The Harp (Volume 23) 9781463233129

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The Harp (Volume 23)

The Harp (Volume 23)

Volume 23

Edited by

Baby Varghese Jakob Thekeparampil Abraham Kalakudi

1 gorgias press 2011

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA wwwgorgiaspress.com Copyright© 2011 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in 2008 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2011

1

ISBN 978-1-61143-658-7 Reprinted from the 2008 Kottayam edition.

Printed in the United States of America

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SIXTH SYRIAC CONFERENCE & 17TH BIRTH CENTENARY OF MAR APHREM (306-2006) 8 -16 September 2006

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Syriac books (printed) found in the Metropolitan's Palace, Trichur 1954

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^rL (LjaJ fju ft-lJJJ 1—alia I3JjSUl A^J ...KUia BH: "And the ravens brought (to Elijah) bread and meat in the morning...in order to show that there was nothing unclean in God's creation". ijJi au j l j hjjc. jhjv ^ ^ ^ BS used the word 'to teach' while BH used 'to show' . Another example: (II Kings 3:16) Another example, BS: "This valley will be full of ditches, i.e., a deep valley will be made in order that when rain waters come they will be hold in them". 3 u k » ^^ ¡jjjj jj Vol. XXIII2008

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Assad Sauma

BH: "This valley will be full of ditches, ditches..., i.e., the rain-water, which the Lord gives, will be gathered in them". 4-1JfcP \jiaA ^ ujjj ¡jj-^&Lh "j ...¿¿¡j*. ¿¿A^ Uj U^o The synonymous words are: will be hold ujSJk, and will be gathered u j ^ ^ .

5. Explaining some difficult words in the same way: As in their comment on the word ^ Lupho in I Kings 4:33. BS says: "Lupho: 'an arum' is a weak moss that grows out of wall".l3^W tLjL) lijjj liJ, BH syas: "Lupho: is an arum that grows out of wall, i.e., weak moss", liij ^ j j i 'j l^W lS^ ^ Also in their comment on the word arguable in I Kings 5:18. BS says: "Arguble: are those who settle the cutstones".14 cS^-a 3 ^J^ji BH says: "Arguble: are those who build cut-stones". )4Ij.II^ ^—su 'j ibj^Jl Other examples: In I Kings 10:17. BS says: "sakkre are round, and mghene are long". 15 Ija I BH says: "sakkro is round, and mgheno is long". I l£jjl 1K aj k.ljl-N BH here changed the plural form into singular. Another example in I Kings 12:11. BS says: "moragne: 'leather scourge' are (from) the tendons of bulls". Iij^ 14?. BH says: "moragne: are twisted from the tendons of bulls". Ij jo-i l-lk. 'j

13 Ishodad: i ^jji 14 Bar-Koni: i/M-« Ishodad: Urn! 15 Ishodad: iSSjll ¿ylj :tV* ,tgk> B TjT> Tho Haip

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Vol. XXIII2008

BAR-HEBRAEUS'S USE OF BAR-SALIBI

279

CONCLUSION We have seen that Bar-Salibi's commentary which is a compilation containing materials from the comments of other Syriac writers especially from Ishodad of Merv, was a source for BH. Bar-Salibi took much of his material from Ishodad of Merv but he did not mention him as his source. BH did the same by not mentioning either BS or Ishodad when he used them. BH read BS and other Syriac interpreters and used some material from BS and from them, he also gave himself much freedom in changing and rewording the quotations from BarSalibi and Ishodad. At least a few verse comments which are common in BS and BH are taken directly from BS as we have explained above.

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ST. EPHREM: A GARLAND OF PRAYER SONGS Prayer Songs on the Fast, 10. (continued from page 270) 17. See, Fire and Spirit are in the womb of her who bore You, see, Fire and Spirit are in the river in which You were baptised. Fire and Spirit are in our baptismal font, in the Bread and the Cup are Fire and Holy Spirit. 18. Your Bread slays the greedy one who had made us his bread, Your Cup destroys death who had swallowed us up; we have eaten You, Lord, we have drunken You not that we will consume You up, but through You we shall have Life. 19. The thong of Your sandal is something fearful to the discerning, the hem of Your cloak is awesome to those who understand, yet our foolish generation, through its prying into You, has gone quite mad, drunk with new wine. (continued in page

