THE EUCHARIST AS DIVINIZER BY FATHER SHARBEL MAROUN

“You have united O Lord, Your divinity with our humanity And our humanity with your divinity. Your life with our mortality, And our mortality with your life.

You have assumed what is ours And you have given us what is yours. For the life and salvation of our souls. To you be glory forever.”

These words that are used in the Maronite Liturgy at the time of the mingling of the precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus summarize the whole Maronite Theology.

They define the Divine Liturgy as the action where God touches, transforms, makes us sharers in the Divine nature and perfects us. In His birth, life, death and resurrection, Jesus, the God-Made-Man transforms, and completes humanity.

The Maronite spirituality teaches that the “image of Adam” was not destroyed but deformed by sin, and is recreated in a new splendor by Jesus the Savior.Baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity begins the process, Chrismation (Confirmation) perfects it, and the Holy Eucharist fulfills it.

The Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church sees the Holy Eucharist as a sharing in the divine nature,divinization and transformation.

It is clear through the Divine Liturgy that the Eucharist is given as a Medicine for Life. The priest gives the Eucharist to those receiving it saying, “The Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are given to you for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life.”

The Holy Eucharist As Sharing In Divinity by Fr. Sharbel Maroun

Pastor of St. Maron Church Minneapolis, Minnesota

“You have united O Lord, Your divinity with our humanity And our humanity with your divinity. Your life with our mortality, And our mortality with your life.

You have assumed what is ours And you have given us what is yours. For the life and salvation of our souls. To you be glory forever.”

These words that are used in the Maronite Liturgy at the time of the mingling of the precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus summarize the whole Maronite Theology. They define the Divine Liturgy as the action where God touches, transforms, makes us sharers in the Divine nature and perfects us. In His birth, life, death and resurrection, Jesus, the God-Made-Man transforms, and completes humanity.

The Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church sees the Holy Eucharist as a sharing in the divine nature, divinization, and transformation. It is clear through the Divine Liturgy that the Eucharist is given as a Medicine for Life. The priest gives the Eucharist to those receiving it saying, “The Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are given to you for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life.”

This eternal life is with God in heaven who has begun in us the process here while we are still on earth, touching our life daily through the Mysteries (Sacraments), especially the Mystery of Mysteries which is the Holy Eucharist.

The Christian who eats the heavenly food is forgiven and made to become more like God. Jesus said, “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.” Therefore, through this reception God dwells in our hearts, rather, we dwell in the heart of God and become united with Him just as a drop of water looses itself and becomes one with the great ocean. Saint Cyril said, “He who receives Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, is so united to him that they are like two pieces of melted wax, which end by becoming one piece.”

“ God became human so that we might be made God.” Said Saint Athanasius. (On the Incarnation of the Logos 54).

While Baptism, which is received only once, begins the process, it is the Holy Eucharist that we receive daily and weekly that fulfills this process. The more that we receive worthily this heavenly food, the more that we are changed and become like it. Yes, we become what we eat. We become the Eucharist that we receive, which is the flesh of Jesus-God. He said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” To live forever is to be with God and like God who is spirit. Flesh begets flesh, said Jesus, and spirit begets spirit. We are the children of God and heirs of His kingdom which is a spiritual realm, where we will be united with Him forever.

The early Fathers of the Eastern Churches called this process deification and saw it as rooted in the Bible. From the beginning God created man in His image and Likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). Psalm 82:6 says, “You are gods, all of you sons of the Most High.” In John 17:11-23, Jesus speaks about His Unity with the Father and His prayer that we might be one with Him as He is with the Father. They also argued that deification not only restores the image of God that was lost in the Fall, but also enables mankind to transcend human nature so as to possess the attributes of God. "I may become God as far as he became man," declared Gregory of Nazianzus in the late fourth century (Orations 29.19).

Saint Paul speaks of our son-ship as an "adoption" (Rom. 8:15, 23). We become like God by the power of His Holy Spirit, through His Son Jesus who became one of us so that we might become one with him and like him. Saint Ephrem the Syrian, one of the great Patristic Fathers who influenced much the Maronite Church, described the Glorious Trinity in this way: “God the Father is like the Sun, God the Son is like the rays that shine from the Sun, and God the Holy Spirit is like the warmth that comes from the rays that shine from the Sun. The three are one in unity.” As believers who are united to and with Christ Jesus, who is fully and truly present in the Holy Eucharist, we become part of Christ who is the ray mysteriously united to God the Father (sun) and the Holy Spirit (warmth).

