WHO ARE THE MARIAMITE BYZANTINE FATHERS, SOCIETY OF MARY, KNOWN AS THE MARIANISTS?
The term “MARIAMITE” refers to the brothers and priests who are members of The Mariamite Byzantine Fathers, Society of Mary. The word Mariamite comes from the Hebrew Miryam (מרים), which became Maryam (ܡܪܝܡ) or Mariam in Aramaic, the language Jesus and his mother spoke. In English its May.
WHAT DOES THE BYZANTINE MARIAMITES DO? The Mariamite brothers and priests serve God’s people in a variety of ways. Many are educators, others serve parishes and missions, or in professions careers in societies.
WHAT MAKES THE BYZANTIN MARIAMITES DIFFERENT FROM OTHER RELIGIOUS ORDERS?
The Byzantine Mariamite Fathers are distinguished by the unique charism. A charism is a gift given by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of God’s people. We are being called by God, formed by the Ever Virgin Mary and sent on the mission of Christ to embody the Good News in one’s time and place. Our mission underlines community, inclusivity, faith, and service to the needy. Members of our religious order seek to continue the Blessed Mother’s mission of bringing Christ to the world.
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
We describe ourselves as spiritual people who believe in a loving God living and acting through service and prayer. We as Byzantine Mariamite Fathers, we turn to Mary, the Theotokos as a model for Christian living. She lived a life free from sin and in service to God. This is the life we aspire to live.
HOW ARE YOU GOVERNED?
Our governing structure follows the Eastern Byzantine Churches governing structure of religious orders. We are headed by a Superior General.
WHAT VOWS YOU TAKE?
Members of our Religious Order take the following vows: poverty, chastity and obedience.
HOW DO YOU SUPPORT YOURSELF AND YOUR MISSIONARY WORK?
As Saint Paul supported himself by making tents, to support his ministry of witnessing to Christ (Acts 18:1–4), so we as members of the BSM, we support ourselves and the Society by working secular jobs. We do not ask for any donations or support.
WHERE DO YOU WORK?
We work wherever we are needed. We worked in: Kerala- India, Myanmar-Yangon, Beirut-Lebanon, Juba- South Sudan, Kampala-Uganda, Cairo-Egypt, Belgrade- Serbia, Manila-Philippines, USA and United Kingdom.
WHAT IS YOUR GUIDE TO WORK?
We take Saint Pope John Paul II, Vita Consecrata as our guide to our work: “The quest for divine beauty impels consecrated persons to care for the deformed image of God on the faces of their brothers and sisters, faces disfigured by hunger, faces disillusioned by political promises, faces humiliated by seeing their culture despised, faces frightened by constant and indiscriminate violence and drugs, humiliated faces of abused women, and tired faces of migrants who are not given a warm welcome.”
WHERE DO YOU STAND WITH RESPECT TO CANON LAW?
Our guide in matters related to Canon Law is the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (Coodex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium) known as 1990 Code of Canons of Oriental Churches is our guide in matters related to Canon Law. We also use the canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church that consists of the ecclesiastical regulations recognised by the authorities of the Eastern Orthodox Church, together with the discipline, study, and practice of Eastern Orthodox jurisprudence.
WHAT IS THE AUTHORITY STRUCTURE OF THE MARIAMITE BYZANTINE FATHERS, SOCIETY OF MARY?
Our authority structure comes from the General Superior and the General Council.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE POPE?
Yes, we recognize the Pope as the Patriarch of the West and the First among equals, his Brothers the Eastern Patriarchs. He is commemorated in our liturgical services.
HOW MANY MYSTERIES (SACRAMENTS) YOU HAVE?
In the Christian East the "Sacraments" are called "Mysteries". This is because they vessels of mystical participation in Divine Grace. Saint John Chrysostom taught that we call them mysteries because what we believe is not fully shown in what we see.
The Latin "sacramentum" means "to consecrate" and comes from the Greek "mysterion".
The Holy Mysteries are as follows:
+ Baptism
+ Chrismation
+ Eucharist
+ Confession
+ Anointing
+ Marriage
+ Ordination
The first three Mysteries are administered together, typically to infants but also to adults when joining Christ's Church. The Mystery of Anointing is administered not just to the dying, but to anyone in need of healing (James 5:14-15). It is also offered in parishes on Holy Wednesday to everyone who seeks it, as a preparation for the remembrance of the Cross and Resurrection. liturgical services and hymns that honour their contributions to the Church
WHAT IS YOUR DIVINE LITURGY?
The Divine Liturgy is the central experience of Faith in the Christian Eastern tradition. Through it, we participate in the supernatural life, receive inspiration for our spiritual lives, and are catechized in a profound and foundational way. Simply meditating on the prayers of the Divine Liturgy totally immerses one in the mysteries of salvation and the teaching of the Church. The Liturgy connects the whole Church - Her past, present, and future, uniting us with all the saints and angels, as well as the believers from all times (the Pilgrim Church, Suffering Church, and Glorified Church).
