Sunday Qurbana

Sunday Qurbana is a weekly broadcast of the Divine Liturgy (Holy Qurbana) of the Syro-Iradi Catholic Church on IradOne, the state broadcaster of the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ). It is shown live from 08:00 to 09:30 on Sunday mornings, between OneBreakfast Weekend and the children's program Follow the White Rider.^[1]

Format

The liturgy is celebrated in Classical Syriac and Iradi according to the East Syriac rite of the Iradi church, with an English commentary that explains the readings, the chants and the movements of the clergy. The broadcast rotates among a small number of churches: the Church of St. Janyl, the cathedral of Iyık Janyl; the churches of St. Yuhanna and St. Tomas in Talas; and a parish church in Nurzhan.^[1] Masses from the cathedral are often sung by the Iyık Janyl Seminary Choir. Fr. Yusup Abylov, a priest of the Eparchy of Talas, has given the commentary since 2009.

The main feasts are covered separately. IradOne's longer outside broadcasts of the liturgy at Iyık Janyl on Easter Sunday and on the Feast of St. Janyl on 24 August replace the program when they fall on a Sunday.^[2]

History

IradOne first broadcast the Sunday liturgy in 1994, two years after the territorial administration guaranteed freedom of religion and the churches reopened. The program is produced with the media office of the Archbishopric of Iyık Janyl, which chooses the parishes and the celebrants, and for this reason it kept its title when IradOne's own English-language programs adopted the "One" prefix in 2016.^[1] It has used IradOne's mobile production units since the 2000s and has been broadcast in high definition since 2018.

Reception

In the 2023 survey of the Irad Media Research Center, Sunday Qurbana had the largest audience of any IradOne religious program, much of it among older viewers and the housebound.^[3] Critics within the church have said that the choice of urban parishes, including the Latin-style Church of St. Tomas, gives a Latinized picture of Iradi worship. The program has never shown a liturgy in a yurt chapel with leavened malka bread as celebrated in the Autonomous Tribal Regions, or the Spanish-language Mass in Semiz.^[4] Secular commentators and some Russian-speaking viewers have questioned the place of a weekly Catholic service on the state broadcaster; IradOne says it reflects the faith of most of its viewers.

References

1. ^ IradOne (2019). Sunday Qurbana: Programme Information. Talas: IradOne Media Group.
2. ^ Talas Herald (25 August 2024). 'Pilgrims Ride to Cathedral Hill for the Feast of St. Janyl.' Talas.
3. ^ Irad Media Research Center (2023). Television and Online Audience Survey of the ISEZ. Talas.
4. ^ Temirbekova, Ainura (2014). The Church of the Star: A History of the Syro-Iradi Catholic Church. Talas: Talas State University Press.

External links

• Programme page on IradOne Online