Oshana Holy Mass, 28 Mar 2010 - Photo updates from St. Marys MSOC, Vienna

Kashtanubava Azhchayile Sandhya Namaskarakramam (For children)

Kashtanubava Azhchayile Sandhya Namaskarakramam (For children) is now available for free download for use during the Haasa Week (passion week)

      Contents

• Thinghalazhcha sandhya
• Thinghalazhcha soothaara
• Thinghalazhcha ompatham mani
• Chovvazhcha sandhya
• Chovvazhcha soothaara
• Chovvazhcha ompatham mani
• Budhanazhcha sandhya
• Budhanazhcha soothaara
• Budhanazhcha ompatham mani
• Vyazhazhcha sandhya
• Vyazhazhcha soothaara
• Vyazhazhcha ompatham mani
• Velliyazhcha sandhya
• Velliyazhcha soothaara
• Velliyazhcha ompatham mani
• Saniyazhcha sandhya
• Saniyazhcha soothaara
• Saniyazhcha ompatham mani

 

Click to download the file...

Transliterated by Ms. Sunu Poomkottayil (March 2010)
St. Mary’s Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, Vienna, Austria

Perunnal Sisrusha Kramam for use during the Haasa Week (passion week)

Perunnal Sisrusha Kramam (Geethangal) is now available for free download for use during the Haasa Week (passion week)

      Contents

• SHUBKKONO
• PATHINOMBU
• OOSAANA NJAAYAR
• PESAHA VYAZHAZHCHA
• UYIRPPU/QYAMTHA
• SWARGHAROHANAM
• PENTHAKKOSTHI

Click to download file 

Transliterated by Ms. Sunu Poomkottayil
St. Mary’s Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, Vienna, Austria

Confession....

Nombukalachinthakal

One day retreat on 06 Mar 2010 by Vanitha Samajam, St. Marys MSOC Vienna

Following the practice, one-day retreat was organized by the Vanitha Samajam of the St. Mary’s Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, Vienna during 2010 Great Lent period also. It was held on Saturday, the 6th of March 2010 at St. Mary’s MSO Church, Vienna, under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Biju Parekkattil, Vicar of the Church, and Rev. Fr. Prince Paulose, a veteran theologian and a doctorate scholar based in Rome, Italy.

Rev. Fr. Biju Parekkattil asserted the need of repentance with firm belief that He the Jesus Christ would pardon and wash away the sins of those who really repent and come forth unto Him.  Rev. Fr. Biju further wished and prayed that let the Great Lent period be a raison d'être for such a repentance, reversal and U-turn.

The main topic of Rev. Fr. Prince Paulose was the importance and necessities of keeping own home as a role-model of real Christian life and becoming more subservient to the Almighty.  He pointed out that deterioration and diminution of peace and happiness in every home are increasing in this modern world. Rev. Fr. Prince spotted out that lack of tolerance and forbearance are the main causes of conflict and the repercussions of such conflicts within home are innumerable and would be enduring as it would adversely influence the children.  He reminded one and all that the present generation has a duty to shape up spiritually healthy future generation in leading peaceful and joyful life. 

Most of the parish members attended the retreat who found it was virtually a Christian fellowship that would enable spiritual revival.

Photos of one-day retreat 

Mid-Lent and Feast of Holy Cross (phelgo d-sawmo)

The Wednesday of the fourth week of the fast marks the middle of the Lent (phelgo d-sawmo) and the Feast of the Holy Cross in our Syrian Orthodox Church. What is the significance and importance of the Mid-Lent? Why is our church celebrating it on the 4thWednesday during the Great Lent? On this day in middle of Great Lent, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Cross. As we all know, the New Testament is the display of the hidden truths of the Old Testament. In addition, we can see in the Old Testament many shadows of the events of the New Testament. For example, the sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah is considered to be the shadow of the sacrifice on Mount Calvary. Jesus is the only One Who came down from heaven and knows what transpired there.

According to today's Bible readings, the Israelites, led by Moses, were on their way to the Promised Land. When they had no water to drink or bread to eat, they fought against God and His servant Moses. But because of Moses’ prayers and intercessions, God blessed the Israelites with Manna and Birds’ meat. Despite being provided adequate food, they continued to speak against God. When Moses had to stay with God for 40 days on top of the mountain, the Israelites became impatient, said bad things about Moses, and started to discredit God’s name. They gathered their gold ornaments and made a golden calf, making it their object of worship. The Lord God become very angry and sent fiery serpents, biting the Israelites; many of them died. Terrified at God’s vengeance, they came to Moses and said; we have sinned and spoken against the Lord, and pleaded with him to pray to the Lord so that the serpents will be taken away from them. Moses prayed for the people, and God said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole, and anyone who has been bitten can look at it and shall live". According to God's command, Moses made a brass serpent, put it upon a pole, and all those who looked at it were saved. Indeed, Moses' golden serpent was a symbol of Christ's cross.

