• Antioch - A center of commerce and education in West Syria, now Turkey, which represented Greek and Syriac influence. This city, where followers of Jesus were first called Christians, gave the Maronite Church its biblical theology and its unique sense of scripture.
• Edessa - A prominent city where St. Ephrem lived, in ancient Mesopotamia, of Semitic culture and Syriac poetry. Both informed and shaped the prayer and hymnody of the Maronite Church.
• Mt. Lebanon - A region in present day Lebanon. It provided a haven for the Maronite monastic life, worship and traditions begun by Maron, and nurtured by John Maron, its first Patriarch, and many others.

From these three centers, the theology, spirituality and liturgy developed and reflected concrete scriptural images and symbolic, poetic themes. Maronite Catholics live in many nations and cultures. Presently, the Mother Church is in Lebanon, and daughter communities exist in different nations. Often the sons and daughters of St. Maron are called by the name Beit Maroun, the house of Maron.
  Churches of Catholic Faith   As Jesus commissioned the apostles to make disciples of all nations, the early Church grew out from Jerusalem. It experienced other traditions, cultures, customs, languages, art forms, architecture and music. Eastern and Western Christians express the same basic truths of the Catholic faith in unique ways, and worship differently. In short, they use what is familiar to express their faith in Jesus the Risen Lord. All the churches of the Catholic Church are one and the same in their unity of faith, celebration of the seven mysteries, and communion with the Bishop of Rome and the hierarchy.   Catholics share three essential aspects of faith:

• Profession of Faith
• Mysteries / Sacraments
• Unity with Bishop of Rome

There are 22 autonomous churches. Each church celebrates the faith as handed on by one of the six major rites of the Catholic Church:

• Antiochene
• Alexandrian
• Constantinopolitan
• Chaldean
• Armenian
• Roman

Each church:

• encompasses a unique liturgy, theology, spirituality and discipline.
• is characterized by its own cultural and linguistic traditions.
• Enjoys an autonomy from its sister churches, and is guided by its patriarch and/or bishops in unity with the successor of Peter.

Each church has four unique aspects:

• Liturgy
• Theology
• Spirituality
• Discipline

A church is defined as a community of faith having a distinct tradition founded by an apostle and guided by an autonomous hierarchy by which various peoples have been converted to and nurtured by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
  A Maronite View of God   The Syriac Maronite Church views God as mystery. Since there is a great distance between Creator and creation, no person can fully grasp God. All language about God is limited. The process leads to mystical union - the more one loves God, the more one encounters him. Two aspects account for this notion of mystery:

• the Jewish Christian origins of the Maronite Church
• the familiarity with the scriptures and poetry

Maronite Approach to Prayer Prayer is cultivating an awareness of God as always beyond our reach yet always present to us. To pray means to see God's "fingerprints" in humanity and in all creation. For the Maronite to pray is to live, and to live is to pray. This process, called lucidity or "inner vision", sees all created things as transparent, God-touched and divinized.   A Maronite Spirituality The Maronite perspective of prayer develops naturally into a way of life permeated with and formed by the bible called biblical spirituality. Moreover, the monastic spirit permeates the Maronite prayer and liturgical life. Genesis indicates that God, the hidden Mystery, revealed himself by speaking His word into creation - a great symbol of the Creator. This God "speaking" or unveiling occurs in:

• Creation
• Humanity
• Scripture

God imprints upon nature, humanity and scripture his images which reveal Jesus. Thus the purpose of the universe is to prepare creation for the coming of Christ in the flesh and in glory. The Maronite Liturgy  The Maronite liturgy of Antioch-Edessa is called the Service of the Holy Mysteries. It invites the worshiper to stay awake on the life-journey so as to undergo a progressive transformation in God, called divinization. In the Maronite Church, the Holy Spirit is the Principal Minister, and the celebrant is the instrument. Before the Holy Mysteries begin, an ordained minister prepares the bread and wine at a side table as he recites a few prayers. Then the Holy Mysteries begin - composed of the Word Service and the Eucharistic Service (Anaphora) which are celebrated at 3 key focal points: Bema, Altar and East Apse. The Service of the Word takes its form from an ancient Jewish liturgy. It is celebrated at the Bema, a raised platform. It includes prayers, hymns, psalms, scripture readings, homily and creed. The Hosoyo, Prayer of Forgiveness, a unique feature in the Maronite Word Service, recalls God's mercy to sinful humankind. The priest incenses the community to symbolize a sin-offering for forgiveness.

