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Who are the Maronites * |
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'' The name Maronite points out a
particular relationship with the saint monk whose name was Maroun in Syriac and
Maron in Greek." Saint Maron is the patron saint of the Maronite Church, which
is the only Catholic Church to hold the name of its founder. "He is mentioned
in a letter written sometime before the year 407 by the powerful patriarch of
Constantinople, John Chrysostom. He is also mentioned about thirty years later
by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyr (d. 466), who described the profound devotion which
the monks of the monastery Beth-Maron had to their departed spiritual father
Maron. |
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Maron was a contemporary of Saint
Patrick. As with Patrick in Ireland, Saint Maron attracted people from far and
near who were drawn by his godliness and wisdom and who desired to live under
his spiritual guidance. Just as later in Europe the settlements that grew up
around monasteries became cities and nations, the monastery Beth-Maron built
near Saint Maron's tomb became the nucleus of a community where men and women,
under the guidance of the monks, could find material and spiritual happiness.
This is the reason why the liturgy and the organization of the Maronite
community even today has monastic characteristics. It is also the reason why
for centuries the spiritual leaders of the Maronites have kept watch over the
political and social rights of their flocks. |
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The history of the monastery
Beth-Maron was agitated and eventful. Situated in the north of Syria on the
banks of the Orantes, probably at Qal'at al-Madiq, the monastery belonged
juridically to the venerable patriarch church of Antioch. The church of Antioch
was founded by Saint Peter and was the church where the disciples of Jesus were
first called Christians. Along with Alexandria in Egypt and Constantinople,
Antioch was one of the most important spiritual centers of the east. It
outranked the others in biblical scholarship. Two factors, however, led to the
gradual decay of the church of Antioch: its political position as a buffer
state between the Byzantine Empire and its antagonistic powers; and its
ecclesiastical division by schisms and heresies. More and more the faithful set
all their hopes on the Maronite community where, in spite of persecutions and
devastating wars, the spiritual leaders guided and protected their faithful
with moderation and wisdom. |
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In the beginning of the 8th century,
the community of Beth-Maron had to proclaim one of its members, the monk John,
already bishop of Botrys in Lebanon, as patriarch of Antioch. Since that day,
the spiritual leader of the Maronite community has been patriarch of Antioch
and "the Whole East," that is, of the territory administered by the capital
Antioch. |
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Unfortunately, what we know about the
first Maronite patriarch John Maron (Youhanna Maroun) can not be grounded in contemporary
documents. What we have are pious stories about his life created by devoted
people to honor him. There are documents written since the time of the
Crusaders, but the legends they contain must be set aside as unreliable
evidence. |
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It seems that it was during the reign
of Saint John Maron (Youhanna Maroun) that the Maronite community left the north of Syria to take
refuge in the "Holy Valley", the Qadisha of the Lebanese mountains. There,
probably in the year 749, they built their first church in Lebanon, Mar-Mama in
Ehden". It was the undertaking of those disciples and followers of
St.Maron to preach Christianity among inhabitants of these mountains.Noteworthy
that the inhabitants of the Lebanese coastal cities and the Bekaa were the
first to embrace Christianity around the year 34 A.D. If we refer to the four
Evangelists, the Christ addressed to Lebanese when He visited Tyre, Sidon and
their surroundings, which are regions that witnessed some of His miracles.
However, villages and inside mountainous regions remained the refuge of pagan
followers of God Baal. Though the difficulties Saint Maron disciples
encountered in spreading Christianity, they accomplished this daring mission
and achieved their goal successfully. "While the Maronites began a new life in
Lebanon, the monastery of Beth-Maron continued its struggle to survive the
damages caused by the armies of the Byzantine Empire and by the invasions of
the Arabs. This holy site of the Maronites was completely devastated, probably
in the 10th century. So far as we know, only one manuscript of its rich library
escaped the pillage and is preserved now in the British Museum. |
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IIn the meantime, thanks to the
prudence of their spiritual leaders, the Maronite community enjoyed the peace
of the Cedars and the relative security of the Lebanese mountains. From that
time, the history of the Maronites and the history of Lebanon have been
intertwined. Without the Maronites there would not have been a Lebanon, and
without Lebanon the destiny of Christianity in the Middle East would certainly
have been more unstable. |
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In the beginning of their stay in
Lebanon, isolated by the mountains and worried about the political unrest in
the Near East, the Maronites faithfully adhered to the creed of the Catholic
Church. But here is a paradox. Because the tradition of Antioch always
preferred biblical expressions over dogmatic formulations the creed they
professed did not contain the "new" formulations of the councils regarding the
Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Hesitations to accept these formulations belonged
to the sphere of theological terminology; they did not lessen the unshakable
attachment of the Maronites to the Catholic faith." In fact Maronites followers
are renowned for their strong commitment to the Universal Catholic Church and
are in perfect harmony with the Holy See. |
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In the Lebanon of the
11th and 12th centuries, the Maronites found themselves once more
between the Latin Church of the West and the churches of the East. The
Latin missionaries found warm welcome in the Maronite community. They did not,
however, understand or appreciate the profound value and the riches of the
oriental traditions, and tried to impose, often with success, the juridical and
liturgical structures of the Latin Church as the "only true Catholic"'
structures. The Maronites, in turn, with their traditional spirit of moderation
and openness, enjoyed enriching their oriental patrimony with the richness of
Christian dogmas as it had developed in the West. They also introduced into the
Oriental churches such expressions of Western devotional life as the rosary and
the stations of the cross |
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It would be easy to assume the
Maronites of being responsible for the "Latinization" of the Eastern churches.
