The Liturgical Pogrom (the danger of Catholics forgetting their Semitic roots)

A quiz for Catholics: What language are we speaking when we say "Amen" and "Alleluia"? (A) English. (B) Greek. (C) Latin. (D) Hebrew. The answer is (D). As St. Paul taught long ago, the gentile followers of Christ have been grafted onto the Hebraic root (see Rom. 11). Christ is the vine and we are the branches, and the vine has roots in the rich soil of the Judaic covenant and Israelite history. In one of the most inspired phrases of the 20th century, Pope Pius XI, in the course of condemning anti-Semitism, said that Christians are "spiritual Semites." We should not be surprised, then, if much of the language and culture of Catholic worship and belief are borrowed or developed from their Hebrew antecedents. Yet, Catholics find themselves in danger of forgetting their Semitic roots. We must, then, renew our understanding of what it means to be spiritual Semites, children of Abraham.

All three of the monotheistic faiths coming out of the Near East attribute their spiritual heritage to Abraham, the prototypical Semite. He is not only honored as the original patriarch of the covenant with God in human history; he is also held up as the model follower of God, a paladin of faith ready to give unconditionally to his God, ready to obey even the command to offer his own son in sacrifice (Gen. 22).

The pious Israelite is instructed (in Deut. 26) that when presenting his offering to the priest for sacrifice, he is to declare his radical dependence on the mercy of God, and to acknowledge his spiritual identification with Abraham: "My father [Abraham] was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there...." The worshiper was to retell the Egyptian bondage and the free and generous redemption his ancestors had at the hand of God, as well as the gift of the land from which the offerings were taken.

Nowhere is the spirit of "self-sufficiency" celebrated or even alluded to. All that one has and is are gifts of God, and all that one offers to God is far less than what He is owed. This is the spirit of Abraham and this is the heritage he passes on to his spiritual heirs, a willingness to be taught and led by God. This is the core principle of being a "spiritual Semite." There is a direct line in the covenant from Abraham of Canaan to Mary of Nazareth, whose only direct command in the Gospels is "Do whatever He tells you" (Jn. 2:5), and whose characteristic response to God's will is summed up in "Be it done to me according to Your word" (Lk. 1:38). A "spiritual Semite" comes from that lineage.

This link to Abraham is clearly exemplified in today's Gospel.

Luke 16:19-31

"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.' He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.' But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"

I would love to learn more about the Jewish roots of Christian liturgy.

Of all the Catholic Churches, the Maronite Catholic Church retains its Jewish roots more than any other Catholic rite, as evidenced by its use of Aramaic/Syriac and by the prayers which remain faithful to Semantic and Old Testament forms.

The Maronite liturgy is one of the oldest in the Catholic Church. St. Peter and other Apostles brought the liturgy of the Last Super to Antioch where it developed in Greek and Syriac concurrently. The early Antioch liturgy is the basis of the Maronite liturgy.

The first thing you will notice is the layout of the church itself. There is a platform extending from the altar, called a bema. The early churches were former synagogues, and the bema was the raised platform on which the elders stood and read scripture. You will also notice the richness of the priestly vestments. The design of the Maronite vestments is indigenous to the Holy Land.

The priest and deacon sit at the end of the bema facing the altar rather than presiding over the congregation. The semicircular seating arrangement dates back to the two monastic choirs of the early church. it encourages the congregation to be participants in the liturgy, rather than spectators. The liturgy is throughout a dialogue between the people and the priest. The priest serves as the prayer leader in much the same way as Moses served the Israelites. The congregation stands or sits during the liturgy as the liturgy is chanted back and forth between the priest and the congregation.

Even the Maronite Divine Office, follows the Hebraic day. The practice of reciting prayers at various hours throughout the day has its origin in Jewish tradition. The psalmist, David, paused seven times a day in order to pray to God: "Seven times a day I praise you for your just ordinances" (Psalm 119:164).

It was natural for the early Christian community to follow the Jewish practice of prayer. Throughout the day, the Christian community would gather to praise God. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the disciples were gathered together at the third hour (Acts 2:1-15). It became the custom of the Maronite Church for the faithful who lived near monasteries to participate in the liturgical celebration of the Divine Office, the whole local community was thus gathered in prayer. The prayers begin at sunset with Ramsho and conclude at sunrise with Safro.

