There are a few Melkite students at the Greek College at Rome, at St Sulpice and at Propaganda.
Concerning Melkite Canon Law there will be more to say later.[1] Meanwhile, we may note that, so far, except for the old law, not easy to define in the case of Uniates, they have only one synod approved by the Pope — namely, the third of ʿAin-Trāz in 1835 (p. 211). Strictly speaking, the twenty-five canons of this synod are the only special Melkite Canon Law. But they quote and refer to their other synods as well. When the Acts of the fourth synod of ʿAin-Trāz (p. 227) have been approved, this will, of course, be another authentic source.
Of their rite there is little to say here. It is simply the Byzantine rite; almost entirely in Arabic. There is hardly any difference in rite between Byzantine Uniates and the Orthodox, only such points as, naturally, the insertion of the Pope's name in their Diptychs, and certain local differences in the use of special troparia and kontakia, such as occur between the various Orthodox Churches also. As regards language, the Melkites may use either Arabic or Greek. In practice, nearly all is Arabic. Only a few exclamations and Ekphoneseis, sometimes on great occasions the lessons, are sung in Greek. In these the practice varies according to the competence of the celebrant or deacon, or the solemnity of the occasion. I have assisted at Melkite liturgies in which not one word of Greek was used. At others, in the larger towns, the celebrant will sing: Ἄνω σχῶμεν τᾶς καρδίας, Εὐχαριστήσωμεν τῷ κυρίῳ, Λάβετε φάγετε ..., Πίετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες.... Τὰ ἅγια τοῖς ἁγίοις· Εἰρήνη πᾶσιν, and so on (roughly the Ekphoneseis) in Greek. The μυστικῶς prayers are almost always said in Arabic.[2]
In Syria most of the Melkites live in the towns. Their chief centre is Zaḥleh in the Lebanon, then Aleppo, Damascus,
- ↑ See p. 216, n. 1.
- ↑ The liturgy book published by Michael Abraham Raḥmeh (kitāb alLītūrǵiyāt alilahiyyeh), Beirut, 18° 1899, 12° 1900, gives a good idea of the usual mixture of languages (on this edition see Charon, "Hist. Melk.," iii, 84-96). On the other hand, the Great Euchologion of Jerusalem (kitāb alAfkhūlūgiyūn alkabīr, Franciscan Press, 1865; see Charon, ibid., iii, 122-124) is all Arabic. Charon has compiled a most laborious and exact bibliography of all Melkite liturgical books (and Orthodox Arabic books) with critical notes, from the earliest times to now ("Hist. Melk.," iii, chap. ii, pp. 23-134).
Yet it is impossible, where all rites are together, to educate the theological students, each in the atmosphere of his own. The Melkite priest from Beirut knows more about Molinism, but less about his own rite than the student of St Anne's.
