The Beginning of the Year. – Blessing of the Months. – February. – Pascha. – Village Festivals. – The Feast of Theophany. – The Day of the Holy Cross. – Sunday and Its Observance. – Fasting. – The Syro-Chaldean Calendar

It is difficult to say when the year properly begins for the Syro-Chaldeans. Calendars usually begin in October, and in the lists of months October—or, as they call it, the first Tishrin—stands first. But in the Khudra, that is the book of services for Sundays and feast days, the year begins with the Nativity Fast, that is, in December. In popular usage the feast of Theophany is often regarded as the beginning of the year. In reckoning months the Julian calendar is generally employed; in books, however, and still today in the mountains, the year is counted by the “Era of Alexander” (or the “Greek era,” that is, the Seleucid era, beginning in 311 BC). In letters in the Urmia plain the Christian era is now used almost invariably, but it is difficult to say whether it was used there at all until recently, or whether it was adopted only lately through contact with Europe.

Years are denoted by letters rather than Arabic numerals, which came into use only recently under Western influence. In ordinary conversation the Syro-Chaldeans, applying the appropriate vowels to the consonants representing certain numbers, form a short distinctive word for each year instead of pronouncing its number in full. Thus the year 1888 is called appakh, 1889 appat, and so on.

On the first day of each month a long prayer is said at the evening service in which the month is “blessed.” “Let such-and-such a month come with joy,” runs this supplication, “and let our prayer be accepted like the prayer of Elijah and the son of Amram. Let their prayer be a wall for us. Bless, O Lord, the months of this year, the seasons, the weeks, and the days. Bless the vineyards and the grain. Bless the seeds and the fields. Bless, O Lord, all that has come forth, and let it be accompanied by every blessing. Let there be during it no tumults, no sorrows, no diseases,” and so on. The month of February, however, is not blessed. It is regarded as the “month of vexations,” and for it one only prays that “there may be no tumults during it.” Hence the service itself is not celebrated on February 1. According to popular belief, Shvat or Ishvat (February) is a kind of household spirit. Boys sometimes personify it and go about the village singing various songs.

In Kochanes and all the villages of the Tiari district, and probably in other parts of Kurdistan as well, Shvat is playfully regarded as a personal being who, according to popular belief, spends one day as a guest in each house. In Kochanes he naturally begins his visit at the house of Mar-Shimun. If it rains or snows on that day, it is taken as a sign that the host has failed to show the visitor due honor. The host naturally tries to prove that it is not his fault at all, but that Shvat has not yet recovered from the anger into which he was thrown by the discourteous reception he met with in the neighbor’s house. All manner of jokes, in any case, enliven everyone during the gloomy days of February in the land of the ashirets. The poor raya also have not a little humor, which is, unfortunately, considerably suppressed by the burdens of their cheerless life.

Feasts and fasts are greatly dependent on Pascha. The majority of saints’ days are movable feasts and, falling on Fridays, depend on Pascha. This peculiarity is quite distinctive. Between the first Sunday after Christmas and Great Lent every Friday is considered a saints’ day, as will be seen from the list given below; and even some of those saints’ days that are assigned to particular months are linked not to fixed days of the month, but to fixed days of the week. Thus the first Friday of March is dedicated to St. George, and so on. Pascha itself coincides with the Pascha of the Greeks and is determined by a special table, which see also at the end of the chapter.

The year is divided into periods of seven weeks each, each period being called a shavua from the Syriac word meaning seven; but some of them consist of only four weeks. These periods are as follows: the Nativity Fast, Theophany, Great Lent, Easter, the Apostles, Summer, Elijah, Mar-Mushi (Moses), and the Consecration of the Church. Their arrangement can be seen in the list given below.

Only feasts in honor of the Savior are properly called “feasts”; the days of saints are called “commemorations” or “remembrances.” Among the feasts, Pascha is naturally regarded as the queen, so much so that in Urmia it is expressly called the “great festival,” in distinction to Christmas, which is called the “small festival.” On the days of these feasts the liturgy is celebrated very early in the morning, namely shortly after midnight; but it is considered necessary for everyone to have slept a little beforehand, if only for an hour or two. This is the only remaining trace of all-night vigils in the Urmia plains; but in Kurdistan they are frequent, and the book Sunhadus (bk. VII, §4, rule 11) enjoins that on the days before feasts and Sundays, when a vigil is held, no work should be done in monasteries lest prayer be interrupted by drowsiness. After the liturgy on Christmas and Pascha, the people go from house to house to “bless their feast,” or, if any member of the parish has lost someone in their family since the last feast, everyone visits them with the aim of “healing their head.” “May it be pleasant to your head,” they say on such occasions. In Tiari, at one of these visits of condolence, the visitor drinks a little wine, then, pouring a little more wine, places a silver coin in it and, handing it to the bereaved person, says: “Glory to God! May it be healing to your head.” The bereaved person then resumes drinking wine, from which he had abstained throughout the period of mourning.

