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THE LITURGICAL
YEAR OF THE
SYRO-MALABAR
CHURCH
The Mystery of Salvation, accomplished by the Father in
Jesus Christ with the work of the Holy Spirit, is wholly and
fully
re-enacted in every Eucharistic Sacrifice celebrated in the
community of
the faithful. Every
community when
it takes part in this most sublime and divine action has to
realise its
own salvation through the salvific acts of Christ. But
psychologically we
are not capable to grasp and realise the fullness of the grace
of the
Mystery of Christ in one action. Hence each community has made
some
arrangement to concentrate on one at a time and thus gradually
to
celebrate and realise the whole Mystery of Salvation in the
cycle of a
year. The following pages discuss how the Thomas Christians of
the
Syro-Malabar
Church
as a
particular community realise in itself the Mystery of Salvation
through
the liturgical cycle of the year.
The liturgical year of the
Syro-Malabar
Church
is
divided into 9 seasons having 7 weeks each in principle, but
with
necessary adjustments. It is definitely a different system from
that of
the Latin Church, but very much close to the other Oriental
Churches,
especially that of the Malankara, Jacobite, Orthodox and
Nestorian
Churches, her neighbours and co-heirs of the ancient Thomas
Christian
heritage.
1. ܕܣܘܼܒܵܪܵܐ
Weeks
of
Annunciation
The Syro-Malabar liturgical year begins with the
proclamation and celebration of the historical encounter between
God and
man in the person of Jesus Christ, the human appearance of the
Divine
Person. The Second Person
of the
Holy Trinity, the Icon of Father’s Person and the Splendour of
His Glory,
One in essence with Him and the Holy Spirit, emptied Himself and
took the
form of a servant, became a perfect man and was born of Virgin
Mary, for
us men and for our salvation, taking to Himself all the
weaknesses of our
humanity except sin. The Syriac word Subara,
‘Annunciation’, with
which the Church qualify the first five or six weeks of her
liturgical
year, is, in fact, an announcement and proclamation with
celebration with
this supreme glad news of divine condescension to the human
frailty in
order to raise it up to the divine sublimity. For the whole East Syriac
tradition and
thus also to the
Syro-Malabar
Church
, the
whole period of Annunciation is a big Christmas! December 25th
is only the
climax of this celebration.
According to the true vision of Christian faith, there
is no sense in expecting and preparing for the coming of the
Redeemer. He has already
come two
thousand years ago. Today we can only celebrate that historical
event in
the Church through effective and fruitful signs and symbols and
appropriate its salvific fruits in our own life. It is this true
vision
of Christian faith that the Eastern traditions, especially the
East
Syriac one, proclaims to the world during the celebration of
Subara,
the weeks of Annunciation.
A different way of thinking and connected practices was
forced upon the
Syro-Malabar
Church
during
the western colonial period and is still haunting her in all
levels of
her Christian life. The concept of Advent, Christmastide, and so
on to
divide the integral vision of Subara and the like are the
fruits
of this colonial enforcement. Vatican II has already demanded a
conscious
change of this situation in 1964, paving way to the return and
restoration of the above-mentioned authentic and perfect vision
of
Christian faith. Negligence in this case even after four decades
can no
more be tolerated.
In the context of the Divine Condescension to human
history, the believers are encouraged to meditate upon all the
salvific
events which led to the incarnation of God, namely, creation,
life in
Paradise, human fall, helpless situation of humans, promise of
salvation,
preparation through countless divine interventions, election and
rejection and the immediate preparation through the Forerunner,
during
the time before Jesus’ Nativity. The events after His birth up
to the
baptism in
Jordan
such as
the visit of the Magi, presentation to the
Temple
and
visit to the temple at twelve are pondered on the days after
Christmas.
The weeks of Annunciation, especially the first part up
to Nativity, is also an occasion to turn deeper to oneself,
a real self-examination.
How far
we could creatively respond to this self-emptying love of
God? It is in this
context, the Church
developed the 25-day fasting, which is also an observance very
much in
common with our fellowmen in other religions of
India
in
connection with important religious celebrations. We are, in fact, called to
purify
ourselves from all grossness of our humanity so that we may
become
capable to rise up to the divinity of God-man Jesus.
This period is also a time to remember and honour the
Blessed Virgin Mary in a special way.
