Arab Christians...?

Question

I am an Arab Christian (convert from the Orthodox tradition, to Catholicism...) anyhow, I have experienced mass in Arabic, English, French and Italian and have found that Arabic is the most beautiful language to celebrate mass, and for chants etc... It feels so sophisticated especially because we use Literal Arabic and not Amiyah... (Latin is more beautiful of coarse especially in hymns and chants... But I'm comparing languages that are currently used)... Even in my previous church, the Orthodox Curch, I felt that Arabic is much more beautiful than Russian or Greek…What do you think... Do you agree...

Also, have you ever experienced Tarateel al Alam... (The hymns of Lent) in Arabic- by Lady Fayrouz... My God they are the most beautiful things ever... So sad, so powerful, so great... For most people here who do not speak Arabic, or who have never heard these, I would like to share them with you. Please email me, and I can send you the links.. You will be captured instantly, by the so

How is that an answer Sarah?

Answer 1

I went to many services of the Great Lent at the local Diocesan Cathedral for the Antiochian Orthodox Church here in Los Angeles (St. Nicholas) several years back (before I was a Priest, actually). The chants were indeed haunting and beautiful. I kept thinking just how close the Arabic language is to the Aramaic that Our Lord spoke. A very powerful experience.

Answer 2

Yes, believe it or not, there are a number of Arabic Christians out there. The Mass, no matter what language it is in, is beautiful. The message is always the same. God speaks in many languages but only one voice.

Answer 3

Indeed Tarateel al Alam is so spiritual and uplifting,we in the West had our own beautiful and colorful language for Holy Mas which was Latin, and this too was vastly more sacred than the venacular.

Answer 4

BETHLEHEM -- The death threat came on simple white fliers blowing down the streets at dawn. A group calling itself "Friends of Muhammad" accused a local Palestinian Christian of selling mobile phones carrying offensive sketches of the Muslim prophet.

The message went on to curse all Arab Christians and Pope Benedict XVI, still struggling to calm Muslim outrage from his remarks on Islam.

While neighbours defended the merchant -- saying the charges in the flier were bogus -- the frightened phone dealer went into hiding, feeling less than satisfied with authorities' conclusion that the Oct. 19 note was probably a harmless rant.

Now the dealer is thinking of going abroad.

Call it part of a modern exodus, the steady flight of the tiny Palestinian Christian minority that could lead, some predict, to the faith being virtually extinct in its birthplace within several generations -- a trend mirrored in many dwindling pockets of Christianity across the Islamic world.

Answer 5

Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Answer 6

I am of Middle Eastern heritage. I have been told Arabic is the only pure language left in the world. I would love to learn it.
I'm envious of what you've experienced, my friend.

Answer 7

I am not a Christian but I can read Arabic, and I agree with you that it is a beautiful language.