The Syriac of the Maronite Qorbono (Mass)

Part One
Narrative of the Eucharistic Institution
Access to the Altar
One of the distinguishing features of the Maronite Divine Liturgy is the use of Syriac. Syriac
is a dialect of Aramaic. Our Lord spoke a dialect of Aramaic. It is quite possile that the
!ords of the "ucharistic institution include !ords spoken y #im. In order to help make
these eautiful prayers more !idely understood$ !e have set out the Syriac !ith an "nglish
translation and a commentary meant to make it easier to understand the Syriac !ords y
relating them to Leanese and Araic. %he translation and Syriac translation on this page are
taken from The Divine Liturgy of the Maronite Church: Birth of Our Lord, Epiphany$ &
rd

edition$ '(()$ Maronite "parchy of Australia$ edited y *ev. +. Adallah assisted y Sr ,.
-aarour and Mr ". A..i$ p./
The Celebrant chants
l0aitokh aloho 1elet$ I have entered your house$ O +od
!aqdom im dilokh seghdet. and have !orshipped in your temple.
malko shma0yono O 2ing of #eaven$
#aso li khoul da#%it lokh. 3orgive all my sins.
The Congregation chants in reply
malko shma0yono O 2ing of #eaven$
#aso lan khoul da#%ainan lokh. 3orgive all our sins.
The Celebrant chants
Salo! 1alai me%oul Moran. Pray for me$ for the honour of +od.
The Congregation chants in reply
aloho nqael qouronokh May +od accept your offering
ou netra#am 1alain aSloutokh. and have mercy on us through your prayers.
4 +. Adallah$ ,. -aarour$ ". A..i and 5oseph A.i.e$ '6 5une '((78 this material may e
freely copied and distriuted in the service of the Maronite 9hurch. Please attriute the
source of the material.
:e !ill no! go$ !ord for !ord$ through the Syriac. Study this$ and you !ill find that you
!ill soon understand the celerant perfectly clearly. *eferences to ;Araic< mean ;:ritten
Araic<$ !hile ;Leanese< means the spoken language of the people of Leanon$ !hich is a
separate language$ mi=ing Aramaic$ Araic and possily Phoenician.
l-baitoh aloho !elet
l > %his preposition can mean many things$ as in Leanese and Araic. #ere$ it means ;to<.
baitoh > ;your house<$ a !ay of referring to the church itself. bait is the same in Leanese
and Araic. ?ut the ending oh is more like Leanese !here !e say baita for a man
and baiti for a !oman. In Araic$ the vo!el comes after the $ yielding baitoa and
baitoi.
aloho > ;+od<. %his is the Syriac pronunciation. %his is !here our villages get their famous
pronunciation from. In Leanese$ !e say horl for ;mother@s rother<$ and so on.
Araic !ould have long ;a< sounds. %herefore the villages@ pronunciation is more
authentically Leanese than the ?eirut style.
!elet > ;I have entered<. %his is a Syriac !ord$ !ithout any equivalent in Leanese or Araic.
Putting this together$ it says ;%o your house$ O +od$ I have entered ...<
"a#do$ bi$ diloh seghdet
"a#do$ > "a ;and< as in Araic and Leanese$ plus #do$ > ;efore<$ the root A0D0M in
oth Araic and Leanese. In Leanese the ;q< is given a ;soft< pronunciation$ as if it
!ere an aleph. %his is called ;the glottal stop<. If you say ;a apple<$ you can hear the
glottal stop at the start of ;apple<.
bi$ > ;ema<$ a Syriac !ord for the particular lectern !hich the Maronite churches$ like the
Orthodo=$ used to ring the reading of the sacred te=ts closere to the people.
diloh > ;your<$ the d means ;!hich<$ the l is ;to< !ith oh meaning ;you<$ so it means
;!hich is to you<$ or$ ;your<$ ;yours<.
seghdet > ;I have !orshipped<$ as in the Araic and Leanese ver sa%ad to !orship. %he
!ord entered entered Araic through Syriac. A carpet is a sa%aird ecause Muslims
pray upon it.
