www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Religious Riddle

Hello:

Let's see who can crack this riddle:

A man comes up to a clergyman and makes a request: "Bless me rabbi".

The clergyman raises his hands to bless and says:
"I bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"

How is this possible?

Hint: The clergyman is NOT a Jewish Christian.

God bless

Rony

Well, for starters, I'd guess the "rabbi" is not Jewish at all. Is he a priest or bishop of one of the Syriac-speaking churches?

Dave

Dear Rony,

The priests of the Assyrian/Chaldean Churches are referred to as "Rabbi."

(What's the prize for winning this? )

Alex

You should post this on a "Roman" board!

I'm sure they would get a kick out of it!

Dear Mike,

I thought this was a "Roman" board . . .

Alex Roman

Alex,

I think we may be overdue for having you involved in a spicy bit of ecclesiastical controversy here at the Forum... wouldn't want to have our favorite Roman "bored!"



a pilgrim (...the other Alex!)

...sorry, my friend... I just can't resist a good pun (or, obviously, a bad one, for that matter!)

Well Alex,

That must be why this board has such 'universal' appeal

Even perhaps 'beyond the mountains'!

Dear Mike,

That truly is "ultra-mundane!"

Alex

Dave in his question, and then Alex more directly and confidently, cracked the riddle. In the Assyrian/Chaldean Churches aka East Syrian Churches, a priest is referred to as "rabbi" (pronounced ra-bee) when addressed in Aramaic. When addressed in Arabic, the word "Abuna" or "our father" is used, and when addressed in English, the word "Father" is used. Only in Aramaic, is "rabbi" used.

Sorry Alex, no prize for this one , just the sheer joy of cracking a riddle . I think this was too easy considering that this is a an Eastern forum. Maybe I should follow Coalesco's advice and put it in a Roman board, that is, Roman Catholic aka Latin Catholic aka Western Catholic, and no Alex you do not qualify as one of those despite your last name

God bless,

Rony

Rony should realize that all of us who are of the Byzantine persuasion most definitely DO qualify as "Romans" - we are, after all, the authentic Church of New Rome, the long-standing capital city of the Roman Empire. And if Rony thinks I'm joking, let him ask any of his friends who speak Arabic.
Romaically yours,
Incognitus

Dear Incognitus:

I have read that some Arabic speaking Melkites call themselves "Rum Katoleek" and Arabic speaking Orthodox call themselves "Rum Ortodox". This designation, however, depends on wether or not Constantinople can legitimately be called "New Rome" in accordance with, if I'm not mistaken, Canon 28 of Chalcedon.

The Pope never accepted this Canon and so the Catholic Church is not bound by it. I can understand why the Orthodox would use it to refer to themselves, but I don't understand why Byzantine Catholics would?

Do Byzantine Catholics really and legitimately accept Constantinople as the "New Rome"? Do you further know if Russian Catholics legitimately accept Moscow as the "Third Rome"?

For me, there is only one Rome, the martyrdom site of Sts. Peter and Paul.

By the way, I've also read that traditionally, the Syriac speaking Christians have referred to the Latins and Byzantines as Western Christians. Now officially among Syriac speaking Catholics, only the Latins are Western Catholics. The Byzantines are put together with us into a category of Eastern Catholic Churches.

God bless,

Rony

Rony,

Not long ago, I was speaking with a Maronite Catholic at a hafli held in the hall of our Cathedral. He was from out-of-town and also a relatively recent immigrant from the Middle East (Lebanon or Syria, can't remember which) who was lured to attend by the reputation of the band and singer who were featured. He pointed to our Cathedral and asked me of which Church it was; not until I described us as "Roum Catolique" was he able to discern who we were. I have had this same experience previously with Maronite and Syrian Orthodox immigrants from Jordan and Syria respectively.

Many years,

Neil