Antioch: A Bridge Between Worlds (Online Course)

 

 

 For more information and to register, click here.

This course covers the history of Orthodox Christianity in the Patriarchate of Antioch.

Although the Church of Antioch was founded by the Apostles and was where “the disciples were first called Christians,” the long history of the Patriarchate of Antioch is less well known than that of other Orthodox Churches. For two thousand years, however, it has persisted in its unique Christian witness in the Middle East and, later, the New World. This course will give an introduction to the life of the Antiochian Church from the time of the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century until today. Particular emphasis will be placed on key figures and saints, the church’s response to Islam, the role of the Arabic language, the interplay between Constantinopolitan influence and local particularity, and how the church met and overcame the many threats to its survival over the course of its history.

This course will take place every Thursday at 12:00 pm Central from May 8-29, 2025. Each session consists of a live lecture by Dr. Samuel Noble followed by a Q&A. The course is hosted on the OSI Mighty Networks platform. During registration you will be prompted to create a Mighty Networks account (free with purchase of course) if you do not have one already.

Each session will be recorded and posted on the platform following the live class. 

For questions, technical help, or more information, please contact Maggie Wissink at mwissink@saintconstantine.org

SESSION 1 (May 8, 2025): Antioch under Muslim Rule

SESSION 2 (May 15, 2025) : The Byzantine Reconquest

SESSION 3 (May 22, 2025): The Ottoman Era and the Melkite Schism

SESSION 4 (May 29, 2025): From Xenocracy to Revival

 

How Patriarch John X was Elected in 2012

 Yazigi New Patriarch of the Orthodox Church

by Ghassan Rifi in al-Safir, Arabic original here.

The bells of Balamand Monastery rang out to announce the election of the Metropolitan of Western Europe, John Yazigi as the new Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and all the East, successor to Saints Peter and Paul and successor to the departed patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim.

The election of John Yazigi, who is the 158th patriarch of the See of Antioch and who will bear the name "John X", was a surprise for all the clergy and laity who were observing it, especially since his name was not listed among the potential candidates since there had not yet been five years since his being named metropolitan (it had been 4 years and 8 months) as the canons require. However, "ecclesial economia accompanied by divine inspiration," according to one of the metropolitans, led the members of the Holy Synod of Antioch to amend the canon to allow for the nomination of all metropolitans. This was in order widen the range of choices and to keep it from being limited to certain people.

It could be said that the "Antiochian coalition" that stretches from Syria to Lebanon, Palestine, and the Gulf, all the way to Antioch, comprising the senior metropolitans who are the founders of the Orthodox Youth Movement and those active in it, put itself in democratic competition with a coalition of some of the archdioceses of the West and Syria.

It was clear that the orientation of the "Antiochian coalition" is to continue along the lines established by the past two patriarchs, Elias IV and Ignatius IV, who laid the foundation for the revival of the Orthodox Church. The metropolitans of this coalition chose John X from outside the list of candidates, since even though he was considered one of the metropolitans of the West, he simultaneously represents a meeting-point for all and a common ground between the older and younger generations of metropolitans. He responds to the desires of the "Church Current" and the Orthodox Youth Movement, especially since he was raised in the thought of the late Patriarch Ignatius IV and his colleague Metropolitan Georges Khodr.

One of the metropolitans says, "The winner in these elections is the unity of the Orthodox Church and of revivalist thought, especially since the new patriarch is a son of Lattakia who knows Syria and Lebanon very well. He is a man of peace and dialog who believes that the Eastern Orthodox Church stretches from Antioch to the Americas. He is able to face the difficult circumstances that the Arab region, and especially Syria, is living through."

How did the new patriarch arrive at the reins of the See of Antioch?

At ten yesterday morning, a meeting of the Antiochian synod met at Balamand Monastery with the participation of eighteen of twenty metropolitans, since the metropolitan of North America, Philip Saliba, and the Metropolitan of Baghdad, Constantine Papastephanou, were absent on account of illness.

