Menalogion 3.0 Review and Recommended LXX Tweaks/Hacks

MENOLOGION 3.0 is a free computer program which provides an easy way to access the Troparia and Kontakia, Bible Readings and Lives of Saints of the day. This might be useful for a variety of reasons. If you would like to put the Troparia and Kontakia, Bible Readings or Lives of Saints in a Sunday bulletin, for instance, you will be able to find the items you want easily, and copy them to the Windows clipboard, so that you can paste them directly into your word processor or publishing program.

You can access the Troparia and Kontakia, Bible Readings and Lives of Saints for every day of the year. When MENOLOGION starts, it reads the date set in your computer's clock and displays the selected readings for the current date. You can set the program to display dates according to the Old Calendar or the New Calendar. You can select any date and display the Troparia and Kontakia or Bible Readings for that date. It is also possible to browse through the Troparia and Kontakia, Bible Readings and Lives of Saints either forward or backward day by day. And you can search for and find saints by name.

MENOLOGION can also display an Icon next to the text of Troparia and Kontakia or Bible Readings. There are 53 Icons included in the main program, with another 380 Icons available in an optional Supplemental Icon Library, containing at least one saint for every day of the year. MENOLOGION can be downloaded either with or without the Supplemental Icon Library, and the Supplemental Icon Library itself can be downloaded separately.

MENOLOGION 3.0 IS IN ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT

Unlike MENOLOGION 2.0, which was not updated since it was released in 2001, MENOLOGION 3.0 is in active development. While it is a well developed, mature and stable program, it is also a work in progress, and there will be periodic updates released fixing reported bugs and adding new features. The latest release of MENOLOGION 3.0 can always be found on this page. Bugs and feature requests should be sent to Michael Purcell. For information on how to correctly report a bug or problem, see the "Reporting Bugs" topic in the MENOLOGION 3.0 help file. You can find the topic under "Other Information" on the Contents tab in the left hand pane of the help system window.

ABOUT INSTALLED BIBLE FILES

MENOLOGION 3.0 adds the ability to use different translations (versions) of the bible. Bible versions that can be installed in MENOLOGION are plain text files provided by The Unbound Bible. These plain text files can be downloaded from the MENOLOGION home page (see below), but are no longer available for download from The Unbound Bible website. The unicode text bible files that can be downloaded from the Unbound Bible website can not be used. MENOLOGION 3.0 is an English only program, and the bible files avilable for download include nine different English language translations. There are also some ancient translations and some translations in Western European languages. These additional versions seem to work acceptably well in MENOLOGION, providing additional flexibility. However, MENOLOGION is not designed to read unicode text files, and can not display languages that require other language versions of Windows. This means that MENOLOGION can not correctly display Greek, Cyrilic, Asian and other such languages that use different alphabets.

I am interested in receiving as much feedback as possible on the use of these bibles files, the ancient translations and foreign language translations in particular, so that I can provide this information to potential users. If you are using one or more of these bibles, please Contact Me. Also write if you want to experiment with a bible in a language that is not available for download.

WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 3.0?