In receiving the Holy Eucharist, we become like Christ, divine and immortal. Just as God transforms and changes the bread and the wine into the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Christ, so Jesus in the Holy Eucharist changes and transforms our lives into glorified and divine lives affected by the power and grace of the Holy Eucharist. We can all become one in God and like God, divine, as our true potential is indicated in the Holy Scriptures. The Mystery of Mysteries, or the Holy Eucharist, feeds us and gives us energy to live Christian lives while growing back to our original image and likeness. The end result is eternal life. It is divinity transforming humanity to live forever with God in blissful light.

“ God has united His divinity with our humanity and our humanity with His divinity. His life with our mortality and our mortality with His life.” All in order to save us and allow us to be sharers in the divine nature.

Dear Freepers in Christ,

Here is some interesting information on this Maronite Catholic Church in Minneapolis that is home to 290 Maronite Catholic Families.

1) http://www.stmaron.com/history.htm

A GRAND HISTORY....

The Maronite Church is an eastern branch of the Catholic Church. It has its own liturgy, canon law, and patriarch. The Maronites take their name from the Hermit and Priest Maron who lived near the Orontes River in the fourth century. It is believed that he died around the year 410. The first Maronites were the direct descendants of the people who received the Catholic faith from the apostles.

Their culture was influenced by their predecessors, the Phoenicians. Because of the heavy persecution against the Maronites, they were forced to flee into the mountain of North Lebanon in order to save guard their faith from the persecutors. Led by the first Maronite patriarch, St. John Maron, they sought refuge in the inaccessible mountains of Lebanon.

The Maronite liturgy is one of the oldest of the Catholic Church and it is based on the liturgy of St. James the Less, first bishop of Jerusalem. Our liturgical language is Syriac, the sister of the Aramaic language which Jesus spoke.

The Maronite Church, like its other sisters in the Catholic faith, enjoys its own music, art, tradition, and liturgical architect which gives it a uniqueness within the one Holy and Apostolic Church. The Maronite Church has its own head, the Maronite Patriarch, who resides in Lebanon, who is a member of the College of Cardinals in Rome. He has liturgical and spiritual power or authority over all the Maronites worldwide.

Today the Maronite Church spreads over the five continents with many diocese and Eparchies in Lebanon, Syria, Cypress, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Australia.

The Maronites have two parishes in the Twin Cities: The Church of the Holy Family on 203 E. Robie Street in St. Paul and this Parish of St. Maron of Minneapolis.

A Chronological History Of Saint Maron's Church of Minneapolis:

The history of St. Maron of Minneapolis traces its origin to the late 1800 when many Lebanese Maronites immigrated into this great land of opportunity.

In 1903, a small house was converted into a church on 321 Main Street. On February 9th of the same year, Fr. Antoun Sleiman, celebrated the first Maronite Liturgy in Minneapolis.

In 1919, during the pastorate of Fr. Emmanuel El-Khoury, a small church was purchased on 625 Main Street.

In 1939, under the pastorate of Chorbishop Peter F. Assemani, a school was purchased at this present location and a church was built in 1948. Bishop James Byrne consecrated this church on July 11, 1948.

Another addition to St. Maron's was the shrine of St. Sharbel Makhlouf which was completed in 1981 under the pastorship of Fr. Michael Hitti.

In the mid eighties, during the pastorate of Fr. Michael Thomas, a renovation of the sanctuary and the rectory took place and a new office area was erected.

In the early 1990, under the pastorate of Fr. sharbel Maroun, another wave of renovation was done in the church and the hall. A new selection of stained glass windows from the Maronite tradition were added, painted by Fr. Joseph Akiki.

In 1994, two houses on second Street were purchased and their mortgage was burned in two years. Four other houses were purchased in 1996 and 1997 for future development.
From the St. Maron community there have come many community leaders, business and professional people. Among them, Chorbishop James Namie, Fr. Peter Victor Assad, and Sr. Lynn Margaret Basil. Currently, Raffi Tanachian is studying for the priesthood for Our Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles.

