MENEON. – A liturgical book of the Greek rite, composed of 6 or 12 volumes, containing the proper chants and biblical readings for the Office of the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels, and the saints, i.e., the fixed-date feasts; and also the texts of the immovable feasts of the Lord in the ecclesiastical year (Christmas, Epiphany; the movable feasts of the Lord or of the ecclesiastical year are found in the Triodion for the pre-Paschal season, beginning 8 days before Septuagesima, in the Pentecostarion for the Paschal season, and in the Octoechos for the rest of the year).
Moreover, the M. contains more or less lengthy readings from the lives of saints and the rubrics of the Typikon, and corresponds to the Proper of Saints and the Roman Breviary. As an appendix, it includes chants and readings for saints who do not have proper texts, in accordance with the Common of Saints in the Roman Breviary. The M. is arranged by days and months (whence its name) of the Byzantine civil year, beginning with September, the Byzantine New Year; it is the most well-known sacred book among the Greeks and has been printed many times. The latest editions: Rome, 6 vols., 1888–1902; earlier editions: Venice 1527 ff., Constantinople 1843, Athens 1896.