What is the Synaxarium and why is it read in the Liturgy?

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The Synaxarium is a collection of saints’ and martyrs’ lives arranged for daily reading on their commemoration days. It is read after the Acts of the Apostles in the Coptic Orthodox Liturgy as a continuation of Acts, guiding the faithful spiritually and making visible Christ’s continuing presence in His Church.

In Coptic Orthodox tradition, as described in Iris H. Elmasry’s Introduction-to-the-coptic-church-Iris-H.-Elmasry and Iris Habib El Masry - The Story of the Copts, the Synaxarium contains a resume of biographies of saints arranged for daily readings, with each biography written to be read on the day of the saint's commemoration. According to saints and tradition, it is a compilation of 381 saints' lives where each day of the year is assigned to a saint according to his or her ascension into Heaven. In Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail, it is also identified as the book containing the life story of saints and martyrs according to the date of their martyrdom. The reading of the Synaxarium holds a vital place within the Liturgy for several reasons: 1. Continuation of the Book of Acts: According to Introduction-to-the-coptic-church-Iris-H.-Elmasry, the Church, "desirous to guide Her children towards spiritual summits, ordered the reading of the 'lives' of saints and martyrs after reading the Acts of the Apostles." The Synaxarium is considered the continuation of the Book of Acts because the Book of Acts is "the only in the New Testament which does not end with the word 'Amen' implying its continuousness." 2. Rendering Christ's Continuity Visible: As recorded in The 21 A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs by Martin Mosebach (christian-lib.com), liturgical readings in the Coptic Church are not limited to the Bible, reflecting the conviction that Christianity is not merely a "book religion." In the liturgy, the fourth reading is drawn from the Synaxarium, "the Coptic martyrology and chronicle of the lives of saints," so that "references to the saints render visible the continuity of Jesus within his church." 3. Directing the Daily Readings: In Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail, it is explained that all the readings selected on these days are based on the Sinaxarium. When the Synaxarium contains more than one saint on a single date, the Church selects the readings based on one of them. The feast days of greater saints are designated as "special days" (such as the 22nd of Tobi commemorating Abba Anthony, father of all the monks), whereas the feast days of saints of lesser rank are designated as "transferred days." Sources: Introduction-to-the-coptic-church-Iris-H.-Elmasry; Iris Habib El Masry - The Story of the Copts; saints and tradition; Focus on the Coptic Family Fr. Mikhail Mikhail; The 21 A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs by Martin Mosebach (christian-lib.com)

What is the Synaxarium and why is it read in the Liturgy?

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