• Added functionality and readings of Lives of Saints for every day of the year from a translation of the Mesyatseslov of Saints Lives from the 1978-1979 Volumes 2-3 of the Moscow Patriarchate texts, as translated into English by Father Stephen Janos. Includes search capability.
• Added the ability to use different translations (versions) of the Bible. Added a function to allow the user to install and uninstall up to eleven different Bible versions in addition to the default King James version, for a total of twelve versions. The Bible Versions page of the Preferences dialog displays which version is currently active for each of New Testament, Old Testament and Apocrypha, for both Bible Readings and Bible Search and allows the user to choose from among the installed versions. The Bible Files page of the Preferences dialog displays the names of the installed files, and allows the user to install or uninstall Bible versons, as well as to edit the installed file's names.
• Corrected lookup of Gospel and Epistle verses for the latter part of the liturgical year. Specifically, when selected, the readings from the book of Luke begin on the Monday following the Sunday after the Elevation of the Cross in September, regardless of the place in the movable cycle. Also, the readings that are displayed beginning on the 32nd Sunday after Pentecost (or the 14th Sunday of Luke), and up until the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (or the Samaritan Woman), are handled more correctly. Added a check box in the preferences dialog where use of the "Lukan Jump" can be selected or deselected.
• Changed the filename convention used for saving customized Bible readings, so that customized readings are no longer displayed incorrectly between Old Calendar and New Calendar dates, or in years previous to or following the year the changes were made. Now when a Bible reading is customized, it will only be displayed in the year the custom reading was created, and will only be displayed in Old Calendar if it was created in Old Calendar, or New Calendar if it was created in New Calendar.
• Added a Preferences dialog which is opened on the Options menu. Some of the program preferences have been moved from the Options menu to the Preferences page of the Preferences dialog.
• The "Find the Date of Easter" command on the Help menu now displays the date of Easter and the date of Pascha for both this year and next year. In Old Calendar, it displays both the civil date and Julian calendar date for Pascha.
• Added the ability to select whether MENOLOGION displays saved personalized files or original texts when the program first opens or when the date is changed. This is set on the Preferences page of the Preferences dialog.
• Added "Search to End of Chapter" and "Search to end of Book" check boxes on the Find Bible Verses dialog. Also, an added panel at the bottom of the Find Bible Verses dialog displays the verse number range for all the chapters of the currently selected book. The Find Bible Verses dialog is now reinitialized each time it is opened, unless the program is in Bible Search mode, in which case the dialog remembers its settings.
• Added a "Return to Today" button on the Main Toolbar between the "Previous Day" and "Next Day" buttons, and a corresponding "Return to Today" command on the File menu. Added "Previous Year" and "Next Year" buttons on the Main Toolbar, and corresponding commands on the File menu.
• Added "print page __ to __" and "print selection" ability to the Print dialog.
• The "Delete File" command on the File menu is now invisible unless there is a personalized file to delete.
• The Save As dialog, and the Open dialog used to install Bible files, remember their last used directory from one session to the next. The default directory for both dialogs is My Documents.
• Changed the directory where application data is stored to conform with the current Windows convention of data use. Added a Browse Application Data Directory button on the Preferences page of the Preferences dialog that opens Windows Explorer to the data directory. The directory where Bible data files and personalized files are now stored is the application data directory, which is usually something like C:\Documents and Settings\ [User Name]\Application Data\Menologion\.
• Added a Query dialog that appears only the first time Menologion is run as a new installation, which asks users if they prefer to use the Julian Calendar (Old Calendar) or the Revised Julian Calendar (New Calendar), and sets the program preferences accordingly.
• MENOLOGION will now run only one instance at a time. If the user tries to open the program when an instance is already running, the existing instance will be restored and brought to the front.

DOWNLOAD USER CONTRIBUTED FILES

These are user contributed supplemental files for the MENOLOGION program. They are direct replacements for the default Gutenberg bible files OldTstmt.dat, NewTstmt.dat and Apoc.dat that are installed in the program directory. It is the user's responsibility to maintain these files. MENOLOGION will not function correctly if one or more of the files is missing from the program directory.

OldTstmt.zip 1.0 MB This is an updated public domain Old Testament module to conform to the LXX. This is a work in progress by Nelson Mitrophan Chin. This Old Testament is being restored to the LXX order according to H.B. Swete using the English translation of Brenton (1851). All Hebrew Masoretic additions and variations are bracketted and noted as such. KJV chapter and verse numbering are preserved in parenthesis for easy referencing.

All instances of the name Eliu is replaced with the more familiar Greek 'Elias' also known as Elijah. Suffer is replaced by give in Ps 15(16):10 to preserve the Greek verb dwseiv. For the Greek term 'sitw', corn is used instead of oil in Hosea 7:14.

The Song of the Three Holy Children and the Prayer of Azariah has been restored back to the LXX order of Daniel 3:24-90, inserted between verses 23 and 24 of the King James Version. Dn 3:24-30; 4:1-3 KJV are renumbered to 3:91-101. Daniel 4:4-37 KJV to Dn 4:1-33. The History of Susanna and the History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon, cut off from the end of Daniel in the KJV, has been restored back to the LXX order of Daniel as chapters 13 and 14.

