The East Syrian Monastic Divine Office a Study Based on Ms

THE EAST SYRIAN MONASTIC DIVINE OFFICE

THE EAST SYRIAN MONASTIC DIVINE OFFICE A STUDY BASED ON MS. VAT. SYR. 88

JACOB VELLIAN

In the early developing stage of the liturgy of the hours, we see a parallel shaping. There were the Cathedral offices of Morning and Evening prayers and feast day vigils, which were popular and in which laymen were present along with the clergy and the monks. This we see in the fourth century offices celebrated in the Basilica of the Resurrection, with virgins and monks participating in them, as is reported by Egeria in her travel diary (A.D. 381- 384). Even before Egeria, under Macarius, Pachomius (A.D. 320) and other monks, divine praises were formed and recited by the monks in various hours of the day.1 A Ìudra Ms. of Trichur, written in Kothamangalam (1584), follows the rite of the Upper Monastery of Mosul, ‘customary in the whole East’, as the colophon states. The Divine Office of the East Syrian Church is typically monastic, except for Vespers and ∑apra which are rather ‘Cathedral’ (popular) offices.

Various Hours of Prayer

Ramsa (Evening Prayer) 6 to 9 p.m. ∑apra (Morning Prayer) 6 a.m. Subba{a (Compline) 9 to 12 p.m. Qu††a{a (Third Hour) 9 a.m. Lelya (Night Office) 12 to 3 a.m. ‘Eddana (Sixth Hour) 12 a.m. Qala d-Sahra (Vigil) 3 to 6 a.m. None (Ninth Hour) 3 p.m.

Texts of the Divine Office

Isho‘ Yahb III, the East Syrian Patriarch (647-657), arranged the liturgical year in nine periods. He collected the manuscripts of the Divine Office and arranged them according to the liturgical year. He organised the manuscripts into three groups:

1 S. Pudichery, Ramsa (Bangalore, 1872), p. 8. 294 JACOB VELLIAN

Îudra – office for Sundays and movable feasts; Gazza – for immovable feast days; Kaskol – for all week days.

He fixed a pattern of seven times of prayer a day which he directed the bish- ops and monasteries to celebrate. Priests in parishes and the faithful in gen- eral were to celebrate the evening (Ramsa) and morning services (Lelya- ∑apra) only.

The Printing of the Divine Office

The Patriarchal Synod of June 1853 directed that the Divine Office be printed after abbreviation and correction. Patriarch Peter Elias III (1894) executed the Synod’s decree and entrusted the task to Mar ‘Abdiso‘ Kayyath and to Fr. Paul Bedjan, a renowned Lazarist Syriac scholar. The work was published in three volumes in Paris (1886-87) under the title, Breviarium Juxta Ritum Syrorum Orientalium id est Chaldaeorum. The same work, with some corrections by J.M. Vosté, was printed in Rome in 1938 by the Con- gregation for the Oriental Churches, with a rather long introduction by Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, for the Chaldeans and Malabarians. Though the Malabar Church received the printed text of the 1938 Bre- viarium as official, it had its own tradition in this regard. The European missionaries of the 16th and 17th centuries testified that, at dusk and dawn, divine praises were celebrated in the parish churches by a few clerics in the presence of a good number of the faithful. Moreover, it is clear that Syriac manuscripts similar to the ones used for the compiling of the printed text were available in Malabar. Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara prepared a three volume Divine Office from such manuscripts. Due to various circum- stances, only the first volume was printed, but that was in 1876 in Koo- nammavu, ten years before the Chaldean Breviarium. A Breviary containing two weeks offices, to be repeated throughout the year, was printed at Puthenpally Seminary and was used until 1967, in which year the Ma- layalam text appeared. The Church of the East, Trichur, published the Di- vine Office in Syriac in three volumes (1960-62), which underwent a re- printing in 1993. The texts of both the Chaldean Breviarium and the Trichur edition were abridged from the manuscripts.2 2 P. Bedjan & E. Khayyat, ∑lota Qanonayta d-Kahne, Breviarium iusta Ritum Syrorum Orientalium, id est, Chaldaeorum, 3 vols. (Paris-Leipzig, 1887-88; Rome, 1938). For the THE EAST SYRIAN MONASTIC DIVINE OFFICE 295

