www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Syrian village clings to Aramaic Language

Odd, are the Christians in the video Rum Orthodox or Melkite? I would have thought the majority would be Syriac Orthodox or Catholic.

I seem to recall reading that they are mostly Syrian and Melkite Catholic. The Monastery, St. Sergius, shown in the video is Melkite, and is quite ancient. There is also the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Thekla.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Thanks for posting that.

A Melkite Priest tells the following story about these little villages nestled in the hills.

There was once a man who moved into an Aramaic village. To celebrate the purchase of his new home, he decided to have a barbecue. Unknown to him, it was Clean Monday.

So all the neighbors ran to the village priest and complained:
"How can we observe the fast if this foreigner is going to have barbecues and we will be forced to smell the aroma of freshly cooked meat. And look it is Clean Monday and Great Lent is just beginning."

So the priest agreed to talk to the man.

When the man heard that he had offended his neighbors who were devout Christians, he apologized and even offered to take instructions.

He was so devout that he was baptized that Pascha.

The man remembered the words of the priest, "Thou wast born a sinner, and now thou art cleansed and have become a new creation in Christ."

Then all the neighbors rejoiced and celebrated his baptism.

However, the following December 15, he lit his barbecue once again, and his patient neighbors rushed out to see what was going on with the odor of the smoke from the barbecue.

He was seen standing over the barbecue saying, "Thou wast born a chicken, but now thou art fish."

I was privileged to serve Divine Liturgy at the hilltop monastery in Ma'aloula about ten years ago - it was a great joy. Now it is a great joy to see these films from Al-Jazeera and to learn that at last the Syrian government is encouraging literacy in Aramaic. Perhaps we should organize a pilgrimage (it's in fairly easy reach of Damascus, there is both an Orthodox monastery (dedicated to Saint Thekla) and the Greek-Catholic monastery (dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus), and an excellent hotel on the hilltop, with a stunning vew.

Fr. Serge

I used to think that the Syriac speaking Christians were either Syriac-Orthodox or Syriac-Catholic, while the Arabic speaking Christians were Antiochian-Orthodox or Melkite-Catholic.

As we can see, there are some Aramaic-speaking Christians who are Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholics. The Maronites also make considerable use of Syriac, and so do the Churches in Kerala.

Fr. Serge

Thank you for posting this video! Aramaic is a beautiful tongue...I hope it is not lost.

God bless and keep you....

I thought I replied to this thread. I would be very interested in a pilgrimage to Ma'aloula if (a big one) it would be affordable.

That was AMAZING !

Such things still exist ! It is like a dream or a legend come to life !

I know for some members of this forum, who are well travelled, things like this must be like second nature.

But I have lived almost my entire life in America; I have only been outside the country a handful of times; and this is just . . . stunning. It is totally outside my range of experience or imagination. There is a living community that speaks the same language as Jesus Christ ! This is no small thing: language shapes consciousness and vice versa. And there it is: the language of Jesus -- alive, spoken by real, ordinary people today ! When that priest was praying in Aramaic, it reminded me of the movie the Passion and hearing Jesus speak in Aramaic . . . but the Passion was just a movie, and that village is a living community today! My mind is amazed; I have seen a living window into the time of Jesus, and into the life of Jesus, and those who first followed Him. It is enlightening to me. Thank you for posting that. My God: that is amazing. Thank you.

-- John

A pilgrimage to Ma'aloula (including Damascus and other Christian places in Syria) ca certainly be done, and would be well worth-while. Those interested should send me a PM. Ahlan wa sahlan!

Fr. Serge