English prayer text below. Monday of Ba’utha In pain and tears and fervent prayer, we cry to you, good Lord above! Be our healer and our wise guide: deep are our wounds; bitter our pain. We have no right to plead to you: our faults abound, our malice soars. The sea and […]
To you glory, radiant Son of virginity. 1. This, the month that is forever filled with blessings:slaves have freedom, free men glory,doors have crownings, bodies feastings,violet garments thrown with love as unto princes. 2. This, the month that will forever carry vict’ry:freed is spirit, flesh is tempered,mortal woman bears the Living:Godhead now is reconciled with […]
One of my favorite hymns in my tradition is Brykh Hannana by Mar Bawai the Great (551 – 628 AD). Here’s my singable translation (and here’s a recording by my cousin): * O blessed Mercy, Gracefulness, who led our life through the prophets:* Isaiah saw, with Spirit’s eye, the marvel Child of Divinity.* For Mary […]
I get this question pretty often so I figured I’d write out my thoughts on it and just send people a link from now on so they leave me alone. This is a long one though so brace yourself. Or not reading it is also fine. What I’m not Talking About First, specifying the question. […]
Since the entire world is in flux on a daily basis, here’s a short lecture on some of my favorite elements of a story that’s survived 4 millennia.
I LEAVE FOR THREE DAYS AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENS. As you probably know, yesterday my Cathedral was vandalized with a confusing combination of graffiti. I saw the video that Fr Dany, one of my many bosses, sent to one of my many priest group chats, and it definitely hurt to see. This is a holy […]
I translated a chunk of this ancient homily on confession by one of the Fathers of the Church of the East named Mar Aphrahat, not knowing there was already a full English translation from almost a century ago. It was fun to do though, and this piece illustrates a handful of important points: 1. There […]
I have nothing against self-esteem if you like that kind of thing, but there’s nothing to get you out of bed in the morning like a solid guilt trip. The liturgical season the Chaldean Church is in right now is all about repentance (and that’s a good name for it if you ask me, rather […]
The language of the Chaldean and Assyrian people is colloquially called “Surath” but technically named Neo-Aramaic by linguists. Two families of regional dialects closely related to each another are, at least in English usage, called Chaldean and Assyrian. I am one of a growing number of Chaldean priests who do not know Arabic, but I […]
Somebody had a horrible idea for some of us priests to do a discussion panel show to catechize/entertain/annoy people during the quarantine. I hate it and I hate cameras, and this is my life now. Here’s the first six episodes, in backwards order because we get slightly less awkward as it goes on:
