The Sacrament of the Holy Leaven (Malka) in the Assyrian Church of the East
- ️https://independent.academia.edu/MarAwaRoyel
Related papers
Hugoye Journal of Syriac Studies, 2022
In 1917, Guiseppe Furlani introduced the Syriac world to an otherwise unknown sixth century document composed by Mar 'Īšō'yahb I the Arzōnite, catholicos-patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East from 581 to 595. Furlani provided the Syriac text of the memrā of 'Īšō'yahb I, which was an apology for the liturgical and theological use of the Trisagion by the Church of the East. It was accompanied by a study of the text and the sole manuscript which contains it. The importance of this document is manifold. First, it is not mentioned by Mar 'Abdīšō' of Nisibis in his famous 'Catalogue', and therefore seems to be an anomaly. Second, this memrā gives us the terminus ante quem for the insertion of the Trisagion in the rite of the Church of the East in the greater framework of the development of this rite. Third, and of great import, the memrā provides a springboard for the author to express and defend the christological position of the School of Nisibis, his alma mater and the center of Church of the East orthodoxy in the mid-sixth century. The Mar Awa Royel 86 English translation of this important memrā is offered here for the first time, along with a study of the historical and theological contexts of the tractate at the time of its composition sometime in the latter half of the sixth century.
Bogoslovni vestnik 78 3, 2018
This study deals with the rite of artoklasia in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as an integral part of the monastic all-night vigil, in order to indentify its historical origins and stages of teleturgical development, and also to give the appropriate, theological and liturgical interpretation of this akolouthia. Blessing of the five loaves of bread, wheat, wine and oil has been constituted in the East in order to strengthen the assembled Christians in a physical and spiritual way toward liturgical heed, watching and praying on the eve of the second coming of Messiah, which is being foretasted at the holy liturgy after the monastic agrypnia. Artoklasia was gradually introduced into all monasteries and parish churches of the Eastern Church under the impact of Typikon of Mar Saba’s Lavra, starting probably from the period of the 10th–11th century, and still holds a unique place in the liturgical life of the Eastern Orthodox Christians.
CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, AND THE SYRIAC RENAISSANCE: THE IMPACT OF ‘ABDI−SHO−‘ BAR BRI−KHA Papers Collected on His 700th Anniversary (1318-2018), 2024
Bríkhâ (ca. 1250-1318), the metropolitan of Nisibis of the Church of the East, was a famous polymath in the Syriac language and literature, predominantly, but also in Christian Arabic. He flourished in the latter half of the 13 th century, which was a marked period of inter-Church and inter-religious exchanges for the Church of the East, living at that time under the rule of the Mongol khans. Contacts with the Latin Church of the West opened up the Church of the East to direct theological interaction and dialogue. Politically, the Christians enjoyed a period of peace and tranquility under the Mongolians, though all that began to change in 1295 with the conversion of the Øâzân to Islam. Nonetheless, 'Abdíshô' proved to be an author who benefited from both of these phenomena, ecclesiastical and political, and was able to create a healthy synthesis of theological thought. With regard to the former aspect, he engaged the Latin West with his theological positions and treatises-many of which proved to ecumenical-friendly in spirit, yet faithful to his Church-tradition. With regard to the social context of his day, he wrote many works in Arabic that gained as his interlocutors his wider Muslim neighbors, particularly the Muslim philosophers and literary giants of his period. This present study looks at how 'Abdíshô's theology of the sacraments was influenced by this ecumenical Christian exchange, and also how that might be contextualized in Christian-Arabic milieu of his day.
Eucaristic consecration in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari
Studia Oecumenica, 2012
Last year we celebrated the centenary of the historical document between Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East entitled "Guidelines for Admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East" 1. The scope of this document is to make a provision, in situations of pastoral necessity, for intercommunion between the Chaldean Catholic Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East. This "most remarkable Catholic magisterial document since Vatican II" 2 has drawn much attention of both the liturgical and ecumenical scholars since it stands as a milestone in the field of liturgy and ecumenism. The document has been received with great interest in different places, since it acknowledges the sacramental validity of the Anaphora of the Addai and Mari which is the principal Eucharistic prayer of the East, even when it is used without a recitation of the institution narrative. The purpose of this article is to make a documental study on the validity of the anaphora of Addai and Mari, without institution narrative, in the light of this Vatican document.