At the suggestion of my bishop, I have been praying (okay .. I have been attempting to pray) the Maronite Divnine Office each day. With a teen aged daughter and 4 pets, it can be a challenge :-).

The Maronite Divine Liturgy retains the language of our Lord at the Last Supper. The words of Consecration are chanted in Aramaic. It's like stepping back 2000 years in time. Simply awesome!

No, the author is not confusing Semitic with Jewish. He most assuredly means the broader category, as this includes such Fathers of the Church as St. Ephrem the Syrian, who set the standard for Eastern liturgical hymns as vehicles for doctrine (a feature largely lost in the West both Latin and protestant), St. Isaac the Syrian, and St. John of Damascus, and even the Antiochene approach to Scriptural exegesis which was always in tension with the flatly Greek approach of Alexandria.

It is not primarily the Jewish roots the Latin West has lost, but its connection to the Syriac liturgical and mystical tradition. One of the other Orthodox subdeacons in Kansas is fond of saying that the Latins 'think like Greeks', which is sort of an amusing way of putting it. The phrenoma of the 'Greek' church is much more Semitic that that of the Latin church, which is, post-Aquinas, very Greek in feeling.

You have evidently forgotten (or never knew) that the Syrians (mostly) and the Arabs (largely) were Christian (as well as there being Jewish tribes of Arabs) before the false prophet Mohammed led the bulk of them astray with by false-preaching, force and threat of force. My bishop's ancestral family came from a valley in Syria the Arabic name of which means "the Valley of the Christians", so named because its inhabitants have been holding out against the Jihad well-nigh 1400 years now.

The current Maronite liturgy is a complete fabrication of the past 30 years.

During his tenure, Patriarch Meouchi and the Maronite bishops actively participated in the deliberations of the Second Vatican Council. In 1972 and 1973, Liturgical reforms of the Maronite Missal were inaugurated with the publication of the experimental texts both by the Vatican and by the Patriarchate.

The works of liturgical reform bore fruit in 1992 with the publication of a new Maronite Missal. The Missal represents an attempt to return to the original form of the Antiochene Liturgy. Its Service of the Word is far more enriched than previous Missals, and it features six Anaphoras [Eucharistic Prayers]. At the present time, liturgical reform is continuing at an accelerated pace.

Keep in mind as well that over the centuries, Maronites have fled persecution in the Middle East. As a result, the Maronite Church is now the 2nd largest of the Eastern Churches. It continues to thrive and grow on nearly every continent. The current Patriarch, Mar Nasrallah Peter Cardinal Sfeir, convened a Synod in 2003 to address this growth and establish liturgical norms. At that time, it was agreed to improve and standardize translations of the liturgy into English, French and Spanish.

I have read the original books of the Maronite rite were burned by the Jesuits in the 16th cent.

While it is true that some books were burned by the Jesuits, you need to look at this within the context of history. Here are some extracts which address the book burnings.

When the first Crusaders arrived in Lebanon in 1098, they were surprised and pleased to find fellow Christians who welcomed them with hospitality. With the coming of the Crusaders they began to look to the West for assistance. Ties with the Holy See became closer, Western practices were adopted, and Latin influence and changes in the Maronite Liturgy took place. It was during this time that Maronite prelates began wearing ring, miter and cross as the Latins do.

In 1444 the Holy See created an Apostolic Commissioner for the Maronites, Druze and Melkites. The most active among the missionaries in Lebanon was the Franciscan friar Gryphon who had studied Arabic and Syriac in Jerusalem and who chose to live and work among the Maronites. He constantly traveled through the mountain villages from 1455 to 1469 building new churches there. He enjoyed the complete confidence of Patriarch Peter al-Hadathi who encouraged him to preach in all the Maronite parishes and monasteries.

