Byzantine, Texas: The Maronite Holy Week

This is from the Maronite vocations website (found here) photos are from the Maronite Sisters of Christ the Light (found here).

The present text takes place in the collection of “The Maronite Rites” (1997), published by the Liturgical Department of the University of Kaslik, Lebanon.

It is composed of the “first watch” of the Rite of the Lamp, as it exists in the official “Book of Rituals for the Service of the Divine Mysteries” (Chapter Six, “The Anointing of the Sick, Bkerke, 1942). To this “First Watch” are added the litanies and the hymns of the other six watches, accompanied by the light the wicks of the Lamp. It is concluded with the prayers of the blessing of the oil (by a priest), the solemn invocation of the Holy Spirit, and the anointing of the faithful with this oil.

The edition of 1897 for the “Administration of the Divine Mysteries,” edited by the Archbishop of Beirut, Youssef Debs, introduces the Rite of the Lamp with the following remarks:

A ball of dough with seven wicks inserted into it is to be prepared in a plate. Next to it, there is a vessel filled with oil. The wicks represent the seven lamps envisioned by the prophet Jeremiah (4:1-14) and by John in Revelation (1:12-20). The oil is to be blessed by the celebrant an then poured over the seven wicks.

The place with the dough with oil is placed on a table within the sanctuary. The celebrant and assistants surround it for the Rite.

At the conclusion of the Rite of the Lamp, the celebrant dips a cotton swab in the oil and in the form of a cross, anoints the forehead of the members of the Community, saying, “For the forgiveness of your sins and faults, and for the healing of your body and soul.”

The purpose of this Rite of the Lamp is to plead the Lord to receive the contrition of the faithful repentant and to grant health to the sick, according to the letter of the Apostle, St. James (5:13-15).

The remarks continue to say that the Rite of the Lamp differs from the Anointing of the Sick for five reasons:

The Anointing is a Mystery, the fifth of the seven mysteries of the Church. The Rite of the Lamp, on the other hand is, as we just said, a plea to the Lord on behalf of those who repent.

The Anointing is a Mystery common to all Churches, East and WEst, and its administration is obligatory and necessary. The Rite of the Lamp is administered by the Eastern Churches, and it is not obligatory nor necessary.

The oil of the Anointing is consecrated by the Bishop only along with the consecration of the Myron on Thursday of the Mysteries. The Rite of the Lamp is not a consecration. It is a simply blessing given by a priest without any specific time.

The Anointing belongs to the sick in danger of death and is not given to anyone else. The oil of the Rite of the Lamp is administered to the members of the Community, the sick as well as the healthy ones.

The consecration of the Anointing oil takes place only within the church, while the blessing of the lamp oil may take place inside or outside the church.

Thus, the Rite of the Lamp is not the Anointing of the Sick.

A final note added to these remarks reads, “Since the Rite of the Lamp is used during Passion Week, it should be administered not on Great Friday, but on Wednesday of Passion Week.

We would like to introduce this Rite of the Lamp (in its short form) in our Church here in the USA so that our people may be touched by it during the holiest time of the Liturgical Calendar of the year; that is the time of the Passion, Death and Resurrection, so also that we may not forget, rather have the opportunity to “live” one of our significant traditions.

This Rite of the Lamp, as is used her, brings back the age old forgotten tradition, which places it within Passion Week: this tradition highlights the need, for us, as we remember the Passion, “of the healing of our body and soul” through the oil blessed by the priest himself on this occasion. The community as a whole is anointed. The whole community feels the need of healing “in body and soul.” While oil is for the healing of the body, repentance and contrition of heart are the oil of the soul.

We urge pastors and faithful to make it a part of Passion Week in their churches.

+Stephen Hector Doueihi, S.T.D.

Bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn