PANEGYRICUM, in church history, an ecclesiastical book, used by the Greek church, containing the panegyric orations of various authors, on the solemnities of Jesus Christ and the saints. It is found in MS.
in most churches, but is not the same in all; each church having its particular saints; and the compilers of this kind of books usually suited their collections to the taste of their own devotion. They are disposed according to the order of months, and frequently consist of twelve volumes, answering to the twelve months of the year.
Among the principal authors of this work are Athanasius, Cyril, Basil, Chrysostom, &c.