The East Syriac Rite, or East Syrian Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari and utilizes the East Syriac dialect as its liturgical language. It is one of the two main liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity, along with the West Syriac Rite.
A Syro-Malabar Catholic bishop holding the Mar Thoma Christian Cross which symbolizes the heritage and identity of the Syrian Church of Saint Thomas Christians of India
Chinese stone inscription of a Church of the East Christian Cross from a monastery of Fangshan District in Beijing (then called Dadu, or Khanbaliq), dated to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) of medieval China.
Mystery of Crowning at a wedding in the Chaldean Syrian Church
Syro-Malabar Major Archbishop Mar George Alencherry crowning a baby after baptism
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a single communion or religious denomination. Eastern Christianity is a category distinguished from Western Christianity, which is composed of those Christian traditions and churches that originally developed further west.
Christ Pantocrator, detail of the Deesis mosaic in Hagia Sophia – Constantinople (Istanbul) 12th century
An Eastern Catholic bishop of the Syro-Malabar Church holding the Mar Thoma Cross which symbolizes the heritage and identity of the Saint Thomas Christians of India