In every house, during these festive visits, the guest is treated to tea or coffee, sweets, and pastries, and often also to wine and spirits; the tea is served in small cups, brewed in exactly the same way as in Russia, from a boiling samovar. Lemon or some sweets are served with the tea, and sugar in abundance. The more sugar is added, the more love and respect for the guest is shown, and so the visitor must not decline but must be able to drink cup after cup, even if it is overflowing with sugar. Sometimes sherbet is offered to guests, and rose water is poured over their hands and heads. During these visits much good feeling is shown, and old enemies are often reconciled—which is usually accomplished by the bishop; he brings the enemies together, delivers a short homily on the folly of maintaining enmity, and says: “Now, be reconciled,” and the enemies do indeed make peace, embrace each other, and become friends, after which they go and kiss the bishop’s hand. At Pascha the Syro-Chaldeans give each other painted eggs, usually red, but often skillfully adorned in all manner of colors. The Syro-Chaldeans also have the custom of knocking eggs against each other, and the one whose egg is not broken is considered the winner and receives the cracked egg. The feast is truly considered fortunate if rain falls during it, and Muslims are greatly angered when rain falls on a Christian feast day rather than on their own. Rain is truly a gift of God (Prov. 25:14) at all times in so dry and parched a land, and on the day of a great feast nothing is so eagerly desired by all as precisely this sign of divine favor.

Village festivals are a prominent feature of Syro-Chaldean life. These celebrations coincide especially with the commemoration of the patron saint of the village church, and if the church is renowned for anything, people flock to the festival from all directions. The celebration begins with the qurbana (Eucharist), to which the people often approach in separate groups, since the church is ordinarily able to accommodate only a portion of those who have come for the feast. One group, having received holy communion, leaves the church to make room for another group to enter, and so on. On these occasions even Muslims sometimes come, make offerings to the church, and bring their children to receive the sign of the cross, to which they attribute healing power. After the qurbana, games and dances go on throughout the day, though unfortunately these often end in drunkenness and brawls between Christians and Muslims. But the abuses do not go so far as to warrant desiring the complete abolition of such festivals, which, if kept within the bounds of moderation, can serve as no small aid in maintaining among the people a religious and moral spirit. The Syro-Chaldeans are a good-natured people, and on these occasions they show much kindness. Their dances are distinctive, but graceful and seemly. In a Muslim country, of course, one cannot see couple dances of the kind found in Europe; young men usually dance by themselves, and the girls in a more secluded spot by themselves. Sometimes a round dance is arranged in which, to the sounds of distinctive music—a kind of pipe and drum—all move slowly in a circle, making various gestures and waving scarves. These festivals are, of course, a favorable opportunity for the display of the art of all manner of tightrope walkers and for all kinds of competitions, from which the providers of entertainment derive no small income.

During these festivals, and on other feast days as well, the custom of driving sheep—often from a great distance—to sacrifice has survived at the more venerated churches. To certain celebrated churches as many as two hundred sheep are driven annually. These sheep, however, are not given to the church or to the priests, but are made into a feast in which all take part, after first sprinkling the church doors with blood. This is in essence simply a meal, but the people regard it as a kind of act of piety, and the custom itself irresistibly carries one back to the days of Israel’s Old Testament life.

The feast of Theophany is regarded by the Syro-Chaldeans as a great day. On it they commemorate the baptism of the Savior. Hence in the Urmia plain the feast itself is called “the new waters.” In the mountain districts, as well as in books, it is called “the rising of the sun.” At night, before the celebration of the qurbana, many, following an ancient custom, immerse themselves in some frozen pond, performing this act with various cries and accompanying it with religious songs. Curiously, the Syro-Chaldeans do not attach great importance to the commemoration of the Eastern Magi on this day, although they piously believe that these wise men came from their very country, and even now point to the ancient church in Urmia known as Mart-Mariam, which is said to have been built by the sages upon their return from the Holy Land and in which the tomb of at least one of them is found. In this church the Syro-Chaldeans still today offer prayers and praises to the Infant of Bethlehem.

