The Harp (Volume 21): Festschrift: Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Thelly 9781463233105

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The Harp (Volume 21)

The Harp (Volume 21)

Volume 21

Edited by

Geevarghese Panicker Jakob Thekeparampil Abraham Kalakudi

1 gorgias press 2011

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright© 2011 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in 2006 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2011

1

ISBN 978-1-61143-656-3 Reprinted from the 2006 Kottayam edition.

Printed in the United States of America

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Thelly

Contents Editorial 1 Fr. Emmanuel Thelly C M I - Thomas Koonammakkal 1 Translation, Genre and Lexicography - Terry C. Falla 55 Der Mönch als die die Wüste liebende Turteltaube -Martin Tamcke 61 The Indian Inheritance in the Syrian Church of India -Joseph Thadathil 73 Theodosios of Alexandria and some theological trends of his time (535-566) -Dietmar W. Winkler 91 The Role of Angels in the West Syrian Liturgy -Geevarghese Panicker 103 Liturgical Spirituality of the Thomas Christians - Varghese Pathikulangara 135 Part of Mary in the Work of Redemption according to Chaldean Breviary. - Clerus 165 The Oriental Churches in India twenty years after the second Vatican Council - Mar Thoma Yogam 173 The Origins of the qanona 'Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal' according to Gabriel - Sebastian P. Brock

of Qatar (early 7th century)

187 The Ruhanutha of the Indian Church - Kuriakose Elias Vadaketh 209 Theodoret of Cyr and Prophetical Inspiration - Robert Matheus

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217 Corrections made in the Chaldean Breviary - Charles Payngot

239 Eucharist in the Syriac Acts of Judas Thomas - Baby Varghese

251 Eucharistie life in the Syriac tradition - Thomas Kollamparampil

263 Qnay-Thoma and Kaldaya Qurbana - George Appasserry

323 Cultural Identity Crisis of Thomas Christians - K.S. Kurian

337 Syriac Dialogue-6 - Geevarghese Chediath

343 Prayers in between the "Marmyata" - Abraham Kalakudi

355 The Misnomer 'Christian' -Mathew

Uppani

361 Theological Analysis of the period of Annunciation in the East and West Syrian Tradition - John Moolan 383 The Ministries of Karoya and Heupadiakna - Thomas Mannooramparampil

407 Der Beiname Jakobs von Edessa - Jürgen Tubach

431 The Saints in the Syro-Malankara Catholic Liturgy -Jacob Thekeparampil

447 St. Ephraem, Bar Daysän and the Clash of Madräshe in Aram -Sidney H. Griffith

473 Book Review 475 Publications of SEERI

Editorial St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI) is totally dedicated to the promotion of Syriac studies. It is genuinely ecumenical and seeks to bring together the various Churches in India, which share a common Syriac patrimony. We are fortunate that our efforts in this field are quite successful. It is only natural that SEERI feels indebted to and most thankful to the most eminent scholars of Syriac everywhere. It is our good future that many among these are our friends and collaborators. Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Thelly CMI can rightly be called an Indian counterpart of Dr. Sebastian Brock as regards expertise and scholarship in Syriac. SEERI has benefitted much from his good will and generous cooperation. This Festschrift of the Harp to honour him is a humble token of SEERI's appreciation and admiration for him. The article by Rev. Dr. Thomas Koonammakkal graphically introduces him to our readers. All the articles in the number on various topics are contributions by eminent scholars and authors. We trust that the readers of the Harp will find every one of them interesting and fruitful.