When Metropolitan Elias Audi arrived at the monastery, the doors of Balamand were shut so that they could be alone for approximately three hours, during which time no one was allowed to enter. It began with prayer for the soul of Patriarch Hazim and that "God may inspire the metropolitans of the See of Antioch to make the right choice."

Then a consultative session began during which the question of holding the election or delaying it to wait what will happen with the security situation in Syria was held. However, the overwhelming majority was in favor of holding it and the possibility of delay was quickly set aside, so everyone moved on to the process of election.

The election process requries that each metropolitan puts forward the name of three candidates (he can name himself) and then one of those three is elected. If he receives two thirds of the vote, he is named the winner but if he does not, there is an election between him and the next two candidates. The one who wins a majority is named patriarch.

At the beginning of the electoral session, the metropolitans agreed to amend the Church canons to. The amendment opened the door for all metropolitans to be nominated and ended the limitation to only those who have been metropolitans for more than five years.

In the first round, which was a secret ballot, metropolitans John Yazigi (Western Europe), Antonios Shadrawi (Mexico), and Saba Esber (Patriarchal Locum Tenens and metropolitan of Hauran and Jebel el-Arab) were named.

In the second round of the election, it became clear that if both metropolitans Yazigi and Esber--both of whom belong to the "Antiochian coalition", continued in the running, the deciding bloc's votes would be split between them, which would be in Metropolitan Shadrawi's favor. For this reason, Metropolitan Esber took the initiative to announce his withdrawal so that the competition would be limited to Yazigi and Shadrawi.

After the vote and the count, Yazigi's victory became clear with twelve votes against five votes for Shadrawi and one vote for Esber. Immediately, the Synod's secretary, Father Georges Dimas went out and the election of John Yazigi as the new patriarch of the See of Antioch, succeeding the departed Patriarch Ignatius Hazim, calling attention to that the patriarchal departments will take charge of announcing the formal arrangements for celebrating the installation and his receiving the shepherd's staff. Throughout this announcement there were bells ringing, cheers, and applause.

After this the metropolitans, led by Patriarch John X went to the monastery's church amidst the chanting of the Balamand choir. There he put on priestly robes and presided over the prayer of thanksgiving. He gave a sermon in which he stressed that the Gospel, through our prayers, will remain open, and calling on the fathers to pray so that we might be as one hand and so that we may make the Church of Antioch the image that befits the Bride of Christ and the Church. He said, "We realize that our people are good and that serving them is sweet for our hearts. We are from this land, from this country. Our country, our soil, is a part of us and we are a part of it."

He closed by stressing unity and cooperation for the sake of service. He thanked the metropolitans for their trust, confirming his tireless quest to build up a church that is a beautiful bride for all. Then Patriarch Yazigi went to the Institute of Theology. The first to congratulate him was the former vice president Issam Fares who called him from abroad. Brigadier General William Majli also sent his congratulations, as did the president of Balamand University, Doctor Elie Salem and a number of the university's deans. The deputy Robert Fadel was present and said that Yazigi "enjoys the qualities of youth, knowledge, culture, piety, and openness" and that half of him is Lebanese and half Syrian, noting that these qualities are not easily found.

For his part, the patriarch locum tenens Saba Esber told al-Saifr, "The election process was carried out in peace and love and was exceptionally smooth."

Esber thought that the media burdened the election process with more than it could bear. This provoked great buzz around it, but he denied that any political struggle took place and affirmed that the election process was carried out in all responsibility.


The Orthodox Church Renews Her Youth: Yazigi is Patriarch

by Ghassan Saoud in al-Akhbar, Arabic original here.

