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St. John of Damascus Faculty of Theology - University of Balamand |
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PROGRAM - English (below) - Arabic (pdf) |
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Friday - Dec. 1, 2000 |
5:00 PM |
+ Great Vespers of the Feast | |
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6:00 PM |
+ Fourth Byzantine Musical Festival | ||
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8:00 PM |
+ Opening of the Book Exhibition (will last until 10/12/2000) | ||
| Saturday - Dec. 2, 2000 |
8:00 AM |
+ Orthros and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy | |
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6:00 PM |
+ Great Vespers | ||
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7:00 PM |
+ Public Lecture about Religious Dialogue presented by the world renown scholar, Dr. Adel Theodore Khoury | ||
The Feast of St. John the Damascene at Balamand (2000)
"The Spirit of St. John of Damascus is moving in Balamand"
With these words, His Eminence Metropolitan Kurban concluded the Fifth Byzantine Music Annual Festival, which was held in the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand in the occasion of the feast of St. John the Damascene. The celebrations began with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in the presence of their Eminences Metropolitan Elias (Kurban) of Tripoli, Paul (Bendali) of Akkar, George (Abou Zakhem) of Homs, and His Grace Bishop Basil of Tartous & Safita, along with His Eminence Paul, Metropolitan of Aleppo and Dean of St. John of Damascus
Institute of Theology.
Three choirs participated in the Music Festival: the choirs of the Archdioceses of Lattakia (Syria), Tripoli (Lebanon), and Mount Lebanon. The latter is composed of more than fifty chanters! The theme of the choir festival for this year was the hymns of the Divine Liturgy, the cherubikon and the anaphora. For one-and-half hours, the hymns echoing in the historic Balamand Monastery elevated to Heaven the faithful packed in the Concert Hall. One faithful
commented, "We heard choirs of angels praising God"
For many years now, the Church of Antioch has been undergoing a revival in Byzantine Liturgical Music. As a result, many Byzantine choirs are slowly replacing the function of the single chanter during the Divine Liturgy.
After the Choir Festival, everyone moved to the Book Exhibition. This year, hundreds of theological and literary new books in Arabic, French and English are exposed. One can notice the rich variety of Arabic theological books that did not exist thirty years ago. This is another sign of revival in the church. In addition to books, there are church items, litrugical vestments, CDs, Audio and Video Tapes, and icons on display. The Exhibition will last until next Sunday, December 10, 2000.
The celebrations were held under the High Patronage of His Beatitude Patriarch IGNATIUS IV whose prophetic vision is leading Antioch to newness and glory. "Behold, I make everything new"
May God grant His Beatitude Many Years.
Balamand Monastery
1/12/2000
