Ramsho of St. Shmooni

In the current age of the Maronite Church, the old Syriac saints have been abandoned in almost exclusive adoption of solely Lebanese saints. Among the old saints is the venerable and holy example given to us by St. Shmooni and her seven sons.

Safro of Monday

I just posted the Safro of Monday, which means this is the second complete day of offices posted.

Ramsho of Monday Qolo

I have begun translation of the Ramsho of Sunday. The opening Qolo is one of my favorite Syriac hymns and, in fact, is the first Syriac hymn I learned. It is a beautiful Qolo that asks God for mercy at the inevitable judgment.

Midday of Monday and Quick Description of 6th Hour (Midday) Offices

I've really been on top of my translating game as of late - I finished all the Sunday offices and have another office turned out the next day. Anyway, this post will have a brief commentary on the Midday office of Monday but first give a quick description of the office type as I've done for all the other offices.

Sunday Lilyo 3rd watch

The Sunday Lilyo has been taking me a rather long time - so far I've just began the final watch. I thought I would share the sedro of the hoosoyo in the 3rd watch [to the departed].

Brief Overview of Ramsho

I have begun translating the Ramsho of Sunday. I thought it would be a point of interesting to just go over the basic office structure.

Shabah - Safro Qolo of Glorification

If one hasn't noticed already by the previous posts I've made about Safro (here's a general overview), the qole are very oriented towards the glorification of God - the opening Gloria (not a qolo) the Glory of the Mother of God, the Glory of St. Ephrem. This post is about the Shabah (plural imperative of glorify/praise), a qolo that rotates its verses with Psalms 148-150 and 117. Instead of giving a lengthy analysis of the Shabah I decided to just post my translation for Sunday's Safro below.

Brief Overview of Safro

Each large office has a distinctive set of prayers. Safro is no different. I haven't had much time to work on translating the actual texts (although I've been working on Sunday's!) but I'll give a brief overview of the setup.

Reflection on Compline of Sunday

So the second compline office has been posted. I think I've decided I like the idea of shorter reflections, seeing as how I don't want to go on forever to bore the few readers I have - if anyone would like any specific item addressed, feel free to ask in writing and with your permission I'll publicly address it (or privately if you'd prefer).

Anyway, the theme I'd like to address in this Sootoro is the frequent imagery in Syriac theology of the mystical wedding feast between the Bridegroom and the Church.

Reflection on 9th Hour of Friday

This is the second to last of the 9th Hour offices. I have yet another short reflection in mind for this office, but brevity will not impede the magnitude of the item. I'm speaking of the "Tree."

Reflection on 9th Hour of Thursday

While my previous reflections have been lengthy, I think this one can be tackled in a briefer post. Thursday's Ninth Hour, while comparatively shorter than even some of the short offices, it is full of prayers indicative of a healthy Syriac spirituality. As previously mentioned, primary amongst these are our inherent unworthiness and God's limitless and uncompelled mercy.

Reflection on 9th Hour of Tuesday

The 9th Hour of Tuesday is indicative of what I like to call the paradoxical nature of Syriac theology. And, might I add, I think the paradoxes that we use to express our prayers are appropriate because Christianity in itself is centered around the greatest paradox: the highest Being (i.e. God) lowering Himself to be a meek human so that humanity may be elevated to be on High with God. He is the God that has become manifest through the Son, but remains Hidden in the Father; we are started from Him by sin yet through His Spirit we are made temples.

Reflection on 9th Hour of Monday

As I stated previously, whenever I upload an office translation, such as this office that can be found here or the 'Office Text' page, I would like to write a reflection on the prayers. I find this hoosoyo to be an excellent summary of Syriac theology and the focus of God's majesty and mercy.