1

Gendering the Baby in Byzantine Prayers on Child-Bed

In an article on the fate of babies dying before baptism in Byzantium Jane Baun proposed the
hypothesis that a human being received an identity only through baptism – which might explain the
lack of concern about the posthumous fate of unbaptised babies in Byzantine theology.1 This claim
may be questionable in the light of systematic theology, but it offers the valuable insight that for the
Byzantine church personhood was intimately connected with inclusion into the community of the
church. Baptism marked the full inclusion into the church. However, the Byzantine church developed
also rites anticipating baptism and defining the child born within the Christian community as a future
member of the church. To quote a rubric on rites for the conversion of people of other faith: “after
this (sc. the renunciation of the old faith), the person is to be regarded as an unbaptised Christian,
like the young children of Christians who will be baptised”.2 In this paper I will examine the rites for
yet unbaptised infants born to Christian parents, concentrating on the usage of gendered expressions
as opposed to grammatically neutral words to refer to the child – and the implications of such a
usage. My sources for this paper are solely prayerbooks of the Constantinopolitan tradition, as
identified, edited and studied by Miguel Arranz.3 My observations are part of an on-going research
project and have a preliminary character.

The prayers

Prayers for the period after child-birth belong to two overlapping cycles: prayers for the child and
prayers for the mother. The prayers for the child already existed in the earliest preserved
prayerbooks from the eighth century onwards. Prayers for the mother were added later: the earliest
manuscripts of the Constantinopolitan tradition transmitting these prayers date from the 13th
century. In the manuscripts these prayers follow or, less often, precede the prayers for the child. The
prayers for the child may include:

• prayers for “sealing” the child and giving him or her a name on the eighth day (one prayer in
Arranz) and
• prayers for the churching of the child on the fortieth day (two prayers in Arranz).

The prayers for the mother may include:

• prayers for the churching of the mother on the fortieth day (two prayers in Arranz)

Further prayers for the mother are first attested in the fifteenth century and will not be
considered in this paper. These are:

• prayers said on the day of birth and

1
Baun, J., The fate of babies dying before baptism in Byzantium, in: D. Wood (ed.), The church and childhood.
Oxford 1994, 115-125.
2
χριστιανὸς ἀβάπτιστος οἷα τυχόν εἰσι τὰ τῶν χριστιανῶν παιδία τὰ μέλλοντα βαπτίζεσθαι. Miguel Arranz, Les
Sacrements de l’ancien Euchologe constantinopolitain (2). Ière partie. Admission dans l’église des convertis des
hérésies ou d’autres religions non-chrétiennes. OCP 49 (1983) 42-90, 63, n. 34 and 65, fn. 35.36-37.
3
Miguel Arranz, Les Sacrements de l’ancien Euchologe constantinopolitain (3). IIème partie. Admission dans
l’église des enfants des familles chrétiennes (premier catéchumenat). Orientalia Christiana Periodica 49 (1983)
284-302; idem, Preghiere parapenitenziali di purificatione e di liberatione nella traditione bizantina. Orientalia
Christiana Periodica 61 (1995) 425-494, here II.I (p. 444-451): preghiere di purificazione delle donne dopo il loro
parto; idem, L’Eucologio Constantinopolitano agli inizi del secolo XI. Hagiasmatarion & Archieratikon con
l’aggiunta del Leiturgikon. Rome 1996.
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• mid-term prayers between birth and churching, said on the fifteenth or twentieth day.

The prayers for the child have strong biblical references. The prayers for the churching of the child
begin with references to Christ’s presentation to the Temple, whereas the prayers for the sealing and
name-giving, although lacking explicit biblical reference, are said on the eighth day, on which Jesus
Christ was circumcised according to Jewish custom. These prayers look forward to the full inclusion
into the church through baptism. The prayers for the woman, on the other hand, concentrate on the
liminality of child-bed. Byzantine canon law inherited the Old-Testament idea that the woman
remains impure for forty days after she has given birth. In these forty days women were excluded
from the space of the church and also from receiving Holy Communion. In the prayers for the woman
after parturition God is asked to purify her, so that she may partake the Holy Communion in due
time. There is no reference to Mary, or to Eve.