The Divine Liturgy is composed of three main parts: The Prothesis (or proskomedia), the service preparing the holy gifts The Liturgy of the Catechumens, or the Liturgy of the Word the Liturgy of the Faithful, or Liturgy of the Eucharist. We have three liturgies that are used throughout the year: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, celebrated on most Sundays throughout the year and most weekdays. The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil celebrated only ten times during the liturgical year, most notably on the first five Sundays of Lent and Christmas Eve. The Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory the Dialogist, also known as the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, celebrated during the weekdays of Lent especially on Wednesdays and Fridays.
WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING ON THE VIRGIN MARY?
The Virgin Mary, the Theotokos (in Greek word that means “God-bearer or Birth-giver to God”, the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God. She conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is our belief and tradition that the holy Virgin was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Christ. Our devotion to the Virgin Mary the Theotokos is not merely a matter of popular piety. It is also an expression of the central teaching of the Catholic Church, the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ. Mary to us represents the submission of humanity to the will of God.
WHAT IS THE TRANSLATING THE WORD THEOTOKOS?
While some languages used by various Eastern Byzantine Churches often have a single native word for Theotokos, it gets translated into English in several ways. The most common is Mother of God, though God-bearer and Birth-giver to God are also common. There are difficulties with all these translations, however. The most literally correct one is Birth-giver to God, though God-bearer comes close.
I READ IN THE EASTERN BYZANTINE CHURCH; THERE IS WEEKLY CHURCH CYCLE. WHAT ARE THEY?
Each day of the week has its own commemoration: 1) Sunday - Resurrection of Christ 2) Monday - The Holy Angels 3) Tuesday - St. John the Forerunner 4) Wednesday - The Cross and the Theotokos 5) Thursday - The Holy Apostles and St. Nicholas 6) Friday - The Cross 7) Saturday - All Saints and the departed.
WHAT ABOUT ADVENT?
The Byzantine Liturgical year does not use the Roman Catholic structure and terminology for cretin seasons. In the Byzantine Eastern Rite, Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Churches tradition, the season prior to Christmas, known in the Latin Church as Advent, is called in the Eastern Rite Byzantine tradition the Nativity Fast.
YOU TALK ABOUT THE CHURCH AS UNITY IN THE TRUTH AND LOVE OF GOD. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?
We believe that the life of the Church is life in communion with God Himself, in the Truth and Love of Christ, by the Holy Spirit. We believe that Christ is the Son of God. We believe that He reveals the truth about God and man. We believe that we can know this truth by the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit that He gives to us. The greatest truth shown to us by Christ is that God is Love, and that the only true way of living is by following Christ who called Himself, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christ gave the great commandment and the great example of perfect love. Thus, the greatest truth is love. This is our conclusion. And life in this truth which is love is the life of faith, the life of the Holy Church. Of course, there are deviations and betrayals and sins all around. Clergy and laymen alike are guilty. But the Church itself, despite the sins of its members, is still the union with the Truth and Love of God given to men in Jesus Christ, made present and accessible in the Holy Spirit, who lives in those who believe.
WHAT ARE YOUR RELIGIOUS HABITS AND YOUR LITURGICAL VESTMENTS?
+ Our formal religious habit is Byzantine black cassock woollen material (represent Poverty) and a black leather girdle / belt (represent Chastity). A black vest can be worn if needed.
+ Our daily cloth is either a cassock, a black suite and black clergy shirt with collar or street cloth in certain missions.
+ Our Liturgical vestments are Greek Byzantine Vestments.
WHICH LITURGICAL CALENDAR YOU FOLLOW?
We follow the Revised Julian Calendar that is followed and adopted by: the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Cypriot Orthodox Church, the Church of Greece, the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Orthodox Church in America and the Orthodox Church of America, also many Eastern Byzantine Catholic Churches as well, such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church, the Romanian Greek Catholic Church and some parishes of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the Middle East.
HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND FREEDOM?
Freedom is one of God’s greatest gifts to the human being. He who created man in the beginning made him free and self-determined, limiting him solely by the laws of the commandment (Gregory the Theologian, Homily 14, On Love for the Poor, 25. PG 35, 892A). Freedom renders the human being capable of progressing toward spiritual perfection; yet it also includes the risk of disobedience as independence from God and consequently the fall, which tragically gives rise to evil in the world.
DO YOU HAVE MARRIED PRIESTS AND BISHOPS, ARE ALL YOUR MONASTIC CELIBATE?
As in Orthodox, Eastern Byzantine Church and the Greek Catholic Churches Tradition; married men can be ordained as priests and deacons, but they cannot marry after ordination. Bishops, however, are celibate (monks), though this was not always the case historically. As for our Order, we are a monastic Religious Order, all our members vow to poverty, chastity (celibacy) and obedience.