The following are the priests who have served with diligence the Maronite community of Minneapolis since its start:

Anton Sleiman, 1903-06; Louis Lotife, 1906-08; Moubarack Bellemah, 1908-09; Abdullah Torbey, 1909-10; Dimmane Rumya, 1911-12; Paul Rizk, 1912-16; Emmanual El-Khoury, 1916-21; Gabriel Malkoun, 1921-28; Joseph Shabat, 1928-30; Joseph Yazbac, 1930-32; Peter Ashkar, 1932-34; Silwanous Joudy, 1934-36; Peter Assemani, 1936-57; Wlademeer Akekee, 1957-67; Michael Hitti, 1967-85; Michael Thomas 1985-89; sharbel Maroun, 1989-present.

The parish continues to grow under the guidance and providence of God.

May God who has given our community the privilege of inheriting this rich tradition allow us to preserve it and nourish it through our commitment and dedication toward its cause.

May the faith of our Father St. Maron which has been passed on to us through our forefathers, and which has been written through the blood of the thousands of martyrs, be ours, that we may always be lights to the world and salt to all the earth.

2) http://www.stmaron.com/meetpastor.htm

On the Mediterranean sea, Sharbel-Ghattas Maroun was born in Jal-El-Deed, a coastal town a few miles north of Beirut.

He is the sixth of a family of seven children. After completing his high school studies in Lebanon, he worked as a computer operator at Credit Libanais Bank for a few years before coming to the United States to continue his studies in Computer Science.

Throughout his life, he received many signs from God calling him to the Priesthood.

In September 1984, he entered the Maronite Seminary in Washington, D.C. He spent close to five years and graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.A. in Theology. He was ordained to the holy Priesthood on his birthday, January 6th, 1989 in Lebanon.

His first assignment was as an associate pastor at St. Anthony Church in Danbury, CT. After serving there for six months, he was appointed Pastor of Saint Maron Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he presently leads our congregation of 290 families to a better relationship with Christ.

Father Sharbel is a source of inspiration to our parishioners.

In his Piousness, Love and Devotion, he serves our community diligently and tirelessly. His impeccable behaviour sets a good example for our children and we are so proud to have him among us. We love you father!

I am rather ignorant about the Maronite liturgical reforms following Vatican II, with the exception that they allowed Mass facing the people. Could you provide me with any reading materials about it?

GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND EXPLANATION

The Ancient Sources
First of all, we must look back at the liturgical sources of the Antiochene Church of which the Syriac Maronite Church is a part. From the time of the Apostles, Antioch has been an important Christian center. There the Christian Good News originated, and from there it spread by sea and land, to the seashores and the mountain tops.

After the Byzantine rule, Antioch was connected to the city of Jerusalem and to the liturgical movement which flourished around the two churches of the Nativity and the Resurrection. With the erection of the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, the rites of the Church of Jerusalem became the focus of attention for pilgrims, as well as the source of liturgical blossoming throughout the whole East.

When the Maronites emerged as a Christian Syriac Antiochene community, during the fifth century and later, the Antiochene rites were under the influence of those of Jerusalem, particularly the liturgy attributed to Saint James, the first bishop of Jerusalem. However, the Maronites also had a liturgical tie to another important center, that is the Syriac center of Edessa. Edessa, indeed, was the first Christian state as well as the first great political and cultural Syriac center. Its rites were connected to the Semetic Aramaic Syriac legacy. They were not influenced by the Hellenistic Greek legacy as was the Antiochene rite of Jerusalem; rather, they preserved their own distinctive features and expressions which were closer to the Holy Scriptures and to the original Christian theology.

According to the few documents we have at hand, the Maronite rite is closer to the Semetic Syriac rite of Edessa than to the Antiochene Hellenistic rite of Jerusalem. However, in the fifth century, the differences between the two rites were barely noticeable.

The Maronite Liturgical Evolution Until the Tenth Century
Because of the scarcity of documents, it is not easy to define the liturgical evolution undertaken by the Maronite Church from its beginning until the tenth century. However, we are able to detect such an evolution through the liturgical prayers we have, mainly the Anaphora of Sharar and the prayers and hymns of the office known as the Shimto (that is, the simple office): In them the Maronite rite appears to have grown closer to the Antiochene sources of Jerusalem.