1. Initiation prayers for the child

i. Prayer for the eighth day

The text of the prayer for the child on the eighth day as edited by Arranz is as follows:

“Lord our God, we pray to you and supplicate: let the light of your face be marked upon your (male)
servant so-and-so, and let the cross of your only begotten son be marked upon his heart and
thoughts, so that he escapes the vanity of the world and every evil plot of the enemy and follows your
commandments. And grant him, Lord, that your holy name remains on him unrepudiated, as he will
be attached to your holy church in due time and perfected by the awe-inspiring sacraments of your
Christ; so that, having conducted himself (πολιτευσάμενος) according to your commandments and
preserved the seal unbroken, he achieves the beatitude of your chosen ones. By your Christ’s grace
and love to humanity, with whom you are glorified, together with the all-holy and good and life-
giving spirit.”4

In this prayer the child is referred to exclusively by the gendered expression “ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ θεοῦ”
(the male servant of God). Since the male form is used also in prayers accompanied by rubrics which
give instructions for both male and female infants – we will come to this later – it is assumed that the
expression would be adapted to ἡ δούλη τοῦ θεοῦ for female infants. Indeed, to my knowledge the
only cases in which the prayer books use explicitely the expression ἡ δούλη τοῦ θεοῦ, are prayers
said exclusively for women, such as the child-bed prayers, absolution prayers for women, or prayers
in the ordination service for deaconesses. In prayers said for both genders, as in baptismal prayers,
the grammatical gender is the universal male.

In this prayer the main interaction is between God and the child: the child is defined in relationship
with God (servant of God) and God’s light is to be marked upon him. The servant of God is the

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1 Κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶv/ 2 σοῦ δεόμεθα καὶ σὲ ἱκετεύομεv/ 3 σημειωθήτω τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου/ 4 ἐπὶ τὸv
δοῦλοv σου τόvδε/ 5 καὶ σημειωθήτω ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ μοvογεvοῦς σου υἱοῦ/ 6 Ἐv τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ τοῖς
διαλογισμοῖς αὐτοῦ/ 7 εἰς τὸ φυγεῖv τὴv ματαιότητα τοῦ κόσμου/ 8 καὶ πᾶσαv τὴv ποvηρὰv ἐπιβουλὴν τοῦ
ἐχθροῦ/ 9 ἀκολοuθεῖv δὲ τοῖς προστάγμασί σου/ 10 καὶ δὸς κύριε/ 11 ἀvεξάρvητοv μεῖvαι τὸ ὄvομά σου τὸ
ἅγιον ἐπ' αὐτόv/ 12 συvαπτόμεvοv ἐv καιρῷ εὐθέτῳ/ 13 τῇ ἁγίᾳ σου ἐκκλησίᾳ./ 14 καὶ τελειούμεvοv διὰ τῶv
φρικτῶv μυστηρίωv/ 15 τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου/ 16 ἵvα κατὰ τὰς ἐvτολάς σου πολιτευσάμεvος/ 17 καὶ φυλάξας τὴv
σφραγίδα ἄθραυστον/ 18 τύχῃ τῆς μακαριότητος τῶν ἐκλεκτῶv σου./ 19 Χάριτι καὶ φιλαvθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ
σου/ 20 μεθ' οὗ εὐλογητὸς εἶ/ 21 σὺv τῷ παvαγίῳ καὶ ἀγαθῷ/ 22 καὶ ζωοποιῷ σου πvεύματι. Arranz,
Euchologio Constantinopolitano, Prayer B 1:1, p. 169-170.
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subject of several active verbs: φυγεῖν (escape), ἀκολουθεῖν (follow), πολιτευσάμενος (conduct
himself), φυλάξας (preserve), τύχῃ (obtain).He is also the implied agent of the phrase ἀvεξάρvητοv
μεῖvαι τὸ ὄvομά σου ἐπ' αὐτόv (that your holy name remains on him unrepudiated). In the two
passive constructions he is the recipient of sacraments: συvαπτόμεvοv τῇ ἁγίᾳ σου ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ
τελειούμεvοv διὰ τῶv φρικτῶv μυστηρίωv (attached to your holy church and perfected by the awe-
inspiring sacraments). The future affiliation to the church community is a recurring theme: having
been attached to your holy church, having conducted himself within the community (this is the
meaning of πολιτευσάμενος), he achieves the beatitude of your chosen ones.

