Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/504

SYRIAN CHRISTIAN in 1599. The Chaldæan Syrians also use the Roman liturgy, with the following points of difference in practice, communicated to me by their present ecclesiastical head: — (1) They perform marriage ceremonies on Sundays, instead of week days as the Romo-Syrians do. (2) While reading the Gospel, their priests turn to the congregation, whereas the Romo-Syrian priests turn to the altar. (3) Their priests bless the congregation in the middle of the mass, a practice not in vogue among the Romo-Syrlans. (4) They use two kinds of consecrated oil in baptism, which does away with the necessity of confirmation. The Romo-Syrians, on the other hand, use only one kind of oil, and hence they have to be subsequently confirmed by one of their Bishops. The liturgy used by the Jacobite Syrians and the St. Thomas' Syrians is the same, viz., that of St. James. The St. Thomas' Syrians have, however, made some changes by deleting certain passages from it. [A recent writer observes that "a service which I attended at the quaint old Syrian church at Kōttayam, which glories in the possession of one of the three ancient stone crosses in India, closely resembled, as far as my memory serves me, one which I attended many years ago at Antioch, except that the non-sacramental portions of the mass were read in Malayālam instead of in Arabic, the sacramental words alone being in both cases spoken in the ancient Syriac tongue.] In regard to doctrine and practice, the following points may be noted : — (1) While the Jacobite Syrians look upon the Holy Bible as the main authority in matters of doctrine, practice, and ritual, they do not allow the Bible to be interpreted except with the help of the traditions of the church, the writings of the early Fathers, and the decrees of the Holy Synods