We know for sure that the divine plan of human salvation
is
realised only through her fiat,
her consent. Thus the
early images
or icons of Mary are all with child Jesus. The whole importance of
Mary, and hence
her veneration in the Church, depends on her relation to Jesus,
the most
special being His mother. The Syro-Malabar tradition, therefore,
honours
her in very special way during the weeks of Annunciation which
celebrates
Jesus’ Nativity. Her
celebration
is also underlined with two very solemn festivals of her:
Immaculate
Conception on December 8th and Congratulation to Mary
as
Mother of Jesus on the last Friday of this season. The Latin
tradition,
according to its liturgical style, shows such special respect to
Virgin
Mary through May and October monthly devotions. Monthly devotion
is
totally strange to the Syro-Malabar liturgical spirituality.
2. ܕܕܸܢܚܵܐ Weeks
of Denha
The weeks centred on the
great solemnity of Denha,
Epiphany, Jesus’ Baptism in
Jordan
, provides the faithful an occasion for
meditating deeper on the Trinitarian economy of human
salvation. Baptism in
Jordan
was the first historical event when the Holy
Trinity is revealed to humans in the humanity of Jesus Christ.
Every
human being is destined to be transfigured to the person of
Jesus Christ
and thus to the Holy Trinity according to Christian faith. The
Son, sent
by the Father, accomplished the human salvation, and it becomes
realised
in every human being (and through the humans the whole creation)
by the
work of the Holy Spirit. This fundamental article of faith is
what we
meditate and celebrate during the weeks of Denha, Epiphany.
Through the solemn celebration of Jesus’ baptism, we are
also
introduced to His public life. We the believers are, therefore,
invited
to renew our baptismal commitment, lead an authentic Christian
life and
grow mature to the personality of Jesus by celebrating His
memorial,
participating His Risen Body and being sanctified by the Holy
Spirit.
According to Syriac sources,
the weeks of Denha
begins on
the Sunday nearest to January 6, the solemnity of Denha, Epiphany and runs to the beginning of Great Fast. The
Fridays of this period are set
apart to celebrate the reflection of Divine Epiphany in humans
in the
Church. On the first Friday the Church celebrates Mar John the
Baptist
who in person bore witness to the first Trinitarian
manifestation in
Jordan
. The
second is dedicated for the Apostles Peter and Paul,
representing the
whole apostolic community on which the Church is built up. On the third is celebrated
the four
Evangelists who gave a documentary form to this Epiphany. Then
comes Mar Esthappanos, the protomartyr,
who shed his
blood and offered his life for this Divine manifestation. The
fathers and
doctors of the Church who authentically interpreted and taught
it,
bearing wit-ness to it in their own lives, are celebrated on the
following Fridays. The Friday just before the last is set apart
for
celebrating the Patron Saint of the Church, who is a constant
inspiration
to the believing community for following Jesus Christ. And on
the last
Friday we celebrate all our dear departed ones who are in deed
the
forerunners for bearing witness to the Trinitarian manifestation
and
economy of salvation.
Moreover,
this celebration of our dear departed ones is a most becoming
help to
enter the period of Great Fast, where we keep up an intense
memory of
them.
Since the Syro-Malabar Church
is proclaiming and celebrating the most Holy Trinity in a
special way in
the whole liturgical period of Denha,
it is rather meaningless and against the mind of Second Vatican
Council
to hold Trinity Sunday after Pente-cost, merely
imitating the Latin tradition. It was, in fact, a colonial
enforcement
during the European missionary period without considering the
liturgical
genius of this Church.
3. ܕܨܵܘܡܵܐ ܪܲܒܵܐ Weeks
of Great Fast
During
these weeks the faithful reflect on and meditate over the public
life of
Jesus and especially on its culmination in his passion, death
and burial.
It is a God-given time for turning to one’s own life more deeply
and to
become convinced of the abundant blessings of the loving God –
the
creation, the providential caring, the human fall, the
helplessness of
man to save himself, the promise of salvation, the redemption
through His
Son Jesus, the invaluable Gift of the Holy Spirit and the
inheritance of
the heavenly Kingdom. This must naturally lead the faithful to
metanoia,
a total conversion and a full return to the loving Father in His
Son the
redeeming Jesus Christ and its proclamation in the Church
through the
Mystery (Sacrament) of Reconciliation.
Thus all the faithful make themselves ready to rise up
with Lord
Jesus to a totally new life of peace, tranquillity,
satisfaction, joy,
and so on. For this, everybody should fully become oriented
towards God
and fellow beings during the Great Fast. In short, prayer
(personal
intimacy with Jesus – upawasa), renunciation (getting rid
of
everything that is not pleasing to Jesus – tapas) and
almsgiving
(helping the neighbour in all possible ways – danadharma)
should
become the action plan of Christian life.