On Ascension Day little girls go about the village dressed as brides, singing and begging for coins. Hence the day is commonly called the “Bridal Ascension.”

One of the greatest days in the Eastern Syro-Chaldean calendar is the feast of the Holy Cross, celebrated on September 13 (not the 14th). On this day the liturgy is always celebrated, all work is forbidden, and everyone goes to church, where communion is generally received—especially in the mountains. This feast, however, commemorates rather the finding than the exaltation of the cross, with Constantine and Helena being glorified; their names are constantly mentioned in the old books. The veneration shown by the Syro-Chaldeans to the cross seems to serve as a kind of compensation for the absence of icons. The cross is displayed at the very entrance of the church so that everyone may venerate it; the sign of the cross is imprinted with oil in various places throughout the church at its consecration; the people cannot understand how anyone can be a Christian without signing his brow with the cross (as Tertullian says). The book Sunhadus offers the following explanation of the origin of the veneration paid to the cross (V, §9): “Tradition says that when our Lord blessed the apostles on the Mount of Olives, He extended His hands in the form of a cross as a sign that by the cross He attained the glory of His ascension (Phil. 2:8–9). When they saw this form, they fell down and worshipped Him. This was the beginning of the veneration of the cross. The first church for them was the upper room; the second church was in Antioch. The apostles said that they worshipped not wood, or gold, or any material thing, but Christ Himself, who is the cross. The signs and miracles wrought by the cross moved people to honor the wood and the sign of the cross and to worship it.” The devout custom of kissing the cross is entirely in the spirit of Eastern peoples. Both Christians and Muslims ordinarily kiss the hand of their superior upon entering his quarters. Eastern peoples, moreover, kiss the imprint of the seal (which stands in place of a signature) on a letter from their superior and, as a sign of respect, touch it with their forehead. The church is the house of God, and the cross is the sign and seal of our Lord. Not to kiss the seal of Mar-Shimun or the sign of the Savior would be, in the view of Easterners generally, an evident show of disrespect and iniquity. Therefore, in venerating the cross, the Syro-Chaldeans express their reverence for Him who accomplished our salvation by means of the wood of the cross.

Among the saints’ days, only those Fridays mentioned above and certain others are held in particular honor—such as the feast of St. Thomas (July 3), of Mar-Shimun Barsebai, of the sons of Shmuni (the martyrs mentioned in 2 Maccabees, chapter 7, who are held in great veneration and to whom many churches are dedicated), and of St. George—for which special services are appointed in the liturgical book Khudra. Many other days are also celebrated, especially in the villages; among them the commemoration of the holy infant Mar-Quriaqos (St. Cyriacus, July 15), Mar-Audishu, and Mar-Shalita is especially honored. On the feast of St. Thomas (July 3) the entire population of Urmia goes to the lake to bathe. On the feast of Nusardil, dedicated to the commemoration of the twelve apostles (the seventh Sunday after Pentecost), the people have the custom of pouring water on one another. The twelve apostles are not honored individually but are commemorated together on this day. The service in memory of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, appointed in the Khudra for the Friday after the first Sunday after Christmas, is also celebrated on other days dedicated to the memory of the Most Holy Virgin. Perhaps the most popular saint is St. George, who is commemorated on April 24 (not the 23rd), as well as in March and November. Between Supurgan and Urmia there is a most interesting site, now completely deserted—one of the many hills that rise above the plain, called Bakchikal. It is said that this is where the city of Zardustha (Zoroaster) once stood, who was a native of this plain. On the hill stand the remains of some fortification, and a paved road, leading through marshy ground to the lake, which travelers even now use for some distance in wet weather. Here, according to Syro-Chaldean tradition, the martyrdom of St. George took place. According to Syro-Chaldean accounts, he was a merchant who came to Urmia on business, converted to Christianity, and was martyred at Bakchikal by the local prince. The church at Supurgan, like many others, is dedicated to his memory. On the shore of the lake at Supurgan there is a holy well of St. George—a mineral spring that is said to heal all lepers who bathe in it.