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Thomas Koonammakkal

FR. E M M A N U E L THELLY CMI Emmanuel is only his monastic name. He was baptized as George at the ancient Church of St. Mary's, Poonjar. George the fifth son his noble parents Chacko (Kunjacko) and Elizabeth (Aleymmma, who was from the family Kappil and the sister of famous Cheriyan Kappan), was born in Poonjar on the 5lh of February 1925. lie grew up along with his four brothers and three sisters. Both from paternal and maternal families he inherited the glorious St. Thomas Christian faith and prestigious traditions. George, an exceptionally brilliant boy, had his primary education in St. Antony's primary school at Poonjar. Middle School and High School he had in S.M.V.English High School, Poonjar (Panachikappara) where the famous Malayalam poet Palai Narayanan Nair was his beloved teacher. The poetical talents of George were detected in those tender years by his illustrious teacher who encouraged him to write. He started composing poems while studying in the Upper Primary School. After completing the Fifth Form he joined the Aspirants' House (Minor Seminary) at Mannanam and completed his E.S.L.C. from St. Ephrem's High School (1942-43). His two years in Mannanam initiated him into Syriac. Latin and World History. Ever since 1943 he developed a special love for Syriac language and Syriac literature. In 1945 he had his one-year Novitiate in Ampazhakad where he started juniorate and mastered Syriac and Latin. Then he continued Vol. XXI20061

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his juniorate and studied Philosophy and Rhetoric in Koonammav, where he made his final profession. His final year of Philosophy in Chethipuzha was followed by four years of Theology there where the saintly scholar Placid J. Podipara was his Professor in Oriental Theology, Canon Law and Scripture. Later he studied Scripture under Prof. Canisius. He was ordained on the 8th of December in 1953, at the Mangalappuzha Seminary, by Cardinal Eugene Tisserant, Prefect of the Sacred Oriental Congregation and the Dean of the College of Cardinals who was then visiting the Mar Thoma Nazranis of India. Fr. Emmanuel continued his theological studies at Chethipuzha for one more year. During the years 1954-1964 he taught Syriac at Mannanam Seminary. In 1961 he revised the Syro-Chaldaic Grammar. He compiled the Syriac text in Prose and Poetry for the Kerala, Calicut and Mahatma Gandhi Universities. It is not surprising that even after half-a-century, none of these Universities has ever dared to revise the Syriac texts compiled by him! He served also as Deputy Warden, Librarian and Audio-Visual Instructor to B. Ed College, Mannanam. From 1964 to 1967 he served at the Catholic Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary at Baghdad, he returned in 1967 and started teaching Syriac at K.E. College, Mannanam. But soon he had to go to teach at Mutholy because the Syriac teacher Fr. Jerome passed away. After an year of Syriac teaching, he was transferred to teach in the St. Joseph's College Devagiri, Calicut University and the Minor Seminary at Merikkunnu. In 1969 he was at Koodathai monastery wherefrom he taught at Clarist Juniorate in Wenappara. He was a member of the Board of Studies in Syriac of the M.G. University and a Board Member of SEERI, Kottayam. For nearly two decades he worked as a member of the Syro-Malabar Liturgical SubCommittee for the Breviary (translating the Syriac texts with Dr. Charles Payngot and got three volumes (for the Sundays and Ordinary days) published for the Syro-Malabar Bishop's Conference. In the same capacity he has also translated and published the liturgical prayers for the Feast Days in many volumes. His silent and unassuming work i'or the Syro-Malabar Liturgical restoration and Ike Harp

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renewal during the past four decades is in itself a great service and achievement. At present in this area no single person will be able to substitute him who composes poetry in three languages closely following Syriac and Malayalam tunes. Syro-Malabar Church and students of Malayalam will be ever grateful to him for translating not only the Syriac liturgical texts but also extending Malayalam poetry in Syriac melody and thereby serving comparative literature and music. He was involved in pastoral work wherever he was; for six months in Kurianad he was fully a pastor. His pastoral work lasted for nearly 4 years in Poonjar (1970-74), 11 years in Amanakara (1974-84), another 4 months in Poonjar, 6 years in Palai (1984-89). At Amanakara he was the Principal of the I.T.C. for three and a half years. From 1989 to 1994 he served as Assistant Pastor in Brooklyn, New York. Then his pastoral field was again Palai (19942000) and Amanakara (2000-03) for 9 years during which he published the Syriac-English-Malayalam Lexicon, the fruit of 12 years of hard work. In 2001 and 2002 he served the Syro-Malabar Church in Doha for many months. He served in the Minor Seminary of Mananthoddy eparchy for six months. Then he was at Kappad in 2003-2004. At present he is involved in the translation of Psalms from Peshitta, as requested by the Syro-Malabar Liturgical Commission. From 28lh May 2004 he is at Poonjar, as usual, involved in intellectual work whether it is teaching, translation, correction, poetical or prose compositions, seminars and conferences in the field of Liturgy and Syriac. There is nobody else in India at present who can compose poems in Malayalam, Syriac and English at the same time! According to Prof. Sebastian Brock, after Bar Hebraeus it is only Fr. Emmanuel Thelly who dared to compose Syriac Grammar in poetry! Indeed a worthy tribute from the greatest Syriac scholar of our days. Fr. Emmanuel Thelly while serving in America repeatedly got the following Awards and Merit Certificates in English poetry: Poetry gram Competition March 22,1990, Poetry gram Competition August 31, 1990, Poetrygram Competition January 17, 1991, Poetry gram Competition March 31, 1991. In the World of Poetry Vol. XX! 2006:

