A rather significant archaeological discovery was notified to the public in December 2024. Perhaps the most significant aspect of it is the artefact itself: a silver case with a Christian […]
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Author: Fr Yuhanna Azize
The Entrance of Christ into the Temple
This feast is celebrated on 2 February. It is drawn from the Gospel of St Luke 2:22-38 (ESV): And when the time came for their purification according to the Law […]
Read moreThe Second Maronite Meditations Podcast: Mysticism
The second edition of Maronite meditations is now available on Youtube and Spotify (see the link below). As with the first podcast, I offer some preliminary thoughts, and then after about […]
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Dionysius’ “Mystical Theology”: The Syriac, (Part Two)
We continue my English translation of Dionysius’ Mystical Theology. Now I am praying thus, in these words, but do you, Timothy my brother, in your study of throngs of mystical/symbolic visions, […]
Read moreMaronite Meditations
My first podcast is up on Spotify, Youtube, and Apple Podcasts. I have posted many of the ideas on this page, but the new thing is that I shall, each […]
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What Does it Mean to Say “Our Father”?
In previous posts we have seen that the goal of worship and prayer in general, but especially of contemplative worship and prayer, might be described as coming into the presence […]
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The Presence of God as Taught in the Gospels
ŠubHō la.bō wal.brō wal.rou.Hō d.qoud.šō; men hō.šō wa3.da.mō l.3ō.lam 3ōl.meen Ameen Glory be to the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit from now, and unto the age of […]
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Approaching the Concept of the Heart in the Syriac Old Testament
The Maronite concepts of the search for the presence of God, of salvation, and of contemplation, are grounded in the ancient Semitic concept of man, his creation by God, and […]
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Dionysius’ “Mystical Theology”: The Syriac, (Part One)
Dionysius the Areopagite is an overlooked figure in the contemporary Maronite tradition, yet we have an Anaphora of Dionysius the Areopagite in our patriarchal collection of Syriac anaphoras. It is […]
Read moreMarty Makary, “Blind Spots”
Marty Makary, Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets it Wrong and what it Means for our Health, Bloomsbury, NY, 2024 (265 pp.) The thesis of this book is that the practice of […]
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