In the rubrics of the above cited prayer the title is usually as follows:

Prayer to seal a young child (παιδίον: neuter, diminutive) taking a name on the eighth day of its/his
(αὐτοῦ) birth.5

The prayer is followed by the instruction:

And having completed the prayer, (the priest) seals its/his (αὐτοῦ) brow and chest and mouth.6

In some later prayerbooks this prayer is preceded by the instruction: One must know that on the
eighth day after birth the infant is brought to the church by the midwife to take a name.7 As in the
previous rubrics, the neuter infant (βρέφος) is used. The infant is the object of a passive syntax, the
agent being the midwife.

ii. Prayers for the churching of the baby on the fortieth day

The prayer transmitted in the earliest prayerbooks is as follows:

Lord, our God, who on the fortieth day went up to the Temple according to the Law together with
Mary, your holy mother, and was accepted into the arms of the righteous Symeon, increase this
(male) servant of yours in your power, so that, by obtaining the bath of rebirth, he becomes a child of
light and day, and by obtaining the share of your chosen, he becomes a communicant of your holy
flesh and blood, being guarded by the grace of the holy, consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, for the
glory of you and your all-holy and good and life-giving spirit, now and forever.8

In this prayer the child is referred to as “the male servant of God”, the gendered expression of
defining the human in relationship with God. The servant of God is compared with Christ, who went
(not “was brought”!) to the Temple. The child is the object solely of God’s actions: increase
(αὔξησον) this (male) servant of yours ... being guarded by the grace (φυλαττόμενος τῇ χάριτι). The

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Εὐχὴ εἰς τὸ κατασφραγίσαι παιδίοv λαμβάvοv ὄvομα τῇ Η' ἡμέρᾳ τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ. Arranz, Euchologio
Constantinopolitano, Prayer B 1:1, p. 169.
6
Καὶ πληρῶν τὴν εὐχὴν σφραγίζει αὐτοῦ τὸ μέτωπον τὸ στόμα καὶ τὸ στῆθος. Arranz, Euchologio
Constantinopolitano, Prayer B 1:1, p. 169.
7
Ἰστέον ὅτι τῇ μετὰ γέννησιν ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ προσάγεται τῷ ναῷ παρὰ τῆς μαίας τὸ βρέφος εἰς τὸ λαμβάνειν
ὄνομα etc. Arranz, Les Sacrements 3/II, p. 291, n. 9.
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Κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶv· ὁ ἐv τεσσαράκοvτα ἡμέραις κατὰ τὸν νόμον εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἀνελθὼν μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς ἁγίας
μητρός σου· καὶ ἐv ταῖς ἀγκάλαις τοῦ δικαίου Συμεὼv δεχθείς· αὔξησοv καὶ τὸν δοῦλον σου τόνδε τῇ δυνάμει
σου ἵνα τυχὼν καὶ τοῦ λουτροὺ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας γενήσεται τέκνον φωτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας· καὶ τυχὼν τῆς μερίδος τοῦ
κλήρου τῶν ἐκλεκτῶv σου κοινωνὸς γένηται καὶ τοῦ τιμίου σώματος καὶ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου
φυλαττόμενος τῇ χάριτι τῆς ἁγίας, ὁμοουσίου καὶ ἀδιαιρέτου τριάδος Arranz, Les Sacrements 3/II, prayer B
1:2, p. 293, n. 10.
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verb increase is the only indication that the servant of God is not fully grown up yet. Otherwise, he is
the subject of verbs that denote a life within the church community.