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Vol. XXIII2008

John kannanthanam

(CROWNING) IN THE EAST SYRIAN TRADITION

K U L A L A

1. Introduction The sacrament of marriage is often referred to as 'the crowning' in all the eastern liturgical traditions. For the Syrians it is 'kulala' (crowning) but f o r the Byzantines it is 'staphanoma'(crowning)'.This ceremony reflects the old tradition of the newly married couple wearing their crowns for a week after the ceremony. This is the most solemn moment of the Eastern wedding service. The Crowning is what is the "form" and the heart of the Mystery. Crowns, or wreaths of myrtle, are placed on the heads of the couple, which are the sign of the glory and honor with which God crowns them during the Sacrament. The priest proclaims: "Give thanks, O queen church, to the son of the King who is betrothed to you and leads you into the bridal chamber. For dowry, he has given you the blood that flowed from his side, he clothed you with a splendid and imperishable robe, he adorned your head with a magnificent crown of glory..." and places the crown upon the heads of the couple 2 . 1 2

DAY, PETER.: The Liturgical Dictionary of Eastern Christianity, Kent(1993),106. Taks'a damkury'a vaburak'a vadkuial'a vdaqtar gnun'a, Ed. Arangasserry, Dn. Yausep Thoma: Thrissur (1960), p. 42.

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John

Kannanthanam

2. Word meaning The two principal moments in Chaldean marriage rite are known (betrothal) and (coronation). Here ¿ill'oa is used as a synonym for wedding. J. Payne Smith in his 'A Compendious Syriac Dictionary' gives two meaning for ¿ili'ea 1 • the ceremony of setting crowns on the bride and bridegroom, a wedding 2. the crowning of a conqueror especially of a martyr, the death or commemoration of a martyr, martyrdom. In the East Syrian marriage rite during the time of blessing the cup the priest says: 'The bride is espoused and crowned to this bridegroom'.

3. The significance of crowning The significance of the crowns themselves is threefold: they are crowns of royalty, Kingdom of God, and of martyrdom. The crowns place certain responsibilities on the spouses, and call them to a new life with each other that is not centered on self, but places each at the service of the other, and together, at the service of Christ. "When a couple is crowned, no longer is their union a relationship between the two of them alone, or even a three-way relation with the Lord standing outside them; rather, their relationship is situated within the relation of Christ and the Church, implanted within this holy union."3 a) Crowning is a sign of the mystical approach in marriage The mystical approach of the Eastern churches is quite different from the legalistic and contractual character of the west. In the Eastern Church, God seals the Mystery. This is why they believe that the true "ministers" of the Sacrament of Marriage are not those who enter into the contractual relationship instead the presiding bishop or priest truly administers this Mystery to the man and the woman being married. The emphasis here is entirely on the imparting of the Grace of God to the man and the woman. Again, there is the mystical element of coronation with myrtle or else with the marriage crowns that Churches 3

Goodall, Lawrence D. "The West's Forgotten Sacrament." Churches Journal Vol. 3, No. 2 (Summer 1996); p. 113.

Eastern

KULALA'(CROWNING)

IN THE EAST SYRIAN

TRADITION

283

have developed. The mystical approach of the Eastern Church primarily sees in that relationship the relationship between Christ and the Church, as St Paul talks about. Marriage is something, which needs to be lived out in a continual state of seeking God's Grace and Guidance. A Christian Marriage will succeed when it is lived in the Life of the Church i.e. we should be willing to cast ourselves onto God's mercy and allow the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to transfigure our lives as Christians reflecting the Oneness of God through the Seal of Christ in marriage. Crowning is a real sharing in the spiritual Kingship of Christ where the willingness to suffer one another's faults is the fullest expression of love. b)

Crowning signifies the special grace of the Holy Spirit received by the couple

The ancient practice of placing crowns on the heads of the betrothed is the outward and visible sign of the Sacrament, signifying the special grace of the Holy Spirit received by the couple. The infusion of the Holy Spirit makes them 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God's own people' (IPet. 2:9). It is the Holy Spirit that accomplishes and perfects the marriage act. The priest prays during the crowning ceremony: ¿oltt ;'>'V>TS' ^¿Lkonxtsa ¿¿Li }'i\virv>a

^¿cu&aao

cyisa&aa ^ u L ¿ci\ jilAa«

(My Lord Your blessings thunder on the earth and Your glory ascends to the heaven and it places crowns upon the heads of your servants and it perfects and accomplishes their acts.)4 c)

