Beliefs
Church History
The Syrian Orthodox Church enjoys the greatest prestige in the history of Christendom which can be traced back to the very dawn of Christianity. The Syrian Orthodox Church is the oldest known church, after the Church of Jerusalem. Syriac is its official language, which had been the dominant language in the entire East for a long period of time. Jesus spoke it, since it was the main prevailing language at that time. The domain of the church extended over all of Syria, Palestine, Cilicia, Mesopotamia and Persia. It established a bishopric in Antioch by the Apostle St. Peter. In A.D. 37. “The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26).Today this church is fortunate to be headed by a spiritual leader, His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and the Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church. On account of many turbulent historical upheavals and consequent hardships which the church had to undergo, the patriarchate was forced to be transfer from Antioch in A.D.518 to different monasteries in Mesopotamia for centuries. In the 13th century it was transferred to Homs, Syria and in 1959 again transferred to Damascus, Syria.
Syrian Christianity has had a long history in India. According to tradition, Christianity in India was established by St. Thomas who arrived in Malankara (Kerala) from Edessa in A.D. 52. The close ties between the Church in Malankara and the Near East go back to at least the fourth century when Joseph of Edessa traveled to India and met Christians here. The church in Malankara today is an integral part of the Syrian Orthodox Church with the Patriarch of Antioch as its supreme spiritual head. The local head of the church in Malankara is the Catholicos (H.B. Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas 1) of the East, consecrated by and accountable to the Patriarch of Antioch.
Church Beliefs and Worships
The faith of the Syrian Orthodox Church is in accordance with the Nicene Creed. We believe in the mystery of Incarnation. That is, the Only Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, took to Himself a body and became man. We also believe in the Trinitarian doctrine of God, subsisting in three separate persons called the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three being of one Essence, of one Godhead, have one Will, one Work and one Lordship. Together with devotion to the Mother of God venerate Virgin Mary we believe devotion to the prophets, apostles and martyrs, as members of the mystical Body of Jesus Christ, those who proclaimed and those who died for the sake of the Gospel. We also emphasize in seven sacraments, communion of saints, prayers for the departed and observe five seasons of fast.
Syrian Orthodox liturgy sets 7 times prayer in a day.In accordance with Psalm 119, verse 164, “Seven times in the day have I praised thee for thy judgments, O Righteous One,”
1. Evening or ramsho prayer (Vespers)
2. Drawing of the Veil or Sootoro
3. Midnight or lilyo prayer
4. Morning or saphro prayer (Matins)
5. Third Hour or tloth sho`in prayer (Prime, 9 a.m.)
6. Sixth Hour or sheth sho`in prayer (Sext, noon)
7. Ninth Hour or tsha` sho`in prayer (Nones, 3 p.m.)
The ecclesiastical day begins in the evening at sunset with the ramsho. Today, even in monasteries, the evening and compline prayers are said together, as also the midnight and morning prayers, and the three, six and nine o’clock prayers, reducing the times of prayer to three.It can justifiably claim that we have beautiful liturgical and poetic heritage, besides a proud theological and missionary record. The church and its parishioners still use Syriac-Aramaic, the language spoken by our lord Jesus Christ.