"Yesterday the Holy Spirit chose the metropolitan of Europe, John Yazigi (born 1955) as patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Antioch." If some of the metropolitans were occupied with prayer instead of their electoral campaigns, they might have heard the voice of Holy Spirit encouraging them to withdraw in favor of Yazigi rather than persist in their candidacy, lest the Holy Spirit dash their hopes by preferring someone else. The day before yesterday, Patriarch John Yazigi dined at the table of the metropolitan of Mexico, Antonios Shadrawi. He heard him speak of his nomination and his plans for the Church in the event that he wins, within him reciprocating the disclosure of his intentions or what awaits him. Thus Shadrawi went to bed a patriarch, without his calculations requiring too much prayer of him. The metropolitans woke with the assumption that there were two competing groups: one with six votes nominating the metropolitan of Hauran Saba Esber, the other with six votes nominating Shadrawi, with the probability of Shadrawi's influence among the six remaining metropolitans.

However, the meeting had barely begun before "the Holy Spirit" began to be active among the two groups, as Church sources prefer to say. The patron of Esber's candidacy proposed that the Synod amend the basic statute of the See of Antioch  that was issued in 1973, in order to permit the nomination of metropolitans who have not yet had dioceses for five years. Thus it became possible to nominate Metropolitan John Yazigi, who was elected metropolitan in 2008. This is with knowledge that yesterday's amendment, like other previous amendments, have been a point of canonical discussion between members of the Orthodox Church. Shadrawi's initial surprise was soon followed by an additional surprise, as some of the metropolitans whom he considered to be on his side moved over to Yazigi's side.

Thus the metropolitan of Hauran Saba Esber, the metropolitan of Mexico Antonios Shadrawi, and the metropolitan of Central and Western Europe John Yazigi led the first election that names the three candidates for patriarch. With Saba attracting most of the block in favor of him to Yazigi, the latter was able to gain the support of a number of metropolitans who had voted for Shadrawi, the most important of them the new patriarch's brother,  the metropolitan of Aleppo Paul Yazigi who had previously withdrawn his nomination in favor of Shadrawi, the metropolitan of Argentina Siluan Muci, his friend bishop Ghattas Hazim, and his spiritual father Metropolitan John Mansour, who had ordained him deacon in 1979 and priest in 1983 in the Archdiocese of Lattakia.

The first group, whose announced candidate was Esber and whose leader was Metropolitan Georges Khodr, first by amending the canon and then by nominating Yazigi, attracted four votes that were considered to be closer to the other bloc. If the other group had realized what  lay in wait for them, they would have first blocked the canonical amendment and then would have nominated Metropolitan Paul Yazigi, who, until his withdrawal in favor of Shadrawi, was one of the most prominent candidates opposing Esber. Thus the Orthodox Church would have witnessed an unprecedented competition between two brothers for the See of Antioch. Thus it might be said that Shadrawi and his bloc were fooled when they thought that Esber was Metropolitan Georges Khodr's only choice. His calculations, and those of Paul Yazigi, were on this basis. Regardless of the exact electoral figures and who voted for whom, the Metropolitan of Mount Lebanon has been successful for the second consecutive time in bringing forward a patriarch whom the Orthodox Youth Movement can claim as an alumnus.

The new patriarch is a monk who has been living in a tiny apartment in the French capital for four years because his metropolitan office was not yet built. Finally, he rented a Church in order to perform the Orthodox liturgy in it. In his first words as patriarch, the graduate of Greek theological institutes and abbot of the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand from 2001 to 2005 affirmed that, "Christians are staying in Syria. The land is their land. He called for dialog in order to solve the crises. Those who know the former bishop of Wadi al-Nasara say that his political positions will not go beyond the low ceiling that Patriarch Hazim set for his positions and that generally he will be content to give fatherly advice to those fighting to love each other a little more, preferring prayer, fasting, chant, and religious books to everything else.

On the website of the Archdiocese of  Argentina, there is a slightly different account of how the statute was modified to allow for the election of Patriarch John. Spanish original, here.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Holy Fathers opened the question of the list of candidates and decided to include in it Metropolitans John (Europe) and Basilios (Akkar) who each have 4 years and 7 months of ministry [as metropolitans], thus making them eligible for the See of Antioch.