Crowning signifies the glory and honour with which God crowns His people

Crowning signifies the glory and honour with which God crowns His people (Psalm 20:3-4; Isaiah 62:3; IPeter 5:4). In Psalm 8:5 we read "Lord our God, crown them with glory and honor!" The entire psalm is a hymn to the dignity of man who was created by God to be master of creation, king and queen of heaven on earth. 4

Taks'a damkury'a vaburak'a vadkulal'a vdaqtar gnun'a, E d . Arangasserry, Dn. Yausep Thoma: Thrissur (1960), p.45. Vol. XXIII2008

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Kannanthanam

One of the terms used in Syriac to signify the bride, liLla (kalta) literally means the erowned. In the prayers of the season of the dedication of the church there is a reference to the crowning of the church, the bride: "... he (Christ) placed on your (Church's) head the excellent and praiseworthy crown of glory (Is 62:3). The splendor of the crown that Christ placed on the head of the church is divine and heavenly. It is a crown of splendour and glory, decorated with precious germs, and woven from the glorious rays of light by his father. In the Syro Malabar Qurbana Text we read: ^.„lfooS. Aa «4^-4?

ty^-a

inS T A? ^VAT,ia

A evuoiua VZ

£LBI3

[Tome of anaphoras, that is, liturgies, of all the orthodox doctors that are well approved and faithful]. A comparison of the brief description of the contents of the British Library MS [A], given by Margoliouth in his Descriptive List, and the detailed description of the contents of the St. Mark's Convent [B], given by Baumstark and Macomber, shows that the contents of the two manuscripts are substantially the same. Moreover, a comparison of the two Syriac texts of our piece shows that they are substantially the same. Apart from a few insignificant variations, such as orthographic variant readings and the omission, addition or abbreviation of a word, we have to note that MS A suffers from a lacuna in one place, viz. between fol. 139v and fol. 140r. The text of this missing leaf has been supplied from MS B (fol,151v, col. A152r, col. A).

III.

The Authenticity of the Piece

The authenticity of authorship of our piece has been questioned by some scholars and has been the subject of debate among them.26 J.S. Assemani reports27 a misunderstanding of the authorship of this anaphora on the part of a certain Stephanus Edenensis in his commentary on the Syrian liturgy. According to Assemani Stephen translated Qluniqoyo Q'imioSn) as "fuller" and therefore identified the author with Peter the Fuller28, bishop of Antioch between 471 25 The date that Baumstark (p. 108) indicates, "1427/28" is certainly incorrect and must represent a misreading of his notes. 26 Cf. Ebied and Wickham, "The Discourse of Mar Peter Callinicus on the Crucifixion", p. 23; Ebied, Van Roey and Wickham, Petri Callincensis Patriachae Antiocheni, vol. 29, p. viii, note 6. 27 Bibliotheca Orientalis, tome II, p. 77. 28 I.e. Peter II; cf. Isaac Armale,"Ft al-Batriyarkiyyah al-Antakiyyah" ["Au Patriarchat d'Antioch"] in Al-Machriq, vol. 21 (1923), p. 498.

The Syriac Liturgy of Peter of Callinicus

331

and 488, celebrated for his supposed introduction of the 'theopaschite' addition to the Trishagion. Assemani corrected the mistake: Qluniqoyo means 'from Callinicus'. The genuineness of the piece and authenticity of its authorship is, therefore, reasonably reliable where the context of the two manuscripts in which it is preserved, coupled with the evidence of the surviving Arabic versions of the Anaphora ascribed to Peter of Callinicus 29 , warrants its authentic authorship.

Sigla of MSS used A = B.L. Or. 2295, fols. 132v-142v (dated A.D. 1481/2) [G. Margoliouth, Descriptive List of Syriac and Karshuni MSS in the British Museum acquired since 1873. London, 1899, pp. 4-5]. B = St. Mark's Convent Library, Jerusalem MS 96 [Baumstark 10], fols. 146v-151r (dated A.D. 1417/1418), A. Baumstark, "Die liturgischen Handschriften des jakobitischen Markusklosters in Jerusalem" in Oriens Christianus, N.S., vol. 1 (1911), pp. 108-110; cf. William F. Macomber, Final Inventory of the Microfilmed Manuscripts of the St. Mark's Convent, Jerusalem. Provo, Utah, Brigham Young University, 1995], item No. 21 [fols. 148v-153r],

29 I.e. Peter III; cf. Armale, "Ft al-Batriyarkiyyah al-Antakiyyah", p. 501. Vol XXfil 2008

The Harp:

332

Rifaat Ebied and Lionel Wickham 32

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