Psalms

The East Syrian Church makes use of the text of the psalms from the Peshitta. The psalms are grouped into units of marmita and hullala. The 150 psalms are divided into twenty hullale. Each hullala is divided into two or three marmyatha and each marmita generally includes either two, three or four psalms. In the time of Dadisho‘ Bar Qa†raye, as he explains in his com- mentary on Subba‘a and Lelya, the large unit of the psalms was marmita and not hullala.3

Vat. Syr. 88

This Ms. comprises the text of the monastic liturgy of the hours of the East Syrian Church and was copied by Metropolitan Mar Joseph Sulaqa at Saleste, near Goa, on 28 January 1557. It is an office meant for solitary nov- ices who recite prayers in their cells.4 The same office is found in the Ms. Mingana Syr. 564 (A.D. 1931), ff. 3r-12v, which is a copy of Ms. 150 of the Library of the Convent of Notre Dame des Semences of Alqosh of 1817, at present preserved in Bagdad.

Vat. Syr. 88 Distribution of the Prayers of Monday: fol. 21v line 5 Ramsa of Monday fol. 22r penultimate line Subba{a of Monday

history of this breviary see J.M. Vosté, ‘Paul Bedjan, Lazariste Persan’, OCP, 11 (1945), pp. 45-102, esp. pp. 57-67; Darmo (ed.), Ktaba da-qdam wa-d-Batar wa-d-Îudra wa-d- Kaskol wa-d-Gazza w-qale d’-udrane’ am ktaba d-mazmore, ak †aksa d-Mar Gabriyel wa-d- Mar Abraham d-Dayra ‘Ellayta, 3 vols. (Trichur, 1960-62); E.Y.J. Kelaita (ed.), The Lit- urgy of the Church of the East Compared in Detail with Many Ancient Mss., with their Name and Date given in the Syriac Introduction (Mossoul, 1928); A.J. MacLean (trans.), East Syr- ian Daily Office (London, 1894). For Mss. see J. Vellian, ‘The Pre-Diamper Sources of the Malabar Liturgy’, in The Life and Nature of the St Thomas Christian Church in the Pre- Diamper Period (Kochi, 2000), pp. 70-73. 3 See J. Mateos, Lelya Sapra, OCA, 156 (Rome, 1976), Appendix VIII. 4 J.P.M. van der Ploeg, Syriac Manuscripts of St. Thomas Christians (Bangalore, 1983), p. 79, observes that in the Church of the East monks would recite the Divine Office in private when they did not leave their cells. Most likely, Ms. Vat. Syr. 88 was such a monastic prayer book of a type which was used in the entire East Syrian Church, including Malabar. The Ms. colophon attributes the composition of this office to a monk called Fransa, who belonged to the monastery near Gazarta, which became Catholic under Patri- arch Sulaqa, the brother of the Mar Joseph who copied it. 296 JACOB VELLIAN fol. 28v line 7 Lelya of Monday fol. 33v lines 4-5 ∑apra of Monday fol. 33v line 11 Third Hour (9 a.m.) fol. 34v line 9 Sixth Hour (12 noon) fol. 41r line 9 Ninth Hour (3 p.m.)

Minor Hours

Concerning the Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours, Cyprian said:

‘For the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples at this [i.e. the third] hour (Acts 2,15). Likewise, Peter went up to the house top to pray at the sixth hour (Acts 10,9), and the Lord was crucified from the sixth to ninth hours’.

The little hours, Terce, Sext and None, are all monastic. They are generally short Hours. The author of the Expositio Officiorum (7th century) testifies to the existence of the small Hours during Lent.5 In the ferial days of Lent, after Sapra, there is a little office called Qu††a{a (Third Hour). Qu††a{a is not a part of Sapra. Qutta{a is led by the president and it consists of: psalmody (one hullala); a responsorial hymn; Te sboÌta (hymn of glorification); the Trisagion and final prayers. Today ‘Eddana (Sixth Hour) also appears only in the ferial days of Lent. The Divine Office specifies its recital at midday. Generally it was observed in memory of the crucifixion of the Lord. It consists of: psalmody (three hullale), ‘onita from Qola d-Sahra; responsorial hymn; Qanona Te sboÌta (short version); Karozuta (a special litany); the Trisagion; Pater noster and final prayers. The beginning psalmody consists of three hullale, but Bedjan gives only one hullala. That abbreviation was made according to the deci- sion of the Chaldean Synod held in the monastery of Rabban Hormizd in 1853. Its ‘onita and qanona are taken from the night service. The Ninth Hour, according to J. Mateos, practically disappeared except, perhaps, for the initial psalmody of Vespers.6 That this psalm is a remnant

