Category: Customs and Traditions
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Great and Holy Friday, or the Sad Friday
The Easterners (the Byzantines) call the Friday “Great,” while the Westerners (the Maronites, for example) call it “Sad.” So we chant the blessings of the Resurrection today and wear white, while the Western Church considers these days a period of mourning, and childish annual quarrels occur over who is right, as is our custom in…
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A Study of the Custom of Kissing the Cleric’s Hand, and the Origin of the Title ‘Sayyidna’
Introduction We find in the canon law the custom of kissing mentioned only once, where it speaks of the kiss of peace “after the priests kiss the bishop, the people kiss one another”[1] and this kiss is the handshake, which today is confined to the priests alone in the Liturgy, and the bishop […]