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Competition he became Golden Poet 1990. Golden Poetry gram September 20, 1991 and Golden Poet 1991. It is a pity that many of his published English poems are not collected into a single volume; not to say about the unpublished poems (some of which I had the fortune to read and at times to make copies!). His sharp criticism of hypocrisy and power-mongery in socio-political, cultural and religious areas cut through the soul; his keen observation of the world around him coupled with his natural poetic talents produce a downpour with thunder and lightning. A sense of humour, deep-rooted Christian convictions and spiritual values run through his poetical world. Bibliography A comprehensive bibliography is impossible for the following reasons: (a). Early publications are forgotten by the author and untraceable without a proper research. (b). Most of the letters (in Malayalam and English poems) addressed to his correspondents are not available, as some are destroyed while others are kept in private hands as manuscripts. (c). Most of the liturgical compositions (in texts of Qurbana, Sacraments, Breviary etc) published without the name of the author and often edited by others. (d). There are many unpublished works (including many poems in English, Malayalam and Syriac). One of the major unpublished works is the English translation of East Syrian Breviary. The Syro-Malabar Synod asked him to make such a translation from Syriac text. So far he has finished the Common Prayers, Prayers for the Seasons of Subaru, Shliha, Qayta, EHyah Sliva-Music, Qudash Edta and Denha). The first three of the following are included in the Syllabus of Kerala, Calicut and Mahatma Gandhi Universities; they are published from Mannanam and reprinted many times as text books of these three Universities. The Harp

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(1). Syro-Chaldaic Grammar (Mannanam 1961; many reprints). (2). Collection of Syriae Gems: Poetry (Mannanam). (3). Collection of Syriac Gems: Prose (Mannanam). (4). The Gist of Syriac Grammar: "The Harp" Vol. 18 (2005), pp 153-157. (5). The Syriac-English-Malayalam Lexicon (Kottayam 1999) (6). An Introduction to Syriac Studies (Nazrani Dayra). (7). Suriyani Bhashapatcinascimgraham (Manganam 1997), pp 1-8 (Syriac Grammar in Poetry). (8). Whisperings of the Wind: Part One: Through the Gospel Parables (Poonjar 1966), pp.1-16 (Poems in English). (9). Whisperings of the Wind(Kottayam 2002), 54 poems in English. (10). Abbot Installation (2004). (11). Installation of an Abbot (2004) (a different version). (12). "Macomber Text and Ernakulam haste", The Church I Love: A Tribute to Rev. Placid J. Podipara, ed. J. Madey, G. Kaniarakath (Kottayam 1983). (13). "A New Approach to Teaching Syriac", The Harp. (14). "Catechism of Dr. Joseph Kariatti", The Harp 2 (1989) pp 45-47. (15). Muthumala (Kottayam 1985), pp 1-41 (32 poems in Malayalam. (16). "Dr. Panicker", The Harp 16 (2002), p. 19 (17). "Syriac Manuscripts in the Mannanam Library", paper read at the Symposium Syriacum, Sydney, The Journal of Easter Christian Studies 56 (2004) pp 257-270. (18). Navajeevan (Resurrection of Lazarus: John 11) (Kottayam I9S5),pp.i-vii+ 1-13 (Malayalam poetry). Vol. XXI2006

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(19). Biblegciyakcin (Kottayam 1985), pp. i-viii +1-51 (Malayalam poems; 20 on NT texts, 4 psalms and 6 on liturgical themes). This is an important contribution to Christian theological poetry in Malayalam; throughout we find the use of Syriac melodies in these Malayalam poems. (20). Sangithajapamalayum Slivappathayum pp. 1-16 (Rosary and Way of the Cross in poems).

