Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church
Language	Syriac (official), and local languages: Malayalam,Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Persian, English, French, German and Swedish
Headquarters	Historically Antioch, Present time Damascus
Territory	Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, the Gulf States and India
Possessions	Middle East, United States, Canada, Great Britain, Western Europe, South America and Australia
Founder	Peter the Apostle
Independence	Apostolic Era
Recognition	Oriental Orthodox
Official website	Margonitho: Syriac Orthodox Resources

The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East with members spread throughout the world. It parted ways with Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism over the Council of Chalcedon, which the Syriac Orthodox Church rejects. It is a major inheritor of Syriac Christianity and has Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, as its official language. The church is led by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

Official name

The church is often referred to as Jacobite (after Jacob Baradaeus) or Monophysite, but these terms are rejected by the some of the church today. In 2000, a Holy Synod ruled that the name of the church in English should be the "'Syriac Orthodox Church". Before this, it was, and often still is, known as the "Syrian Orthodox Church". The name was changed to disassociate the church from the polity of Syria. The official name of the church in Syriac is ʿIdto Suryoyto Triṣuṯ Šuḇḥo, this name has not changed, nor has the name changed in any other language.

Place in Christianity

The Syriac Orthodox Church derives its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St. Peter. The current head of the Syriac Orthodox Church is the Patriarch His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, who resides in Damascus, the capital of Syria. The Church has about 26 archdioceses and 11 patriarchal vicarates. Patriarch Zakka was enthroned head of the church on 14 September 1980, on the feast of the Cross. Syriac Orthodox faithful around the world took part in the silver jubilee celebrations of his patriarchate in 2005.

Vestments

The clergy of the Syriac Orthodox Church have unique vestments that are quite different from other Christian denominations. The vestments worn by the clergy vary with their order in the priesthood. The deacons, the priests, the bishops, and the patriarch each have different vestments.

The priest's usual dress is a black robe, but in India, due to the harsh weather, priests usually wear a white robe. Bishops usually wear a black or a red robe with a red belt. They do not, however, wear a red robe in the presence of the Patriarch who wears a red robe. Bishops visiting a diocese outside their jurisdiction also wear black robes in deference to the bishop of the diocese, who alone wears red robes. Priests also wear phiro, or a cap, which he must wear for all the public prayers. Monks also wear eskimo, a hood. Priests also have ceremonial shoes which are called msone. Then there is a white robe called kutino symbolizing purity. Hamniko or Stole is wore over this white robe. Then he wears girdle called zenoro and zende meaning sleeves. If the celebrant is a bishop, he wears a masnapto, or turban (Very different from turban worn by Sikh men). A cope called phayno is worn over these vestments. Batrashil, or Pallium, is worn over Phayno by Bishops.(Very similar to Hamnikho worn by priests)

Primacy of Saint Peter

The Fathers of the Syriac Orthodox Church tried to give a theological interpretation to the person of Saint Peter. They were fully convinced of the unique office of Peter in the primitive Christian community. Ephrem, Aphrahat and Marutha who were supposed to be the best exponents of the early Syriac tradition unequivocally acknowledge the office of Peter. They understood that Peter participated in the person as well as the office of Christ in a special way. The Syriac Fathers following the rabbinic tradition call Jesus “Kepha” for they see “rock” in the Old Testament as a messianic Symbol. When Christ gave his own name “Kepha” to Simon he was giving him participation in the person and office of Christ. Christ who is the Kepha and shepherd made Simon the chief shepherd in his place and gave him the very name Kepha and said that on Kepha he would build the Church. Aphrahat shared the common Syriac tradition. For him Kepha is in fact another name of Jesus, and Simon was given the right to share the name. The person who receives somebody else’s name also obtains the rights of the person who bestows the name. Aphrahat makes the stone taken from Jordan a type of Peter. He says Jesus son of Nun set up the stones for a witness in Israel; Jesus our Saviour called Simon Kepha Sarirto and set him as the faithful witness among nations.

Again he says in his commentary on Deuteronomy that Moses brought forth water from “rock” (Kepha) for the people and Jesus sent Simon Kepha to carry his teachings among nations. Our Lord accepted him and made him the foundation of the Church and called him Kepha. When he speaks about transfiguration of Christ he calls him Simon Peter, the foundation of the Church. Ephrem also shared the same view. In a Hymn on Peter he writes:

“Blessed are you Simon Kepha Who holds the keys which the Spirit forges Great is the word and ineffable That could stand bind and loose above and below Blessed are thou who wert as the head And as the tongue of the body of brotheren Through Simon was heard the Revelation from the Father Through the Rock unshakable”

(De Virginitate15.6,7)

In Armenian version of De Virginitate records Peter the Rock shunned honour Who was the head of the Apostles,

In a mimro of Efrem found in Holy Week Liturgy points to the importance of Peter:

“The Simon, my disciple, have I set as foundation of the Holy Church, I called thee Kepha that thou mightest bear all buildings Thou art the overseer (baharo) of those who build for me the Church on earth

If they build anything hateful the foundation restrains them Thou art the foundation-head of my disciples By thee I will give drink to all nations thou hast the sweetness of life which I will give I have given thee keys of my kingdom Behold. Thou rulest over all my possession.”