 

Met. George Khodr's Two Tears 

From the December 18, 2012 al-Safir. Arabic original here.

As Patriarch John X was elevated upon the throne at Our Lady of Balamand, presiding over the prayers of thanksgiving after his election to the See of Antioch, the "architect" of the Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Georges Khodr, let two tears stream from his eyes.

The first tear was for his life-long friend, Ignatius IV Hazim. Yesterday, Khodr realized that he had departed for good and that he had lost someone very dear, with whom he had worked over the decades to construct an Orthodox revival that produced vibrant institutions like Balamand University and with whom he fought to preserve the unity of the Church and to open her to dialogue with other religions.

The second tear was a tear of joy and confidence in the "right-believing" Church, who entrusted the reins of her authority to one of the pupils who drew from his well and from the well of his life-long friend Ignatius IV, and who grew up on the sound thinking of the Orthodox Fathers.

Georges Khodr seemed satisfied, yesterday, at the election of John Yazigi as patriarch, because with him and through him is ensured the future of the Orthodox Church, from Antioch to all the corners of the earth. He expressed to al-Safir his great longing for Patriarch Hazim and his overwhelming joy for the one who, with his faith and profound spirituality, is able to guide the path of the Orthodox Church to a safe harbor. Khodr states that, "In our canons and our theology, there is no continuation to the program from one patriarch to another. Each patriarch has his own program and his own administrative style, within the one faith."

Fr. Georges Massouh on Christians' Right to Reject Islamic Law (2013)

 Arabic original here. This is from 2013, but extremely pertinent today.


To those who do not want to congratulate Christians on their feasts

In recent days, voices have been raised reminding Muslims of the impermissibility of congratulating Christians on their feasts. We respect the freedom of those who call on their coreligionists to not be attracted toward "infidels" under the guise of congratulating Christians on their infidel feasts. Religions are a private matter for those who belong to them, and we won't give anyone lessons on the soundness or unsoundness of the rulings they make about lifestyle and behavior.

However, if the discourse of these zealots for their faith is to be fair, they must refrain from inundating us, day and night, with talk of Islam's tolerance and openness and they must refrain from citing verses from the Qur'an that talk about respect human diversity and religious differences as being God's way. As they understand it, what is the meaning of the Qur'anic verse "O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct" (Surat al-Hujrat 13)? What is the meaning of the love that the Qur'an commands to Muslims when it says, "Thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians. That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud" (Surat al-Ma'ida 82)?

In reality, Middle Eastern Christians' concern is not for respecting social niceties and the exchange of greetings between Christians and Muslim, but rather that their rights to a life of dignity with their Muslim partners in a civil state and to complete equality between all citizens of the single country be respected.

Muslim-Christian relations cannot be reduced to photo-ops that gather a sheikh or mufti with a patriarch of bishop on religious occasions, but rather they are based on mutual respect within a state in which one religious group does not impose its law on other groups under the pretext that they are a majority and others are a minority.

Even if non-Muslims do not have the right to discuss the propriety of Muslims' congratulating Christians on their feasts, they do have the natural right to refuse the imposition of Islamic law as the primary source for their country's constitution. In a discussion that took place at a panel on Muslim-Christian dialog, one of the Muslims asked me how I, as a non-Muslim, can have the right to object to "the position of non-Muslims in Islamic law" when it is, in his opinion, a purely Islamic matter. I told him that this issue concerns me too, since it talks about me, so how do you have the right to prevent me from rejecting the legal restrictions that you draw up for me? I closed by saying that those who work for the return of Islamic law as the organizing principle for relations between Muslims and non-Muslims are acting according to the logic of the ancient conquests. That is, according to domination based on the absolute sovereignty of a group that is victorious in war over a group that is occupied and not a partner in the nation.