(Kottayam),

(21). "Translation of the Syriac Prayers (from Bedjan) of the Feast of St. Simon Bar Samb'e", The Harp Vol. 17 (2004), pp 49-62. (22). Mamodisakramam (23). Adukkalakkari (Malayalam poem)

(in two versions, both unpublished). (Kottayam 1987), pp i-xi + 1-25

(24). Kalathinte Kalpadukal (Kottayam 1989), pp 1-46 (28 poems in Malayalam, on various topics). (25) "Syro-Malabar Breviary", Dukrana (26). "Indian/One Rite?", Kudumbadeepam.

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Terry Falla

TRANSLATION, GENRE, AND LEXICOGRAPHY: A Study of the Syriac Versions of the New Testament Poetics: the aesthetic and creative linguistic use of the spoken or written medium1 A sentence uttered makes a world

appear

W. H. Auden Fr. Emmanuel Thelly's Syriac-English-Malayalam Lexicon (1999) is a great gift to the churches of Kerala that inherit and treasure the Syriac liturgical tradition and language. For these churches, this tri-lingual lexicon provides a wonderful resource for the reading and study of Syriac literature. But it is also an invaluable contribution to the international community of Syriac scholarship. Unlike other major Syriac lexicons, Thelly's work utilizes Thoma Audo's Syriac-Syriac lexicon. 2 "This means," as Sebastian Brock observes in his acknowledgement at the front of the lexicon (p. V), "that the user. 1

David Crystal, ed., A Dictionary of Linguistics & Phonetics (5th ed.; Maiden, MA; Oxford; Carlton South, Melbourne; Berlin: Blackwell;, 2003), 358.

2

Audo,

Thoma,

^ W i

rd^aai!^

K-itczuiB (Mosul: 1897; reprinted 1978, 1979, 1985); Oddo, Touma, Assyrian Dictionary, reprinted from the original by Assyrian Language and Culture Classes Incorporated (Chicago: Ann Arbor: 1978), by émigré Syriac communities in Europe (Stockholm: 1979), and by the Monastery of St Ephrem (Enschede, Holland: 1985). Vol. XXI2006

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Terry Falla

. . will find here many words which are entirely absent from other standard dictionaries of Syriac." This feature alone, plus the fact that Thelly has translated all lexemes into English as well as Malayalam, makes his work unique. W, H. Auden once said that a poem is never finished, it is only abandoned. We can say the same for the lexica we create, for a lexicon, no matter how thorough it is, is but one stage on a journey that has no end this side of history. But because of its uniqueness, the work Thelly has given us will remain a foundation stone for future Syriac lexicography for a very long time. As a fellow lexicographer and friend, I can only admire the effort and research that Fr. Thelly has devoted to this formidable undertaking. I can identify with his fascination with words and the insights that flow from their lexical study, which must have fed his soul through the long years of preparation. I o f f e r him this contr but ion in honour of his scholarship and a completed task that is now ours to enjoy. 1. Translation and Classical Syriac Lexicography In Classical Syriac, the lexicographer can never escape the reality that translations are a part of the corpus of literature to be studied and lexicalized as much as writings originally penned in Syriac. The Syriac translations of the Old and New Testaments are an obvious example. They are an integral part of the Syriac tradition and indispensable sources for any comprehensive Classical Syriac lexicon. For the lexicographer, translations are also significant ¡for another reason. Often they provide valuable and sometimes unique insights into linguistic, semantic, syntactic, and literary phenomena that can be gained only from a comparative analysis of source and target texts. But, inevitably, a writing that has been rendered from another language faces the lexicographer with challenges that need acknowledging and problems that require resolution. Debate, for instance, has often centred on whether it is the source or target text that should exert the greater influence on the lexicographer. But to ignore one aspect at the expense of the other would often result in a prejudiced conclusion. Both lexically and tcxt-critically there is good reason lo begin with the target text. It is a means of appraising literary. The Harp

