Vatican approves liturgical texts for Arabian saints
Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship approved new liturgical texts for St. Arethas and companions on July 16, 2026. The texts will be used by local churches in Northern and Southern Arabia, enhancing liturgical life and devotion to the 6th‑century martyrs. St. Arethas, a 6th‑century Arab prince, and 340 companions were martyred under King Dhu Nuwas; the feast day is celebrated on October 24. The approval is expected to deepen devotion among Christians in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the broader Arabian Peninsula.
about 1 month ago
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved official liturgical texts for St. Arethas and his 340 companions, enabling churches in the Arabian Peninsula to celebrate their feast with proper prayers and readings. The new texts aim to enrich the liturgical life of the Apostolic Vicariates of Northern and Southern Arabia and strengthen devotion to these early martyrs, who are especially revered by Christians in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. 1
St. Arethas was a princely figure in the 6th‑century Arabian city of Nagran. According to the Roman Martyrology, he and 340 companions were martyred during the reign of Emperor Justin under the persecution ordered by the Arabian king Dhu Nuwas. 1
The king reportedly forced the inhabitants of Nagran into a trench that was set ablaze. Before his death, Arethas is said to have proclaimed that, like a well‑pruned vine, the Christian community would flourish again after being burned. 1
On 16 July 2026, the Dicastery issued a letter confirming a new set of liturgical texts for use in both the Northern and Southern Arabian Vicariates. The Vatican expressed hope that these “proper texts” will promote the development of liturgical life and deepen devotion to the martyr saints. 1
Christians remain a minority in the Middle East, yet they have maintained a continuous presence since the religion’s earliest centuries. The feast of St. Arethas and his companions is celebrated locally on 24 October, but until the Vatican’s recent approval, no official prayers or readings were available. The new texts provide a unified way for Arabian Catholics to honor these martyrs, reinforcing their cultural and spiritual identity. 1*
Enhance Arabic Catholic liturgy through approved saintly texts
Arabic Catholic liturgy can be enriched by the writings of the saints, provided that these texts serve the liturgy without replacing its approved structure. The safest principle is:
Use saintly texts extensively in the Liturgy of the Hours, homilies, catechesis, devotional worship, hymnody, and approved proper celebrations—but introduce them into the Eucharistic liturgy itself only through the competent ecclesiastical authority.
The saints should direct attention to Christ and the Paschal Mystery, not become a competing focus. The Church teaches that celebrations of the saints proclaim “the wonderful works of Christ in his servants” and offer examples for imitation; nevertheless, saintly celebrations must not overshadow the mysteries of salvation.
“Arabic Catholic liturgy” is not a single rite. Arabic is used among several Catholic Churches, including the Coptic Catholic, Maronite, Syriac Catholic, Melkite, Chaldean, Armenian, and Latin communities. Their liturgical books and traditions differ.
The Coptic Catholic tradition, for example, possesses Arabic versions of the Eucharistic service, the Pontifical, the Ritual, the Katamaros or lectionary, the Synaxarion, psalters, Theotokia, doxologies, and hymn collections. Historical Catholic editions also organized Coptic-Arabic liturgical books for Catholic use.
The Maronite tradition illustrates why inculturation must respect the original rite. Its reform sought to restore elements of the authentic Maronite tradition, while addressing the practical relationship between Syriac—the traditional liturgical language—and Arabic, the language commonly spoken by the faithful. Parallel Syriac-Arabic presentation has therefore been used as a pastoral solution.
Consequently, saintly texts should be selected according to the particular Church:
The use of Arabic should therefore be a means of making the Church’s inherited worship intelligible, not a reason to erase Syriac, Coptic, Greek, or other traditional liturgical languages.
The Liturgy of the Hours is the most natural place for substantial extracts from approved saintly writings. The Office of Readings, for instance, can present a theological, spiritual, or biographical text from a saint whose memorial is being celebrated.
A recent Roman example is the approved memorial of Saint John Henry Newman. The official liturgical material includes a second reading from his Apologia Pro Vita Sua, together with a collect, psalm, Gospel acclamation, and Gospel reading. This model could guide Arabic Catholic commissions: a saint’s text should be integrated through a complete, ecclesially approved liturgical celebration rather than inserted informally.
Saintly texts are especially effective in preaching. A homilist may quote a saint to illuminate the biblical readings, provided that the proclamation of Scripture remains primary.