That some of them do not congratulate Christians on their feasts does nothing to diminish Christians' divine joy that is based on the presence of the Master of the feast among them. Christmas, Epiphany, the Transfiguration, the Cross, the Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost... these are occasions for them to rejoice in Christ their Redeemer. "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). We will not beg for the courtesies of this world that are called the exchange of greetings, although we have heartfelt appreciation for those who do not heed the call to cut themselves off and so congratulate the Christians every year according to their custom. However, we will not keep silent from demanding our right to a just state based on citizenship and total equality of rights and responsibilities among individuals within the one nation.

Asad Rustom on the Patriarch Sylvester

Translated from: Asad Rustum, Kanisat Madinat Allah Antakya al-'Uzma [The Church of the Great City of God Antioch], Jounieh: Editions St. Paul (1988), vol. 3, pp. 143-151

While Rustom's account is the most common modern Orthodox treatment of Sylvester's election and career, much research has been done since his wrote it. For the most detailed and up-to-date study of Sylvester, see Mihai Țipău's new book, available free for download here. For Rustom's account of Sylvester's Catholic rival Seraphim/Cyril Tanas, see here.

Sylvester I (1724-1766): Before his death, Athanasius indicated to the Christians in Aleppo to elect as his successor a Cypriot priest called Sylvester, who had first served with him as a deacon and accompanied him on many of his travels to Wallachia, Moldavia and elsewhere, and then left him and enrolled in the clergy of the Church of Constantinople. At that time, Sylvester was living on Mount Athos, practicing asceticism.

Cyril Tanas wrote to the Christians who stood firm in the Orthodox faith to attract them to himself. He also wrote to the bishops of the See of Antioch informing them that he had been installed as their patriarch. He asked them to recognize him, submit to him, and commemorate him, threatening those who resist him with deposition, but the bishops did not respond. Before his letters reached them, they and the laity had written to the Holy Synod of Constantinople, presided over by Patriarch Paisius, informing them about the death of the Patriarch Athanasius and about the activities of Cyril Tanas, the way in which he had been consecrated, and his forcible entry into and occupation of the patriarch's residence in Damascus. They asked the synod for fraternal help on account of its moral influence with the Ottoman state, informing them that they had elected Sylvester as patriarch and that they wished for him to be recalled from Mount Athos and be consecrated as a bishop so that he could occupy the Apostolic See of Antioch. In doing this, the Antiochian Christians aimed to obtain someone who had both experience and moral influence and could come to the Church of Antioch with a berat from the sultan and an injunction that would help him to curb the heretics and defend the Orthodox faith, and so be able to strengthen Orthodoxy, put and end to the quarrel among Antioch's Christians, and work to unify their hearts.

When these letters arrived at the Holy Synod of Constantinople, it wrote to Mount Athos, summoning Sylvester, and elevated him to the episcopacy on September 27, 1724. He was issued with a berat from the sultan and orders for the deposition of Cyril Tanas and the arrest of Abu Tawq, the governor of Damascus who had pledged to request the issue of a berat from the sultan for Cyril. News of Sylvester and the berat and orders that he held spread and Cyril fled, taking with him vestments, miters, crosses, chalices, patens, and all the rest of the holy vessels that Macarius had brought from Russia, and taking refuge in Mount Lebanon, residing in Deir al-Mukhalles.

Kyr Sylvester was a virtuous man who had spent a long time in the sketes of Mount Athos and because of his estrangement from the world, he was simple, light-hearted and docile. At the same time, however, he was strongly attached to tradition. He was unwavering and would not deviate from it.

