METHUEN -- Every morning, Basilian Salvatorian Father Christopher Sahd wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to pray before he goes outside and looks after the chickens.

Sometimes, he will celebrate Mass at a convent or nearby parish, but most days he provides spiritual guidance and hears confessions. He also does chores around St. Basil's Salvatorian Center, the Melkite Catholic seminary and spiritual center he shares with a handful of brother priests. The Basilian Salvatorian Order was founded in Lebanon in the 17th century. Its charism is to teach, preach, form priests, and catechize the young. In a 21st-century update of medieval monks copying manuscripts, Father Sahd rewrites liturgical books according to new translations from Arabic to English. He also converts the Eastern hymns into Western musical notation.

"All these things, they're tedious, but they're good to do," he said.

Divine Liturgy is at noon, then lunch, then more chores, evening prayers, and preparation for the center's Cursillo retreats. Each priest follows his own schedule. Father Sahd typically goes to bed at 11 p.m. each night.

"I try as much as possible to pray all day long, even when I'm doing my work," he said.

The Merrimack Valley is one of the epicenters of Melkite Catholicism in the U.S. Immigrants from Lebanon, Syria, and surrounding countries came to work in the mills there. They brought with them their ancient faith, which originated with the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and remained in communion with Rome during the schism between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

The term Melkite roughly translates to "followers of the king," because it was the Byzantine emperor who convened the Council of Chalcedon. In the 1720s, the Melkite Church officially split between Orthodox and Catholic branches. The Melkite Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic churches, all of which are governed by the pope.

"We believe everything that the Catholic Church teaches," Father Sahd said. "Probably it would be in the matter of how it's expressed or how it's stated, would be the differences."

There are 50 Melkite parishes in the U.S., governed by the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton. The eparchy's mother church is Our Lady of the Annunciation Cathedral in West Roxbury. St. Basil's was dedicated as a seminary and shrine in 1954 to train priests and preserve the traditions of the Melkite immigrants, which were slowly fading away due to assimilation. Cardinal Richard Cushing helped to establish St. Basil's. It is the only Salvatorian center in the U.S.

"I love my life here," Father Sahd said. "Because, number one, when I was a diocesan priest, I didn't have the constant community life that I have here. And when you're in a community, it's a blessing, because I have every day, if I want to accept it, I have correction every day, and I have encouragement every day."

Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the center's chapel. In the vestibule, two oblong candles burned before an icon of the crucifixion. Sharp rays of sunlight shot through narrow windows in the sanctuary. A glittering wall of icons represented the barrier between Earth and Heaven. Incense and chanting wafted through the intimate sanctuary. The Melkite liturgy was formulated by St. John Chrysostom in the fifth century, inspired by the writings of St. Basil. It was also influenced by the Byzantine Empire, and later by Arabic language and culture. According to tradition, St. Peter founded the Melkite Church as the first patriarch of Antioch, a city in modern-day Turkey. The patriarchs of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem each had their own liturgy.

"It's amazing to think that, whether you were in Africa or in Asia or in Europe, Rome, Greece, that while all the liturgies looked different, they all celebrate the same things," Father Sahd said. "They all have an ordained priest. All these churches believe in the same seven sacraments. All these churches believe in the true body, true blood of Jesus Christ."

Father Sahd likes that the Byzantine liturgy is focused on God. A lot of Melkite hymns are about God, the Incarnation, and the Holy Trinity. He was raised as a Maronite Catholic, another Eastern church, in the heart of Amish country -- Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There were no Eastern Catholic churches nearby, so he received his sacraments at a local Latin Rite church. He entered the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton in 2001. Near his parish was a Melkite church which had a broad appeal.

"You certainly have Lebanese immigrants from maybe a long time ago whose families are still practicing there," he said. "And you have a very large group of young families who are not Lebanese or Syrian, because they were drawn in by the Divine Liturgy, by the life of the church."

After 15 years of priesthood, he discovered the Salvatorian Order. He liked that the Salvatorians were monastic but not cloistered. They went out into the world to serve the people. Father Sahd has lived at the Salvatorian Center for four years.

"If God wills it, I plan to be in the Salvatorian Order for the rest of my life," he said.

After Divine Liturgy, parishioners were treated to Syrian bread with honey and zaatar in the center's kitchen. A magnet on the fridge read, "We didn't ask to be Syrian, we just got lucky!"

Brother Moe Pare has lived at the center on and off for nine years. He's been living there full-time for five years and took his final vows to enter the order in November 2024. He is currently studying to be a Melkite priest.

"I think it's where I need to be, I'm supposed to be," he said. "So I think I'm comfortable with it."

He grew up in the Latin Church in New Hampshire before attending Divine Liturgy at a Melkite church.

"I like the participation, the back and forth of the chanting and praying during the liturgy," he said, adding: "What I like about the faith is the connection with the Early Church Fathers and the emphasis on them and the emphasis on Scripture."

Becoming a Salvatorian required him to leave a 30-year career in medicine. He still goes to the hospital regularly, but now as a chaplain. He likes being able to talk to patients without worrying about their potassium or sugar levels. The "most profound" experience has been praying with families who lost children to miscarriage.

"I think it's very rewarding," he said. "It's a spiritual experience for me, certainly, and I hope it is for them also. People who are ill enough to be in the hospital, oftentimes are able to let their facade fall down, and you're able to get a real heart-to-heart conversation."

Despite his busy schedule at the hospital, he prays with his brothers every evening. He likes to work out in his free time, and play cornhole and watch TV with the Salvatorian Fathers.

"You get to know that there are people here who have things in common and who also have very distinct personalities, very distinct ways of looking at the world," he said. "And I think that variety is healthy, and you get to know these other men on a more than just superficial level."



(Editor's note: This article is part of an ongoing, occasional series on local Eastern Catholic churches.)