The Hymn of Praise of Mar Babai the Great

This hymn of praise that is sung during the seasons of the Annunciation and the Nativity {the form on this page is for “the day of His birth”}, was written by Mar Babai the Great.  In this hymn, the Christology of the Church is plainly expressed in a manner that cannot be accused of any unorthodox language.  As the Church believes, so it also prays singing.

The Hymn of Praise of Mar Babai the Great

Blessed is the Merciful One who, in his grace,

   has provided for our lives through prophecy.
Isaiah saw with a spiritual eye the amazing child of virginity.
For Mary gave birth to Emanuel, the Son of God, without copulation.
From her the Holy Spirit fashioned the united body, as it is written,

to become a dwelling and an adorable temple

   for the Radiance of the Father in one Sonship,

and from the beginning of his incredible conception,

   unite it to himself in one adoration,

that everything that is His will be fulfilled in it

   for the salvation of the people,

   as is fitting for him.

The angels glorify him on the day of his birth,

   with their praises in the heights above.

The earthly also offer adoration with their offerings in one honor.

Christ is one – the Son of God, more honored than all, in two natures.

In his Divinity he was born of the Father,

   without beginning and above time.

In his humanity he was born of Mary, in the latter times with a united flesh.

Neither is his Divinity from the nature of the mother,

   nor his humanity from the Nature of the Father

The natures are protected in their qnome, in one Person of one Sonship.

And wherever there is divinity, there are three Qnome and one Existence.

Thus is the Sonship of the Son: in two natures, one Person.

Thus has the holy Church learned of the faith of the Son who is the Messiah.

We adore you, O Lord, in your Divinity

   and in your humanity which are without division.

Mar Babai the Great was a saint and teacher of our Chaldean Church at the turn of the 7th century.  In his works, he clearly defines the terminology of the Church of the East in Trinitarian as well as christological contexts.  This was an important undertaking in the context of the great christological controversies that had been at the center of the Western world since the 5th century and which had spilled over into the realm of the Persian Church.

Much scholarship and dialogue has taken place in the last half a century to defend the christology of the Church of the East fathers {refer to the Pro-Oriente unofficial dialogues among the Syriac Churches for the latest scholars from the respective Chaldean, Maronite, Syriac, Assyrian and other Churches}.   For a better understanding of the terminology, refer to Fr. Andrew Younan’s lecture.

 

The Symbol of Faith – The Creed

The Creed is called “The Symbol of Faith of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Bishops” by the Chaldean Church.  By the 5th century, persecution of the Church of the East had subsided, and its isolation from its Western brethren within the Roman Empire was ended.  The Western bishop, Mar Maruta, the bishop of Maypherkat {in Modern Turkey}, had managed to gain access to our Church fathers through the Persian King Yazdegerd.  In 410 AD, Mar Isaac {Mar `Ishak}, the cathalicos in Seleucia-Ctesiphon was able to convene the first official council in which Mar Maruta presented “The Symbol,” which was accepted along with sweeping reforms, standardization, and the canons of the Church.

The Mesopotamian Church had until then used various creed formulations, but now would use the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed formulation.  Interesting enough, the Creed as recorded and recited in the Synod records did not match what was in the Roman Empire after the councils of Nicea, 325 AD, and Constantinople, 381 AD.  The Creed also evolved to take on more uniformity with the West by the 6th Century {cf Synod of Mar Isho Yahb I}.  An person familiar with the Creed in the West will realize a few points of difference in the currently recited form.

Curtains in the Chaldean Church

The Chaldean Church, in authentic continuation in the tradition from apostolic times has always used curtains in its liturgy.  It is true that in churches that are smaller with less means, or for other reasons cannot tenably have the curtains, curtains were absent, but this was to be the exception and one can see in the liturgical books and the writings of the magesterium and the bishops that their usage was never dropped.

Muddy Water

“But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14.

Christ speaks of an essential metamorphosis when we cease leaning on someone else for spiritual growth and begin to offer spiritual growth ourselves.

Beauty in the Chaldean Liturgy — Simon Esshaki

The following article on Kaldu is from SimonEsshaki who posts on this blog.  This is a paper {link} he wrote analyzing the beauty of the Chaldean Liturgy of the Holy Offering {Qurbana Qaddisha} in light of St. Thomas Aquinas’s definition of beauty.

List of Diocese Calendars

The calendars of our St. Peter the Apostle Diocese actually have a lot of information about our church, its history, saints, and spirituality.  This started as far as I know with the 2009 calendar.

The 2009 Calendar has a short hagiography of a saint of our church every month.  It made looking forward to the next month all the more exciting!

The 2010 Calendar has a nice timeline of the Chaldean Church history.  Each month progresses further down the timeline.  It also has some nice photos relating to the timelines usually.

The 2011 Calendar has a review of the Chaldean liturgical year and its structure.

The diocese anniversary was in 2012, so the 2012 Calendar had a review of the diocese and its various ministries and activities.

The 2013 Calendar has a great review of the Chaldean liturgical year and spiritual points thereof.  This last one may change its link in the future when the 2014 Calendar comes out.

Hope people enjoy these worthy calendars. 🙂

St. Ephrem on the sons of God

When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.

St. Ephrem on the midwives of Exodus

Because Pharaoh was careful not to pollute the river with corpses, he summoned the midwives in order to make them murderesses.  By his authority he made them the opposite of their titles, since he imagined he would turn physicians into executioners.

The confidence that is from God… p4

In the last posting on this topic, we mentioned how parrhesia was a result of our being adopted sons of Our Father in heaven.

There is one type of parrhesia based on a relationship quite different and unique.  As compared to us having the confidence of children before the Father, there is a confidence of a mother to the Son, the same confidence that the church saw manifest in our ladies request of her son at the wedding of Cana. In one hymn, the faithful ask of St. Mary:

The confidence that is from God… p3

As was discussed in the previous posting on this subject, the transliterated word, parrhesia, took on a precise meaning in regards to the faithful’s relationship with the Father.

In reading the letter of Abdisho Hazzaya, a Church of the East mystic whose dating is uncertain but could well have been in the 7^th century, or as late as the 9^th, one sees in his instructions to the monks a clear demonstration of the word.  He writes: