Introduction to West Syrian Liturgical Theology
From the "West Syrian Liturgical Theology" by Fr. Baby Varghese [Varghese, Baby. West Syrian Liturgical Theology. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2004.]
Introduction
West Syrian liturgy belongs to the Antiochene family of liturgies, of which the East Syrian ('Nestorian'), Byzantine, Armenian, and the Maronite liturgies are the other members. The West Syrians and the East Syrians have remained rather faithful to the early Syriac traditions.
The West Syrian tradition had its origin and development in and around the city of Antioch, and the cetre of the East Syrian tradition was Edessa. Following the Council of Chalcedon (451), the majority of the monks and clergy of Alexandria and Antioch were opposed to the 'Dyophysite Christology', and were called 'Monophysites' or 'non-Chalcedonians'. The non-Chalcedonians of Antioch were known as 'Jacobites' (after Jacob Baradeus, the sixth-century organizer of the Church) or as 'Syrian Orthodox' in modern times. (They always used the title 'orthodox' to refer to themselves.)
There are five Churches that follow the West Syrian liturgy: (1) the Syrian Orthodox Church; (2) the Malankara Orthodox Church (both the autocephalous and that attached to the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch); (3) the Syrian Catholic Church of Antioch; (4) the Syro-Malankara Church (Kerala); and (5) the Independent Church of Malabar. To this list, we can add the Marthoma Syrian Church (Reformed Syrians, as they called themselves in the beginning) and the Saint Thomas Evangelical Church.
A Brief History of West Syrian Liturgy
The West Syrians inherited the Antiochene anaphora in its fifth-century form. The Antiochene Church had adopted the Jerusalemite anaphor of Saint James, probably in the first half of the fifth century. Evidence suggests that the Chalcedonians and the non-Chalcedonians continued to use the anaphora of St. James even after their definite separation. Following the expulsion by the Emperors Justin 1 (518-527) and Justinian (527-568), the non-Chalcedonians took refuge in the Syriac-speaking areas of Mesopotamia and organized their own liturgical tradition, incorporating a large number of hymns, especially those of the poet theologians such as Ephrem (+373) and Jacob of Serugh (+521). The West Syrian liturgy in its present form isa. Mesopotamian version of the Antiochene tradition. Thus we can find several common elements in the East and West Syrian liturgies.
The translation of the anaphora of Saint James was the most significant development in the history of the West Syrian liturgy. Recent studies have pointed out three stages in the development of the Syrian Saint James:
- The old Syriac version(s) made in the sixth century (attested in a few fragments), which also served as the basis for the Armenian and Ethiopian versions of St James.
- The so-called 'New and Correct Recension' attributed to Jacob of Edessa (+708). A few manuscripts claim that Jacob had corrected the Old Syriac version on the basis of the existing Greek texts.
- The Textus Receptus.
In the thirteenth century Gregory Bar Hebraeus (1226-86) abridged the Textus Receptus and this shorter version is used by the Churches of the West Syrian tradition in India. The history of Syriac St James shows how the West Syrians felt free to revise, add, or abridge the Jesualemite anaphora, which they believed to be of apostolic origin. Following the structure and themes of St James, the West Syrians composed about eighty anaphoras. Today about a dozen of them are in use.
One of the most original West Syrian liturgical creations is the prayer form known as the sedro, a long exposition or meditation on a theme. John I, Patriarch of Antioch (+648), is believed to be the author of this type of long prayers, which gradually replaced the litanies of Antiochene origin. In the next centuries, an introduction, known as prooimium, was added to the sedro.