• The Quorbono or Eucharistic Service begins as the priest moves from the Bema to the Altar. In the Maronite Church, the Anaphora is a prayer of praise to the Trinity during which, by the overshadowing of the Spirit, bread and wine are transformed into the Sacred Mysteries. There are more than 16 Anaphoras in use.
• In the maronite Church, the East Apse is significant since it symbolizes the kingdom, and focuses the community's attention on Christ's coming in glory. Some Maronite temples reflect this ancient tradition in their architecture.

The Liturgical Year includes two main cycles:

• Temporal: Sundays of the year
  • Seasons of :

    Announcement Epiphany   Great Lent Resurrection After Pentecost Holy Cross

• Sanctoral: Feasts of Saints

  Through the Holy Mysteries, God's people are united as the Body of Christ, share his pledge of salvation, enjoy a foretaste of life to come, and are empowered to complete their pilgrimage to the kingdom.
  Maronite Architecture   Maronite temple styles, floor plans and liturgical furniture express the austere monastic spirit. Three focal points are highlighted:

• Bema - Word: a raised platform from which scripture readings are proclaimed.
• Altar - Eucharist: a consecrated table from which the Divine Food is offered as nourishment to the believers.
• East Apse - Kingdom: the place of the rising sun reminds believers that Jesus is Light of the world who will come in glory.

This dynamic aspect of worship draws the community closer and closer to God by hearing the Word at Bema, receiving the Eucharist at Altar, and journeying to the kingdom at East Apse. Some contemporary Maronite temples reflect this ancient floor plan.
  Maronite Art   The monastic spirit of asceticism, simplicity, and attentiveness penetrate the entire liturgy - its prayers, gestures, music, art and architecture. The present liturgy dates back to the 5^th century. Symbols and images play an important role in the Maronite Church. They make present and tangible God's love for his people.  Syriac icons, the oldest being the Rabbula (Gospel Book, 560 AD), portray human figures, and manifest them with divine mystery. Persian and classical Greco-Roman art forms are present in this art, and serve as inspiration for Maronite art today.   Maronite Rituals   Special feasts and rituals during the church year give earthly things spiritual significance. Water, a common object, is blessed in various ways to give it a spiritual meaning. For example:

• At Epiphany water is blessed with a lighted coal to signify the fire of the Spirit who divinized the Jordan waters at Christ's baptism.
• At Pentecost water is blessed with the priest's breath to signify the Divine Breath over the waters at creation.
• At the Holy Cross water is blessed with a hand cross to signify the divine power that flows from the saving cross.

Funeral Ritual Prayers are addressed to Jesus Christ, the High Priest. The dead enter a dialogue with God and living loved ones to be companions on the journey home. Death is not the end but a passage from life on earth to life in glory. Specific Ginnazat (i.e. hymns) are sung for men, women, adults, children, clergy, religious and laity.   Antiochene Cross:

• 3 horizontal bars signify the unity of bishops, patriarch and pope - also unity of the Triune God.
• The leaves signify the life that flows from the saving cross of Christ.
• Syriac poets refer to the cross as the Tree of Life.

    Maronite Music   The early ascetical roots of simplicity and poetry echo through its liturgical music and art forms. Most of the hymnody unfolds in short repeated strophes, basic melodies adapted to verses of similar syllable count. Their repetition serves as a teaching tool and memory aid. St. Ephrem, father of Syriac church music, greatly influenced these ancient musical traditions which are still used today. Maronite icons, like windows to creation, image the divine world. Shapes, colors and figures symbolically reflect God's presence to his people.