An Eastern Orthodox Perspective on the Christology of the Assyrian Church of the East
2024
In this talk, I put aside the usual Eastern or Byzantine Orthodox clichés about Assyrian christology and I listen to what the Assyrian Church of the East says, especially in its official statement on doctrine. Accordingly, I consider the statement, highlighting the obvious agreement between its content and what my own Church tradition believes. The only exception is the Greek concept of "assumption," borrowed by the Assyrian tradition from the fourth-century theologians of Antioch. Otherwise, there is nothing "Nestorian" with the statement under consideration. I then turn to the appellation of Saint Mary as "Mother of Christ" and "She who gave birth to God (incarnate)," showing what these mean for the two traditions. I also make a foray into the Romanian Orthodox devotional phrase "the Lord's Mother," which echoes Assyrian terminology. I continue by suggesting the usefulness of dissociating the traditional Assyrian christology from the dualistic or metaphysical Greek christology of Antioch's theologians. This would make possible the assessment of Assyrian christology in its own terms. I end by reflecting upon Mar Aprem's theology of mystery, in the light of which our christological speculations and phraseology appear as semantics gone mad. // This paper was given for the Nisibis Symposium 2024, held under the auspices of the Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE), Diocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon. Western Sydney University, Campbelltown NSW, 2 November 2024.
The Assyrian Church of the East and the Principle of Oikonomia (AINA 23 November 2022)
Assyrian International News Agency, 2022
Last month, His Beatitude Patriarch Sako of Chaldean Catholic Church reiterated his position that he sees no obstacle to "the merging of the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East under the name of the Church of the East." He presented this as his opinion. It was not a direct appeal to Patriarch Awa and the Assyrian Church of the East, but certainly an invitation to consider unity between the churches. Patriarch Sako has made a direct appeal in the past-after the death of Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV in 2015, when Patriarch Sako offered to resign from his office so that the Assyrian and Chaldean Churches might combine their holy synods and elect one Catholicos-Patriarch for a united Church of the East. Although appreciated, his offer was rebuffed by Patriarch Awa, then Assyrian Bishop of California, in his letter "Authenticity in Unity." Patriarch Awa provided two main reasons for turning down the offer of Patriarch Sako. First, he held that union with the Chaldean Church at the time would mean departing from the ancient patrimony of the Church of the East, as received by the Assyrian Church of the East today. Second, he feared that union with the Chaldean Church would risk deeper divisions among the apostolic churches. In what follows, I'd like to explore Patriarch Awa's objections and offer some thoughts in response. Because I am Roman Catholic, I will respond very briefly on the topic of the Eastern Apostolic patrimony, in eight points, and then more fully regarding coordination with the other apostolic churches.
The rites of the Eastern Churches, as the patrimony of the entire Church of Christ, in which there is clearly evident the tradition which has come from the Apostles through the Fathers and which affirm the divine unity in diversity of the Catholic faith, are to be religiously preserved and fostered. (CCEO c. 39) This canon echoes the teachings of Second Vatican Council especially that is expressed in its decree on the Eastern Churches Orientalium Ecclesiarum no. 1-2. OE no. 1 clearly states that the rites of the Eastern Churches are different expressions of the same faith that are transmitted “through fathers from the apostles and which constitutes part of the divinely revealed and undivided heritage of the whole church.” With the purpose of helping the Eastern Churches to realize their own identity the Congregation for the Eastern Churches published an “Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches” on January 06, 1996. This seminar paper is an attempt to make a scientific study on the liturgical prescriptions of the Sacraments of Marriage, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick in the light of the Instruction of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Although this Instruction has fourteen chapters and 112 paragraphs, the present study is limited to chapters from ten to twelve. These chapters provide the norms regarding the proper celebration of the Sacraments of Marriage, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick. Through this study, we try to draw attention to the liturgical norms concerning these sacraments in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches and in the Code of Particular Law of the Syro-Malabar Church in view of evaluating their true meaning in the eastern liturgical tradition. The whole study is divided into three chapters, each dealing with one of these sacraments. Even though there are 126 canons in the CCEO dealing with these three sacraments, this study does not go through all of them. Rather, our study is focused only on the canons that directly deal with liturgical prescriptions.