Presentation of the CD "Great Friday Celebrations", Syriac Catholic Tradition of Quaraquosh, Iraq

The new CD produced by the Syriac Catholic Working Group in the context of the Project of recording an transcription of the Syriac Catholic Tradition of Iraq conducted by the Laus Plena Foundation under the patronage of His Beatitude Youssef III Yunan, Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church, and of H.E. Yohanna Petros Mouche, Bishop of the Syriac Catholic Diocese of Mosul, Erbil and Kirkuk, will be presented in Dohuk and in Ankawa respectively at the Church of St. Peter in Dohuk on 31 March 2017 (7 pm) and at Marsh Mouni in Ankawa on 1 April 2017 (7 pm).The Choir is directed by Poles Gajuo, also author of the accompaniments and of the mixing.

The CD features as soloists Fr Samir Atallah, Fr Petros Sheto, Deacon Namrood Al-Khayat, Deacon Fareed Al-Qastooma, Deacon Naseer Moma, Deacon Esaa Atalla (1^st reading), Deacon Matti Aqlimos (4th reading), Deacon Adnan Qucha (5th reading), Deacon Mubarak Hano (3rd reading), Deacon Yohanna Kacha (2nd reading). The choir is composed of the following members: Alida khano,  Dalya Zarra, Raneen Al-Qastooma, Rita Mekho, Randa Gaggi, Atheer Al Jameel, Qaisar Tamas, Fareed Al-Qastooma, Jameel Yako, all from the Syriac Catholic comunity of Quaraquosh, currently in exile in Ankawa.

GREAT FRIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN THE SYRIAC CATHOLIC TRADITION

According to the "Madadan" Mosul Syriac Catholic tradition of Iraq, three different celebrations are held on Great Friday. The same happens in the curren other two Iraqi Syriac Catholic traditions of Quaraquosh and Barthalla (forming, together with the Mosul tradition, the Syriac Catholic Eastern Tradition).

The first celebration is a Procession with the Cross in the morning of Great Friday. It is also named the Carrying of the Cross, and it is held after the sixth hour. It commemorates the "Via Dolorosa", when Jesus was taken to Golgotha. Traditionally, all icons of the Church have been  veiled with black on the eve of Great Thursday.

The second celebration is the Prostration to the Cross; it is held after the ninth hour. It is a prayer of adoration in front of Jesus suffering on the cross on Golgotha, and at the hour of His death. At the end of this celebration, the celebrants prepare water with vinegar and bitterness, and they bless it with the cross. Flowers are added to it, and it is distributed to the faithful, who will drink it in sign of participation to the sufferings of Christ.

The third celebration is the Burial of the Cross, in the evening of Great Friday. This is when the Good Friday sermon is held. The Cross enveloped in a shroud is carried in procession by the priest and by the deacons, and is solemnly buried under the altar. The faithful then come to kiss the door of the sealed tomb as a sign of reverence and blessing. The seal will be broken, the grave opened and the Cross shown to the faithful, erected again, during the Easter Vigil celebration on Great Saturday night.

Interestingly, historically, in the "Madadan" Syriac Catholic Western Tradition of Sharfeh, Lebanon, only the Prostration to the Cross celebration was held. The celebrations of the Procession with the Cross and the Burial of the Cross were only recently introduced in the Syriac Catholic Western Tradition. They are now celebrated as a parts of the Prostration to the Cross celebration.

It is a very great privilege for the Laus Plena Foundation to support the publication of this new CD, made possible thanks to the hard work of the Syriac Catholic Sacred Music Working Group, in order to document and to allow the further transmission of these beautiful melodies from the Aramaic tradition of the early Apostolic community - thus the oldest tradition of Christianity.

Fr. Armando Pierucci, ofm, President of the Laus Plena Foundation

List of songs CD GREAT FRIDAY CELEBRATIONS
First Celebration – Procession of the Cross
1. He who carried on His shoulder the Cross 2. At the head of the Cross
Second Celebration – Prostration to the Cross
3. On Jordan 4. Proemion – Sedro 5. The potery maker 6. Blessed are you, O Church 7. The first reading from Wisdom (13: 1-3, 14: 3-11) 8. The second reading from Jeremiah (11: 15-20) 9. The third reading from Isaiah (52: 13-15, 53: 1-8) 10. The forth reading from I Peter (2: 19-25) 11. The fifth readings from I Corinthians (1:18-31) 12. Gospel from Matthew, Mark and John 13. Stanzas of the Passion 14. Prayer of Jacob of Serugh 15. They venerate the Cross 16. At the head of the Cross 17. He whom the angels serve
Third Celebration – Burrial of the Cross
18. Proemion – Sedro 19. Reading from Genesis (37: 29-35) 20. I rejoiced when they said to me
 21. Praise of the angels 22. End prayer