Syriac Maronite Trivia for New Year 2023

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• What are the peoples that originally made up the Antiochan Syriac Maronite Church?
     a)   Arameans of Syria.
     b)   Phoenicians of Lebanon (AKA. Canaanites) -- The majority of the Phoenicians in Lebanon, converted from paganism to the Syriac Maronite Faith, due to the evangelisation efforts of the
           disciples of Saint Maron, starting in the 4th century.
     c)   But, now you have Syriac Maronites all over the world, from a variety of peoples. As the Holy Church isn't limited to a specific people nor a specific region.
     d)   All Syriac Maronites, regardless of origin, are part of a distinguishable ethno-religious group, with a common faith, language, and culture.
     e)   They're inheritors of the Antiochan and Edessan spiritual traditions (including Nisibian).
     f)   They belong to the greater Syriac community, which encompasses both East Syriac and West Syriac communities. And are members and contributors, to the common Syriac patrimony.
  
• Has the Antiochan Syriac Maronite Church ever been a state Church?
     a)   Yes, in Lebanon, between the year 685AD (or 692AD) to 1367AD.
     b)   Afterwards, it was an underground state Church, as the Lebanese nation was under occupation.
     c)   During the time of the Syriac Maronite Lebanese state, the head of both temporal and religious affairs was the patriarch, aided by the metropolitans.
     d)   It also had an army.
     e)   Its first head of state and patriarch, was Patriarch Saint John Maron.
  
• What was the language of the Syriac Maronite State of Lebanon?
     a)   Syriac (AKA. Aramaic) -- Specifically a form of West Syriac, which other Syriacs call the written language (and linguistic experts call Classical Syriac).
     b)   The Syriac Maronites were known as language purists, as such they didn't speak a neo-Syriac dialect, as other Syriac communities did in their daily language.
     c)   For a while, Classical Syriac became known as "morunoyo" (AKA. the Maronite language). As such, sometimes you may find in our writings just "morunoye", instead of "suryoye morunoye".
     d)   It was the state language, the daily language of the people, and the language of the Church.
     e)   Syriac remains the official language of the Antiochan Syriac Maronite Church.
  
• Are there still Syriac Maronites who speak Syriac?
     a)   Yes, there are still some Syriac Maronites who can speak Syriac (Aramaic).
     b)   The number was significantly higher at the beginning of the 20th century.