Church of the East: Liturgy

CHUrCH OF THE EAST: LITUrGY. The liturgy of the CE, conventionally referred to as the ‘East Syrian rite’ (ES), is the liturgy celebrated by the *Assyrian CE, the *Chaldean Catholic Church and *the Syro-Malabar Church. This liturgy is characterized by Semitic elements and is a product of the fusion of Judeo-Christianity with the Assyro-Babylonian and Iranian cultures. It employs the Syriac dialect of the Aramaic language in its liturgy and the term ‘East Syrian’ denotes rather the eastern dialect of Syriac (*Syriac Language) First liturgical unification: 410. East Syrian liturgy went through various stages of development and standardization. The first unification of the liturgy occurred in the Synod of Mar Isaac (*Marutha of Maipherqaṭ, Canons of, 410) The cc. of the synod witness to a wellorganized system of worship providing structure to the eucharistic liturgy. Due to the intellectual and liturgical usages of the School of *Edessa and the translation of the works of *Theodore of Mopsuestia into Syriac, the way was paved for further evolution of the East Syrian rite after 410 until the end of the 6th century. The influence of the Antiochian liturgy in the Anaphora of Theodore (ATh) and the Anaphora of Nestorius (AN) (*Nestorianism) is also felt through modification of the prefatory dialogue borrowed from the *Anaphora of Addai and Mari on the one hand, and the Byzantine tradition through realization of the other two anaphoras (ATh and AN) by sharing elements of the Anaphora of *John Chrysostom (JC) and Basil, on the other (*Anaphora: Literary Structure) Final liturgical unification: ca. 650.

Final unification in its definitive form occurred with the reform of * īšōʻyahb III (ca. 650), who is believed to have written a commentary on the liturgy, but this has not reached us; however, its echo remains in the Expositio officiorum Ecclesiae of Pseudo-*George of Arbela. īšōʻyahb III is also credited with revision of the liturgical seasons, having much in common with the ancient liturgical *calendar of Jerusalem. īšōʻyahb also divided the whole liturgical year into nine seasons, arranging them into the main *liturgical book known as the *Ḥuḏrā (lit. ‘cycle’) The Ḥuḏrā contains the prayers for Sundays and moveable feast days, while the later liturgical book known as the Gazzā (lit. ‘treasure’) contains the prayers for fixed feast days and the commemorations of the saints. Finally, the Kaškol contains the propers for ferial days of the week. he also reduced the number of East Syrian anaphoras to the three still extant in the CE: the *Anaphora of Addai and Mari (AM, also known as that of the Apostles), Theodore of Mopsuestia (ATh) and Nestorius (AN) The AM, the most ancient anaphora in use in Christendom today, is celebrated from the liturgical season of Easter to the Fourth Sunday of Consecration, and on ferial days. The particular features of AM are its antiquity, Semitic characteristics and simplicity. What is striking in AM is that the °institution narrative is not stated in a coherent narrative way ad litteram.

The fact remains, as modern liturgiological studies and scholarship have demonstrated, that the words of our Saviour at the Last Supper never existed explicitly in the textus receptus, but rather they were mentioned in an embolismic (quasi-narrative anamnesis) and euchological way. It is, therefore found, integrated into successive prayers and thanksgiving, praise and intercession (*Anaphora of Addai and Mari: Validity) ATh is celebrated from the first Sunday of Annunciation (Subbārā) to Palm Sunday (Hosanna) inclusive. AN is celebrated on five occasions: the Feast of Epiphany, the Commemoration of St *John the Baptist and the *Three Greek Doctors, on Wednesday of the Rogation of the Ninevites (RN) and holy Thursday. Given its importance, a word on the Rogation of the Ninevites is necessary. In the Assyrian Church of the East it is observed twenty days before Lent, and lasts for three days: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The observation of the Rogation of the Ninevites enjoins two meanings: it recalls the conversion of the Ninevites at the preaching of the prophet Jonah (Jon 3:3–9) and the deliverance of the people of Bet Slukh (modern-day Kirkuk) from a devastating plague. In the ES, the Thursday after RN is called ‘Thursday of Thanksgiving’ Both ATh and AN are held to have been translated from Greek into Syriac by the Patriarch Mar *ābā I (540–552), a former professor of the School of *Nisibis, with the help of his companion Mar Thomas of Edessa, when they travelled to Constantinople some time in ca. 532.

Recent studies on ATh and AN point instead to their Syriac origin (without excluding a Byzantine influence of John Chrysostom and Basil; *Byzantine Rite: Anaphoras) in addition to Antiochian influences during the redaction. The Syriac derivation of these two anaphoras is noticeable in their general outlook and theological content. They both maintain a close affinity with an older East Syrian Anaphora (AM) as in the case of the opening dialogue, the Sanctus and the epiclesis. Moreover, modern-day liturgists assume that ATh and AN underscore their predominantly Semitic character through their theological expressions and biblical citations taken from the Pšiṭtā version (*Syriac Bible) and paraphrases cited from the Syriac Fathers (*Fathers, Syriac) Some scholars consider AM as the direct source for the composition of the other two anaphoras. The unique character of AN is that it is longer than either AM or ATh. In the former, there are four G’hānthā cycles (*Ghanta (G’hantha)), comprised of the celebrant’s supplicatory kuššāpā, the orate fratres, followed by the inclination prayer or G’hānthā and the concluding doxology. Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the hours in the East Syrian rite is the universal prayer of the Church offered at various times of the day in order to sanctify the faithful. Generally, the liturgical day for the East Syrian liturgy is counted from the previous evening at sundown until the following *Vespers, as in the other Eastern rites. Little is known about the early shape of the East Syrian rite. It comprises ecclesiastical compositions of the early Syriac Fathers such as Simon bar Sabbā‘e (c. 341–344), Ephrem (d.

