Byzantine Prayers

Prayers lay at the heart of religious practice and belief in Byzantium. Serving immediate and/or intended social, political, theological, and literary objectives, prayers are a valuable, though less explored, source of insight into the history of Byzantine spirituality, as well as the social and political history of Byzantium and the daily life of its citizens. In spite, and perhaps in response to, its socio-political and economic crisis, late Byzantium fostered a particularly notable proliferation of new prayers, composed especially by churchmen.