Putting this together$ it says ;And efore your be$a$ O +od$ I have !orshipped ...<
'
$alo sh$a-yono &aso li houl da&Tit loh
$alo > ;king<$ as in Araic and Leanese $ali.
sh$ayono > ;heaven<$ a Syriac !ord cognate !ith the Araic and Leanese sa$a'.
&aso > ;forgive<$ a Syriac !ord.
li > ;to me<$ the preposition l plus i to refer to ;me<.
houl > ;all<$ as in Araic ul and Leanese il(
da&Tit > ;sinning<$ the d relates the noun to the prceding !ords$ and &tit is cognate !ith the
Araic and Leanese h-T-y as in haTayana$ ;our sins< from the Lord@s Prayer.
loh > ;against you<$ the l means ;against< here$ and once more$ oh$ ;you<$ ecause +od is
addressed.
Putting this together$ it says ;O 2ing of #eaven$ forgive me all sinning against ,ou ...<
$alo sh$a-yono &aso lan houl da&Tainan loh
%his is e=actly the same as aove e=cept for the follo!ing8
lan > ;to us<$ the an giving it a first person plural reference.
&tainan > ;!e have sinned<.
Putting this together$ it says ;O 2ing of #eaven$ forgive us all !e have sinned against
,ou ...<
)alo" !alai $eToul $oran
)alo" > ;pray<. %his Syriac !ord is said to e the source of the Araic !ord Saly$ and may
e the origin of the Leanese !ord.
!alai > ;for me<$ not dissimilar to Araic and Leanese 1alayni.
$eToul > ;on account of< or ;for the honour B sake of<. %his Syriac !ord is similar to the
Leanese ir$an$ as !hen something is done ir$an someone.
$oran > ;Our Lord<. %he $or portion is the same !ord as ;mar< as in ;Mar Maroun<$ and
the an makes it ;our< Lord.
Putting this together$ it says ;Pray for me$ for the honour of Our Lord ...<
aloho n#abel #ourbonoh " netra&a$ !alain ba)loutoh
&
aloho n#abel > ;may +od accept<. :e have that seen that aloho is +od. %he veral root A0?0
L$ meaning ;receive< is kno!n in oth Araic and Leanese$ although in Leanese
the # is pronounced as a glottal stop$ !hich !e say aove. %he n in Syriac efore the
ver does not necessarily make it mean ;!e<$ as in Araic and Leanese bidna nrouh$
;!e !ant to go<. *ather$ it makes it a !ish in the present and future$ ;may he accept<.
#ourbonoh > ;your offering<. %he root A0*0? means ;to e near< in Syriac$ Araic and
Leanese. #o!ever$ the !ord #ourban is neither Araic nor Leanese. It is kno!n in
Aramiac$ Syriac and #ere!$ and has a specialised meaning of ;offering Cto +odD<.
5esus uses the !ord in Mark 68EE$ in a conte=t !hich sho!s that if something !as
#ourban$ then it !as e=clusively dedicated to +od.
" > ;and<. %he !ord is not given a rounded pronunciation$ so it can e !ritten as ", "a or
even sometimes as ;ou<. Sometimes it can arely e heard.
netra&a$ > ;have mercy<. Once more$ the n does not mean ;!e< ut$ e=presses the !ish$
;may he have mercy<. %he *0#0M root for ;mercy< and related concepts $ such as
;!om<$ is !ell kno!n in oth Araic and Leanese. Fote that Syriac uses the ;t<
prefi= !ith ver to mean ;have mercy<$ !hereas Araic and Leanese do not.
!alain > ;upon us<$ e=actly like Araic and Leanese !alaina e=cept that the final vo!el is
not needed in Syriac.
ba)loutoh > ;through your prayer<. %he b is an instrumental preposition as in Araic and
Leanese. %he Syriac !ord )lout is the origin of Araic )alli ;to pray<. %he h makes
it ;your prayer<$ masculine singlular.
Putting this together$ it says ;May +od accept your offering and have mercy upon us through
your prayer ...<
/