As it is
mentioned earlier, the faithful enter the weeks of Great Fast,
celebrating the memory of all the Faithful Departed on the last
Friday of
Denha. According to the
ecclesial
and liturgical vision of this tradition, the weeks of Great Fast
is also
an occasion to keep up the memory of the beloved Departed
through special
prayers, renunciation, almsgiving, and
so on and
thus prepare oneself for a good death and resurrection in Jesus
Christ.
The Latin tradition, of course, according to their liturgical
heritage,
does it through the November devotion.
4. ܕܲܩܝܵܡܬܹܗܿ ܕܡܵܪܲܢ Weeks of Resurrection
The Church celebrates the Resurrection of our
Lord during these seven weeks: Jesus’ victory over death, sin,
suffering
and Satan. The empty TOMB, the empty CROSS, the blooming or
living or
flourishing or flowering or fruit bearing TREE, and so on are
speaking
icons or images in the Church of this unique victory of Jesus.
The
devotees are incorporated to Jesus’ Risen Body in holy baptism
and
nourished through the same Body in the life-giving Eucharistic
celebration until they grow to the full maturity and inherit the
everlasting Kingdom. The most vivid expression and celebration
of this
reality is the Qurbana, the Eucharistic celebration and it, besides
transfiguring the faithful to the Risen body of Jesus, fills
them with
the effects of Resurrection, namely, the new life, renewal,
peace,
tranquillity, satisfaction and joy. The Holy Spirit who
transformed the
material body of our Lord to ‘Spirit-Body’ is also working
constantly in
every faithful who receives Jesus’ Body in the Holy Eucharist,
transforming them also to ‘spirit-body’(Rom 8:11). We pray in our Qurbana celebration: “Let us
receive the Holy Qurbana and be sanctified by the Holy Spirit”. The
blooming or flowering or glorious
CROSS shines forth in the Church and in the world as the sign of
cosmic
transfiguration brought about in the Resurrection of Jesus.
5. ܕܲܫܠܝ݂ܚܹܐ Weeks
of the Apostles
The
descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles marks the beginning
of this
particular liturgical period. During its seven weeks the Church
meditates
deeply on the work of the Holy Spirit in humanity, sanctifying,
transforming and elevating it to the heights of divinity. The
Tree of the
Church, the true wine stock, planted and inaugurated on the
Pentecostal
day, sprouts, sends its roots deep in the soil and spreads its
branches
far and wide through the authentic witnessing of the Apostles,
martyrs
and saints. The holy Church is built on the Apostles, our Lord
Himself
being the Cornerstone. The Church is, in fact, the continuation
of our
Lord Jesus in the world today and the sign of the heavenly
Kingdom. The work of the
Holy Spirit in humans
and through them in the whole world, the role of the Apostles in
the
Church, the actual life of the early Church, her unity,
diversity and
universality, the missionary call of the members of the Church,
their
responsibility to bear witness to the personality of Jesus and
His
salvific action all through their life and the like are the most
important realities to be reflected upon and absorbed into our
Christian
personality during these weeks. Dukrana, the remembrance
of the
martyrdom of our Father in Faith, Mar Toma Sliha, is most
solemnly
celebrated on the third of July.
6. ܕܩܲܝܛܵܐ Weeks
of Summer
The maturity and fruitfulness of the Church are
specially meditated on during the weeks of summer. The Syriac word
Qaita means
“summer”. Summer is the
time when
grains and fruits mature and ripen.
Thus it is a time of plentiful harvest for the
Church. The fruits of the
Church are those of
holiness and martyrdom. The Church, having grown, developed and
spread to
the nukes and corners of the world, shines forth as the image of
the
heavenly kingdom, giving birth to innumerable saints and
martyrs. Just as
the Apostles, martyrs and saints, filled with the Power from
above, the
Holy Spirit, dared even to the unknown lands and cultures for
bearing
witness to Jesus Christ, their Lord and Master, today all
Christians,
filed with the same Spirit, must bear witness to their Lord all
through
their life and in all circumstances that they fill the Church
with the
fruits of sanctity and martyrdom.
On the first Sunday of this liturgical period we
celebrate the twelve Apostles and Nusardeil. Nusardeil is a
Persian word
which means “God-given New Year Day”.
