The Maronite Liturgy
The Maronite Liturgy is called Service of the Holy Mysteries and derives from the Syriac :.ministering at the altar”. Liturgy, Qourbono and other words are used.
The entire liturgy (prayers, gestures, music, art, and architecture) reflects from beginning to end, glory to God for His loving mercy and the call of the worshipper to forgiveness and rebirth.
The attitude of the Maronite worshiper is unworthiness of and readiness for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. “Blessed is he who has come and will come in the name of the Lord” (Maronite Liturgy).
The believer is likened to a ship opening its sails to the Holy Spirit and making its maiden voyage home to the harbor of safety.
The Holy Spirit is the principal minister in the liturgy. He is the beginning, the end and the perfection of all things.
The Service of the Holy Mysteries develops three themes: 1) humanity’s creation in God’s image; 2)deep awareness of God’s mercy toward sinful people; 3) joyful praise of the Trinity.
The tone of the service is simple and direct in the monastic spirit of its founder, St. Maron. A balance is achieved between the hiddenness and presence of God in Jesus.
The worshiper becomes involves in a human-divine drama which unfolds before and within him and makes once a sharer in the Kingdom. The Mysteries/Sacraments become the meeting point for the believer and God.
The communal aspect of worship is emphasized by the fact that the community is absorbed in a continuous dialogue with the celebrant who mediates on behalf of Christ the High Priest, and the deacon who serves an instructing and coordinating role.
reprinted with permission from “Being A Maronite Catholic” by Msgr. Ronald Beshara
What in the world? Another Catholic blog? Yes, in fact, and unapologetically so. We don’t think there can be too many of them, especially in a world that always has needed spiritual direction.
Think about it: Jesus sent his Apostles out in pairs to preach the Gospel to the communities of which they were aware. Sounds like a lot of people, right? After all, before mass communication, the only people who knew of Jesus were those who saw him preach or heard of Him word of mouth. So they had to spread the Word themselves. So on the surface of it, the hundreds of millions of Catholics and millions more who practice their faith in Christian denominations — an incomprehensible number to those original 12 fishermen — would seem like an accomplishment.
But the world has grown and there are billions of people today who do not know the Gospel. There are untold others who have left the Church for one reason of another. Who will go two by two to reach them?
So, yes, another Catholic blog, another presence on the Internet, another vehicle to — in any way — embolden and strengthen the faith, to support the teachings of the Church, to aid its ancillary groups, to defend its Biblical Truth as revealed through the Holy Spirit, to win new souls to the Church, to assist those who want to learn about the Church, to help those in doubt and those looking for direction, to be inspirational, to bring clarity to a world increasingly enticed by a culture ruled by the “dictatorship of relativism,” to create a vigorous online community and a complete resource of all things Catholic, and to share the rich tradition of Catholicism through which we hope to bring God’s love and mercy to all, and a reciprocal and uncompromising worship to Him.
Let us now go forth to love and serve the Lord.