The Greek Additions to Esther is restored to the LXX order with additions from Brenton's:

• Es 11:2-12:6 KJV (Add. A) is prepended to Es 1, as Es 1:1-17.
• Es 1:1-22 KJV as Es 1:18-39.
• Es 13:1-7 KJV (Add. B) is inserted between Es 3:13 and 3:14 KJV, and renumbered as Es 3:14-20.
• Es 3:14-15 KJV is renumbered as Es 3:21-22.
• Es 13:8-14:19 KJV (Add. C, D) is appended to Es 4 as Es 4:18-47.
• Es 15:1-16 KJV (Add. E) is prepended to Es 5 as Es 5:1-10 using Brenton's text and verse division, and replaces Es 5:1-2 KJV.
• Es 5:3-14 KJV is renumbered as Es 5:11-22.
• Es 16:1-24 KJV (Add. E) is inserted between Es 8:12 and Es 8:13 KJV, as Es 8:13-36.
• Es 8:13-17 KJV as Es 8:37-41.
• Es 10:4-11:1 KJV (Add. F) is appended to Es 10 as Es 10:4-14.

Jeremiah is rearranged according to the LXX. Any vesperal readings taken from Jeremiah or Proverbs may be off-aligned in the Menologion, as it is hard-coded to the KJV chapter and verse ordering.

Apoc.zip 318 KB This is an updated Anaginoskomena (Apocrypha) module by Nelson Mitrophan Chin using the King James Version with updates from Brenton's English translation of the LXX including the Prayer of Manasses, Psalm 151, 3 Maccabees and 4 Maccabees.

NewTstmt.zip 374 KB This is an updated New Testament module to conform to the Byzantine text by Nelson Mitrophan Chin using the King James Version with amendments to the language in 1833 by Noah Webster, America's first grammarian and founding father of American education, who in 1828 published the "American Dictionary of the English Language".

The Greek term 'Hades' is kept instead of translating it to 'hell' in Mt 11:23; Mt 16:18; Lk 10:15; Lk 16:23; Ac 2:27,31; 1Co 15:55; Re 1:18; Re 6:8; Re 20:13-14.

The Greek term 'Pascha' is kept instead of translating it to 'Passover' or 'Easter' in Mt 26:2,17-19; Mk 14:1,12,14,16; Lk 2:41; Lk 22:1,7,8,11,13,15; Jn 2:13,23; Jn 6:4; Jn 11:55; Jn 12:1; Jn 13:1; Jn 18:28,39; Jn 19:14; Ac 12:4; 1Co 5:7; Heb 11:28.

Since the Greek term 'nous' can also refer to the eye of the heart or soul or center of attention, 'nous' is kept instead of translating it to 'mind' or 'understanding' which refers only to intellectual reasoning, in Lk 24:45; Ro 1:28; Ro 7:23,25; Ro 11:34; Ro 12:2; Ro 14:5; 1Co 1:10; 1Co 2:16; 1Co 14:14,15,19; Ep 4:17,23; Phil 4:7; Col 2:18; 2Th 2:2; 1Ti 6:5; 2Ti 3:8; Ti 1:15; Re 13:18; Re 17:9

To convey the Greek term 'Hierourgeo' in Ro 15:16, 'ministering' is annotated with the clause [in priestly service]. For the Greek term 'Leitourgeo', 'minister' is annotated with the clause [the liturgy] in Act 13:2. For the Greek term 'Leitourgikos', ministering is replaced by the term 'liturgical' in Heb 1:14. To convey the Greek term 'Sunergeo', the clause [in synergy] is annotated in Mk 16:20; Ro 8:28; 1Co 16:16; 2Co 6:1; Jas 2:22. To convey the Greek term 'En' in Lk 23:42, 'into thy kingdom' is replaced with 'in thy kingdom'. To convey the Greek term 'Chrisma', the clause [of chrism] is annotated in 1Jn 2:20,27. For the Greek term 'Chrio' in Lk 4:18; Ac 4:27; Ac 10:38; 2Co 1:21; Heb 1:9, 'anointed' is replaced with 'chrismated'. For the Greek term 'presbuteros' and 'presbuterion', 'presbyter(s)' and 'presbytery' is used instead of 'elder(s)'. For the Greek term 'Eikon', 'icon' is used instead of 'image'. For the Greek term 'dwseiv', 'give' is used instead of 'suffer' in Acts 13:35.

Taking the original KJV New Testament one step further and to be consistent with the Greek Old and New Testament, Greek names are used, such as Jeremias for Jeremiah or Jeremy, Elias for Elijah, Osee for Hosea, Jonas for Jonah, Eliseus for Elisha, Timotheus for Timothy, Noe for Noah, Judas for Judah, Urias for Uriah, reversing Webster's update, whose intentions was to help correlate with the KJV Old Testament names.

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