In Many Tongues but One Faith

It is dark except for the light from one candle when Father Jonah begins to sing “Come, receive the light,” first in Greek, then in English. Soon, each with lighted candles, we begin our procession out into the garden, where we hear “Christ is Risen” sung alternately in Greek, Mandarin, English, Church Slavonic. A teenaged boy, Chinese, holds the Gospel book; a Chinese man holds the censer. Back inside, the canons^[2] are read almost antiphonally, first in English, then Mandarin, then in Church Slavonic, the last occasionally sung by a small group of Ukrainians. All in attendance have access to the texts in the three languages and read in their preferred language. Now and then, Father sings one of the canons in Greek. The Liturgy continues, sung primarily in English, with the other three languages heard occasionally.

I teach linguistics, and the way people use languages has always fascinated me. Here in Taiwan, I also teach English as a foreign

language, and when I look around at the people attending Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Taipei, I see very few native speakers of English, yet English is our lingua franca, our common language. People from the European lands—Russia, Ukraine, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece—come to Taiwan fluent in English, whether to conduct business or to study Chinese. Most foreigners who stay in Taiwan for more than a few months do learn some Mandarin, making it our second lingua franca. And as the Greek and Slav elements have made a large contribution to the Orthodox world, and we have several members from these regions, these important liturgical languages are also incorporated.

I grew up in the United States, but my grandparents come from the Orthodox lands of Eastern Europe. Church Slavonic was the first language I heard in church as a child; gradually English replaced it as the older people passed away. Naturally there were some difficulties and inconsistencies with the first translations and especially with putting English texts to music originally developed or composed for Church Slavonic. The experts who were not native speakers of English sometimes produced results that were not always pleasing to the native speaker ear. Their input was necessary, but subsequent native speaker collaboration was needed to produce good results. Now, decades later, we can often use the same music with both the Church Slavonic and English texts, as can be done with “Christ is Risen” for example. But it still feels better to sing “Christos Voskrese!^[3]”

And herein lies a dilemma. Our church leaders remind us that the Church is not a culture club, but how can we forget who we are? It is very natural at holiday times to remember how we celebrated the holiday last year, in previous years, in our childhood. Indeed, there is pleasure in the reminiscence and in the repetition of those same activities. As P. was making red eggs with her children this year, she certainly remembered doing the same as a child with her recently deceased mother and prayed for her.

Surely what they mean is that we must make the aims of our religion and our Church take precedence over our cultural and linguistic interests. We humans are multi-faceted and give our attention to many things. Our Church reminds us to put God first; after that, we can enjoy all the other cultural elements as long as they are not in conflict with the God’s priority. I am reminded of a proverb I heard my grandmother say many times in my childhood, “Bez Boha, ni do poroha” / ‘Without God, you can’t even get as far as the threshold.’

Hyphenated Americans may have better experience with the separation of religion, language, and culture because we have lived through the arguments before when English was replacing the language of our ancestors in our churches. These questions arise again with the Orthodox Church in Asia. What linguistic choices do we have in Taiwan? All important is the Liturgy, which is sung. We cannot begin immediately with Mandarin Chinese; translations take time. And what sort of music is to be used when the tones of Mandarin play a role in how music is to be composed and arranged?

English, then, is a natural choice as a bridge language. All school children in Taiwan study English, and even the poorest students end up with at least some passive reading knowledge. The first introductions of Chinese into the Liturgy will be stilted at best as they will necessarily be done by foreigners struggling with Chinese until the time we have Chinese priests and build the membership of Chinese Orthodox. It will then be the task of the experienced Chinese Orthodox to polish the texts and music and to make the Liturgy authentically Chinese. It will take time to reach this stage.

Now in Taiwan there are still more non-Chinese Orthodox than Chinese, and they, too, are members of the Church. For long-term residents in particular, to finally have an Orthodox Church here in Taiwan is indeed a blessing from God. Others who may not have been particularly religious in their homelands find themselves turning to the Orthodox Church when they are far from home, perhaps due to loneliness or because they now have the freedom to make their own choices away from the restrictions of family and society. English here, too, is a good choice of common link language among the various Slavs, Greeks, and others. And when several Slavs or Greeks are present, some readings or parts of the Liturgy may also be done in their liturgical languages when possible to let them know that this is their church, too.

In Taiwan, any non-Asian foreigner is first assumed to be an American, and the English language is equated with Americans. Thus the occasional use of a language other than English may serve to show that the Orthodox Church is not just another product exported to Taiwan from America. Our Church is at home in many linguistic and cultural traditions, and this is beginning to include Chinese.

Meanwhile, certain specific cultural manifestations of Chinese Orthodoxy will emerge. For example, commemoration of the dead may include fruits and other edibles familiar in Chinese custom in place of boiled wheat, which is not available here. And the concept of what is appropriate food for Lent and other periods of fasting has already changed for all of us, incorporating lots of tofu, though perhaps still a bit too much cabbage for my taste. In Taiwan no one is surprised by a request for a vegetarian meal. Buddhist vegetarian regulations do not permit any seafood nor any members of the onion and garlic family (these are said to excite the passions). Perhaps the Buddhist vegetarian way (without eggs) will become the standard simply because it is so widely accepted and available.

We foreigners come to Taiwan with all our linguistic and cultural baggage. Yet we who are already members of the Orthodox Church have to be examples for our Chinese friends and future members. We pray that we do not become inadvertently offensive in our zeal. Most of us realize when we come to another land that things will be different. Paschal celebrations will not be the same as they were in Greece or in Russia or in the USA.

This year, among the more than fifty people attending Paschal Matins and Liturgy, I counted nine nationalities among those I recognized. Most could participate in their first or second language. Afterwards, those consuming the delicacies prepared by Greek, Russian, and Ukrainian ladies chattered away happily in many tongues. This is the Orthodox Church in Taiwan, made up of a fascinating hodgepodge of nationalities, cultures, languages and, most importantly, individuals. All of us bring our different individual characteristics to our Church and together ask God to accept our unique offering to Him in the Liturgy.

Excerpt from an e-mail message received on Bright Monday (the day after Pascha) from A., a young Ukrainian commenting on her first Pascha in Taiwan: “It was really wonderful!”

For more information about Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Taipei, 台北市士林區忠誠路二段140 巷 18 弄 1 號 1樓 , including texts in Chinese and links to the Orthodox Church around the world, go to http://theological.asia/ The church is now located at 台北縣新店市溪園路389之12號4樓 B8, 4th Fl. No. 389-12 Shi-Yuen Road Xin-Dian City, Taipei County. From 大坪林 MRT station, exit 1, you can take a mini bus going to 湯泉.

[1] Easter is the common word in English. The word ‘Easter’ is Germanic and is derived from Oestre, goddess of spring (hence the word ‘east’—where the sun rises) in pre-Christian times. Orthodox Christians prefer the term ‘Pascha’, which has its origins in Hebrew, where it refers to the Hebrews’ escape and deliverance from their enemies when they ‘passed over’ the Red Sea, hence the Jewish celebration of ‘Passover’. To Orthodox Christians, Christ is our Passover because through His Resurrection we can once again be united with God.

[2] Eight sets of prayers that make up part of the service of Matins. The texts change each day.

[3] “Christ is Risen” in Church Slavonic, used among Russians, Ukrainians, and others in Northeast Slav lands. During the 40 days of Pascha, this greeting is proclaimed, followed by a reply. English: “Christ is Risen! Indeed (or Truly) He has Risen! Church Slavonic: “Христос воскресе! Во истину Воскресе! / Christos Voskrese! Vo istinu Voskrese!” Greek: “Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!”