Both Aphrahat and Ephrem represent the authentic tradition of the Syrian Church. The different orders of liturgies used for sanctification of Church building, marriage, ordination etc. reveal that the primacy of Peter is a part of living faith of the Church... It has been conclusively made clear that the modern Biblical scholarship supports the authentic Syriac tradition concerning the role of Peter.

The Syriac Orthodox Church is unusual among the Orthodox Churches since it adheres of the doctrine of Petrine Supremacy but with a different interpretation. The church attempts to subvert and divide the Malankara Orthodox Church through claims of the Primacy of St. Peter the Apostle but the primacy in the Orthodox sense is only a primacy of honor rather than a primacy of authority. The primacy of authority argument is usually ascribed to the Catholic Church since it claims that St. Peter the apostle is the rock that Jesus built his church. Although Antioch is a Patriarchal see founded by St. Peter the Apostle, the accepted successor of Peter is the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.

Demography

Some estimate that the church has about 2,250,000 members globally including 1,200,000 adherents in India. There are 680,000 Syriac Orthodox in Syria and 5,000 in Turkey (numbers in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel are unknown). In diaspora, there are 70,000 adherents in Germany, 60,000 in Sweden, 15,000 in the Netherlands and a large number in North and South America and Australia.

Patriarchate and other central institutions

A Syriac Orthodox church in Midyat, Turkey.

The spiritual care of the Church of Antioch was vested in the Bishop of Antioch from the earliest years of Christianity. The first among the Bishops of Antioch was St. Peter who is believed to have established a church at Antioch in AD 33. Given the antiquity of the bishopric of Antioch and the importance of the Church in the city of Antioch which was a commercially significant city in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire, the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) recognized the bishopric as a Patriarchate along with the bishoprics of Rome, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, bestowing authority for the Church in Antioch and All of the East on the Patriarch. (The Synod of Constantinople in AD 381 recognized the See of Constantinople also as a Patriarchate).

Even though the Synod of Nicaea was convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine, the authority of the ecumenical synod was also accepted by the Church in the Persian Empire which was politically isolated from the Churches in the Roman Empire. Until AD 498, this Church accepted the spiritual authority of the Patriarch of Antioch.

The Christological controversies that followed the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451 resulted in a long struggle for the Patriarchate between those who accepted and those who rejected the Council. In AD 518, Patriarch Mor Severius was exiled from the city of Antioch and took refuge in Alexandria. On account of many historical upheavals and consequent hardships which the church had to undergo, the Patriarchate was transferred to different monasteries in Mesopotamia for centuries. In the 13th century it was transferred in the Mor Hananyo Monastery (Deir al-Za`faran), in southeastern Turkey near Mardin, where it remained until 1933. Due to an adverse political situation, it was transferred to Homs, Syria and in 1959 was transferred again to Damascus.

The Patriarchate office is now in Bab Touma, in Damascus, capital of Syria; but the Patriarch resides at the Mor Aphrem Monastery in Ma`arat Sayyidnaya located about twenty five kilometers north of Damascus.

St. Aphrem Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary

Patriarch Aphrem I Barsoum (†1957) established St. Aphrem's Clerical School in 1934 in Zahle, Lebanon. In 1946 it was moved to Mosul, Iraq, where it provided the Church with a good selection of graduates, the first among them being His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and many other of the Church's eminences.

In 1962 Patriarch Yakub III moved it back to Zahle, Lebanon.

In the year 1968 Patriarch Yakub III put up a building for the seminary in 'Atshanneh, Bekfeyah, Lebanon, where it remained until just before 1976 when its doors were closed because of the war clouds breaking over Lebanon.

In the year 1980 His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas was installed as Patriarch and one of the most important matters on His Holiness' mind was the issue of the seminary. The Holy Synod decided that Damascus should be the site of the seminary. His Holiness opened the institute in an old building in Haret al-Zeitoun in Bab Sharqi.

His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas' dream came true in 1996 with the construction of a beautiful new structure which became the location of St. Aphrem's Clerical Seminary. The building was dedicated on the 14th of September, 1996. The new building is located in the municipality of Ma`arat Saidnaya, about twenty five kilometers north of Damascus.

The building has five floors: the first floor (basement) has a kitchen and a large dining hall as well as rooms for services and storage; the second floor (ground floor) contains classrooms for the four years of study at the seminary, the students' library, administrative and reception offices, a lecture hall, a reception hall, a computer room, and two clinics, dental and general; the third floor has rooms for bishops, priests and seminarians. On the fourth floor is a small church named after St. Aphrem the Syrian that hold about 200 people. There is also the patriarchal wing, which included the patriarchal library, a reception hall and special wing for visiting patriarchs. The monks live in small rooms or cells on the fifth floor. The monastery and the church have a number of icons of our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Mary and St. Aphrem. Nuns from the Demyana Coptic Orthodox Convent in Egypt painted these icons.