A later version, transmitted from the 13th century onwards, is as follows:

Lord our God, who on the fortieth day was brought to the Temple of the Law by Mary, your holy and
virgin mother, and was accepted in the arms of the righteous Symeon, you yourself, omnipotent Lord,
bless this infant, which was brought to be presented to you, the creator of all, and increase it in every
deed which is good and pleasing to you. Drive away from it every opposing power of the enemy
through the sign of your cross; for you, Lord, are the one who guards the infants; so that he (!) is
deemed worthy of holy baptism and obtains the share of your chosen ones, guarded, together with
us, by the grace of your holy and consubstantial and indivisible Trinity. For to you is due every
gratitude and worship, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.9

This later prayer presents a different picture: never is the gendered expression “servant of God”
used. Instead, the child is referred to by the neuter βρέφος (infant). As in the previous prayer, the
child is compared with Christ who was brought (passive!) to the Temple. Unlike the two prayers
examined before, the child is the subject of a passive syntax, in which the agent is not God, but an
unnamed human: τὸ προσαχθὲv τoῦτo βρέφος (the infant brought to you). The supplications refer
also to the state of the child as of someone who needs to grow up (αὔξησον, increase) with the
remark that God is the one who guards the infants (another neuter: νήπια). However, in the second
half of the prayer, which refers to baptism and the inclusion into the church community, the
participles become abruptly masculine without a change of subject: καταξιωθεὶς (deemed worthy)
and φυλαττόμεvος (guarded), with the significant addition “together with us” (σὺv ἡμῖv).

The title of this prayer is “Prayer, when the child (παιδίον, neuter diminutive) enters the church on
the fortieth day of its birth”10 or similar in some manuscripts, and “Prayer on churching a child
(παιδίον, neuter diminutive) on the fortieth day”11 or similar in others. In the twelfth-century codex
Sinaiticus graecus 973 the following rubric is added: “Then the priest, holding the little child (παιδίον,
neuter diminutive) makes obeisance at the holy altar and says “Now you dismiss”” (i.e. Symeon’s
prayer).12 Some prayerbooks dating from the 13th century elaborate this obeisance, introducing the
first ritual restriction for female members of the Byzantine Orthodox Church: “Then the priest takes
this child (παιδίον, neuter diminutive) in his hands and brings it to the altar; and he puts its mouth on
both holy gates in the manner of kissing, and does the same at the holy altar, bringing (the child) in a
position as if it makes obeisance. And if it is male, he goes round the altar thrice, and makes

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Κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶv/ 2 ὁ ἐv τεσσαράκοvτα ἡμέραις/ 3 ὡς βρέφος προσαχθεὶς τῷ vομικῷ ναῷ/ 4 ὑπὸ Μαρίας
τῆς ἀπειρογάμου καὶ ἁγίας μητρός σου/ 5 καὶ ἐv ταῖς ἀγκάλαις Συμεὼv τοῦ δικαίου δεχθείς/ 6 αὐτὸς Δέσποτα
παvτοδύvαμε/ 7 καὶ τὸ προσαχθὲv τoῦτo βρέφος/ 8 ἐμφαvισθῆvαί σοι τῷ πάvτωv ποιητῇ/ 9 εὐλόγησοv καὶ εἰς
πᾶv ἔργον ἀγαθὸν καὶ σοὶ εὐάρεστοv/ 10 αὔξησοv ἀποσοβῶv ἀπ' αὐτοῦ/ 11 πᾶσαv ἐvαvτίαv δύvαμιv/ 12 διὰ
τῆς σημειώσεως τοῦ τύπου τοῦ σταυροῦ/ 13 σὺ γὰρ εἶ ὁ φυλάσσωv τὰ vήπια κύριε/ 14 ἵvα καταξιωθεὶς τοῦ
ἁγίου βαπτίσματος/ 15 τύχῃ τῆς μερίδος τῶν ἐκλεκτῶv σου/ 16 ἐv τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου/ 17 φυλαττόμεvος σὺv
ἡμῖv τῇ χάριτι/ 18 τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου καὶ ἀδιαιρέτου τριάδος./ 19 Σοὶ γὰρ πρέπει πᾶσα εὐχαριστία καὶ
προσκύvησις/ 20 τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πvεύματι/ 21 vῦv καὶ ἀεὶ και εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Arranz,
Euchologio Constantinopolitano, prayer B 1:2, p. 170-171.
10
Εὐχὴ ὅτε εἰσέρχεται παιδίον εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τῇ Μ΄ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ. Arranz, Les Sacrements
293, n. 10.
11
Εὐχὴ εἰς τὸ ἐκκλησιάσαι παιδίον εἰς τὴν Μ' ἡμέρᾳ. Arranz, Euchologio Constantinopolitano 171.
12
Ειτα βασταζων ο ιερευς το παιδιον προσκυνων την αγιαν τραπεζαν λεγει ουτως· Νυν απολυεις. Arranz, Les
Sacrements 3/II, p. 293, app. crit. ad lin. 29.
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obeisance at its four parts. If it is female, he does not go to the front part; however, he goes to the
remaining three thrice and makes obeisance. And having done this, the priest says to himself “Now
you dismiss your servant, Master”, and after that he puts the child (παιδίον, neuter diminutive) on the
gates of the sanctuary and says: “Let us pray to the Lord” and the prayer follows immediately”.13