Wednesday is dedicated to the memory of all the saints, and on this day the following doxology is sung in their honor:

“From age to age. The hosts and ranks of spiritual men with priests in the church sing a doxology in memory of the holy martyr Mar-Givergis (George), who, performing glorious deeds, conquered and received the crown. He suffered and endured afflictions—fire, and sword, and stones. His persecutors subjected him to many and various torments. He put to shame the impious king who drove out the good servants; he humiliated the glory of his power and the gods that he worshipped—Zeus, and Apollo, and Artemis, the works of human hands. The mighty giant Mar-Givergis cried out and said to the king’s nobles: do not bow down to idols, carved and fashioned by craftsmen. God Christ is the King of kings and Lord of all gods. He gives inheritance to all who fear Him—the bridal chamber and imperishable good. He in His kingdom clothes the pure martyrs who believe in Him with glory. Bowing in prayer before his Lord, he entreated and besought, saying: remove by Your grace from all who on this day make remembrance of my persecution—hail, and famine, and plague, locusts and worm-blight, storms that destroy the fields, and terrors of the night, and all evil confusion; and preserve the whole inhabited world by the great power of Your Godhead.”

Sunday is observed strictly in the sense of abstaining from work. In Tiari it is regarded as a great sin to travel on Sunday. During the rule of the former malik, anyone who undertook a journey on Sunday was subject to a fine. Nowadays, under the plausible excuse of necessity, certain tasks are permitted. Most Syro-Chaldeans are not particularly careful to avoid traveling on Sundays, and with the exception of certain mountain districts where the liturgy is celebrated weekly, the Eucharist is not often celebrated on that day. Since popular festivals or saints’ days are celebrated with greater solemnity, the celebration of the liturgy tends to be connected with them. Hence the strange fact that in practice the liturgy is actually more often celebrated on Fridays than on Sundays. And yet the book Sunhadus (V, §7) clearly states: “On Sunday there should be divine service, the reading of Holy Scripture, and sacrifice,” and in some places this rule is still observed.

“Sunday,” says Sunhadus (V, §7), “begins at sunset and ends at sunset. We must honor the risen Lord with processions, doxologies, and almsgiving. On this day there should be no quarrels or lawsuits.” Hence the Sunday service begins already on Saturday evening, and the evening service on Sunday belongs to Monday. But the prohibition of work begins at the hour of the evening prayers on Saturday and ends at dawn on Monday. Once, when a deacon of the English mission asked one of the missionaries to cut his hair on Saturday evening, the latter replied: “Very well, rabbi; I shall simply not yet say my prayers, so that Sunday has not yet begun!” In some places Sunday is considered to have ended after the evening service, and the people, having said their prayers very early at noon on Sunday, consider themselves entitled afterward to return to their worldly work.

Both by popular custom and by the prescriptions of the book Sunhadus, bathing is forbidden on Sunday. Hence everyone bathes on Saturday. “Christians shall not bathe on Sunday before or after the sacrament, for this day is holy and contains nothing fleshly. If a man bathes after the sacrament, he regards it as though it were unclean.” Here we have another instance of the concept of ceremonial defilement, still strictly observed in every respect. But, on the other hand, “on Sundays and on the feast days of our Lord we should wash, put on special garments, and cleanse our souls from sin.”

Fasts are observed very strictly by the Syro-Chaldeans. It is noteworthy, however, that in practice they are longer than prescribed in Sunhadus. In fact, every Syro-Chaldean fasts twenty-five days before Christmas, fifty days of Great Lent, three days of the fast of the Ninevites at the end of winter—a fast established in memory of the preaching of the prophet Jonah in Nineveh and observed with the utmost strictness—and the Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the entire year, not excluding Christmas Day, which are also considered days of abstinence. Most people also fast for fifteen days before the feast of the Most Holy Mary on August 15. These fasts include Sundays, although Sunhadus expressly forbids fasting on Sundays, regarding it as a Manichaean practice. “The Manichaeans rejected Sunday and fasted on Sundays because they asserted that the end of the world would come on that day after nine thousand years…. Let no one fast on Sundays under pain of anathema.” The Adiabene Sunhadus, however, cites from the decrees of the Council of Gangra a qualifying provision: “If it is not from evil and Manichaean intent, a man may fast even on Sundays.” And the reasons are obvious why today people fast during Great Lent and the Nativity Fast on Sundays: it is because if one kept meat, butter, milk, and the like in the house throughout that day, there would always be a temptation to eat the leftovers on other days of the week as well. The book Sunhadus explicitly considers the Nativity Fast a voluntary fast, as well as the seven-day fast in honor of the Apostles and the prophet Elijah (V, §19). It makes no mention of the fasts in honor of the Most Holy Mary and of the Ninevites, but it makes the forty days of Great Lent obligatory for all, and especially Wednesday and Friday: the former in memory of the conspiracy of the high priests against our Lord on that day, and also because the Savior on that day revealed to His disciples the sufferings that awaited Him; and the latter on account of the crucifixion (V, §10). Monks are also required to abstain until evening, with the exception of a “tasting” at noon. And a particular service, now almost entirely fallen out of use, is called the “satisfaction,” because it was performed at the time when only one full meal a day was permitted.

