Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 2.djvu/53

Rh twelfth or thirteenth century, and was the fifth son of his parents, whose cognomen was Kardâhé, blacksmiths. Hence he is called Khâmees bar Kardâhé.

The, a collection of hymns similar to the above, written and compiled by Gheorghees Warda, a famous Nestorian poet, who seems to have been a cotemporarycontemporary [sic] of Khâmees bar Kardâhé. The poems, like those of Keble, were evidently written in adaptation to the Church festivals, the particular occasions and services for which they are fitted being noted at the head of each. That they were written before the last revision of the Khudhra is clear, since in that ritual there is a rubrical direction appointing what hymn in the two collections is to be used. Some are chanted immediately after the reading of the Gospel in the Liturgy, and others are recited whilst the communicants are partaking of the holy elements.11

, or the Office of Pardon, contains the service used in the restoration of offenders to the Church, and the prayers read over penitents before they are admitted to the holy Communion. There are several short offices of this kind in use among the Nestorians.

It is a circumstance worthy of note with regard to these manuscript Rituals, that notwithstanding their number, and the extent of country over which they are scattered, there is a striking uniformity in all the copies now in use both among the Nestorians and Chaldeans, except where these latter have either omitted parts of the original text, or altered it to suit their present conformity to Rome. The only way of accounting for this coincidence is afforded by the operation of that Canon, which made it obligatory upon all the Metropolitans and Bishops to appear in person or by proxy, once in six years, to testify of their faith and obedience before the Catholicos. It was on these occasions, in all probability, that the suffragans, either of their own accord, or by superior order, took note of the minor alterations which were made in the rituals at the patriarchate, and on returning to their different sees ordered that the same should be effected throughout the churches under their episcopal supervision.