to analyze and study in detail the process of creating a constitution, its development and features in the union environment. This fact prompted him to write a scientific paper, which would be one of the first bricks in the construction of modern liturgical theology of the Greek Catholic Church in the field of liturgical statutes.

The first manuscripts, which contained a description of certain norms concerning the prayer and liturgical life, come from the monastic environment. The most famous and influential of these are the Statutes of St. Sava the Blessed (later known as the Jerusalem Statutes) and Theodore the Studite (later known as the Studite Statutes). Translated into Church Slavonic, the book Τυπικον is called the "Charter". So today the term "statute" can be considered to correspond, though not the absolute equivalent, to the term of Greek origin "typicon", given their alternating practical application in modern liturgical theology. Moreover, the term "typicon" is most often understood as a liturgical book, and the term "charter" expresses the full scope of the liturgical charter.