FAITH SHARING SERIES                        #5

And you will know the truth,

and the very truth will make you free. (Jn 8:32)

 

 

Chapter 1 (contd) 

Liturgy of Mar Thoma Nazranis of India

The great Suppression and painful Rebirth 

Historical Background (contd) 

In obedience to the command of the Lord, the Nazranis assembled, in the evenings, in the Synagogues and in individual homes to remember the life, death and resurrection of Eeso M’siha. The Church was first formed in Jerusalem, the first “memorial service” or “Anamnesis”, (of the offering of our Lord), was also formed and celebrated in Jerusalem. And, as the first assemblies of the faithful Nazranis were all Jewish, their prayers also followed Jewish prayer pattern, especially their “Supper Prayer”. Also we find that Eeso M’siha was the first person to celebrate this offering, or “Qurbana” again, on the Resurrection Sunday, along with the disciples on their way to Emmaus. He also gives us a structure of how the Holy Qurbana ought to be formulated. “Is it not written that M’siha should suffer all this and then enter his glory? Then starting with Mosa and going thru the prophets, he explained to them everything in scripture concerning himself. ….When they were at table, he took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece. Then their eyes opened…..said to each other “Were not our hearts filled with awe when he was speaking to us...… They went back to the others and were greeted “Yes, it is true. The Lord is risen!” (Lk 24:26-35)  This is what we celebrate. It is the attitude we ought to have, an attitude of “awe experience”, during the celebration. And here is what we should  proclaim once we experience the M’siha. 

 

 

“On the Road to Emmaus”- Icon

 

“He is Truly Risen” 

It was this form of the “Remembrance of the Sacrificial Offering” as well as the “Divine Worship”, celebrated at Jerusalem, that the apostles and disciples carried with them to  different corners of the known world, wherever they went to spread the Good News. When gentiles and pagans also started embracing the way of the Nazarene Eeso, the Divine Worship which was entirely Jewish, started assimilating various Greek features amongst the Christian communities in the Roman Empire. Some centuries later, when Latin culture and language became prominent in the Western Roman Empire, Latin elements too found their way into the liturgy in the West. In Antioch, Alexandria and Rome in the Roman Empire, famous theological schools with great scholarship came into existence. We find that the Aramaic liturgy which originated in the first century in Jerusalem, developed under Greek and Latin influence, under the guidance of great Greek and Latin scholars.   So, what we find is that the Semitic Aramaic liturgy which originally got formed in Jewish Jerusalem, thru the long  years of its existence in the erstwhile Roman Empire has come down to the modern era as a liturgy, greatly developed under Greek and Latin influence.  Over the Semitic (absolute) faithfulness was added Hellenistic philosophy of the Greek; and additionally, Latin Scholasticism of the Romans,  and to that extant the Liturgy definitely got richer. Different Western and Eastern rite Churches in the Roman empire thus came to inherit different traditions of Eucharistic celebrations, all developed under Latin and/or Greek influence.   

But, for the Persian and the Indian Churches, the situation was quite different. The Semitic Aramaic liturgy which had its origin in Jerusalem was further developed by the great school of Edessa, where it blossomed further, strictly under Semitic and Aramaic language and influence, and handed over to the modern era in the same format, still in Aramaic language. The liturgy of the Holy Qurbana, thus formed in the Persian Church is known after their great fathers, Mar Addai and Mar Mari. Yes, the Aramaic language itself, of the first century, spoken by Eeso M’siha, the apostles and others did go thru much development over the centuries and at present has two divisions. (1) East Syriac or Kaldaya Syriac and (2) West Syriac or Antiochean Syriac. While West Syriac, followed by the Anteochean Churches really came into usage out of Aramaic,  only by the 7^th century, and has taken in much Greek elements in its development, the East Syriac was a natural progression of the original Aramaic, used by the Church of the East in Persia and Mar Thoma Nazranis in India, continuously without any break and without any influence of any outside elements. While East Syriac may not exactly the same Aramaic as it was during the time Eeso, it is still the best and closest to the original. While the Persian Churches and the Malabar Church use the ancient Liturgy (Anaphora) of Addai and Mari, the Anteochean Churches make use of St. James Anaphora (Liturgy), also a very ancient liturgy, now being celebrated in West Syriac. The St James Liturgy has greatly been influenced by the Greek elements and is considered, by scholars, to be the most beautiful Anaphora available now. It is also very important to take note that the East Syriac Anaphora of Addai and Mari has been generally accepted by scholars to be the most ancient Anaphora in the Christendom. Also it is the only Eucharistic prayer that was not only formed in Aramaic, but actually was developed in Aramaic as well as handed down in continuous usage to the modern times in Aramaic language itself. (Recommended reading: “The Church of the East” by Archbishop Mar Bawai Soro, “Eucharist” by Louis Bouyer, “The Eucharistic Epiclesis”, 2^nd Ed, by John H. McKenna) 

There was no theological school or any known ecclesial scholarship within the early Indian Nazrani Church. However, due to the close contact and association with the Church of the East in Persia, the Indian Nazrani Church was much benefited. Bishops appointed by the Catholicos Patriarch of the Church of the East used to provide spiritual leadership and guidance to the Indian Nazranis. There is record of Persian bishops guiding the Malabar Nazranis from 2^nd century onwards. The temporal affairs of the Indian Nazranis were handled by the local churches, without any interference from Persia. This close contact and association continued until the sixteenth century, when the colonial missionaries broke the line of communication, forcefully, between Malabar and Persia. We see that the Western Church, very cleverly, took over control of the Nazranis by a series of well calculated tactics. 

(Ch 1  Liturgy-Historical Background: to continue: Faith Sharing #6)