The “Our Father” in Syriac, with Notes

 The “Our Father” in Syriac, with Notes

 by Fr Yuhanna Azize Syriac transliteration and literal English translation

 

Aboun d.baš.ma.yo
Our Father, who (is) in heaven

net.qa.daš šmokh
Let it be hallowed, Thy name

tee.te mal.kou.tokh
Let it come, Thy Kingdom

neh.we Seb.yo.nokh
Let it be done, Thy will

ay.ka.no d.baš.ma.yo off bar.3o
As in heaven, so on earth

hab.lan laH.mo d.soun.qo.nan yow.mo.no
Give us (that) bread which is necessary, today

waš.buq lan Haw.bayn waH.to.Hayn
And forgive us our debts and our trespasses

ay.ka.no doff H.nan šba.qan l.Ha.yo.bayn
As we have forgiven our debtors

w.lo ta3.lan l.ness.you.no
Lead us not into temptation

e.lo fa.So men bee.šo
But deliver (us) from (the) evil (one)

me.Toul d.dee.lokh  mal.kou.to
For Thine is the Kingdom

w.Hay.lo w.teš.bouH.to
and the power and the glory

l.3o.lam 3ol.meen, Ameen
For ever and ever, Amen (Let it be made firm)

READ MORE HERE

Syriac Hymn of Light

To read the whole translation, click here.  

The Rosary in the Month of October

A reflection by Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh, MSCL

This month we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 6. The whole month of October is dedicated in a special way to the prayer of the Rosary. After the Divine Liturgy, the Rosary is my favorite prayer.

Over the centuries, the Rosary has come to be known as the greatest Marian devotion of our times. We can think of countless saints, among them our own Maronite saints like St. Sharbel and Nimatallah El-Hardini, who loved praying the Rosary.

We’re very blessed as sisters in the Convent to have prayer time each day where we can offer a Rosary. 

So what is it about the Rosary that makes it the special and powerful prayer that it is? Many people have often got the wrong idea about the Rosary. I’ve heard it countless times, Sister, how can you sit there and just say Hail Mary, after Hail Mary, don’t you get bored? Shouldn’t you just go straight to Jesus, why do you need to pray the Rosary, it’s a waste of time?

Unfortunately, misconceptions over time have tainted the true meaning and power of the Rosary. The Rosary is fundamentally a Christ-centred prayer. As St. John Paul II in his Letter on the Rosary, “one thing is clear although the repeated Hail Mary is addressed directly to Mary, it is to Jesus that this act of love is ultimately directed, with Mary and through Mary.” 

Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, not on herself, treasuring his every word. Pope John Paul II says again, “Mary’s contemplation is above all a remembering. In the recitation of the Rosary we enter into contact with the memories of Mary.”

The rosary is a contemplative prayer. What do I mean by that? I mean that we are using our imaginative and mental powers to reflect on the various scenes of Jesus’ life. Without this contemplative dimension the Rosary loses its meaning and runs the risk of becoming mechanical, repetitive, and yes, boring. 

A little about how we recite the Rosary, there are 4 main prayers that comprise the Rosary (the Apostles Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be). A Decade is one Father and 10 Hail Mary’s. There are 5 decades in each Rosary and we are focusing on the scenes of each mystery. Briefly, there are 4 sets of mysteries, the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious. Each mystery captures different scenes in Jesus’ life. 

The Rosary is both contemplation and petition, where we are asking Our Lady to intercede for those intentions we bring to her. Mary can obtain all things from the heart of her Son. To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his mother.

For me, there is no way I could live without the Rosary. I pray the Rosary every day and I can’t tell you how profoundly I have experienced the presence of the Blessed Mother each time I recite a Rosary. There is nothing that I have ever, ever handed over to her by means of the Rosary where I haven’t received a response. When you ask of the Blessed Mother, don’t be afraid to ask too much, because she is very generous. 

The Rosary is the means not only of contemplating the beauty of the face of Christ, but the greatest weapon against the assaults of the evil one. The evil one hates the Rosary, he shudders with fear with each ‘Hail Mary’ and after the name of Jesus, there is no other name he fears more than the name of ‘Mary’.

So let us go to our mother, by means of the Rosary, she is waiting for us with open arms, and is only to eager to embrace us to herself and lead us to her Son.

For how to pray the Rosary visit: Rosarycenter.org

Sister, you don’t know how to pray!

