Holy Qurbana

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Holy Qurbana or Qurbana Qadisha (ܩܘܪܒܢܐ ܩܕܝܫܐ qûrbānâ qadîšâ, pronounced qurbono qadisho in West Syriac), the "Holy Offering" or "Holy Sacrifice", refers to the Divine Liturgy as celebrated according to the Chaldean and Syriac Christian Rites, the former by the Syro-Malabar Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, and the latter by the Indian Orthodox Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, the Maronite Catholic Church and others which worship according to the Syriac tradition. The Syriac word Qurbana (also spelled as Kurbana) is cognate with the Hebrew word Korban (קרבן). When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, and sacrifices were offered, "Korban" was a technical Hebrew term for some of the offerings that were brought there. It comes from a Hebrew root, "karav," meaning "to draw close or 'near'." A required Korban was offered morning and evening daily and on holidays (at certain times, additional 'korbanot' were offered), in addition to which individuals could bring an optional, personal Korban.

The main Anaphora of the Chaldean Rite is that of Addai and Mari and that of the Syriac Rite is the Liturgy of St. James, both of which are extremely old, going back at least to the third century, and which are the oldest extant liturgies continually in use.

The Holy Qurbana is referred to as "complete" worship, since it is performed for the benefit of all members of the Church. The other Sacraments are performed for individual members. Thus the Holy Qurbana is the sacrament that completes all the others. Hence it is called the "sacrament of perfection" or the "queen of sacraments."