On this day, according to our faith, we erect the "N'ortho", which identifies Golgotha in the middle of the church, so that all who come inside the church could meditate on the Cross, the symbol of Christ’s crucifixion and death. It is believed that Jesus Christ was crucified at the very center of earth so that everybody could see what He did so that we might be saved. When we look at the cross, we get cured from all our spiritual illnesses.

During the middle of Holy Qurbana,  priest takes the cross from the "N'ortho" and brings it up to the altar. There will be a special service to celebrate the elevation of the Holy Cross. The adoration of the Cross in the middle of Great Lent is to remind the faithful in advance of the Crucifixion of Christ. The passages read this day repeat the calling of the Christian by Christ to dedicate his life, for "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Christ)" (v. 34-35). This verse clearly indicates the kind of dedication which is needed by the Christian in three steps: To renounce his arrogance and disobedience to God's Plan, To lift up his personal cross (the difficulties of life) with patience, faith and the full acceptance of the Will of God without complaint that the burden is too heavy; having denied himself and lifted up his cross leads him to the, Decision to follow Christ.

These three voluntary steps are three links which cannot be separated from each other, because the main power to accomplish them is the Grace of God, which man always invokes. The Adoration of the Cross is expressed by the faithful through prayer, fasting, almsgiving and the forgiveness of the trespasses of others. On this Wednesday the Adoration of the Cross is commemorated with a special service following the Divine Liturgy in which the significance of the Cross is that it leads to the Resurrection of Christ.

Nombukalachinthakal

The Feast of Mor Ephrem.

Syrian Orthodox Church commemorated Mor Ephrem last saturday,on the first saturday of the great Lent.

Mor Ephrem the Syrian, the great poet saint of the Syriac Church, was born in c. A.D. 306 in Nisibis (North-west of Mosul, Iraq). While some late sources claim that his father was a heathen priest who worshiped an idol called Abnil, his own writings affirm that he was raised in a Christian family. (Adv. Haereses, XXVI. "I was born in the way of truth: though my boyhood understood not the greatness of the benefit, I knew it when trial came." Again more explicitly, if we may trust a Confession which is extant only in Greek, "I had been early taught about Christ by my parents; they who begat me after the flesh, had trained me in the fear of the Lord... My parents were confessors before the judge: yea, I am the kindred of martyrs.")

He was ordained deacon in c. A.D. 338 and served the Bishop of Nisibis, Mor Ya`qub, who participated in the Synod of Nicaea (AD 325). He lived as a solitary and apparently never entered into priesthood. After the cession of Nisibis to Persia in AD 363, Ephrem withdrew into the Roman Empire and settled at Edessa where he composed the hymns that survive to this day. Though in the ecclesiastical hirearchy he was just a deacon, he is remembered as a great doctor of the universal Church.

Ephrem wrote exclusively in Syriac, the Edessene dialect of Aramaic, but his works were translated into Armenian and Greek, and via the latter into Latin and Slavonic. Many works in these languages attributed to him are, however, not genuine. Much of Ephrem's exegetical, dogmatic and ascetic works are in verse form. He wrote several polemical works refuting the heresies of Marcion, Bardaisan, Mani, the Arians and the Anomoeans. He wrote widely regarded biblical commentaries on Genesis and the Diatesseron. His writings extensively employ typology and symbolism. Over 500 genuine hymns survive, of great beauty and insight. His poetry is in two genres: madrãshe (hymns) and memre (verse homilies). After his death, the hymns were arranged into hymn cycles, the most famous of which are those on Faith (including the five 'On the Pearl'), on Paradise and on Nisibis (the second half of which is on the Descent of Christ into Hell). His liturgical poetry had a great influence on Syriac and Greek hymnography. Syriac churches honor him as 'the lyre of the Holy Spirit'.

Mor Ephrem departed to his heavenly abode on 9th of June, A.D. 373. His memory is commemorated in the Syriac Orthodox Church on the first Saturday of the Great Lent.

What are you Giving Up for Lent?

