So, malphono wished that I would express what I saw at a Maronite church. Since I attended one yesterday, I thought I would share my experience as a Latin Rite Catholic. So when I walked into Our Lady of Cedars I noticed that the church was all not that different in look from certain Latin churches. Many of the statues and icons were made in a similar style, so I found it oddly familiar as I walked in at first. It was very unlike the Melkite church I had been to a week before, who had a far more eastern look to their church.
I’ve never been to Jamaica Plain myself, but church appointments are generally pretty much as you describe. Some places have all but eliminated statues, (introduced as a latinization beginning in the 17th century), or moved them to the vestibule, while others have kept some or all in the church itself.
As I walked in, I grabbed a missal and sat down. This turned out to be really useful, as I do not know a single word in Syriac. The whole thing proceeded in a mix of English and Syriac.
The use of the Syriac language is, in practice, (and most unfortunately so), very limited: the Trisagion and the Institution Narrative being the most notable. The priest may, however, take other parts in Syriac, but it’s rare that one does.
In the anaphoral portion of the blue spiral-bound pew books, the text on the right-hand pages is Arabic in the left column and Syriac in the right. The scripts are totally different. In the portion before the anaphora, a few things are printed in Syriac script. With the exception of the skant few things that are retained in Syriac (by Synodal and eparchial directive) the use of languages other than the vernacular depends on the particular parish. A great many are totally devoid of anything but vernacular.
I managed to follow along pretty well. I also managed to genuflect the way the Eastern Rite does without ever reverting to the way that I am used to, which took more effort than you would think.
I’m not clear as to what this means. Although the practice of genuflextion (again, introduced as a latinization beginning in the 17th century) is now officially discouraged, it was always done the same way as in the Latin Church.
I also noticed that there are no kneelers, which at first surprised me since I saw them at the Melkite church, and since the Maronites seemed to be more similar to the Latin Rite, I thought they might have them. Maybe it is just exclusive to that church. Maybe a Maronite could tell me?
Kneeling is yet another of the “old” latinizations which is now officially discouraged. In a way, it’s like the statues: some churches still have them, others do not.
Another thing that stuck out to me was the hymns. They were simply fantastic. Maybe the parish just had some good singers, but I honestly thought that the hymns that were sung in Syriac were fantastic. Really good. Much better than what I usually hear at my parish.
The text of most (if not all) of what was sung in other than English would have been Arabic. In some cases, the music used is of recent composition, reflecting a modern Middle Eastern style, while in other cases, the music itself (irrespective of the language used for the text) derives from the traditional Syriac melodies. But again, it all depends on the particular parish. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are some places where the Novus Ordo hymn books are the rule.
Also, the homily was good. I do not know the name of the priest who gave it, but he certainly had some good things to say. And he showed far more emotion and strength than many priests that I have seen over the years. This was definitely the high point of the whole event.
It was probably the new pastor whom I have not met.
In the end, it was an enjoyable experience. It was more similar to the Latin Rite than the Melkites were, which gave it this weird sense of familiarity, but still, I loved it.
See? I told you that there would be a sense of the familiar.
Syriac is a beautiful language, and hearing the prayers spoken in it was fantastic. I just wish I knew it a bit better. At one point the priest was making an announcement, both in English and Syriac. While he was making an announcement in Syriac he made some sort of angry statement while he vigorously waved the cross in his hand. I kind of wonder what he was talking about. Ah well, I still really liked it.
Yes, indeed, Syriac is lovely, but it’s 99.9999% sure that the language used was Arabic, not Syriac.