On fast days it is not permitted to eat meat, fish, butter, or eggs—in a word, anything derived from animals—and the Syro-Chaldeans observe this church rule very strictly, especially in Kurdistan. The mountain dwellers and the more strict people in Urmia will not eat, drink, or smoke until noon throughout the entire Great Lent, with the exception of Sundays; and after noon they refrain only from meat, butter, and anything else that is not fasting food, while everything else they may eat freely. Fasting on Wednesday and Friday does not present any particular difficulty. Almost everywhere fasting on these days begins in the morning and ends with the evening prayer. Thus, supper on Wednesday and Friday evening is already considered permissible with meat. Of course, in theory, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings one ought to eat only fasting food, but this is almost never done. And in many districts, especially from Pascha to Pentecost, butter, milk, and eggs are permitted on these two days. The principal food during the fast consists of bread, red and black beans, rice prepared with walnut or other vegetable oil, “dolma”—that is, vine leaves stuffed with rice and raisins and prepared in vinegar—fruit, raisins, and nuts. In the observance of the fasting regulations the full rigor of church discipline is manifested, and it is willingly accepted by all, even by children. One of the smallest pupils of the English mission, being near death during Lent and commanded by the doctor to drink some meat broth, exclaimed indignantly: “Am I a Kurd, that I should eat non-fasting food?”

Abstinence before communion is strictly observed; Sunhadus ordains that no church minister who takes part in the celebration of the Eucharist, baptism, or ordination shall eat or drink anything before that service (VI, §6, rule 3). No rule is laid down for laymen, but custom strictly binds everyone. The Takhsa states that priests and deacons must observe the fast before entering the sanctuary. Only if no sacrament is being celebrated there and necessity compels may he enter it, but no further than the outer lamp; and he may under no circumstances enter the sanctuary if he has drunk wine (note 26). This rule cites the book of Leviticus 10:9 as its authority and states that this is forbidden both by the old and by the new law. It is not beside the point here to note the enormous influence the Mosaic law has on the Syrians. They love to prove everything on the basis of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the teachers of the church.

During Great Lent people sometimes hang in their homes a large turnip or something similar, with feathers stuck into it corresponding to the number of weeks of the fast. This they call soma (fast), and it is often fashioned into a kind of scarecrow to frighten children. The feathers are removed from the turnip as the weeks of the fast pass. It is interesting that a similar custom is still observed in southern Italy: “Those who strictly observe the fast in Sorrento hang a black doll outside the windows. Into this doll six feathers are stuck, which are removed one by one at the end of each week of the fast.”

On the last Sunday evening before the fast begins, in Kochanes and other mountain villages young people stage a kind of masquerade representing the approaching Great Lent. Some young man puts on his head an enormous hollow pumpkin, to which are attached a huge nose, fearsome teeth, and a beard made of goat’s hair. In this guise, armed with a stick or sword and wearing a terrible expression, he represents “Soma,” who, accompanied by several attendants, goes from house to house. Soma does not speak but emits a kind of fearful bellowing, which turns into a storm of indignation and threats if it notices any unwillingness on the part of the inhabitants of a house to comply with the demands made upon them regarding observance of the approaching fast. On the other hand, Soma proves quite courteous, bowing low when given a friendly reception. The people accompanying Soma explain that Soma has come to announce to them the arrival of the seven-week fast, during which they must not eat meat, cheese, milk, eggs, or any product of animal life. When the explanation is finished, the people accompanying Soma receive a kind of tribute in the form of raisins, nuts, beans, or corn. Soma then moves on to the next house, and only then do the children—who had hidden in fright behind their mothers—come out from their shelter, telling each other what a terrifying Soma they had seen. Talk of these visits of Soma goes on for several days, and merely mentioning Soma is enough to make any child, even a willful one, stop asking for non-fasting food during Great Lent. The midpoint Wednesday in the middle of Great Lent is called in Urmia palyu—that is, division or midpoint. It is often marked with some small treat, but the fast is not broken on this occasion. The same occurs in the mountains, though the name itself is not used there. There is some vagueness as to when the fast properly ends. The usual rule for Christmas and Great Lent is that if a person has communicated at the liturgy on Christmas or on the eve of Pascha, he may end his fast after the evening prayer; otherwise not before the liturgy on Christmas Day itself or on Pascha itself. In the mountains this applies only to Christmas Eve. The liturgy on fast days is celebrated late, often at one or two in the afternoon, so that everyone may have fasted until that time.

