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The Six Patriarchates And Twenty-Two Churches Of The Catholic Church
The Church of Jesus Christ is made up of one Catholic Church and twenty-two Eastern and Western churches within it. The three elements that make all these Churches Catholic are:
1. One Faith Handed down By the Apostles (All have the same Creed)
2. Seven Mysteries (All have the same Sacraments)
3. Unity with the Shepherd / Bishop of Rome (All under the Holy Father, the Pope)
The MARONITE Church, as one of these twenty-two churches, is one of the oldest traditions of the Catholic Church.
Many people when speaking of the Catholic Church are referring to the Roman or Latin Rite of the Western branch of the Catholic Church. However, the Church is not the same as a rite. Within the Catholic Church, there are twenty-two autonomous churches which evolved from Jerusalem and developed through one of the six major centers of Christianity call Patriarchates.
Autonomous Churches Have Unique Elements
Each of the twenty-two Catholic Churches has four elements that make them unique Catholic traditions.
These include:
1. Liturgy - the public prayer life and activity for accomplishing God’s work of divinization.
2. Theology - the study of the relationship between God and human beings in human language.
3. Spirituality - the way of life expressed in words and deeds reflecting awareness of God.
4. Law - the guidelines for good order in church life and harmony among its members.
What is a Rite:
It is a universal community of faith founded on or by an apostle and has its own patriarch, bishops, and clergy having unique spiritual and cultural traditions and way of life which has converted an entire people to Jesus Christ. Therefore, applying the preceding definitions, the Maronite Church is a universal community of faith of the Antiochene-Edessan-Monastic tradition, founded by Peter and developed by Maron and his disciplines, which is guided by its Patriarch and bishops, who are shepherding peoples of many different nations and cultures in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Novena Prayer to St. Anthony of Padua
O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your
love for God and charity for His creatures,
made you worthy, when on earth, to possess
miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your
words, which you were ever ready to speak for
those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this
thought, I implore you to obtain for me
(request). The answer to my prayer
may require a miracle. Even so, you are
the Saint of Miracles.
O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart
was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my
petition into the ears of the Sweet Infant Jesus,
who loved to folded in your arms, and the
gratitude of my heart will ever be yours.
Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.