Das Große Fasten in der Malankarisch-Syrisch-Orthodoxen Kirche

In der Syrisch-orthodoxen Kirche geht dem frohen Fest der Auferstehung unseres Herrn Jesus Christus eine lange Vorbereitungszeit voraus - das ist die Große Fastenzeit, die dieses Jahr vom 14. Februar bis 4. März dauert. Das Fasten ist eine freiwillige Askese, ein Hinweis darauf, Gott und seinen Geboten gehorsam zu sein und ein Praktizieren der Gebote Gottes, in dem man sich freiwillig des Essens und des Trinkens für eine bestimmte Zeit enthält, danach nimmt man leichte Speisen zu sich, die frei von tierischen Fetten sind, so dass der Fastende sich auf das Verzehren von Getreide, Hülsenfrüchten, Obst und pflanzlichen Fetten beschränkt und sich der tierischen Produkte enthält mit Ausnahme der Fische und aller Meerestiere und dem Honig, denn die Bienen sind Tiere ohne Begierde.

Das vierzigtägige Fasten

     Das eigentliche Fasten dauert 40 Tage und soll an die Leidenszeit Jesus Christi in der Wüste erinnern. Älteste christliche Schriftgelehrte sagen einstimmig aus, dass Fasten von den Aposteln festgesetzt wurde, um es dem vierzigtägigen Fasten von Moses, Elias und Jesus Christus, der ebenfalls vierzig Tage lang gefastet hatte, gleichzutun. Die Große Fastenzeit umfasst die Vierzig Tage, zwei Feste – den Lazarus-Samstag und den Palmsonntag – und die Karwoche. Insgesamt dauert sie 48 Tage. Sie heißt Große Fastenzeit, nicht nur wegen ihrer Länge (sie ist länger als alle anderen Fastenzeiten), sondern auch wegen der großen Bedeutung dieser Fastenzeit im religiösen Leben des Christen. Das eigentliche Fasten dauert 40 Tage und soll an die Leidenszeit Jesus Christi in der Wüste erinnern. Nach seiner Taufe durch Johannes wurde Jesus vom Geist in die Wüste geführt, um dort vom Teufel versucht zu werden. Jesus aß und trank nichts, sondern konzentrierte sich auf seinen Geist.

Das Fasten ist eine Zeit der Buße

     Das Fasten bedeutet nicht nur den Verzicht auf den Verzehr gewisser Lebensmittel, sondern auch auf alle schädlichen Angewohnheiten und auf jegliches Vergnügen. Das ist eine Zeit der Buße, der Überlegungen und eifriger Gebete. Das Ziel jeder Fastenzeit ist es, sich in Enthaltung, in der Reinigung der Seele von Leidenschaften und sündhaften Absichten zu üben sowie den Körper und die Seele dem Geist zu unterwerfen. Während dieser Zeit übten die Gläubigen mit den Armen Barmherzigkeit, und darum sagt der Heilige Ephräm der Syrer († 373) im vierten Jahrhundert: "Faste das Fasten der vierzig Tage und gib Brot dem Hungrigen, und bete am Tage siebenmal so wie du es von dem Sohn Jesse gelernt hast."

Die Fastenzeit im orthodoxen Kirchenjahr

     Das Große Fasten in der Orthodoxen Kirche beginnt 48 Tage vor Ostern, gleich nach dem Sonntag von Kana. Dies ist die wichtigste und längste Fastenzeit im orthodoxen Kirchenjahr. Auf die ersten 40 Tage des Großen Fastens folgen der Lazarus-Samstag, der Palmsonntag und die Karwoche. Während der ganzen Fastenzeit wird von Montag bis Freitag (außer dem Fest "Mariä Verkündung") die göttliche Liturgie nicht gehalten.

Zur  Geschichte des großen Fastens
     Im christlichen Festkalender geht die österliche Fastenzeit (Quadragesima) dem Osterfest voran, das das Konzil von Nicäa 325 auf den ersten Sonntag nach dem Frühlingsvollmond (in Jerusalem). festsetzte. Ostern ist deshalb ein beweglicher Festtermin, der in die Zeit zwischen den 22. März und den 25. April (die sogenannten Ostergrenzen) fallen kann. Der Termin der Fastenzeit ist beweglich und definiert sich im Verhältnis zu Ostern durch die Länge der Fastenzeit.  Das vierzigtägige Fasten wurde im dritten Jahrhundert verkündet und im zweiten Viertel des vierten Jahrhunderts hat man die Leidenswoche hinzugefügt, die lange Zeit vor diesem Fasten gefastet wurde und so wurde aus dem vierzigtägigen Fasten zusammen mit der Leidenswoche ein siebenwöchiges Fasten.

