The Syrian Orthodox Church

By H.H. MOR IGNATIUS YACOUB III (1980+)

ITS MISSIONARY WORKS

It is well known that this Church carried the torch of the Gospel to all the parts of the East, where it guided in the true path thousands and thousands of the children of different nations, namely, Arabs of various tribes, Persians, Afghans, Indians and Chinese. It contributed as well to the conversion of the Armenians. In the sixth century it attracted to the fold of Christ a great number of people from Ethiopia and Nubia through the efforts of a priest called Julian, and eighty thousand of the inhabitants of Asia Minor, Carya, Phregia and Lydia, through the efforts of St. John, the famous bishop of Ephesus.

Syriac was the liturgical language of the Eastern churches in spite of their different nationalities. Many of their followers learned it perfectly well and translated the Syriac version of the Holy Bible into their mother tongues. This was true, especially in India where we have a flourishing Syrian Church. However, the Armenian Church, besides using Syriac, in which some of its bishops were well-versed, utilised the Syriac "Alphabet" to write its native language up to the 5th century. Then Mesrob, one of its scholars, invented the Armenian "Alphabet".

The first Arabic liturgy mentioned in our Church was in Iraq, during the tenth century. It is said that the Metropolitan of Tigrit, ordained an Arab bishop in 912, celebrated the Divine Eucharist in Arabic.

© 1995 - 2008 Syrian Orthodox Church

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