5 Expositio, 1,11 in R.H. Connolly (ed.), Anonymi auctoris Expositio officiorum, CSCO, 91 (Rome, 1911-13), pp. 107, 157, 158. 6 J. Mateos, ‘L’Office divin chez les Chaldeens: La Priere des Heures’, in Lex Orandi, ed. B. Bolte (Paris, 1963), pp. 258-260. THE EAST SYRIAN MONASTIC DIVINE OFFICE 297 of the Ninth Hour is suggested by S. Pudichery as well.7 But Ms. Vat. Syr. 88 has the Ninth Hour in ff. 41r.9-41v.17.

Subba{a

Subba{a means ‘plenitude’ or ‘satisfaction’. It is the office of Compline which is a night prayer. The office is recited before going to bed. Cassian testified to the existence of an office of the Oriental monks in which a few psalms were recited in the dormitory before retiring to bed.8 Thus it was a vigil service for the first part of the night. Though Subba{a disappeared as an independent office, it is seen in the first mawtba when there are two to three mawtbe.9 In Bedjan, in the office of Subba{a which is given after Ramsa, we find the following structure in Lent and in the second, third and fourth day of Rogations (Ba‘uta):10 a prayer, ‘Make us worthy, our Lord’; Onyata (the first strophe for the first Monday of Lent is taken from the Onita d-Raze of the previous Sunday Qurbana) ending with a qula; Qanona and TesboÌta (psalm verses are used in the Qanona); Karozuta (common for Subba{a); the Trisagion and final prayers.

Lelya

For Lelya, the monks used to recite the whole Psalter every day. In the Expositio Officiorum it is distributed accordingly and, below, we give a comparison with Vat. Syr. 88.

Expositio Vat. Syr. 88

Subba{a hullala 1-5 1-5 (fol. 22) Lelya hullala 6-12 6-15 (fol. 29v) Terce hullala 13-15 12-15 (fol. 33 v) Sext hullala 16-18 16-18 (fol. 34 v) None hullala 19-21 19-21 (fol. 41)

The monastic office for week days proposed by Vat. Syr. 88 is seemingly similar to the Expositio, except that in it hullale 12-15 are recited twice.

7 Pudichery, Ramsa (see n. 1), pp. 157-158. 8 Migne, PL 49, 179. 9 J. Mateos, Les différentes espèces de vigiles dans le rite Chaldéen, OCP, 27 (1961). 10 P. Bedjan – E. Khayyat, Breviarium (see n. 2), I, pp. 177ff. 298 JACOB VELLIAN

The hullale for the little hours of the first week of Lent are as follows:

Subba‘a (Compline) Qu††a{a (Third Hour) ‘Eddana (Sixth Hour)

1 2 3, 4, 5 7 8 9, 10, 11 13 14 15, 16, 17 19 20 21, 1, 2 4 5 6, 7, 8 10 11 12, 13, 14

A comparison of the structure of the Subba{a office in the Expositio with that in Ms. Vat. Syr. 88 is interesting:

Expositio Vat. Syr. 88

1. Hullale 1-5 Hullale 1-8 (fol. 4v) 2. ‘Onita d-Ramsa (of the preceding ‘Onyata Qanona TesboÌta (fol. 11r) Friday) 3. Hullale 6-9 Karozuta 4. ‘Onita – Lelya (of the preceding Friday) 5. Qanona, TesboÌta

Selected Prayers

Prayer for Rain: The concern for the well-being of the people is very clear in the monastic prayers. There are several beautiful prayers for rain for a dry land. It is good to note that while the people are asleep that monks intercede for them before the Lord.

1. ‘Merciful Lord our God, Have mercy on our life; May the sorrowfulness of the air turn to joy. Command the clouds, as you want to do, to bring rain on the land; The life of man is dependent on your will and command’ (fol. 20).