but such would be an unfair accusation. The Maronites always kept and jealously
guarded their Oriental traditions. They were convinced, however, and still are,
that their own traditions can grow only in the always challenging contact with
the universal church. |
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This contact with the
Latin Church enriched the intellectual world of Europe in the Middle Ages.
Maronites taught Oriental languages and literature at the universities of Italy
and France. Thanks to their position between East and West, and to their
knowledge of the occidental theological tradition, they successfully started
the dialogue with the Orthodox churches of the Near East. The history of the
Melkites and Chaldeans, of Catholic Armenians and Syrians, shows the important
role of the Maronites in the foundation of these communities. |
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Today some one million fifty thousand
Maronites in Lebanon courageously maintain, under the guidance of their
patriarch, this tradition of hospitality and openness in the politically
explosive and religiously nearly impossible situation of the Near East. This is
the history of the Maronites, a people between two worlds, between East and
West, between Latin Church and the Oriental churches, between Catholicism and
Orthodoxy, between Islam and Christianity. |
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In the post-Vatican II Latin Church,
the introduction of the vernacular language into the Roman liturgy has
encouraged all nations to celebrate the unique sacrifice of the Lord in the
language, music and symbolism proper to each people and culture. While the
Latin Church is rediscovering, sometimes painfully, the riches of this
liturgical renewal, the Maronites always celebrated a liturgy in which they can
recognize their culture and history: their relation to Antioch, their monastic
origins, their contact with the Latin Church. It is always with emotion that
the Maronites listen to the words of consecration sung by the Maronite priest
in Syriac, so close to the language in which our Lord, on the day before He
suffered and died, pronounced these words for the first time. |
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The Maronite liturgy stresses these
words with gestures which probably belong to a very old Christian symbolism.
After the words, "He gave thanks and praise, and blessed the bread," the priest
blesses the bread with the sign of the cross; and after the words "He broke the
bread," he touches the four ends of the host. In the same way, the sign of the
cross is drawn on the chalice, and after the words, "this blood is to be shed",
the priest inclines the chalice to the four sides as if to shed it in reality.
With these gestures, the Maronite liturgy likes to stress the universal
character of the Eucharist, and the faithful, by their "Amen", participate in
this universal gift and universal mission. |
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There is another
important element in the consecration of the Maronite liturgy. While the Latin
Mass brings the consecration to a close by the recitation of the words "Do this
in memory of me," the Maronite liturgy continues with the biblical reference
"Do this in memory of me . . . until I come again," a verse which always was a
favorite text in the spirituality of Antioch |
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In this addition, the eschatological
character of the theology of Antioch, which the Maronite Church has inherited
and enriched, clearly takes form. Once more this theology is situated between
the theology of the East and that of the West, as the Maronite patriarch
pointed out in one of his interventions at Vatican Council II. While the
theology of the West has always stressed the actualization of the world, and
while the theology of Byzantine Christianity continues to celebrate the divine
liturgy which the Risen Lord accomplishes in His heavenly glory (compared to
which all things of this world are vain and idle) the Maronite liturgy
celebrates the Eucharist in expectation of the coming of the Lord. |
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The Maronites in their
liturgy are painfully aware of the fact that we are actually not in the glory
of the Lord and in the plenitude of His redemption. We are awaiting it. On the
other hand, they realize in faith that this sacramental sign is really
rahbouno, a pledge of glory to come, and zouodo, a viaticum which really
transforms a simple terrestrial being into a pilgrim on the way to his or her
home, the "house of the heavenly Father". |
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The interventions of the Maronite
bishops at the Vatican Council and the publications of Maronite scholars show
clearly that the Maronites are aware of the precious contribution that the
realistic and biblical theology of Antioch can make, not only in the dialogue
between Rome and Byzantium, but especially in the delicate interfaith relations
with Islam and Synagogue for which the death of God and the divinization of a
man remain a scandal. |
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The long tradition of living between
two worlds prepared millions of Maronites to live far from their country and
holy sites, between the culture of their adopted country and their own
tradition. |
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The Maronite Church in the World is
neither a national church nor a territorial church. It is the implantation of a
venerable old Christian tradition around the World. |
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In conclusion, it is worthy to
note that Lebanon remains undoubtedly the only spiritual Land of
Maronites who preserve today, as strongly as ever, their tradition of
hospitality, openness, attachment to their Land, thirst for freedom, and
who are resolutely united around their Patriarchate. |
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(*) Quotations taken from an article by Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Ex-Superior General of the Society of Jesus S.J |
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Copyright Maronite Foundation 2009. All rights reserved |
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