St. Mary's Syriac Orthodox Community

Few Christian denominations can claim the antiquity of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, whose foundations can be traced back to the very dawn of Christianity. The Church justifiably prides itself as being one of the earliest established apostolic churches. It was in Antioch, after all, that the followers of Jesus were called Christians as we are told in the New Testament, "The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." (Acts 11:26).

According to ecclesiastical tradition, the Church of Antioch is the second established church in Christendom after Jerusalem, and the prominence of its Apostolic See is well documented. In his Chronicon (I, 2), the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea tells us that Apostle St. Peter established a bishopric in Antioch and became its first bishop. He also tells us that St. Peter was succeeded by Evodius. In another historical work, Historia Ecclesiastica, Eusebius tells us that Ignatius the Illuminator, "a name of note to most men, [was] the second after Peter to the bishopric of Antioch" (III, 36).

In the mid of the 5th century, the Bishop of Antioch, and his counterparts in Alexandria, Byzantium and Rome, would be called patriarchs. The Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch used to be known by his own name; however, since 1293 the patriarchs of Antioch adopted the name Ignatius, after the Illuminator. The See of Antioch continues to flourish till our day,

At St. Marys , I don’t call them ‘the poor’ – I know their names, their faces. They are not a social problem or category. I’ve seen their faces. It’s the face-to-face encounter that you create a space for here that transforms all of us. That is why I keep saying, stop by any time. I love meeting new folks. I love meeting my brothers and sisters. I love meeting my neighbors . Who wouldn't? I have found that there a lot around here who don't know that. And I have been to many meetings here in Plymouth where my brothers and sisters are talked about as a problem to be helped rather than what Christ did which was to love and share and be with. So much for calling yourself a Christian. You don't have any idea what that is and you are not one. So stop calling yourself a Christian.

Every day when I pray I thank Christ for His willingness to let me be with people and allow them to be my neighbors. I thank Him not just to see His face but to also meet and listen to Him. This defines us as Christians: when we’re with people, strangers who come to the door, we don’t put them into little social boxes – refugees, the poor, the displaced. With Jesus, we say: they are our brothers and sisters. In them we see not only the face of Christ, but Christ Himself.

Want to meet Him? Come on down. I don't talk about volunteering. I talk about being His heart and His hands. That is all of our calling.

The most fundamental need of your brothers and sisters, your neighbors, is something that most of you take for granted - a meaningful place in a healthy community, a sense of belonging.
called them something far different.

Without it, drug rehab, improved housing or employment programs have little effect. Without it, your brothers and sisters remain trapped in a lifestyle that is difficult to escape. When folks do not feel like they belong, they just cannot seem to recover.

And this lack of community is all over Plymouth. Folks, your brothers and sisters, are being shut out. You treat them as a category, call them the poor. Christ calls your brothers and sisters something far different.