on December 29, 2012 128 views
This video shows footage of the Coro Bizantino de San Juan Damasceno (Byzantine Choir of Saint John of Damascus). They are part of the patriarchate of the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Church.

The Greek Orthodox Church in Antioch is one of the oldest churches in the world. As some may know, the Bible records that it was in Antioch that the disciples of Jesus were first called Christians (cf. Acts 11:26).

The Church in Antioch perhaps originally spoke Aramaic, but in time, being part of the Greek Church, it adopted Greek. With the rise of Islam and the Arab conquest of West Asia, many connected with the Church in Antioch adopted Arabic. In this video, we see a choir which is part of the Church in Antioch, but is located in Chile, thus the congregation employs Spanish at times.

As a result of this complex history, this choir in Chile, which is in communion with the Antiochian Church, switches back and forth from Spanish, to Arabic, and even to Greek.
Categories: Chant
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