Friday, January 4, 2013

Liturgy in the Language of Our Lord


A change in work responsibilities, coupled with the fact that I am the sole bread-winner for the foreseeable future, has made daily Mass at the start of my day impossible, at least for the time-being.  Until Lent arrives, my opportunity for a weeknight Mass will be limited to once a week.  Or so I thought.  I discovered that the Maronite-rite church a few blocks away offers evening Mass a few times a week, so long as there is a priest available to celebrate the liturgy.

Few, if any of you know that my maternal grandmother was a Maronite-rite Catholic up until the time she married.  We occasionally went to a Maronite church for Mass, but I could probably count the times on one hand and have fingers left over.  I remember very little except that parts of the Mass were spoken in a foreign language and a good deal of the time I had no idea what was going on, with the exception of the Consecration.

At last night's Mass, I seemed to be the only person outside of the priest and the altar server who bothered to come but at the last minute, a nun in full habit arrived.  While I wish she had sat in front of me, she sat close enough so that I could see out of the corner of my eye what the appropriate posture was.  The Missal provided direction at times but not at others.

The "foreign" language the Maronite-rite is spoken in happens to be Aramaic, the language many historians believe was the language of Our Lord.  My grandmother spoke Aramaic with considerable fluency and my own mother knows a few words but not much.  The Mass last night was spoken mainly in English, except where the rubrics demanded  Aramaic.  The Consecration, for instance, was sung in Aramaic.

I had expected that the Mass would be about 30 minutes in length at most but I was wrong.  It was 50 minutes long and I am not in the least complaining. It could have gone on forever, such was its beauty.   It was a liturgy rich in the kind of  mystery and reverence that is too often lacking in the hit-and-run weekday Masses I encounter on an all too frequent basis.  Despite the fact that only Sister and I were in attendance, a homily was still given.   Incense and chant played an important role in the Holy Sacrifice. The Creed is apparently prayed at every Mass, Sunday or weekday.  The exchange of peace was nothing like the slap-happy yuk-it-up that goes on at the Novus Ordo and takes place, as it rightfully should if it must, before the consecration.  Holy Communion was given under both species by intinction so there was no reception in the hand.   More importantly, the paten was used because reception on the tongue without one is no guarantee of particles not being dropped to the floor  After the dismissal, the nun remained in her pew and chanted a prayer in Aramaic.  It was a beautiful way to offer thanksgiving after the Eucharist.

If I get there again, I will take some photos (with permission) before or after Mass. What's shown above was borrowed.  Although the church itself is a very simple structure, the altar,with an appropriately-placed center Tabernacle, was adorned with a gorgeous nearly life-size Crucifix.   The Creche appeared to be a replica of a shelter hewn out of rock.  Recently, the church installed the kind of traditional stained glass windows that are too seldom seen in contemporary church buildings.

I had to practically tear myself out of the pew to go home and start dinner.   I look forward to going again.


11 comments:

  1. Joyce, I continue to pray that one day we will have a faithful orthodox parish somewhere close enough for us to attend regularly. Our diocese remains bent towards modernism.
    I look forward to the photo's if you return to this Mass.. I would have had to tear myself away, too.
    Blessings +

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    1. Some years ago the nun I mentioned did Cenacle Prayer for Priests on Monday evenings. I went for awhile until, for reasons unknown, it was discontinued. It was the most peaceful hour I've ever spent. Sister has a most beautiful simple yet haunting voice and you could just close your eyes, listen to her pray the Rosary and then sing Salve Regina at the conclusion. I really am so fortunate to live in proximity to so many churches and shrines. As much as I think I would like to move to Lancaster, I would not be able to leave this neighborhood simply because of the access I have these sacred places. Peace +

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  2. Joyce, it sounds so beautiful. I think Father Mitch Pacwa (EWTN) celebrates the Marionite Rite in his parish. He often speaks of it.
    You are blessed to live in a large city where there are so many possibilities for the Sacraments. Except for Tuesdays, it's almost impossible to find an evening weekday Mass around here. One of the things I love about traveling is that it is often easier to find a daily Mass to attend.

    Yes...pictures! That would be awesome...so glad you found this beautiful Mass.

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    1. Hi Patricia, see my response to Caroline above regarding how blessed I am to live where I do. I would imagine Philadelphia is not unlike other large cities in that regard. In NYC there is at least one evening TLM. We don't have that - YET. There's always hope. Peace +

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  3. That is fantastic! If you remember (I doubt you do) our debate a while back on why I thought the Latin Mass shouldn't be the only language of the liturgy, one of my points was that Christ didn't speak in Latin. He spoke in Aramaic, and I made the tongue-in-cheek remark that Mass in heaven would be in Aramaic and that they would hand out Rosetta Stone tapes for us to learn at the pearly gates...lol. I had no idea there was anyone that did the liturgy in Aramaic. I have to try to find a Maronite Church to experience it. It sounds heavenly!

    LOL at your characterization of our sign of the peace. But how do they do it differently?

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    1. Actually, my dear, I remember that very well :) I won't rehash that "debate" LOL :) A few years back my youngest met a priest who was given faculties to celebrate Mass in the Maronite rite, even though he is a diocesan priest. When she invited him to come to the TLM one Sunday, he teased her and told her Jesus never spoke Latin and if she wanted to hear Mass in His language, she should go the Maronite-rite. Again, to me, it's not the language, it's liturgy and how it's celebrated. As for the sign of peace, the priest and the altar server exchanged some kind of gesture, and then the altar server came down into the congregation and with his hands in the shape of a triangle, laid his hands on top of mine. It was very brief and with as many Trinitarian references as the Mass contained (something I forgot to mention in the post) I suspect it has something to do with the Trinity. Not sure what would have happened if more people showed up.

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  4. Joyce, your readers might be interested in this list of Maronite Churches across the USA:
    http://www.stmaron.org/addr.html

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  5. I was telling my husband about this church. It sounds and looks beautiful.

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  6. Well Kathy one day you and your hubby will just have to take a trip East to see some of these beautiful places :) Happy and blessed New Year to you and your family.

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  7. I'm glad you enjoyed the Maronite liturgy (I believe their official name for it is Holy Qurbana), and I must admit that I'm jealous of the fact that you have one so close. I've long loved the various Eastern Catholic liturgies. It's a shame that many of us Romans don't know them well. The Byzantine liturgy is also very beautiful, and worth attending.

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  8. Ah, Daniel, don't be jealous, use it as incentive to visit us sometime. We have a Greek Orthodox cathedral within a mile of our house and not too much further away, a Russian Orthodox church. Where we lived when I grew up, I could see the "onion" dome from my house. Some day when time permits I would like to witness all of these liturgies. peace, Joyce

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