Prayer and the Holy Spirit 

A Reflection by Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh, MSCL

As many would now be aware, we, the Maronite Servants, have a new Postulant joining us next month, on September 19. Praise God!  The young lady’s name is Emily Lattouf, from St. Theresa’s Church in Brockton, MA. Emily’s family came to visit the sisters here at our Convent in Dartmouth recently. 

Emily has a four old little sister, whose name is Angelina. She is quite the character! During the course of our conversation, I discovered that little Angie prays a decade of the Chaplet of the Sacred Heart every day. I was intrigued, and I asked her to teach me how to pray the Chaplet. I took out my Rosary so that she could tell me what prayers are said on which beads. Well, we fumbled our way through, and Angie was giving me a lot of repetition, so I finally said, “Ok, so after the Our Father and the Hail Mary, what comes next?” She replied, “You do not know how to pray!” Well, I laughed so hard and so did everybody else. I responded to Angie by saying, “You are absolutely right, I do not know how to pray”. Kids say the darndest (and yet most truthful) things, right?

Angie’s response had reminded me of what St. Paul said in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 8, verse 26:

        In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.

Angie’s response had reminded me that it’s not me who prays, but the Holy Spirit who prays in me. Her response prompted me afresh to implore the Holy Spirit to “teach me to pray, to pray in me”. 

In a couple of short weeks in the Maronite Church, the Season of Pentecost, often known as the Season of the Holy Spirit, will come to an end. In fact, the Season of Pentecost ends with the beginning of the next (and final) Liturgical Season of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14.

The Season of Pentecost is the longest season in the Maronite Church, sometimes lasting as long as three to four months, depending on where Easter falls in the year. After about the 4^thor 5^thSunday of Pentecost, the repetition of the same Liturgies and prayers can become somewhat tedious and monotonous. 

Angie reminded me through her candor and simplicity, that only a pure child possesses, that we are still in this powerful Season of the Holy Spirit. Let’s finish this Season strong. Let us implore the Holy Spirit to come and help us, and teach us weak human beings how to praise God, and how to love God as He desires to be loved. Only the presence of the Holy Spirit in us can do that!

Adoration and Supper – Mother of Light Convent

On Sunday evening, February 25, the Maronite Servants hosted an ‘Adoration and Supper’ to raise awareness and offer prayers for persecuted Christians. The meal, in keeping with a spirit of sacrifice, was simple – soup, and donations were collected for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in their mission with persecuted Christians. It was a beautiful evening of prayer, reflection, and fellowship.

This will be a monthly initiative hosted by the sisters.  The next ‘Adoration &  Supper’ will be on April 22 at 5PM. For those interested in attending please email sister@maroniteservants.org or call 508/996-1753.

Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians

Our U.S. Bishops have asked for a “Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians” on Sunday November 26 to help people to reflect on the importance of religious freedom and being in prayerful solidarity with the plight of our suffering brothers and sisters in the world. 

The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light in our Saint Maron Chapel Convent (856 Tucker Rd Dartmouth MA) is open on Sunday November 26 from 2:00PM to 5:00PM. We will have exposition of the Most Holy Mysteries. We invite you to stop by and join us for prayer in our chapel. #SufferingInSolidarity 

Please consider dropping by for a few minutes or an hour of adoration.

Also, if you are are interested in resources to share on Christian persecution and religious freedom such as homily notes, prayers, recommended Aid agencies and materials for your parish, families, schools or youth and young adult ministry please visit www.usccb.org/middle-east-Christians 

"We must not resign ourselves to thinking of a Middle East without Christians, who for 2,000 years have confessed the name of Jesus, and have been fully integrated as citizens into the social, cultural and religious life of the nations to which they belong." -Pope Francis, 21 November 2013

You became the Mediator

SEDRO (from the Thursday Safro prayers)
O Christ,
we give you thanks, for by your resurrection you became the Mediator between God and man.
We were enemies, weighed down by a debt which has no equivalent
and which we had no hope of repaying.
Our sins weighed us down,
and we had neither the strength nor the means to erase them.
But your mercy came to us,
your love cleared a path for us.
You stretched out your hand toward us
and became man to bear all our sins,
cancel our entire debt,
redeem us at the precious price of your blood,
save us through the marvelous instrument which is your cross, and to grant us, through your resurrection, the hope
of our own rising and the promise of every blessing.

Without you there would be no mediator;
the light of hope would not have shone in our night
and it would not have arisen from our despair.
We would still be deep in sin and the most miserable of men!
But thanks be to God who, through you,
saved us from death.
Praise be to your love which atoned for our sins;
to you be glory and praise,
now and for ever. Amen.