For example, Newman’s spiritual journey can be expressed through the image of God’s “kindly light.” The Holy See presents his conversion and ministry as a movement toward the fullness of truth, service, preaching, teaching, and care for the poor. Such material could enrich Arabic homilies on conversion, truth, Christian unity, education, discernment, and perseverance.
The quotation should be:
Saintly texts can be used in:
These settings allow longer readings, alternating Scripture with patristic or saintly passages, without confusing devotional material with the Eucharistic rite.
Saintly poetry and prayers may inspire Arabic hymns, refrains, and responsorial chants. However, adaptation requires theological and liturgical review. A poetic text may be beautiful yet unsuitable for worship if it is doctrinally ambiguous, overly individualistic, or disconnected from the liturgical season.
A useful structure would be:
Scripture — brief saintly meditation — congregational refrain — silence — intercession
This pattern allows the saint to function as a witness and teacher while preserving the primacy of the Word of God.
Saintly texts should not be added spontaneously to the Eucharistic Prayer, the readings, the presidential prayers, or other fixed parts of the Mass. The liturgical books of the Eastern Catholic Churches contain particular structures, prayers, and hymnographic traditions; historical sources also note that official Catholic revisions sometimes removed theologically problematic material and simplified confused arrangements.
This indicates an important principle: historical antiquity alone does not make a text suitable for liturgical use. A text must also be doctrinally sound, compatible with the rite, pastorally appropriate, and approved by the Church.
The following should be avoided:
The Church’s current discipline requires a distinction between private enrichment and liturgical incorporation.
A parish may use approved devotional material outside the Mass, but new liturgical texts, proper celebrations, calendar entries, or official translations require examination by the competent authority. The Dicastery’s current norms state that a diocesan, national, or religious proper of the Martyrology must be sent for review and confirmation. Texts submitted for approval must include the proposed material and a detailed explanation of the reasons for each variation or insertion.
The same principle is visible in the 2025 decree concerning Saint John Henry Newman: the Latin liturgical texts were issued first, but Episcopal Conferences must translate and approve them, after which they require the confirmatio or recognitio of the Dicastery before publication.
For an Arabic Catholic project, the process should therefore involve:
The Dicastery has warned that adding saints to diocesan, national, or religious calendars requires particular caution and that exceptional cases may require an indult from the Holy See. In the absence of exceptional pastoral reasons, further additions to particular calendars are not ordinarily appropriate.
A practical project could produce an “Arabic Catholic Anthology of Saintly Texts for Liturgy and Prayer.” It should not initially claim to be a new missal or official liturgical book. It could contain several clearly separated sections:
Each unit would begin with a biblical passage appropriate to the liturgical season or pastoral theme. Saintly texts would then interpret—not replace—the biblical proclamation.
This section could provide proposed readings from approved writings of saints, with biographical introductions and references to authoritative editions.
Short passages could be arranged by themes such as:
This section could include texts for vigils, processions, Eucharistic adoration, parish missions, and celebrations of the Word.
Any adaptation should be clearly identified as a hymn inspired by a saint, rather than falsely presented as the saint’s exact words. Theological review is especially important when poetry is translated into Arabic.
Newman offers a useful contemporary example because the Church’s approved memorial provides not only a saint’s name but a complete liturgical framework.
The collect asks that, through Newman’s intercession and example, the faithful may be led “from shadows and images into the fullness” of God’s truth. The official texts also connect his life with intellectual inquiry, preaching, teaching, service to the poor, and the search for truth.
In Arabic pastoral practice, this could support:
Pope Leo XIV presents the Beatitudes and the saints as a school in which Christ remains the Master and Educator. This is the correct theological orientation: the saintly text is valuable because it leads the assembly more deeply into the teaching and life of Jesus Christ.
Enhancing Arabic Catholic liturgy through saintly texts should proceed by deepening participation, not multiplying unapproved additions. The strongest method is to preserve each Eastern or Western Catholic rite, use Arabic with literary and theological excellence, place longer saintly readings in the Liturgy of the Hours and approved devotional celebrations, employ brief quotations in homilies, and submit all official liturgical translations or new celebrations to the proper ecclesiastical authority.
The saints should be heard as faithful witnesses whose words lead the Arabic-speaking Church toward Christ, the Scriptures, the Eucharistic mystery, and the fullness of truth.