Christmas Sooghito

Christmas is an extremely important feast in all of Christendom but especially in Syriac Christianity - why? Whereas the Latins emphasize the Passion and the Greeks the Glorious Resurrection (both of which are essential to the faith and should be properly commemorated), we Syriacs focus on the Incarnation which begins with the birth of Christ. Our theology is an "incarnational" one - God has become man so that man may become God, having assumed what is ours and giving us what is His. Volumes could be written on the subject, so I shall just leave a Sooghito from the Christmas office in which Mary praises her newly born Son. How amazing is the self-abasement of Christ in His Incarnation - the Sustainer of the Ages condescends to be fed by a woman, the Bearer of Worlds is borne by a virgin, He who moves all things crawls on the ground, He who governs all things is directed by a human, and He, before whom fiery angels shudder and hide their faces from His blaze, is embraced by a lady.

Let us pray for peace this Christmas for Christ has brought peace between heaven and earth - between whom can He not bring peace?

Tuesday Safro

To access office, click here.

Very short on time as of late, so I'm unable to give a commentary. Pray for me.

Our Lord, accept our service, our prayers, come to our aid and have mercy on us!

Tuesday Sootoro

I've made good progress by posting two offices in the last weekend. This office of Tuesday's Sootoro, like most evening offices, is very reflective on Judgment and the eschatological typology between night/the end and morning/the second coming.

Sedro of the Assumption

The Hoosoye found in the Fenqitho are relatively longer than those found in the Shhimtho, understandably so since they're for major feasts. The Sedro for the Assumption's Safro is no different. It is also a special type of Sedro set to a bo'oto melody (I have posted one other office like this thus far - the Sootoro of Sunday). Within this Hoosoyo, the mystery of the Incarnation is briefly alluded to, Mary's voluntary role and then a good portion is taken up by the angelic salutations to Mary upon her death and petitions to God.

Sootoro of Monday's Qolo

Just to give a sneak peak of the Sootoro I've almost finished.

Ramsho of Monday Posted

I've completed another Ramsho office, this one in particular having a strong focus on the reality of the fear we shall feel at 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.

Hoosoyo of Sunday Lilyo

Below I've attached the Hoosoyo (Proemion, Sedro, Qolo and Etro) of Sunday's Lilyo. It's pretty clear to me the reason why these offices have remained untranslated the more I look at them because it seems the certain Syriac theology revealed to them would be upsetting to certain sensibilities currently present in the Maronite Church. The Etro particularly comes to mind because it sets a typology up between the sacrifice of Abraham, Moses, Aaron and the other Levitical high priests and the current priesthood both intended for the glorification but also appeasement of God. Such ideas have been central to Syriac theology for the last two millennia and we must remember that our current priesthood is a continuation of the Levitical priesthood magnified by the Incarnation. We should not cast off the understanding of our soteriology for meaningless platitudes because it seems a bit frightening that God is not required to grant us the remission and forgiveness of sins and offenses.

Lilyo Sooghito

Once again, my apologizes to those who follow this blog for a recent lull in posts, I've been very busy. I just completed the Sooghito of Sunday Lilyo (included below) and I hope to finish the office in its entirety pretty soon.

All I will say of the sooghito is that it shows an interesting dynamic of theosis resonating with the phrase "Christ became man so that we may become god" (St. Athanasius).

Safro of Sunday finally completed and uploaded!!!

So with great joy, I'm happy to announce I've completed a translation of Sunday's Safro. I've been reflecting on individual parts progressively since I've started, so I think I will just use this reflection to analyze one of the lines in the Bo'oto.

Verse of Safro's Qolo

One of the main travesties of the Prayer of the Faithful is that it destroys the brilliant formula of prayer that the writers of the Sh'himto created. Everything is complimentary - hymns in the morning, for example, speak about the Second Coming as the dawning of the sun and the apostles being bright lights that illuminated the four quarters of the earth. Tangentially, it also alludes in the night office to death and lying down in the hope of resurrection. In an even more complex complimentarity, the rotating verses of scripture are related to the following verse of each qolo.

In this post, I will take a look at one of the eschatological verses of one of the qole in Sunday's Safro. 

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 Wednesday

An inherent aspect of Syriac theology is the great caution in avoiding [what I assume the Syriac Fathers would think of as] overreaching speculation. There is a great deal of meditation upon mystery, and, again, any mystery revealed is considered a voluntary act of mercy by the hand of God. There also develops a certain, almost esoteric language through which thinks are referred to and I will point to several items I think are indicative of this mystique.