Monah Alexie Cojocaru
A Little-Known Translation of Metropolitan Dosoftei: The Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete | p. 221–232


Keywords
Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete, metropolitan Dosoftei, old Romanian literature, Putna Monastery, translations

Abstract

The present study discusses an important translation of Metropolitan Dosoftei, namely the Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete, which was printed as an addendum to Parimiile preste an, a work of the same Metropolitan. Since not all the extant copies of the Parimii contain the canon, one concludes that there were at least two printings of the Parimii, each with a different number of pages.

The translation of the Canon proves that Metropolitan Dosoftei translated not just liturgical but also hymnographic texts. He also translated the canons of the Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost and Annunciation – also included in the Parimii, but at an earlier date than the Canon –, as well as the Octoechos, another hymnographic book.

Thus the hymnographic texts started to be translated into Romanian not during the 18^th century, as it is commonly believed, but earlier, at the end of the 17^th century, at the initiative of Metropolitan Dosoftei.

Finally the author argues that the Parimii were printed in 1682 not in 1683 as the majority of the scholars believe, which implies a change in the order of the printings of the Metropolitan, with all the deriving consequences.