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GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND EXPLANATION

The Ancient Sources

First of all, we must look back at the liturgical sources of the Antiochene Church of which the Syriac Maronite Church is a part.

From the time of the Apostles, Antioch has been an important Christian center. There the Christian Good News originated, and from there it spread by sea and land, to the seashores and the mountain tops.

After the Byzantine rule, Antioch was connected to the city of Jerusalem and to the liturgical movement which flourished around the two churches of the Nativity and the Resurrection.

With the erection of the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, the rites of the Church of Jerusalem became the focus of attention for pilgrims, as well as the source of liturgical blossoming throughout the whole East.

When the Maronites emerged as a Christian Syriac Antiochene community, during the fifth century and later, the Antiochene rites were under the influence of those of Jeru