2. Prayers for the woman on the fortieth day after birth

Two prayers for the woman on the fortieth day are found in prayerbooks of the Constantinopolitan
tradition from the thirteenth century onwards. Prayerbooks usually transmit one of these two
prayers, in most cases following the prayer for the churching of the child on the fortieth day. In
several manuscripts, however, the prayer said for the mother on the fortieth day is placed at another
part of the manuscript, with no relation to the prayer said for the child on the same day.14

Only one of the two prayers for the woman, the first in Arranz’s edition, mentions the child. The
prayer reads as follows:

Lord, omnipotent God, the Father of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who created every
rational and irrational nature through your word, who brought everything from not being into being,
we supplicate you: as you have rescued your female servant so-and-so by your will, purify her from
every sin and every filth, while she approaches your holy church, so that she is deemed worthy to
partake of your holy sacraments. As for the little child (παιδίον, neuter diminutive) born from her,
bless it, increase it, guard it, grant it health and longevity; for you brought it forth and showed to it
the sensible light; so that you deem it/him (αὐτῷ) worthy of the intelligible light, at a time which you
set, and include him (αὐτὸν!) into your holy flock, through your only-begotten Son. Together with Him
we offer you the glory etc.15

The first half of the prayer refers to the woman. In this prayer the woman is identified as “the female
servant of God”. Neither in this prayer, nor in any other prayer on the fortieth day is she referred to
as “mother”. She is not defined in relation to the child, but to God. Even where her previous state as
accouchée is alluded to, it is only by relation to God, not the child: you have rescued your female
servant (διέσωσας, i.e. rescued from danger). In fact, there is no mention of the child in this first
part. The rubrics give the instruction that if the child is no more alive, the prayer ends with the first
part. The second half of the prayer refers exclusively to the child. At the beginning, the child is