St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral and the Crypts for the Patriarchs of Antioch

An important tradition in the Syriac Orthodox Church is keeping the crypts of the Antiochean Patriarchs in a special place in the monasteries that served as their seat. Thus, the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul was built to house the crypts of the patriarchs. The area of the church is 250 square meters, and the basement area is 85 square meters, with an area specially designated for the crypts of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch. Entrance to the crypts is possible from inside the church or from the outside. the cathedral was built in the shape of a cross and seats around 800 people. The cathedral contain icons of our Lord Jesus, St. Mary, St. Peter and St. Paul and of the baptism of the Lord Jesus by his servant John the Baptist. The icons are the work of the nuns from the St. Demyana Coptic Orthodox Convent in Egypt. The church has a bell tower with a cross and bells, built at an height of 22 meters. It is worth noting that the Greek Orthodox Synod under the headship of His Grace Archbishop Seraphim gave the monastery three bells as a token of their appreciation for His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I Iwas and the Syriac Orthodox Church.

International Christian Education Centre and St. Jacob Baradaeus Convent

His Holiness the Patriarch erected this building to become the Universal Syrian Youth headquarters as well as a centre for religious education, knowing that youth play a vital role in the Church's future. The centre has two floors and a basement. There are two dorms with a total capacity for sixty people. The centre also has rooms for the youth leaders in addition to a meeting hall, a dining hall, and all the basic facilities like restrooms, heating, etc.

In the year 1990 His Holiness established the Order of St. Jacob Baradaeus for nuns and renovated St. Aphrem's Clerical building in Atshanneh, Lebanon for the new order. Then he built a branch for the nuns at St. Aphrem's in Ma`arat Sayyidnaya. The convent contains rooms for the nuns, a reception hall and a hall for meetings. It is worth mentioning that in the year 2002 the third branch of this order was opened in Baghdad, Iraq.

It is also noteworthy that theological courses are held every summer at St. Aphrem's. The nuns of the Order of St. Jacob Baradaeus oversee these courses, which are held for those in charge of the centres for religious education.

St. Aphrem Patriarchal Halls

St. Aphrem Patriarchal Halls lie to the west of the theological seminary in the complex of St. Aphrem's in Ma`arat Sayyidnaya. The Halls, along with St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral in front of them to the east, bookend the monastery's open yard.

The building's total area is 1850 square meters, including the halls with their specialized facilities for conferences and meetings. The main hall can seat 800 people and the stage has room for about 60 to 80 singers. The hall is completely furnished with modern services like stage lights, a sound system, equipment for direct translation and for television projection etc..

The ground floor contains an information and reception desk, as well as administrative and communication services. it has a large reception room for receiving official guests. the ground floor also has two adjacent halls for meetings. The first can hold around 130 listeners and the second about 115. The two halls can open to make one large hall for around 300 people.

House of Agape for Elderly Syrian Orthodox Clerics

The House of Agape is located half a kilometer north of St. Aphrem's Monastery and consists of two buildings with 21 apartments. All the apartments have a large reception room. Some have only one bedroom, while others have more than one, in addition to a kitchen, utilities and a balcony. An elevator has been provided in the building.

A small church named St. Matthew the Ascetic is on the last floor of one of the buildings. The church can hold around 180 worshipers. The total area of the House of Agape is about 4650 square meters including the church, utilities and basements.

Church in India

File:Catholica Bava.jpg

His Beatitude Catholicos Baselios Thomas I

The church in Malankara, Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church is an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church with the Patriarch of Antioch as its supreme head. The local head of the church in Malankara is the Catholicos of India, currently His Beatitude Baselios Thomas I, ordained by and accountable to the Patriarch of Antioch in 2002.

The Syriac Orthodox Divine Liturgy in India is done partly in Syriac and partly in Malayalam.

Other churches connected with Antioch

Both it and the Chalcedonian Antiochian Orthodox Church claim to be the sole legitimate church of Antioch and successor of the Apostle St. Peter. There are also three Eastern Catholic Churches headed by Patriarchs of Antioch — the Syriac Catholic Church, the Maronite Church and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. There is also a related (Nestorian Assyrians) Assyrian Church of the East.

See also

• Syriac-Aramean people
• Jacob Baradaeus
• List of Patriarchs of Antioch — to 518
• List of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch — list from 518
• Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church (Church in India)
• Saint Thomas Christians (Syrian Malabar Nasrani)
• Mor Julius Isa Cicek
• Ignatius Zakka I Iwas
• Baselios Thomas I
• Ignatius Afram I Barsoum
• Ignatius Jacob III
• Ignatius Elias III
• Polycarpus Eugene (Augin) Aydin

External links

• Margonitho: Syriac Orthodox Resources
• Malankara Syriac Christian Resources
• Suryoyo Online: Online journal of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Studies and Aramaeans
• Shroro: The Syriac Christian Digest
• Syriac Music Online
• Syrian Liturgy description and photos

Media

• Video of a Syriac Orthodox Funeral