The Takhsa contains a rule that if a person for any reason does not receive communion on the eve of Pascha, on Pascha itself, on Holy Thursday, or on the days following Pascha, he must remain a “Nazirite”—that is, he must not eat meat for a month; but he is not required to abstain from other non-fasting food. If, however, he communicated on Holy Thursday but not on the eve of Pascha or on Pascha itself, he may end his fast after fifteen days (2nd rule in the book Takhsa).

Let us now set forth the Syro-Chaldean calendar.

The following feast days and fasts are taken either from the Khudra or from a manuscript appended to a copy of the Kashkul—that is, the book of various festal hymns—dated May 14, 1443. In addition to the saints named below, this manuscript contains the names of several local fathers, for whose days no special service was ever properly appointed and who are never now observed. A few of the days given below are taken from firmly established local tradition, such as Mar-Audishu on “New” Sunday and the Most Holy Mary, May 15 and August 15. The days are reckoned by the Old Style.

December 1. The Nativity Fast begins.

Four Sundays in the Nativity Fast. (Subara, meaning proclamation or announcement.)

December 25. Christmas Day.

Friday. Mar-Yaqo (James), the brother of the Lord (fallen out of use).

First Sunday after Christmas.

Friday. The Most Holy Mary.

Second Sunday after Christmas.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The supplication of Mar-Zayi (very rarely observed now).

January 6. Theophany (“radiance” or “rising of the sun,” also “new waters”), in memory of the baptism of the Savior.

Friday. St. John the Baptist.

First Sunday after Theophany.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The supplication of virgins, observed by virgins in Kochanes and certain other places.

Friday. St. Peter and St. Paul.

Second Sunday after Theophany.

Friday. The four Evangelists. Also the “commemoration of the 150 bishops excommunicated by Macedonius.” But the latter has fallen out of use.

Third Sunday after Theophany.

Friday. St. Stephen.

Fourth Sunday after Theophany.

Friday. The Greek Teachers (especially Nestorius, Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore the Interpreter, and others).

Fifth Sunday after Theophany.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The fast of the Ninevites, which always falls twenty days before Great Lent. It is observed in memory of the preaching of the prophet Jonah, whose tomb is pointed out in a mosque near the ruins of Nineveh.

Thursday. The Forty Martyrs who froze to death (at Sebaste). (Fallen out of use.)

Friday. The Syrian Teachers—that is, teachers of the “Church of the East,” not of Antioch; especially Mar-Narsai, who lived around 520 AD (Assem. B.O., III, 1, p. 611). Also the commemoration of Mar-Saurishu of Beth Garmai, “who established the fast of the Ninevites on account of a great plague.”

Sixth Sunday after Theophany.

Friday. Mar-Aba, catholicos from 536–552 AD (Assem. B.O. III, 1, p. 611), or “one person” (the patron saint).

Seventh Sunday after Theophany.

Friday. The Forty Martyrs (at Sebaste). See above.

Eighth Sunday after Theophany. Commemoration of all the “Eastern catholikoi.”

Friday. Commemoration of the departed.

The Sunday before Great Lent, fifty days before Pascha.

Note. If there are eight Sundays after Theophany, the order given above is observed; if seven, the commemoration of the Forty Martyrs is omitted; if six, the days dedicated to the Evangelists and to the Apostles Peter and Paul are combined; if five, the days of the Greek and Syrian Teachers are likewise combined into one; if four, the days of St. Stephen and Mar-Aba are combined together. In these cases the service is celebrated partly in honor of one and partly in honor of the other. The Sundays are combined in a similar manner.

Great Lent begins on Monday, forty-nine days before Pascha. But in the mountains, and often in Urmia as well, the Sunday before this Monday is already regarded as a fast day.

The first four and the last week of the fast are called “weeks of the mystery,” and, with the exception of Saturdays, special readings are assigned for each day within them.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the first week of the fast. The supplication of the Archangel Gabriel (very rarely observed).

Five Sundays.

Palm Sunday (the feast of Hosanna). On this day the Syro-Chaldeans use branches of a red-colored willow as palms. This tree is called by them “the Hosanna tree.”

The Day of the Passion (Holy Thursday).

