Description based upon print version of record.

Preliminary material -- INTRODUCTION -- PROCLUS, JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, AND ATTICUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE -- PROCLUS BISHOP OF CYZICUS -- PROCLUS ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE -- PROCLUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, HOMILIES 1–5 -- “THE EAR OF THE VIRGINAL BODY”: THE POETICS OF SOUND IN THE SCHOOL OF PROCLUS -- THE PURPLE THREAD AND THE VEIL OF FLESH: SYMBOLS OF WEAVING IN THE SERMONS OF PROCLUS -- THE CHRISTOLOGY OF PROCLUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX OF ANCIENT AUTHORS AND WORKS -- INDEX OF BIBLICAL CITATIONS -- SUBJECT INDEX -- INDEX OF GREEK TERMS.

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Proclus of Constantinople was an outstanding pulpit orator who established the rhetoric and rationale for the Byzantine devotion to the Mother of God. In this book, the critical editions of Proclus' most celebrated Marian sermons (Homilies 1-5) provide the point of departure for a far-reaching study of the rise of the Virgin's cult in Late Antiquity. The homilies are supported by a historical introduction to the life and work of Proclus, situating him within the larger religious culture of fifth-century Constantinople. Richly documented chapters explore the symbolism of the incarnation and virgin birth, including the notion of virginal \'conception through hearing,\' and the image of Mary's womb as a textile loom wich weaves a veil of flesh the bodiless divinity.