Taking Up Spiritual Reading

By Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh and Sr. Marla Marie Lucas

“Spiritual reading is as necessary as the air you breathe,” St. Padre Pio

“Don’t neglect your spiritual reading.  Reading has made many saints,” St. Josemaria Escriva

If these two saints and many more recommend and insist on spiritual reading, then we should find out more about this powerful practice of prayer.  Spiritual reading can be explained simply as reflective reading of spiritual writings to help deepen our understanding of faith, and more so, our relationship with Our Lord.  St. Athanasius said: “You will not see anyone who is truly striving after his spiritual advancement who is not given to spiritual reading.”

The best sources of spiritual reading are the Scriptures (especially the Gospels), then the biographies of the saints, and spiritual writers from the early Church to our present day.  Many of these books can be found at Ignatius Press or Sophia Press, among several catholic sources on-line.  The lives of the saints offer a wealth of inspiration.  It is refreshing to find out that the saints are human too, just like us, with their own struggles and inner battles, giving us hope in our own.

I recently read the Life of St. Anthony of the Desert written by St. Athanasius. This Father of Monks was a formidable warrior in the struggle against demons and his approach to evil spirits was actually healthy and quite modern (considering he lived in the third century). He would often consider them of no importance at all, like flies at a picnic. These days there is so much fear surrounding demonic powers, but St. Anthony encourages us not to be afraid for they are powerless in the face of a baptized soul.

The benefits of spiritual reading are numerous. Our time in holy reading provides candid advice and counsel, and corrects and encourages us in our faith. Spiritual reading also enlightens our souls about the dangers and temptations that we may encounter, while giving us insight on how to handle these challenges. Most importantly, spiritual reading provides an opening for Our Lord Jesus to speak to our hearts to help us in our continued conversion. In the words of St. Jerome, “when we pray we speak to God; but when we read, God speaks to us”.  

The important point to remember is to go about this holy reading prayerfully, taking one’s time when reading, even if we can only devote 10 or 15 minutes a day. Spiritual reading is like meeting up with a dear friend for a chat. If there are points in your reading that have touched you, talk about them with the Lord, he is waiting to hear what you have to say because it is he who touches hearts.

Here is a site of suggestions for reading: www.listchallenges.com/50-books-every-catholic-should-read.  If you have any questions or would like suggestions of good spiritual reading, please contact the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light Sisters at 508-996-7753 or sister@maroniteservants.org

LIght Your Lamps - Maronite Prayer

A Syriac Hymn from the Prayer of the Faithful

1. Light your lamps, sisters and brothers, for the Bridegroom is about to arrive (Mt 25:1-13).

2. He makes the Righteous dwell in the spiritual garden of Eden on the day of salvation.

3. He opens the bridal chamber of light to them, and they praise him with their harps.

4. They also exult in meeting him when he comes, for they expect him and hope in his name.

5. Behold the Bridegroom is about to arrive. Blessed are they who are expecting him.

6. He interweaves a crown of glory for the Righteous, who expect his name and his redemption.

7. The First-born (Col 1:15) arose and descended to Sheol to raise the dead from their graves.

8. The Just saw his light in Sheol and eagerly watched for the return of the Son of the Merciful One.

9. They forgot their pain and the suffering they endured when they saw their Lord hung on a tree.

10. He gave us life because of his mercy, and he intermingled our mortality with the angels.

11. Death lay in wait for our humanity. But he came in his lovingkindness and saved us.

12. To you be glory, Lord of the angels, for your shining forth gladdened the mournful in Sheol.

13. Thenceforth the night fled and vanished, and your light shone on Creation.

14. He descended from the height, saved us, and ascended [back]; behold he sits again on the right [hand of the Father] (Mk 16:5).

15. They eagerly watch for his coming, when he comes again: all those who expect him and hope in his name.

16.  He entered Sheol, his light shone, and drove out darkness from its departed.

17. The fruit Adam ate killed him; the fruit of the height descended and saved him.

18. He burst open the graves, raised the dead, and depicted to us the type of his magnificent day.

19. He drew near, and the day of resurrection arrived; blessed are they who expect him.

20.  The day on which he comes is magnificent because all hidden things are revealed on it.

21.  Those lying in the dust hear his voice on the day of the resurrection and come out to meet him.

22.  Adam marvels when he is resurrected and returns to the place filled with blessedness. (reprinted from www.hiddenpearl.org)