2. ‘You, Sweet Father, have mercy on your weak servants THE EAST SYRIAN MONASTIC DIVINE OFFICE 299 who plead for rain; In your gracious will, If they have sinned against you, Do with them according to your grace because your creation is not at all worthy before you so are we’ (fol. 29).

3. ‘Let the prayer of Elias by which grace was showered, intercede for us before you, O Lord, so that you may give us rain. Because of this, O Lover of man, may you be praised’.

Eucharistic Body: In the Sixth Hour (fol. 35) there is reference to the Eucharist in the ‘Onita.

Sahde Brike – Pagra da-MsiÌa: ‘Great is the mystery that appeared from on high. The heavenly mysteries give strength to our body. He makes us live in it, that we may be one with him in communion, that we may be made worthy of eternal life.’

Mystery of the Nativity – Baptism: ‘The mystery that was hidden. The Creator hidden by his will from the world and the gen- erations; and in the birth of Christ he taught the heavenly and earthly beings.’

‘The Heavenly King in his mercy, descended to visit the mortals, and he sent the messenger of peace to announce his coming’.

‘In the river of Jordan, John proclaimed him, in the midst of people: “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Before all people in the river Jordan, John baptized him, the Lamb of God. And when he came out of water, the Spirit of holiness was sent on him in the form of a dove which came down and dwelt on the head of our Redeemer’.

Fire and Spirit: ‘Your baptism made us descend into the fire in the water. You preached to us of your spiritual resurrection with John’.

‘With great wonder they will rise and will sanctify the gentiles by his baptism. Jesus received baptism from his servant to deliver our mortal race. Great is the gift that is given to the perished mortals’.

‘Merciful Lord has clothed us with himself – You fed us with the bread of your body and you sanctified us with your living bread, you joined us with angels; you lifted us from the earth to the heights’ (fol. 36). 300 JACOB VELLIAN

Baptism of Jesus and that of the Christian: ‘Your baptism made us descend into the fire in the water. He sanctified our souls and preached to us with John the spiritual resurrection. With great wonder they will rise and he will sanctify the gentiles by his baptism. He received baptism from his servant to deliver our mortal race…’

Ninevites and Fasting: ‘The Ninevites cried to the Lord with fasting and were reconciled to you. You forgave their debts. The children fasted from (mothers’) milk. The children with their tears reconciled you. You saw their heartfelt fast and the prayer from their innermost mind’.

‘Let us confess and praise Christ the teacher, the Lord of all creation’.

Eleventh Hour: ‘O Good One, who gave bread to the diligent and made those who came at the eleventh hour worthy, give, O Lord, hope to your worshippers so that we may sing your praise with the first ones and the last ones’.

Resurrection – Bride Chamber: ‘Let us remember that prominent morning of resurrection. Let us remember and be sorry for our sins. When the glorious bridegroom comes may we also enter with him into the bride chamber’ (fol. 24r).

Hate Evil and Love Good: ‘How good and sweet, Jesus our Saviour, our teacher of good news, who prepared for us the way that leads to heaven. By his words he illumines us. Let our hearts not be immersed in earthly things. Let us hate evil things and love good things’ (fol. 24v).

Gestures

There are several gestures that are performed during the little hours:

1. Prostration – In the Third Hour it is prescribed that at the end of each hullala ten ma†unias (prostrations) are to be made. 2. Kneeling (genuflection?) – we find the direction (fol. 29r), ‘kneel and say the Òlota’. 3. Kissing of the cross (fol. 29r), as follows: ‘Glory to you (three times). Our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, who was crucified for us: in you we have our redemption and, by your blood, the pardon of sins’. THE EAST SYRIAN MONASTIC DIVINE OFFICE 301

By your wounds, O Lord, let us be purified from our passions’. 4. Making the sign of the Cross on the lips (fol. 29v). Is this Latin influ- ence?

Conclusion

There are several short forms used in Vat. Syr. 88 that are not extant in the Bedjan edition. For instance, often the initial words of prayers, psalms and ‘onyata are given with a note, ‘and the rest.’ As illustrated by the examples set out above, there are a variety of theological and spiritual themes embed- ded in the prayers, including: the baptism of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Eucharistic Body, the union of the faithful with Christ in Holy Commun- ion, fasting, penance, reconciliation and resurrection. Several gestures, such as prostration, kneeling, kissing the cross and making the sign of the cross, form part of the little offices.