Lecture delivered by His Beatitude Patriarch Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, at the annual meeting of the Ecumenical Society of St John Chrysostom, Australasian Chapter, Melbourne, 12 November 2002.
John Chrysostom Amongst the Church Fathers: John Chrysostom as a Liturgist
(summary)
For its annual meeting on 12 November, 2002 in Melbourne the Society of John Chrysostom had the privilege to have as a guest speaker His Beatitude Gregory III Laham, Greek Melkite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem. Professor Pauline Allen, President of the Society, introduced His Beatitude, mentioning his theological studies in Rome, where he received his doctorate from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, and his pastoral experience in Jerusalem before his election to the patriarchate.
In his lecture, His Beatitude highlighted the role of Antioch in the development of the liturgy in the East and West. He first defined the Melkite Church as the church which followed the decree of faith issued by the Council of Chalcedon, and signed by the Emperor (in Syriac and Arabic “Melek”). Hence it is safe to call the Latin, Byzantine or Russian Churches “Melkite” because they adopted the decisions of Chalcedon. The Patriarch also mentioned that five patriarchs bear the title of Patriarch of Antioch, namely those of the Syrian Orthodox, the Syrian Catholic, and the Maronite for the Syriac language, and the Greek Orthodox (Byzantine) and the Greek Catholic.
His Beatitude emphasised the fact that Antioch inherited the liturgical traditions and rites of Jerusalem. John Chrysostom codified the liturgical practices of Antioch using the Greek language, but later the rite was translated into Syriac and Armenian, and some parts of it into Coptic and Ethiopian. After the schism caused by Chalcedon, the churches of the Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian languages separated. The influence of the Antiochene church subsequently reached even Rome and the western part of the world.
The Patriarch narrated his own experience in Jerusalem, during the years when he attended the liturgies of the Copts, Syrians, and Armenians and found the same themes and the same words. “We are not a Byzantine rite”, stated the Patriarch, “for there is no Byzantine rite, but Constantinople inherited the Antiochene rite and codified it. So it is safe to say that even the Russian and Serbian rites are derived from the Antiochene rite.”
The Melkite Church of Antioch very quickly adopted the Arabic language and translated its rite into Arabic and Syriac. Open-mindedness always characterised the attitude of the Antiochene Church. During the so-called great schism the Patriarch Peter III of Antioch wrote to the Patriarch of Constantinople to the effect that the personal conflict between him and the Pope in Rome should not be allowed to affect the peace of the church. This is an illustration of the fact that historically the Melkite Church has acted as a bridge between East and West.
Rev. Professor Robert Gribben, Vice-President of the Society of St John Chrysostom, proposed the vote of thanks after the lecture, mentioning his own experiences in Syria when he met the late Patriarch Maximus Hakim, who took him to meet his friend, the Syrian Patriarch Zakka Iwas. Both patriarchs had studied together.
NOTE: This summary of the Patriarch's lecture was translated into English from his Arabic notes by Dr Youhanna Nessim Youssef.