When he arrived in Aleppo, he was informed of what Seraphim [that is, Cyril Tanas] had done, so he hurried to Damascus and stayed there for two months. The people of the city, including Cyril Tanas' supporters, welcomed him. He then went on pilgrimage and after a year and a half he returned to the region of Aleppo. When he reached Khan Tuman, the Orthodox notables went out to receive him and they prepared for him there an elegant dinner with fish, even though it was Wednesday, in accordance with the permission they had received from the previous patriarch, Athanasius. When Sylvester saw the fish, he kicked over the table, excommunicated the Aleppans, left the notables and went immediately to the patriarchal residence in Aleppo. The Aleppans tried to mollify the patriarch, but he did not pardon them. Instead, he stood up in the church on Sunday and excommunicated anyone who would dare in the future to eat fish on Wednesday or Friday. He did not limit himself to this, but also scorned the elites of Aleppo and complained to the governor about those among them who were partisans of papism and they were placed in jail and not released until they had incurred serious costs. They were angered and sought to imprison the patriarch. Sylvester learned of this from the English consul and secretly fled to Lattakia, from there going by sea to Constantinople.

The Aleppans complained about their situation to the Holy Synod of Constantinople, claiming that Sylvester had beaten priests and handed elites over the the authorities, exposed the people's wealth to fines and confiscation, and threatened people with banishment and execution,"accusing them of being of the religion of the Franks," and stating that they had driven him off and could not accept him in their place. Sylvester himself went to Constantinople and complained, in turn, about the Aleppans. The Holy Synod advised him to be gentle, lenient and to practice persuasion and love, and it send a bishop named Gregory as vicar of Patriarch Sylvester, ordering him to commemorate Sylvester. The Aleppans welcomed him and returned to the Church, morning and evening, not revealing their opinions.

In 1725, the Holy Synod of Constantinople, with the agreement of the Patriarch Sylvester, issued a pastoral encyclical addressed to the Christians of the Churches of Antioch and Jerusalem, urging them to stay away from novel, Western teachings that do not conform to the teachings of the Ecumenical Councils and the Holy Fathers, excommunicating those who disobey.

Gregory remained in Aleppo for two years. Then he grew weary of residing there because it was not his diocese, so he took leave of the Aleppans, said farewell to them and went back to Constantinople. The Aleppans wrote to the Holy Synod of Constantinople about this and requested that their legitimate bishop, Gerasimus, be pardoned and returned to them. The synod agreed and brought him out of exile, after him having been there for five and a half years, commanding him to be on good behavior among them and to commemorate the Patriarch Sylvester. He accepted the command and feigned obedience. When he arrived in Aleppo, the Aleppans received him well and honored him. He pretended to do what the Holy Synod of Constantinople commanded him and he commemorated the Patriarch Sylvester at the liturgy. The Aleppans led the church in both directions, with each having his own opinion. However, the Frankish monks did not cease to extol to them obedience and submission to Rome and to sharpen their intention to do this, indeed, pressing and driving them to do so. Gerasimus kept silent about these activities because he was secretly Catholic while pretending the opposite out of fear of having to go back into exile.

Sylvester in the Lands of the Christians: Upon his arrival in Constantinople, Sylvester worked hard to bring the Aleppans back to obedience and spent large sums on this. When he did not achieve success, he returned to his see, passing through Erzurum collecting alms. He then arrived in Damscus in 1731, spending some time there with peace prevailing. Then the Frankish monks provoked a conflict between the two sides, with both accumulating debts, and the situation deteriorated. When he saw that there was no way to put an end to the evils, he left Damascus on a pastoral tour. He then returned, named a capable and influential layman, Mikhail Touma, as his vicar and headed for Constantinople. After giving a report to the patriarch of Constantinople and his synod, he left for Wallachia and Moldavia in order to collect donations to repay the debts. It is said that his absence lasted for almost ten years, during which time Sylvester established a monastery in Moldavia [in fact, Wallachia] named for Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, which was given as an endowment to the Patriarchate of Antioch.

In 1747, he printed in Arabic in Bucharest a collection of texts composed at the two synods in Constantinople regarding the appearance of Catholicism among the ranks of the Antiochian Christians, one in late 1724 under the Patriarch Jeremiah and the other in 1727, under the Patriarch Paisius. This collection also contained five articles in Arabic giving Orthodox refutations of the five innovations of the Latins. After this was the document The Holy Eastern Church of Christ. In total, it contains seventeen parts. [...].

