From April 17 to 19, 2012, under the High Patronage and in the presence of His Beatitude, Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al Rai, the Institute of Liturgy at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), organized a symposium on “Liturgical Reform in Eastern Churches”, with the wide-ranging participation of eminent Lebanese and foreign religious officials.

Following the Lebanese National Anthem and the opening speech by Rev. Fr. Hany Matar, Rev. Fr. Abdo Badwi, Director of the Institute of Liturgy, underlined that “… for nearly 40 years, our Institute of Liturgy has been striving with its instructors and students to revive prayers with our people and in the heart of our sacred Church”, pointing out that “… 90% of the Maronite liturgy after reform, stems from our Institute, and this is thanks to the efforts of researchers who enriched liturgy with prayers and music[al] compositions”.

In his speech, Rev. Fr. Hady Mahfouz, President of USEK, considered this colloquium as conveying gratitude to a number of priests who worked hard, but to whom, so far, no one has had the chance to thank them in public. “I would like particularly to pay tribute to the team who released the liturgical books in the 70s and 80s. This team who launched the liturgical reform workshop through the Institute of Liturgy and the Institute of Music Sciences of USEK, drafted texts and composed liturgical music from the early 70s till early 80s”. Fr. Mahfouz concluded that “… our University has major patriotic, theological, liturgical, religious, monastic and Christian concerns, especially as it is renowned for its origins, choir, liturgy and its Faculty of Theology, etc.”.

In his address, Patriarch Rai began by describing liturgy as it is defined by the Second Vatican Council, “The culmination of the life of Church and the fountain from which it draws all its vitality”. Then Patriarch Rai elaborated on Venerable Patriarch Estephan Douaihy and described how the latter represented a milestone in the history of Maronite Liturgy, thanks to “… the major reforms Patriarch Douaihy carried out and the thorough comparative research he conducted between the Maronite liturgy and other Eastern and Western liturgies… He justified every reform with theological explanations, through which he showed the common points between Churches and what is specific to the Maronite Church”.

Patriarch Rai thanked God for the Institute of Liturgy, founded by USEK in 1969 and attached to the Pontifical Faculty of Theology, “… as the first outcome after the Second Vatican Council, which Pope John-Paul II called ‘the Spring of the Church’; therefore, the Institute of Liturgy is considered as ‘the Spring of the Maronite Church’”.

Patriach Rai concluded his address, saying, “Amidst the Arab revolutions and uprisings, and with the longing for an ‘Arab Spring’ where democracy, respect for human dignity and the promotion of the fundamental human rights prevail, we are invited to promote a ‘Christian Spring’… The Spring of truth, justice, love and freedom upon which authentic and lasting peace is founded. It is a Spring that rejects violence and war, and claims dialogue, understanding and peaceful solutions that respect all aspirations and human rights”.