373), Bar Sawma of Nisibis (491/2) *Narsai (d. 502/3), *Babai the Great (d. 502/3) Mar ābā (d. 552) Mar Ezekiel (570–580/81), and īšōʻyahb I of Arzōn (Arzūn) (582–595), among many others. Catholicos īšōʻyahb III (648/9–658/9) unified the cathedral and the monastic usages into one system during his patriarchate in the mid-7th century. Prior to īšōʻyahb, the Synod of Mar Isaac in 410 is the earliest document of an official nature attempting to unify the liturgical rites under one usage, which was that of the cathedral liturgy of Kokhe in Seleucia-*Ctesiphon. In the Synod of George I in 676, it was asserted that the faithful should come daily for the morning and evening prayers in the church and insisted on a communal recitation of these offices. The basic premise of the times of prayer observed by the CE is that which was adopted from the Jewish practice of reciting prayers seven times a day (cf. Ps 118:164) The East Syrian liturgy of the hours combines elements of both a monastic and a cathedral character, in particular a lengthy psalmody for the majority of the offices.

The three cathedral hours are: 1) Vespers (ramšā), 2) festal vigil (šahrā) and 3) Matins (ṣaprā), while the minor hours were mainly observed in the monasteries: 4) terce (qūta‘a), 5) sext (‘edānā), 6) none, and 7) Complines (sūba’a) Gradually, the lesser hours disappeared from the daily prayer system, retaining their usage only for certain feasts and fasts. In fact, terce and sext were limited only to the period of the Great *Fast (*Tessarakoste), and all that remains of none is the initial psalmody at the beginning of Vespers; the office of Compline is preserved during commemorations, feast days, the office of the dead and Lent. According to the Ecclesiastical History (2/11) of *Barhebraeus (1225–1286), it was Simon bar Sabbā‘e who arranged the daily office in double ‘choirs’ or ‘weeks’ – one of ‘before’ and the other ‘after’, depending whether they fall on even or uneven Sundays in the *calendar numbering, to alternate the psalms and antiphons during the Liturgy of the hours. The tradition suggests that Simon borrowed the two choirs system from Ignatius of Antioch. Each ‘week’ has its own propers for Vespers (ramšā), Nocturnes (lelyā) and Matins (ṣaprā) According to the liturgical system of the East Syrian rite, the clergy are divided into two choirs.

The one on the north side of the church is called gūdā qadmāyā (‘before’ choir) or gūdā ‘allāyā (‘high’ choir) while the south side of the church is called gūdā dakhrāyā (‘after’ choir) or gūdā taḥtāyā (‘lower choir’) The liturgical seasons and most feasts of the Lord fall on Sundays and the choir of ‘before’ begins the service on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while the remaining three days of the week will begin the service from the choir of the ‘after’ The opening of the service will alternate on the following week, beginning with Sunday. The *liturgical book that contains this office is called the Ktābā d-qdām wa-d-Bāthar (The Book of the Before and After) The main reform that was made in the Ḥuḏrā was the insertion of the four main antiphons of divine office and liturgy: the anthem of Vespers (‘ōnīthā d-ramšā), the anthem of the night office (‘ōnīthā d-lelyā), the anthem of Matins (‘ōnīthā d-ṣaprā) and the anthem of the Mysteries (‘ōnīthā d-rāzā) Contrarily, the commemorations of the saints’ feasts are observed according to the normal order of the particular day. In our present day, the Assyrian CE has largely preserved unaltered the liturgical hours of prayer as they exist in the traditional liturgical books.

texts: Chabot, 266–267; The Liturgy of the Holy Apostles Adai and Mari, together with the Liturgies of Mar Theodorus and Mar Nestorius, and the Order of Baptism, K. Paul, G. Mooken (eds., intr.), Trichur 1928; Anaphorae Syriacae, A. Raes (ed. in chief), Rome 1938–1981; The East Syrian Anaphora of Mar Theodore of Mopsuestia, J. Vadakel (ed., tr., intr.), Kottayam 1989. studies: W. de Vries, Sakramententheologie bei den Nestorianern, Rome 1940; J. Mateos, Lelya-Sapra: Essai d’interprétation des matines chaldéennes, Rome 1959; E. Baddy, “Lemḥe Tāīriḳīye ‘an Ašhar mūʼalifi Altaqs Alkildāni w-Mūneṭemīh”, Al-Mašreq 56 (1962) 509–538; J. Mateos, ‘L’office divin chez les Chaldéens’, La Prière des Heures, B. Cassien, B. Botte (eds.), Paris 1963, 253–281; W. F. Macomber, ‘The Vicissitudes of the Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon from the beginning to the Present Day’, Diakonia 9 (1968) 35; P. Yousif, ‘Traduzioni siriache di Teodoro di Mopsuestia’, Autori classici in lingue del vicino e medio oriente, G. Fiaccadori (ed.), Rome 1990, 141–162; S. P. Brock, ‘Liturgy’, Sh, 248–251. W. Toma.

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Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Christian East

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