Cyril and Damascus: As for Cyril Tanas, after he left Damascus and took refuge in Lebanon, he resided in Deir al-Mukhalles, making great efforts to pressure the Orthodox in the coastal dioceses and inciting them to renounce obedience to their canonical leaders. During Sylvester's absence, which lasted a long time, he worked skillfully with some of the people of Aleppo and the Frankish monks to compose petitions from some of the people and to send letters from the consuls of France and Austria in Aleppo and Sidon to their ambassadors in the capital to help him to obtain a berat from the sultan. He spent significant sums to prepare other petitions, in which the Damascenens complained about their patriarch's long absence and explained that they needed a patriarch who could manage their religious affairs, at the same time expressing their satisfaction with Cyril Tanas and requesting him as their patriarch. The French ambassador and the papal nuncio in the capital offered four thousand Roman riyals to the defterdar and obtained the desired berat in 1745, sending it to the French consul in Sidon. Cyril received it and dispatched a representative to Damascus, who was able to gain possession of the church and to arrange for Mikhail Touma and some of the notables to be imprisoned.Then Cyril himself went up to Damascus, sealed his berat at the sharia court and took possession of his see. Dimitri Shehadeh, reporting from his grandmother, the daughter of the priest Mikhail Breik, that upon Cyril's return to Damascus the unrest increased, and whenever he recited the Creed with the addition "and the Son" staffs would appear and the beating would start. Cyril wrote to the metropolitans, informing them of the arrival of the berat and requesting their obedience. The bishops rejected his command and wrote to Ecumenical Patriarch Paisius about the affair of Cyril Tanas, requesting that he quickly write to Sylvester and urge him to hurry back to his see. The patriarch of Constantinople acted quickly and urged Sylvester to hurry. Along with Patriarch Parthenius of Jerusalem and thirteen metropolitans, he sent a petition to the sultan in which they explained the misdeeds of Cyril Tanas, who claimed that he was an Orthodox patriarch while being of the religion of the Franks, and testified that the canonical patriarch was alive and in possession of a berat from the sultan.

Cyril Returns to Deir al-Mukhalles: When the Ottoman government realized the aims of Cyril Tanas and the French and papal ambassadors, it issued Sylvester a second berat and a firman ordering that Cyril Tanas be arrested and sent into exile. Sylvester sent the order from the Sublime Porte informing the government and Christians in Damascus about the issue of the decrees cancelling Cyril's patriarchate and turning the cathedral and patriarchal residence over to the Orthodox. He then appointed Nicophorus, the metropolitan of Bayas, as his vicar, authorized to undertake all legal activities. He sent with him the firman and the papers containing the indicated orders. This vicar went to Damascus one year after these orders were issued and he was finely received by the governor of Damascus, As'ad Basha, who helped him to undertake all measures to strengthen his position.

Sylvester in Damascus (1754-1766): Sylvester spent twelve years in Damascus, during which the quarrels between him and the papists ended, because he realized that the fight was causing enormous material losses for both parties. He was not the sort of person to attract flocks through moral means, such as guidance, preaching, and true Christian love, which eliminates hatred and jealousy and elevates the Church to a level befitting her. Those who took the side of the Catholics in those times had priests who served them in their homes or in the churches of the Latins or other Catholic sects, but their weddings, baptisms and funerals in cities and Orthodox areas were performed by Orthodox priests and the fees for them were paid to the Orthodox authorities.

At the end of his life, Sylvester made holy chrism in the Church of St Nicholas in Damascus with two bishops, seventeen priests and ten deacons. He went to the mercy of his Lord on May 13, 1766 and was buried at the tomb of the patriarchs on the hill of Saint George.