Die Ordnung des Fastens
     Während des Fastens dürfen keine tierischen Erzeugnisse gegessen werden. Dazu gehören neben Fleisch auch Milchprodukte, Eier und Fisch. Mindestens die erste und letzte Woche des Fastens sowie Mittwochs und Freitags während der Fastenzeit muss man Fastenspeisen haben, d.h. Essen ohne Tierprodukte.

     Aus diesem Grunde erließ der Patriarch Ellias III. († 1932), selig sei sein Gedenken, ein  Dekret, Fisch während der vierzigtägigen Fastenzeit essen zu können, und er erlaubte den Gliedern der Kirche in Amerika, lediglich die erste und letzte Woche von der großen Fastenzeit vor Ostern zu fasten und die Tage des Mittwochs und des Freitags dazu, und an den anderen Tagen dazwischen dürfen sie das Fasten brechen.

Der Patriarch Aphram I. Barsaum († 1957), selig sei sein Gedächtnis, erlaubte ebenso auf eine Bitte der Kirche in Indien, die restlichen Fastentage im Jahr für die gesamte Kirche zu reduzieren.     

     Der Patriarch Yacoub III. († 1980) erlaubte, lediglich die erste und letzte Woche von dem vierzigtägigen Fasten vor Ostern zu fasten und die Tage des Mittwochs und des Freitags dazu, und an den anderen Tagen dazwischen dürfen der Klerus und das Volk das Fasten brechen. Er erlaubte ihnen an den Tagen, die sie innerhalb dieses Fastens nicht fasten, auch tierische Produkte zu sich zu nehmen. Dies geschah im Jahre 1966. Und er erlaubte zusätzlich, auch in den Tagen zwischen den beiden Wochen, also die Woche mit dem Beginn der Fastenzeit und die letzte Woche, die die Leidenswoche ist, Feste, Hochzeiten, Taufen, die Eucharistie und das Gedenken der Heiligen zu feiern. 

     Unserer heutige Patriarch Zakka I Iwas hat im Dezember 2009 auf eine Bitte der Kirche  in Indien der alten Fastenordnung wiederhergestellt. Während des Fastens dürfen keine tierischen Erzeugnisse nach dem neuen Dekret gegessen werden. Dazu gehören neben Fleisch auch Milkprodukte, Eier und Fisch.

Neue Formen des Fastens
     Der heutige Lebensrhythmus macht die bisherige Form des Fastens problematisch. Jeder ist darum aufgerufen, neue Wege der Bußgesinnung zu beschreiten. Neben dem Gebet hat sich das Fastenopfer für Notleidende herausentwickelt. Der Verzicht auf Speise oder eine bestimmte Tätigkeit ist durchaus sinnvoll, zumal wenn das Ersparte den Armen gegeben wird. Die materielle und finanzielle Bereitschaft, anderen Menschen zu helfen, ist gegenüber der Wohlstandsgesellschaft zu dem wesentlichen Fastenzeichen geworden.

The Significance of the Nineveh Nombu for us today (Article by HG.Dr. Geevarghese Mor Koorilose Metropolitan)

Article by HG.Dr. Geevarghese Mor Koorilose Metropolitan

Although the least in terms of the number of days of fast, the "Nineveh Nombu" is one of the most important fasts in the Syrian Orthodox Church tradition. Fasting is meant to be a sign of our giving up of our ego or `selves' for the sake of others. They are, in other words, occasions of self-emptying or `kenosis' of which the supreme example is Jesus Christ himself (Phil.2). Prayer and fasting are two cardinal corner stones of a Christian life. The what , the why and the how of prayer and fasting are clearly explicated in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt.6). Prophet Isaiah brings home to us the concrete manifestation of a genuine spiritual life, itself rooted in prayer and fasting.

Exposing the hypocrisy and the pseudo-spirituality of the people of his time, the prophet challenges them to observe lent and fasting the way God wants them to observe it:

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
And to strike with a wicked fist
Such fasting as you do today
Will not make your voice heard on High
Is such the fast that I choose
A day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
And to lie down in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast
A day acceptable to the LORD?

