| Maronite Catholics Page 4 
Mother of the light from the Rabbula.
Where Maronites Fit Within the Church Structure Eastern and Western Rites of the Catholic Church The table below shows the Catholic Church in its various Rites from which the particular churches have developed. Everyone can trace the origin of his or her particular church by relating it to one of these listed Rites. | WEST | EAST | EAST | EAST | EAST | | ROME | ANTIOCH | ARMENIA | ALEXANDRIA | CONSTANTINOPLE | | Rome | East Syriac
Chaldean
Malabar West Syriac
Maronite
Syriac
Malankar | Armenian | Coptic
Ethiopian | Albanian
Belorussian
Bulgarian
Georgian
Greek
Greek-Melkite
HungarianItalo-Albanian
Krizevci (Croatia)
Romanian
Russian
Ruthenian
Slovak
Ukranian
Yugoslav | These autonomous Churches developed their own style of worship, spirituality, liturgy, theology, music, art and other types of disciplines stemming from location, ethnicity, culture and language. Although they are self-governed, they belong to different types of hierarchical discipline. Some are Patriarchal, others Archiepiscopal and still others Metropolitan. For example: the Maronite Church would be categorized as Eastern, Patriarchal and Antiochene. Source of all information in this section: http://www.massintransit.com/ny/johnm-ny-brook/rites2.html
Why are there different rites in the Church? Jesus said the first Mass (also called the Divine Liturgy) at the Last Supper. When He ascended into Heaven, Jesus gave the Apostles the mission to spread the gospel throughout the whole world. The Apostles then divided up the known world among them. Each Apostle took the liturgy with him to whatever part of the world he went. Over time, the liturgy brought by each Apostle developed local variations, and was usually celebrated in the local language of the people. These local "liturgies" became known as "rites" in the Church. Thus each Catholic liturgical rite can be traced to the evangelizing work of an Apostle, or in some cases, to a great local Patriarch.
The main rites of the Church are listed in the table below: | Rite | Founder of Rite | Language of Rite | Place Rite Founded | | Roman | St. Peter (the Apostle) | Latin | Rome | Byzantine
(many branches, incl. Greco-Ruthenian) | Both St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great adapted the Liturgy of St. James (the Apostle) of Jerusalem | Originally in Greek
Later also in Old Slavonic
Now also in local languages | Constantinople | | Maronite | St. Maron adapted the Liturgy of St. James (the Apostle) of Jerusalem | Syriac / Aramaic / Arabic | Lebanon | | Armenian | St. Mesrob adapted the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great | Armenian | Armenia | | Melkite | They use Byzantine Liturgy since 1200's | Arabic and Greek | Syria / Palestine / Egypt | Source of all information in this section: http://www.sspx-schism.com/ChangeRites.htm
For anyone interested in seeing what the Mass includes: This page includes frames, so after you arrive click on "Liturgy," and after arriving at that page click on "A Commentary on the Holy Mysteries..." Some differences observed in the Maronite Mass: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 | 
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