Friday of the Passion (Good Friday). On this day the Syro-Chaldeans do not celebrate the liturgy.

Holy Saturday, or the Saturday of Light (an allusion to the greeting: “Light to your dead”).

Pascha. The feast of the Resurrection, or the Great Festival. The week of Pascha is called “the week of weeks.”

Friday after Pascha. “The Confessors under King Shapur.”

Low Sunday (“New” or “Red” Sunday). In some places dedicated to the commemoration of Mar-Audishu.

Saturday. Mar-Khananya (Ananias) “of the wolves.”

The second Sunday after Easter.

Monday. Raban Urmizd of Shiraz (see under September 1). This saint is buried in an ancient monastery known by his name, near Alqosh (Elkosh), where a tomb of the prophet Nahum is also pointed out in a Jewish synagogue. This monastery belongs to the Roman Catholic Uniates (Chaldeans).

The third and fourth Sundays after Easter.

The fifth Sunday after Easter. Mar-Addai. “An apostle, one of the seventy, the enlightener of the East. He was the first to convert Abgar, the black king of Urgay (Edessa).” The account of his mission and of the correspondence between the Savior and Abgar is found in a special book called the “Doctrine of Addai” (translated into English). The Greek form of Addai is Thaddaeus. This saint is often identified with the apostle Thaddaeus, whose name in Syriac is Taday.

The Day of the Ascension.

The Sunday after the Ascension.

The seven weeks from Easter to Pentecost, called the “shavua” (week) of the Resurrection.

Pentecost.

At Pentecost begins the shavua (week) of the apostles (fifty days); and the first Sunday after Pentecost is called the second week of the apostles.

Wednesday after Pentecost. “On this day the first Eucharist was celebrated by James, the brother of the Lord. The Most Holy Virgin was the first to receive communion, and then the apostles.”

Friday after Pentecost. The Friday of the Zealot (Acts 3).

The seventh Friday after Pentecost (and in former times also the preceding Wednesday) in memory of the seventy apostles.

The seventh Sunday after Pentecost in memory of the twelve apostles. It is also called the first Sunday of the summer shavua (seven weeks) and is likewise called Nusardil. On this day the Syro-Chaldeans pour water over one another.

The first Friday of summer (the eighth after Pentecost). Mar-Sargis (Sergius). But in some places his commemoration is observed on the preceding Sunday.

The second Friday of summer (the ninth after Pentecost). Mar-Mari, disciple of Mar-Addai.

The sixth Friday of summer (the thirteenth after Pentecost). Mar-Shimun Barsebay, the ninth Catholicos of the East and martyr, from 314–330 or from 326–344 (the date is uncertain). He died on Good Friday (see under April 15). His name means “son of a dyer” (Assem. B. O., III, 1, p. 611). Also known as Simeon Bar-Saba’e.

The week of Elijah (seven Sundays) follows the summer week, and includes also the last four Sundays after the feast of the Holy Cross (September 13). See below.

The third Friday of Elijah (the sixteenth after Pentecost). Commemoration of Elijah the Tishbite.

The four Sundays of Mar-Mushi (St. Moses) follow the week of Elijah, and then four Sundays of the Consecration of the Church conclude this cycle. Each of these periods is conveniently called a shavua (week). The first Sunday of the Consecration of the Church is also called Maalta, that is, the Entrance. On this day the Syro-Chaldeans move from their summer place of daily prayer into the main church. During this week the services speak chiefly of the founding of the church. Al-Biruni (973–1048) in his “Chronology of Ancient Nations,” p. 306, states that on the day of Maalta they moved from the church to the roof in memory of the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem.

The third Friday of the Church. Mar-Augin.

January 1. Mar-Shalita (fallen out of use; see September 19).

January 24. Companions of St. George, martyrs (fallen out of use).

March. First Wednesday. St. George the martyr.

April 15. Mar-Shimun Barsebay, Catholicos (fallen out of use).

April 24 (Sic). Commemoration of St. George the martyr. A great feast.

April 27. St. Christopher the martyr and St. George (fallen out of use).

May. First Tuesday. The sons of Shmuni (2 Macc. 7). Observed everywhere.

May 15. The Most Holy Mary.

July 3. St. Thomas, who “was pierced by a spear in India. His body is in Urgay (Edessa), whither it was brought by a merchant named Khabin.” A great feast.