Is not this the fast that I choose
To loose the bonds of injustice
To undo the thongs of yoke
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless to your house
………(Is.58:4-7)

Fasting is an occasion for us to live through the pain of poverty and starvation. For most of us, fasting has become an easy option of `dieting', which many of us do need to shed the extra kilos that gain, given that we all live in a consumerist society such as today's. As my own spiritual guru, the late lamented Yakoob Mar Themotheose thirumeni, taught me, fasting should enable us to feel the pain of hunger, which, in turn, will make us compassionate to the poor and the hungry. Unfortunately, we have lost this dimension of serving the poor some where along the lines. May this time of "Moonu Nombu" be a time for us to reclaim and recover this lost sense of charity and compassion towards the less privileged and the needy among us.

The story of Jonah has many lessons for us. Let me highlight just one of them here. All human beings have some sense of pride and ego within themselves- a false sense of prestige. Prophets were no exception to this rule- Jonah certainly wasn't one. He knew that his obeying God's commandment to preach in Nineveh had some risks involved with it. He knew quite well that his God was a compassionate God. He was asked to bring the message of God's anger and wrath onto the people of Nineveh. He knew that when people would regret their ways of living and return to the LORD, they would be forgiven and redeemed. It happened exactly the way he `feared'. For Jonah it was a matter of great disappointment.

His ego was hurt, his `name' affected and pride shaken. He wanted God to punish the people as he had prophesied so that `his' words would come true. But God thinks and acts beyond our perceptions and calculations. Jonah was much more concerned about his prophecy being fulfilled than God's compassion towards the people and their welfare. It is a clear case where even prophets get their priorities wrong. This, in fact, is a grave temptation for all of us, especially for those who work in the vineyard of the LORD- a desire to keep our `selves' in tact, to get our predictions right, even at the cost of the ruin of others around us. We should always strive for the wellbeing of others even if it comes at the expense of our pride and name.

This is the challenge of all feasts, especially the Nineveh Nombu, to risk ourselves for the sake of the gospel and Christ, particularly for the poor and the downtrodden in whom Christ can be encountered in our daily lives.

May God have mercy upon us, be gracious to us, and accept the fast of the Holy Church, as HE accepted the fast of the people of Nineveh and spared them.

Three Days Fast of Nineveh ( 25 - 28 Jan 2010)

Our "Fast of Nineveh" or "Jonah's Fast" begins today  and ends on 28th (Thursday) January, 2010. The three day fast of Nineveh commemorates the three days that Prophet Jonah spent inside the fish (for the story, see the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament). This fast is unique to the Syriac Orthodox Church which it passed to other Oriental Churches such as Coptic and Armenian. It is observed for three days from the tenth Monday before Easter Sunday.

The "Fast of Nineveh" or "Jonah's Fast" comprises three days of fasting, followed by the Feast of Jonah itself. This liturgical celebration of our Church is set just a few days after Epiphany and two weeks before Great Lent. The Church's positioning the fast in this liturgical sequence has a mystical significance. During the service of Matins on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week, the entire Book of Jonah is read. Why indeed should the Church devote so much attention to such a short book written by such an obscure prophet? (In fact, all we know about Jonah himself comes just from his book and a single reference to him in 2Kings 14:25.) Succinctly put, the Church sees within this book's simple story an icon of Christ symbolically represented.

How could such a "cute" story about an unwilling prophet who gets swallowed by a fish when he tries to escape doing God's will carry such a profound meaning? Unlike other prophetic books, the Book of Jonah does not contain "words of prophecy," as such, but rather it tells a tale of Jonah's personal encounter with the Lord. Using a story motif, Jonah's prophecy speaks to us not with words but with symbols. Reading these symbols spiritually, we behold the mystery of salvation in Christ exemplified in imagistic types. Indeed, it is no wonder that this book also portrays a unique instance in the Old Testament of God's love and concern not just for His own people, Israel, but for a nation of Gentiles who were actually Israel's enemies. Here again we find an archetype of Christ's mission of salvation extending beyond Israel to embrace the whole world, all the enemies of God.

Historically, this fast is one of the most rigorously observed fasts in the Syriac Orthodox Church. The faithful traditionally refrain from food and drink for three consecutive days, from Monday till Wednesday! Some observe the fast by refraining from food (and drink if they so wish) from morning till sunset during the three days. The church enjoins you to at least refrain from meat, fish and dairy products during the period of fasting.

The faithful are urged to go to church after this fast (or the following Sunday) and receive the Holy Qurbono (the Eucharist).