The
Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church
By
Fr Steve Bonian
The
Syriac Rites
Syriac is the
Christian form of Aramaic that was spoken in the regions of Syria, and is still
spoken today in some villages in the northern Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Three of
these rites today still celebrate their Masses and liturgical prayers in the
original Syriac: The Chaldean, Maronite, and Syrian rites. The western dialect
of Syriac may be the closest to the Aramaic that Jesus spoke at his time.
The
Byzantine Rites
These have their
origin in the imperial city of Constantinople. The Eucharistic Liturgy of Saint
John Chrisostom have made this rite widely popular especially with the use of
icons in churches. Originally in Greek this rite with the conversion of the
slaves by Saints Cyril and Methodios is today widely celebrated in Eastern
Europe and Russia as well as Greece and the Near East. The Russian world also
developed liturgical music in this tradition that is comparable to the best in
the Latin world.
The
African Rites
They are mainly the
rites of Egypt (Coptic Rite) and of Ethiopia (Ethiopic rite). The Coptic rite
is celebrated in a mixture of early Christian Egyptian and Greek. The Ethiopic
rite also belongs very early in the Christian tradition (second or third
century) and is perhaps the earliest rite that can be said to be purely African
in style.
Other
Easter Rites
The Armenian rite
belongs to early Christian evangelization in Armenia and is celebrated today by
most Armenians.
(Most of these rites
today have a Catholic and an Orthodox branch to them, with the exception of the
Maronite rite that is Catholic only.)