Thus this particular liturgical day appears to be one
uniting
together the heaven and earth in the Person of Jesus,
Amman-hu-El
= “God with us” and the Church, His continuation on earth which
is
founded on the twelve Apostles.
The great feast of Transfiguration (August 6) and
Assumption (August 15) which are celebrated during this
liturgical period
are typical Icons of its spirit.
7. ܕܐܹܠܝ݂ܵܐ ܘܲܨܠܝ݂ܒ݂ܵܐ Weeks
of Elias and Cross
The great solemnity of the Glorious Cross that we
celebrate on September 14th is the basic theme
meditated on
and absorbed in all through this liturgical period of
Eliah-Sliba.
This feast emerged as the second Easter, especially in Eastern
Traditions, in the second half of the liturgical year, parallel
to the
Easter in the first half.
During
this period the faithful try their best to have an experience of
the heavenly
bliss here on earth itself, a foretaste of the intimate union
with the
Divine Person. Jesus’
transfiguration on
mount
Tabor
was in
fact such an experience to the selected three. It was so
fascinating and
absorbing that Saint Peter exclaimed: “Master, it is well that
we are
here” (Mk 9:5).
The
Glorious Cross, we know, is transfigured Jesus. Today we are given such an
experience
in the Church in Qurbana celebration. When we really have the
Tabor
experience in our Qurbana celebration, we will simply
love
celebrating it as solemn as possible and remain immersed in it
as long as
possible; the Eucharistic communion really becomes the
participation in
the heavenly banquet, becoming one with our Bridegroom Jesus in
His Risen
Body. During this
liturgical season
the believers try earnestly to transfigure themselves to Jesus,
to dream
and foresee their real encounter with Jesus at the end of time
and
prepare fully for that exceptional and unique meeting with their
Lord and
God.
The glorious Cross is the living sign of Jesus’ victory
over death, sin and suffering.
It
is the Tree of Life, Stem of Jesse (Jesus), Staff of Comfort
(Holy
Spirit), Ark of Noah (Church), the sign
of
Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection, and that of Christian
perfection.
Thus the Cross is the sum total of authentic Christian living.
8. ܕܡܵܪܝ ܡܘ݂ܫܹܐ Weeks
of Mar Moses
This liturgical period is, indeed, a God-given occasion
for meditating on the end of time and the last judgement. The
believers
are called to foresee their real encounter with their Creator,
Redeemer,
Sanctifier, Lord and God, make an examination of their real life
here on
earth, repent on all the failures, do necessary reparation, turn
completely to the Lord and commit themselves unconditionally to
Him. They are definitely
prompted to raise
themselves fully to the level of the Divine. The liturgical
celebrations
in the Church, especially the Holy Qurbana, are such
occasions for
giving them the Divine encounter and experience.
This is a liturgical period whose duration is in fact
uncertain. It depends
upon the
arrangement of the whole liturgical year every time, and thus
always open to variation. There may be
one or two or three
weeks for this period depending on the arrangement of other
periods. Hence, fathers
and commentators say
that this particular nature is typical of the end of time and
last
judgement, which are always uncertain.
9. ܕܩܘ݂ܕܵܫ ܥܹܕܬܵܐ Weeks
of the Dedication of the Church
The last four weeks of the
Syro-Malabar liturgical year are precisely arranged to have an
in-depth
heavenly experience for the faithful. Christ the Bride-groom
leads His
bride the Church to the heavenly bride chamber and offers her to
the
Father giving her the fullness of heavenly bliss. The church
being the
sign of heavenly Kingdom here on earth, every time the believer
enters
it, he/she is invited to such a heavenly experience and sing
praises to
the Lord in the company of the celestial choirs. The faithful
reach to
the climax of such experience during the Qurbana
celebration, the
full and integral expression of their faith and life. The Holy
Communion
becomes the real participation in the heavenly banquet. They are
also
encouraged and helped to have an internal vision of the Lord,
converse
with Him and be truly transfigured to His personality. With such
heavenly
transformation, their earthly life becomes a standing invitation
to their
fellowmen and the whole creation for a transfiguration to the
Creator.
Conclusion
The history of salvation is very fruitfully celebrated
in the
Syro-Malabar
Church
according to this distribution of it in the cycle of a
year. Vatican II has
asked all Churches to
order or re-order their spiritual life according to the flow of
their
liturgical year. The
Syro-Malabar
Church
has to
make self-examination in this respect and do whatever is needed.
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