Definition
Hymnology (from the words hymnon + legein, that is, to say a hymn): the theological and philological science known by this term has as its purpose the systematic study of the origin and development of the Greek liturgical hymns of the Orthodox Church. Whatever in the area of Orthodox worship is related to the ecclesiastical poetry and its creators is studied in both its philological and theological aspects in order that we may better understand the artistic quality of the hymns and their deeper relationship to the entire spirit of the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church. In the past the word hymnologos referred to one who sang or composed hymns.