13
Εἶτα τὸ παιδίον αὐτὸ μετὰ χεῖρας λαμβάνων ὁ ἱερεύς, εἰς τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἀπάγει· καὶ ἐπιτιθεὶς τὸ στόμα
τούτου παρ᾿ἑκατέρα τῶν ἁγίων θυρῶν ἐν σχήματι ἀσπασμοῦ, τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ ποιῶν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν τράπεζαν,
σχηματίζει αὐτὸ ὡς προσκυνοῦν. Καὶ εἰ μὲν ἄρρεν ἐστί, περιέρχεται τρίτον τὴν ἁγίαν τράπεζαν καὶ κατὰ τὰ
τέσσαρα μέρη ταύτης τελεῖ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς προσκυνήσεως. Εἰ δὲ θῆλυ, εἰς μὲν τὸ ἔμπροσθεν οὐκ ἄπεισι μέρος·
εἰς ἕκαστον δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν τριῶν ἐκ τρίτου παραγίνεται καὶ τελεῖ τὴν προσκύνησιν. Τούτων δὲ γινομένων,
λέγει καθ᾿ἑαυτὸν ὁ ἱερεὺς τό Νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου δέσποτα, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τίθησι τὸ παιδίον ἐπὶ τὰς
θύρας τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ λέγει· Τοῦ Κυρίου δεηθῶμεν· καὶ εὐθὺς ἡ εὐχή. Arranz, Les Sacrements 3/II, p.
295, n. 11. The earliest prayerbook cited by Arranz is cod. Atheniensis EBE 662, dating from the 13th century.
14
See Arranz, Les Sacrements 3/II, p. 299-301 and idem, Preghiere parapenitenziali, p. 450-451.
15
Δέσποτα Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ Πατὴρ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ
πᾶσαν φύσιν λογικήν τε καὶ ἄλογον διὰ τοῦ λόγου σου δημιουργήσας, ὁ τὰ πάντα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἰς τὸ εἶναι
παραγαγών· δεόμεθα καὶ παρακαλοῦμέν σε· ὅτι τῷ σῷ θελήματι διέσωσας τὴν δούλην σου τὴν δεῖνα,
καθάρισον αύτὴν ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας καὶ παντὸς ῥύπου προσερχομένην τῷ ἁγίᾳ σου ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἵνα
ἀκατακρίτως ἀξιωθῇ μετασχεῖν τῶν ἁγίων σου μυστηρίων, καὶ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς γεγεννημένον παιδίον εὐλόγησον,
αὔξησον, φύλαξον, ὑγίαν δώρησαι, μακροημέρευσιν, ὅτι σὺ παρήγαγες αὐτὸ καὶ ἔδειξας αὐτῷ τὸ αἰσθητὸν
φῶς, ἵνα τοῦ νοητοῦ φωτὸς αὐτῷ καταξιώσεις ἐν καιρῷ ὅ ὥρισας καὶ συγκαταρίθμησαι αὐτὸ τῇ ἁγίᾳ σου
ποίμνῃ διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς σου Υἱοῦ, μεθ᾿οὗ σοὶ τὴν δόξαν ἀναπέμπομεν· τῷ etc. Arranz, Preghiere
parapenitenziali, prayer B 9:1, p. 445-447.
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referred to by the neuter παιδίον and the passive participle γεννηθὲν, which relates the child with
the mother (ἐξ αὐτῆς, from her) through the act of birth. The supplications address the state of
infancy: the physical vulnerability and the need to grow up. Then, the event of birth is addressed
again, this time in relation to God: you brought it forth and showed to it the sensible light. The theme
of the creation by God leads to the baptism, and in this context, without a change of subject, the
pronoun referring to the child becomes masculine.

Conclusions

A close reading of the four prayers, one for the sealing on the eighth day, two for the churching of
the child on the fortieth day and one for the churching of the mother on the fortieth day reveal that
gendering is closely connected to the inclusion of the child into the church community. This is not a
linear process, but rather depends on the context. In the process of initiation through sealing and
churching and in the prospect of baptism the child is referred to by the gendered formula “servant of
God”; he or she is defined in relation to God; he or she is often the passive subject of verbs in the
active voice. The supplications concern his or her inclusion into the church community, without any
mention of the state of infancy. There is no differentiation between male and female infants in the
text of the prayers themselves. However, a gender hierarchy is already established by the fact that
the gendered forms are masculine, which was – and still is – the universal gender. A further
manifestation of a gender hierarchy is introduced in the rubrics of later prayers and concerns
restrictions in ritual actions – in this case the privilege of a male baby of making obeisance at the
front side of the altar. In this paper I left aside questions concerning the late appearance of this
rubric, but questions of chronology are an important issue which needs further investigation.

In a different context, however, the child is still defined by grammatically neutral terms in relation to
the mother. It is noteworthy that in the rubrics of prayerbooks the child is referred to exclusively by
neutral forms, even where the prayers speak only of the gendered servant of God. The “clash” is all
the more apparent in the syntactical anacoluthon in two of the prayers examined aboved, where the
genderless child is abruptly referred to in masculine forms in the prospect of baptism. The male or
female servant of God, who is defined only in relation with God and his community regardless of age,
does not denote a status within Byzantine society, but a liturgical persona, which every person
acquires as he or she is attached to the church.

Eirini Afentoulidou, Austrian Academy of Sciences