The Maronite Rite From the Tenth to the Sixteenth Century
The Maronite liturgical manuscripts now in our possession belong to the period between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries. The oldest manuscript of the Maronite Book of the Qurbono is dated back to the middle of the fifteenth century (1454) and contains a few pages which belong to the twelfth century (Vat. 309). These manuscripts show us that the Maronite rite became extremely close to the Antiochene rite of Jerusalem (known as the Western Syriac) and more and more, perhaps definitively, distancing itself from the Eastern Syriac tradition of Edessa.

We do not intend to elaborate this here; rather, we refer everyone to the studies, however minimal in number, dedicated to this matter. In fact, the manuscripts of the Maronite Qurbono, and most of the anaphoras used at that time, had become common with the Western Syriac rite; however, they preserved the Eastern Syriac anaphora known as the Anaphora of the Apostles or Sharar. This anaphora is very close to the Eastern Syriac anaphora in use by the Eastern Syriac Churches, Catholic and non-Catholic.

First Edition of the Book of the Maronite Qurbono
The first edition of the Maronite Book of the Qurbono was published in Rome between 1592 and 1594. The students of the Maronite College in Rome edited this edition under the supervision of the superiors of the college. This edition was taken from a manuscript written in 1566, in the Monastery of Qozhaya, Lebanon by the hermit Mikhail (al-Razzi), who later was elected patriarch (1567-1581), and who was the brother of Sarkis al-Razzi, his successor to the Patriarchal See (1581-1596).

The publishers of this edition altered the prayers of the eucharistic institution of the al-Razzi manuscript: in fact, they translated the words of consecration from Latin to Syriac. When the new edition reached the patriarch, he rejected it at once and prohibited its use. Then pressured by the papal delegate, Dandini, he accepted it on a temporary basis (1596), provided that things would soon be straightened out and the edition would be revised in accord with Maronite sources.

The Succeeding Editions
One hundred twenty years later, despite strong objections formulated in the writings of some Maronite scholars of the beginning of the seventeenth century, the second edition was published (1716). This edition proved to be more Latinized than the first one. In fact, the anaphora of the Latin Mass, translated into Syriac and Arabic, was inserted here, while the Anaphora of Sharar was removed. However, this edition, being the work of the students of the Maronite College, did not register any opposition.

The succeeding editions appeared as exact copies of this second edition, save some trimming in the pages for economic reasons: for example, the third edition (1763) included eight anaphoras instead of the fourteen in the previous editions. The same happened in the four editions published by the Monastery of Qozhaya (Lebanon) in 1816,1838,1855, and 1872. The two last official editions appeared in Beirut in 1888 and 1908 under the care of Bishop Youssef Dibs, Archbishop of Beirut. Bishop Dibs placed the Roman anaphora before the other anaphoras and amended the language of the prayers and hymns. The first edition in the Arabic alphabet was published in Jounieh (1959) by the Society of the Lebanese Missionaries. Finally, an abridged rite, called the "Simple Rite" was published in a booklet in 1973, including only one anaphora. It was used experimentally for only one year.

All these editions, save the " Simple Rite" (1973), were published without the seal or the signature of the patriarch, but "with his knowledge" or "after his consultation," or without any reference to the matter.

Projects of the Reform of the Maronite Qurbono
The first project for the reform of the Qurbono was planned by some of the students of Rome at the beginning of the seventeenth century. They intended to give back to the Maronite Qurbono its Syriac Antiochene sources, which were missing in the first edition. However, the project failed to see the light.

The Synod of Mount Lebanon (1736) decreed that a commission should be established for the reform of all the rites, but mainly the Qurbono. This project never materialized. Before that, Patriarch Stephen Duwaihy, of blessed memory (1670-1704), took pains to assemble the liturgical manuscripts, review them and prepare projects of reform for the Qurbono and for many of the other liturgical rites. He himself wrote that he was "hoping to delight his eyes with the sight of the publication of the liturgical books". However, he left this world with a heavy heart.

