TheAromanian Missal (Aromanian:Lituryieru armãnescu;Romanian:Liturghier aromânesc) is an anonymous[1]Aromanian-language instructiveliturgical book (missal)[2][3] variously referred to as dating from the beginning,[4][3] the first half,[5] the middle[6] and the second half of the 18th century.[7] It is the first extensive text in Aromanian,[5] and includes translations ofsermons and other religious texts into Aromanian.[8] The Aromanian Missal is believed to have been written inMoscopole, once a prosperousAromanian city,[7] and uses theGreek alphabet[6] due to archaic forms ofGreek being considered the appropriate language for high and literary functions in those times within theBalkans.[9] In recent times, the text of the liturgy has begun to circulate more actively among theAromanians in Albania with support from theAromanian diaspora. In a 2002 study on the Aromanians, German researcherThede Kahl stated that priest Thoma sang this Aromanian-language liturgy at theSt. Nicholas Church (Aromanian:Bãserica Ayiu Nicola) of Moscopole.[3]
The Aromanian Missal was discovered in 1939 byIlo Mitkë Qafëzezi, a scholar and writer of mixedAlbanian–Aromanian origins, in the archives of theNational Library of Albania inTirana. Upon its discovery, Qafëzezi sent copies of the manuscript to his colleagues at theUniversity of BucharestTheodor Capidan andVictor Papacostea [ro], as well as to theRomanian newspaperUniversul. Later, in 1957, Qafëzezi sent copies of the document to theIorgu Iordan – Alexandru Rosetti Institute of Linguistics [ro] for the missal's study. In a 1962monograph, the Aromanian linguistMatilda Caragiu Marioțeanu formally published the contents of the missal as theLiturghier aromânesc ("Aromanian Missal").[10]
The Aromanian Missal is one of the earliest Aromanian-language works along with the also anonymousCodex Dimonie and the publications ofTheodore Kavalliotis,Daniel Moscopolites andConstantin Ucuta.[1] Caragiu Marioțeanu described the Aromanian language of the missal as being "relatively unitary, systematic, and consistent, and closer to the language used by the writers from the end of the 19th century". She also highlighted that it is the only Aromanian-language book for divine service withoutRomanian or newly-introducedLatin influences.[2]
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