On the other hand, Friar Gryphon also sought to Latinize some Maronite liturgical practices, but this was met with resistance from the Maronite clergy. However, on a mission to Rome, Friar Gryphon wrote a letter to the Maronites affirming their faith and their perpetual union with the Holy See. He also noted that the Maronites frequented the churches of the Franks, celebrating at their altars with the same articles and making the sign of the cross the way the Franks did

In the 15th and 16th centuries contacts between the Holy See and the Maronite patriarchs continued. Missionaries and papal legates continued to be sent to Lebanon. Often, they brought with them gifts of Roman altar vestments and furnishings. In the pontifical letters that were sent one can determine time and again the particular importance that the Popes attached to the adoption of certain rites and usages of the Latin Church, especially in the administration of the sacraments. And so the way was prepared for a systematic Latinizaton that would be accomplished inthe succeeding centuries.

In 1578 Papal legates John Baptist Eliano, S.J. and Thomas Raggio, S.J. were sent to the Maronites. They brought with them a Papal Bull addressed to the Maronite Patriarch. After acknowledging the faith of the Maronites, Pope Gregory XIII requests that the Maronites should follow the Roman tradition in not adding references to Christ in the Trisagion, in having only Bishops administer the sacrament of Confirmation, and in not giving the Eucharist to children under the age of reason. The Holy Father closes by saying that he is going to send Arabic translations of the decrees and canons of the Council of Trent, and a catechism for use of pastors. We might note that the changes advocated by the Holy Father were of longstanding liturgical practice in the Maronite tradition.

After meeting with the Maronite Patriarch, the Papal legates sought to examine the liturgical, canonical and theological books used by the Maronites. Father Eliano proceeded to censor and burn the books he considered contained errors. He has been accused by the Maronites of destroying many precious manuscripts important for the history of the nation. In fact, Patriarch Stephen Douaihi, noting that Arabic words often have many meanings difficult to understand, claims that Eliano was not a scholar in Arabic. Douaihi further observes that Eliano did not distinguish books accepted by the Maronites as contrasted to those of the Roman rite. On the other hand, Eliano's behavior is defended by the Jesuit scholar, Louis Cheiko.

The Maronite position regarding the first visit of Papal legates Eliano and Raggio can be summarized best by citing the letter written by Patriarch Michael Ruzzi to Cardinal Caraffa, the Cardinal-Protector of the Maronites, dated August 25, 1678: "Since, my brother, there may be someone who will write to you that there are some words found in our books opposed to the holy Church, we accept only what the holy Church accepts, and whatever errors are found in some copies would have crept in and been inserted in them from the books of nations which are near us and from a long time ago. My brother, remove all suspicion concerning our rectitude; we were founded from antiquity in the faith of the Holy Apostolic Roman Church which we have always embraced; and we do not speak to you merely with our lips, but with our lips and hearts, may God be our witness."

Though some would argue certain traditional practices have been lost, the Maronites have willingly submitted to the Magisterium for centuries. Following VCII, they have now begun to restore the more ancient Anaphora. In return for their allegiance, the Holy See has bestowed many gifts on the Maronites, including a seminary in Rome.

For a more indepth perspective, you can read the history of the Maronite Church here.

Abraham was not a son of Shem. He was several generations removed from being the prototypical Semite. Abraham is considered to be the first Hebrew by some.

Eber would have been the first Hebrew, several generations before Abraham. That gave Abraham's children and grand-children some kin to marry amongst in forming the Israelite people.

Obviously the author is confusing the term with being exlusively Jewish. So, do Jews believe Jesus is the Son of God? No, they reject Jesus. In what way should a Christian consider himself to be spiritually Jewish?

A Christian shouldn't consider himself spiritually Jewish (which is a recently made-up word). The Judeans (the original proper name in the Bible) were the opponents of Jesus during His times, He and most of His Apostles being from the mixed multitude of Galilee, and He also opposed their corrupted Judaic religion, with its teaching of the laws of men as the laws of God, thus nullifying the truth coming down from Abraham and Moses in the Book of the Law.

Its a mistake to wander about in modern Rabbinic Judaism, imagining one has found there the religion of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Rabbinic Judaism is mostly a post-resurrection Pharisaic reaction to the destruction of the Temple and its Cult, which was the locus of the actual worship of Jesus and His followers.

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