JERUSALEM – On Saturday, March 14th, Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, met with Dayroyo Boulos Khano, a Syrian Monk specialized in calligraphy who wrote the Evangeliary in Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
Dayroyo Boulos Khano was born in 1987. At the age of twelve, he entered the Syriac Orthodox monastery of Saint Mark, located in the Old City and said to be built on the ancient location of the house of Mary, mother of St Mark. (Some also believe the site is where the Last Supper took place, although others believe it happened at the Cenacle, on Mount Zion). Dayroyo Boulos then joined the Maarrat Saidnaya seminary (Damascus) and completed his studies in 2008. He was ordained a monk one year later and a priest two years later.
Also known as Fr. Boulos Khano, Dayroyo Boulos learned to master calligraphy and the Aramaic language – the language of Jesus – during his studies. Now looking to preserve this valuable linguistic heritage, he uses it to produce different works of art and creations featuring prayers in Aramaic. In 2020, he also started writing the Book of the Gospels in that language, finishing it one year later, in February 2021.
“This is a very holy work, important for all the Churches and for all the Christians, because it reminds us of our origins and our roots,” said Mgr Pizzaballa. “We need this, especially here in the Holy Land. So I hope that Fr. Boulos will continue to write and to donate to all our Christian communities his important work that connects us, our present, to our history.”
By: Cécile Leca/ lpj.org