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semantic, and linguistic subtleties without the potentially blinding influence of the text that underlies it. But the point is quickly reached where the analysis of the meaning of a word, the syntax of a clause, or the study of a translator's technique calls for a consideration of the source text. The Syriac versicle 3 which is the primary focus of this essay is a good example of what would be lost if a consideration of either the target text or the source text were not subjected to detailed scrutiny, and what can be gained by acknowledging both. It also exemplifies the need for a sound methodology for the citation of source-text correspondences in lexica that include them, and illustrates aspects of the lexicographical task that do not require representation in the average lexical entry and may therefore remain hidden from the lexicon user's view. 2. Hi? Poetics, Syntax, a,id Semantics of the Peshitta Text of 2 Tim 2:11-13 In essence, the analyses undertaken in this essay necessitate a threefold task. The first two are independent examinations of the target and source texts. The third is a comparison of the Syriac with the Greek, and where applicable of the Peshitta4 with the two extant versions of the Old Syriac. 5 Only by following these three methodological paths is it possible first of all to map out fully the contours and nuanced minutiae of the forms, contents and functions 3 4

5

I use the term versicle with the diminutive meaning of "little verse." The editions employed for the Peshitta are: Philip E. Pusey, and George H. Gwilliam. Tetraeuangelium Sanctum juxta simplicem Syrorum versionem ad fidem codicum, Massorae, editionum denuo recognitum (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901), and The New Testament in Syriac (London, British and Foreign Bible Society, 1905-20; reprinted 1950). The texts employed for the Old Syriac are: Agnes Smith Lewis, The Old Syriac Gospel, or Evangelion da-Mepharreshe; being the text of the Sinai or Syro-Antiochian Palimpsest, including the latest additions and emendations, with the variants of the Curetonian text.:. (London: Williams and Norgate: 1910), and F. Crawford Burkitt, Evangelion da-Mepharreshe; the Curetonian Version of the Four Gospels, with the Readings of the Sinai Palimpsest . . ., vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1904).

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of the Peshitta and Old Syriac texts as translations, and secondly to trace from textual destination to source and source to textual-cumcultural destination, the nature, character and purpose of these texts' adherences to and departures from the Greek Vorlage or Vorlagen that so obviously inspired them. 2.1. Literary Analysis Set out in versified form, the Peshitta Syriac text of 2 Timothy 2:llb-13reads: p

OCsOi. OOOX yjy^o f V ^ y? • otviv ^ . i oot 3? '.oa ^ yi |i r t 4 r i r .|aa*» oti.oivi.oo 001 -.oo ,ja»ou v|| ^ \ * vi U -OuLaln jaaaJ} If the only form in which we knew these well known lines were Syriac, or to press the hypothetical further* if the only form in which they had survived were the Syriac as we have it in the Peshitta Version, we would have good reason to suppose that we were reading, not simply an acknowledged saying but a finely sculptured poetic one. Even though these lines are set in the context of a letter, we would find it stretching credibility to conclude that they are no more than an alliterative and assonantal example of artistic prose. We might assume with gome confidence that, at the very least, we have before us a poetic fragment, from a liturgy perhaps, or a verse complete in itself in a prose-letter setting. This assumption is supported by both the external framing and the internal poetic elements of this versicle. First there is the highly symmetrical structure of the collocation of sounds created by the initial elements of lines •7»two to six: en v? .¡o The Harp

wen Vol. XXI2006:

Translation, Genre, and Lexicography J en

V v?o

wen

? d

The position of r? at the centre of the symmetry that frames the verse is as significant as the twofold ^o: } en

V Jo ^

wen