During the forties and fifties of our century, there were some other projects of reform for the Maronite Qurbono, but with no result. Then came Vatican Council II (1963-65) with its call for renewal, particularly in the liturgical field. A series of new projects attempted the reform of the Maronite Qurbono. Between 1963 and 1982 we personally witnessed about forty of them. Then, at last, the Patriarch Commission on Liturgy and Synod of Bishops focused their attention on the current project. Indeed, since 1980, this project has undergone a great deal of study and revision through the care and solicitude of the Patriarchal Commission on Liturgy.

The Current Project
This project was presented to the Patriarchal Synod of Bishops in 1980; then it was revised and presented a second time in 1982. When all texts of the project were at last assembled, it was accepted, definitively, and in all its details, by the Patriarchal Synod of Bishops and by the Vatican Congregation for the Oriental Churches. Ready for publication, this project is now published, for the first time, with an official decree attested to by the signature of the Patriarch and with his imprimatur.

Mar Nasrallah Peter Sfeir
Patriarch Maronite Catholic Church

The Maronites take their name from the Hermit and Priest Maron who lived near the Orontes River in the fourth century. It is believed that he died around the year 410.

Mar Maroun

In regard to the relics of St. Maron, Jacobilli affirms that the Saint's skull is now preserved in Foligno (Italy) after being transferred three times. The first transfer was in 1130, when Abbot Michel of the Croce di Sassovivo while on a pilgrimage to the Holy land, brought back the skull of the honored Saint from a Maronite monastery in Syria. A short while after, and at the request of the same Abbot, the skull was moved from Sassovivo to a church erected in honor of the Saint in a nearby town of Volperino (Italy). The third transfer was in 1490 when the relic of the Saint was moved from Volperino to the Cathedral of Foligno where it was placed in a silver statue. The authenticity of the first transfer [from Syria to Sassovivo] is recorded in the Chronicon Monasterii S. Crucis Saxivivi, the other two transfers are noted in the archive of the Church in Volperino and the Town Hall of Foligno. [Editor's translation] (17)

Chorbishop Youssef Debs in his book Histoire de Syrie asserts that he was given a relic of the honored Saint by the Bishop of Foligno during his visit to Italy in 1887. (18)

Saint Maron left a legacy behind him that flourishes today in a people named after him-- the Maronites. The Maronites, now are virtually found in almost every country of the world. Saint Maron's feast day is celebrated on February 9 of every year in all the Maronite churches around the world. This day is also an official national day in the State of Lebanon.

Saint Maron's Relic

The Maronite Church, like its other sisters in the Catholic faith, enjoys its own music, art, tradition, and liturgical architect which gives it a uniqueness within the one Holy and Apostolic Church.

Of all the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Maronite Church retains the Jewish heritage more than the others. Architecturally, this includes the "bema" from which the Word is proclaimed.

"Maronites came from the Christological debate of the early church after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, so our tradition is from the church of Antioch. Our Liturgy (Mass) was composed by St. James the apostle. There's a lot of Jewish influence in our Liturgy, our service, our worship-and our style of architecture," he added.

Concentrating on these traditions, Our Lady's Maronite Church, in Austin TX, 200-family parish constructed a new, 8500-square-foot church in January 1999. William Scarmardo, its architect, said, "The church is Byzantine in style with characteristics of the Eastern Roman Empire; but the sanctuary itself is square."

A Monolithic Dome-its exterior painted a deep maroon and its center holding a cross-caps that sanctuary. Rev. Sawyer said, "The Monolithic Dome atop the sanctuary helped us create a church that reflects 2000 years of Christianity. And it's not your typical Western church. It is Eastern in design and it is unique."

A raised bema or half dome encircles the altar at the front of the sanctuary. Looking up, one sees a mural of Mary, Christ's mother, then four stained glass panels of the four evangelists and finally the inside of the Monolithic Dome.

Many columns, circular and arched windows and entryways give the church its old-world architectural style. The bell tower shelters an imported bell from Lebanon.

It is rare to find a Maronite Church in this design. The majority of Maronite Churches are former Protestant Churches that have been modified and converted. I am currently working with our pastor on just such a project. Our future church is a 150 year old, former Methodist/Episcopal Church. We will honor the heritage of those who sacrificed their all to erect this building and who turned down lucrative financial offers from several commercial enterprises (including MacDonald's) in order to ensure that the building remain a worship space. Over the course of time, we will introduce new stained glass windows with our saints.

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