A New Open-Access Book on the Patriarch Sylvester of Antioch

Sylvester of Antioch:

Life and Achievements of an 18th-Century Christian Orthodox Patriarch

by Mihai Țipău

In 1724, Sylvester, a native of the island of Cyprus, was elected Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East. For more than four decades, he endeavored to preserve the legacy of one of the earliest Christian Churches in the Levant. He faced major challenges because of the ever changing balance of power between the Latin Church and its missionaries, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the French and English interests in the Levant, and the central and local Ottoman authorities. In his efforts to provide church books for the Arab Orthodox Christians, Sylvester was helped by rulers of the Romanian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia. He printed a number of books in Jassy and Bucharest and opened an Arabic press in Beirut. Alongside his patriarchal duties, Sylvester was also an accomplished icon painter. His works, in the Post-Byzantine Greek style of the 18th century, are preserved in Syrian and Lebanese churches, as well as elsewhere. Their study reveals just another aspect of his complex activity. The book presents for the first time in English the biography and achievements of Sylvester of Antioch, based on a wide range of contemporary Greek, Arabic and Romanian historical sources.

The book is available free for download here.

Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim): Christ is Here

 Arabic original here.

Christ is Here

The question is, where is Christ? His answer: Christ is in many places you would not think.

Christ is not in our flashiness. Christ is not in worldly glorification.

Christ is not in what people call elevation and sublimity.

He is in the places where no one dreams He would be. He is in the face of the poor, in the face of the sick. He is in the face of the oppressed. Where people flee, there we find Christ.

We search in vain for Him in comfort. He is in toil more than He is in comfort.

We search in vain for Him as being necessarily in knowledge and among the learned. He is in the simple heart.

A learned person who does not know how to simplify his heart and to let his soul be at rest is not learned.

Christ is at doors that the world thinks are closed, but are half-open in a hidden way so that the Savior may enter, as he entered through the locked door.

Therefore, we are called to look around us with all realism.

You cannot imagine that Christ did not come through these people or those people.

You must expect Him in your neighbor. You must expect Christ in every person you pass in the morning, whether, whether or not he is worthy of you saying "good morning" to him.

Christ is a surprise for those who do not await Him, a surprise in every face, a surprise in every eye, a surprise in the little child, a surprise in the grownup man.

We are called, then, to really, inwardly learn to answer, "Where is Christ?"

Christ is not out in the air. Christ is here. In the faces of many of you, Christ is speaking, and in the hearts of many He is dwelling.

Who are those many? I do not know, but He is here.

Christ is in living hearts.

Christ is in living souls.

Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim): Glory in Quality

Arabic original here. For the twelfth anniversary of his repose on December 5, 2012.

Glory in Quality

I believe that we Christians have not understood and have not completely realized that a Christian creates a world that is different from-- indeed, that contradicts-- the world in which everyone lives. The world in which there is God's strength is the basis, and not any other strength in the world. It seems that much of the time we seek to be strong in the world, as though we did not really believe that the cross is strength and that Christ is with us at all times.

I will dare to say that much of the time we are swept away in the world and we betray our Lord and make something other than Him our lord.

Christianity is not an empire. Christianity is not an army or a weapon and it is not glories in the way people understand them. Christianity is profundity, quality, authenticity and purity. Someone who is afraid for his glory to be in his quality and his purity is someone who will have a difficult time being a Christian.
The home, the home, the world begins in the home. In your home, what do you do? The Lord Jesus did not form an army when He came into the world. Rather, He chose a pure group, no more than a dozen people, and through them He spread faith and salvation into he world.  Why doesn't every lady and every father in his humble home make an effort to spread the name of God and the name of the Lord Jesus, and so be points in the world, points that are blessed and holy. The world will not be all holiness. That won't happen. The Bible tells us that on the day of Christ's second coming to judge the living and the dead evil will practically dominate every person. Faith will not be strong in the world. Just the opposite-- it will be weak. So let us be content to work in our homes, in ourselves, in our children, where we can make a house for the Lord.