VATICAN CITY, FEB 7 (ZENIT).- A series of Jubilee celebrations in the diverse rites of the Catholic Church will begin on Wednesday February 9. The first, to take place in Saint Mary Major, will be the Jubilee of the Maronite Rite.

    His Beatitude Cardinal Pierre Nasrallah Sfeir, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, will preside the Mass (Syro-Antiochian Maronite Rite) at 5:00p.m. in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Among the concelebrants will be Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Oriental Churches, and numerous bishops from Lebanon.

    Pilgrims will arrive from every continent to participate in the Jubilee of the Lebanese Catholic community, known as the Maronite Church. Simultaneous Jubilee celebrations will take place on February 9 in Lebanon and in parishes that offer the Maronite liturgy around the world. Among those present will be Monsignor Emile Eid, procurator in Rome of the Patriarchy of Antioch of the Maronites. He explains that the Maronite rite has two principal characteristics, one formal, the other substantial. "The formal characteristic is that of language: we speak a language, Aramaic, that was used by Christ and the first apostles, before [the language of the Church] changed to Greek, which was the language of the Middle-Eastern culture. The second characteristic," he continued, "is substantial. It is clear that the apostles -- Jews -- used the same prayers that were recited in the synagogue or in the Temple. When Christ instituted the Last Supper, that is to say the bloodless sacrifice of his death, so that his presence would be perpetuated throughout the centuries, this prayer was converted into a substantial part of the liturgy, with the consecration that makes Jesus Christ present and alive among us." ZE00020708