July 15. St. Cyriacus (“Mar-Quriaqos, whom Galin killed in Persia, and Diulita, his mother”). Ruinart, in his Acta Martyrum Sincera (p. 477), states that Sts. Quiricus and Giulitta died in Tarsus around the year 305. The Greeks celebrate the feast in their honor on this day, while the Latins do so on July 16.

July 29. Sts. Peter and Paul (fallen out of use).

August 1. The fast of the Most Holy Mary begins (15 days).

August “is the month of the sons of Shmuni” (fallen out of use).

August 6. The Transfiguration (“The Revelation”; also called “the Ascent of our Lord on Mount Tabor”).

August 10. Mar-Shalita (fallen out of use). See September 19.

August 15. The Most Holy Mary.

September 1. Raban Urmizd of Shiraz. “On this day, after his death, he opened the eyes of a blind man” (fallen out of use).

September 8. The Nativity of the Most Holy Mary. “Also the commemoration of Yunachar and Khana (Anna), her parents.”

September 13 (sic). The feast of the Holy Cross.

September 19. Mar-Shalita, patron of the patriarchal church in Kochanes, disciple of Mar-Augin.

October. First Monday. St. George.

October. First Wednesday. Mar-Tiodor (Theodore) the Interpreter (fallen out of use).

October 1. Khnania (Ananias, “who baptized Paul; he was the first metropolitan of Damascus”) (fallen out of use).

October 2. Mar-Papa, Catholicos (ca. 300; Assem. ibid.) (fallen out of use).

October 4. Eight (sic) youths, that is, the Sleepers of Ephesus. This day is not observed, but the Syro-Chaldeans frequently recount the story of their lives.

October 12. Three hundred martyrs in Shigar (fallen out of use).

October 13. St. John the Evangelist (fallen out of use).

October 25. Raban Pithion the martyr. A very ancient church on the slope of a mountain above the Thuma valley in Turkey is dedicated to his memory, and many people still visit it today. He was an opponent of “the magi (astrologers), sons of error.”

November 1. St. Cyprian (fallen out of use).

November 15. Mar-Audishu (Ebedjesu). There were several fathers of this name. Perhaps the famous author of the “Pearl” is commemorated here; around 1295 he was metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia.

November 17. Mar-Aghnatis, Ignatius, “disciple of the sons of thunder.” St. George. St. Basil (all fallen out of use).

November 19. Mar-Yaqo-Mpasku (St. James the Mutilated). He is so named because his limbs were cut off one by one.

November 22. Diodorus, bishop of Tarsus, and 12,000 martyrs (fallen out of use).

December 22. Mar-Quriaqos (St. Cyriacus).

Note. The fourth Sunday of Elijah must always be the first Sunday after the feast of the Holy Cross (September 13), and if necessary the other Sundays of Elijah must be adjusted; with the exception that if the feast of the Holy Cross falls on the week before the first Sunday of Elijah, then the first Sunday retains its place, and the service of the fourth Sunday of Elijah is observed on the following Sunday.

If Easter falls late, all or some of the Sundays of Mar-Mushi are omitted; and if it falls very late, the last Sunday of Elijah appears also to be omitted. If Easter falls on the earliest possible date, the fifth and fourth Sundays of Elijah are transposed in order to follow the rule stated above. However, this arrangement has not been formally established.

To determine the date of Easter, the Syro-Chaldeans use precisely the same rules as the Greeks, from whom they borrowed this method. The rules are as follows:

Rule 1. First of all, one must find the lunar cycle, and it is found in the following way: to the given year one must add 12 and subtract 1800 from the sum. The resulting figure must be divided by 19—the remainder will determine the lunar cycle sought. For example: in 1815 the lunar cycle is 8; in 1826 the lunar cycle is 19; in 1891 the lunar cycle is 8; in 1898 the lunar cycle is 15.

Rule 2. Once the lunar cycle has been found, one must look up in the accompanying table the date corresponding to the cycle number, and Easter will fall on the following Sunday. Here is the table:

1. April 2. 11. April 12.

2. March 22. 12. March 31.

3. April 10. 13. March 21.

4. March 30. 14. April 19.

5. April 18. 15. March 29.

6. April 7. 16. April 17.

7. March 27. 17. April 5.

8. April 15. 18. March 25.

9. April 4. 19. April 13.

10. 10. March 24.

With the aid of this table one can determine the date of Easter. Thus, in 1891 the lunar cycle is 8, and the date of Easter is therefore April 21; in 1898 the lunar cycle is 15, which corresponds to March 29 (Palm Sunday), and Easter therefore falls on the following Sunday, April 5.