Maronite Church
Maronites (
Marunoye ܡܪܘܢܝܐܶ; in
Syriac,
Mâruniyya مارونية in
Arabic) are members of an
Eastern Catholic Church in
full communion with the
Pope of the
Roman Catholic Church.
Their heritage reaches back to
Maron in the early
5th century. The first Maronite patriarch,
John Maron, was appointed in the late
7th century. Today, they are one of the principal religious groups in
Lebanon.
Maronites were originally Aramaic-speaking people. After the Arab conquest of the Levant, they became
Arabic-speaking Christians, though, like most
Lebanese people, their ethnic background is a mix of Phoenicican, Aramaic/Assyrian, Greek, Roman, European (Crusaders, mainly French), Turk and Arabic elements.
|
St Maron (died sometime between 407 and 423), founder of the Maronite spiritual movement. Since the seventeenth century his feast day has been celebrated on 9 February. |
In the early 5th century, a community gathered around the
Christian hermit Maron. After his death in
435 (or
410, according to some sources), this community continued to grow and adopted the name of
Maronites.
It was in
Antioch that the followers of
Jesus Christ converted by
Paul and
Barnabas were first called Christians [Acts 11:26]. Antioch, especially after the destruction of
Jerusalem in
70, became a center for Christianity. According to Roman Catholic tradition, the first Bishop was
Saint Peter before his travels to
Rome. The third Bishop was the
Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch. Antioch became one of the five original
Patriarchates after
Constantine recognized Christianity.
Maron, a contemporary and friend of
St. John Chrysostom, was a monk in the fourth century who left Antioch for the
Orontes River to lead an
ascetic life, following the traditions of
Anthony the Great of the
Desert and
Pachomius. He soon had many followers that adopted his monastic life. Following the death of Maron in 410, his disciples built a monastery in his memory and formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church.
The Maronites held fast to the beliefs of the
Council of Chalcedon in 451. When 350 monks were slain by the
Monophysites of Antioch, the Maronites sought refuge in the mountains of Lebanon. Correspondence concerning the event brought papal recognition of the Maronites by
Pope Hormisdas on February 10, 518.
The martyrdom of the Patriarch of Antioch in 602 left the Maronites without a leader, and led them to elect their first Maronite Patriarch,
John Maron, in 685. The Maronites constantly struggled to retain their independence from the
Byzantine and the
Muslim empires. After the Muslim conquest of
Syria, the Maronites gained some military help from
Constantine IV and harassed the forces of
Umayyad Dynasty so that in
677 the
caliph decided to pay
tribute to them in return for peace. Some of the Maronites relocated to
Mount Lebanon at this time and formed several communities that became known as the
Marada. In
685 the Maronites found themselves isolated from the
Byzantine Empire and decided to appoint their own
Patriarch, John Maron, who had been a bishop of
Batroun,
Mount Lebanon. Through him, they claim full
apostolic succession through the
See of
Antioch.
A source of controversy surrounds the Maronites, as they have been accused of having fully adopted and embraced the
Monothelite heresy. However, this charge has been adequately explained away, as noted in the 2003 new Catholic Encyclopedia (see reference below). Maronites themselves insist that they have "never been out of communion with the Roman Catholic Church."
Little was heard from the Maronites for 400 years, as they quietly escaped the Muslim invasions in the mountains of Lebanon, until the Crusader
Raymond of Toulouse discovered the Maronites in the mountains near
Tripoli, Lebanon on his way to conquer Jerusalem. (Raymond returned to
besiege Tripoli after his conquest of Jerusalem.)
During the
Crusades in the
12th century, Maronites assisted the Crusaders and reaffirmed their affiliation with Catholicism and loyalty to the Pope in
1182. From this point onwards, the Maronites have upheld an unbroken orthodoxy and unity with Rome; however, there is also evidence of contact with Rome from before that date. For example, in
1100 Maronite Patriarch
Youseff Al Jirjisi received the crown and staff from
Pope Paschal II. In
1131 Maronite Patriarch
Gregorious Al Halati received letters from Pope
Innocent II.The Roman affiliation was to cost the Maronites dearly after Muslim rule returned. Anti-Christian
Mamelukes destroyed their fields, houses and churches alongside with those of
Druze and
Shiites. Connection to Rome was arduously maintained and a Maronite College established at Rome on
July 5,
1584.
At first, the
Ottoman Empire left Maronites to their own devices in their mountain strongholds. However, from
1585 to
1635 the Druze warlord
Fahkr-al-Din II conquered and ruled the
Greater Lebanon until he was defeated by Ottoman forces and executed at
Istanbul on
April 13,
1635.
In
1610, the Maronite monks of the Monastery of
Saint Anthony of
Quzhayya imported one of the first printing presses in the
Arabic-speaking world. The monasteries of Lebanon would later become key players in the
Arabic Renaissance of the late
19th century as a result of developing Arabic, as well as
Syriac, printable script.
In
1638,
France declared that it would protect the Catholics within the Ottoman Empire, including the Maronites. In
1860 Maronites clashed with Druze until French intervention and Ottoman diplomacy stopped that. In
1866 Youssef Karam led a Maronite uprising in Mount Lebanon against governor
Dawood Pasha. European intervention led to his exile to
Algeria.
The Maronites, because of their monastic origin, were able to withstand intense pressure and even persecution to preserve their Church, not just by the Muslims, but also by separated brethren such as the Orthodox and Churches of the East, as well as efforts at Latinization from Rome. Even today, the words at the Consecration of the Mass are said in
Syriac, which is derived from
Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
Maronites gained self-rule under the
French Mandate of Lebanon in
1920 and secured their position in the independent Lebanon in
1943. They were one of the three main factions in the
Lebanese Civil War.
|
The Peshitta is the standard Syriac Bible, used by the Maronite Church, amongst others. The illustration is of the Peshitta text of Exodus 13:14-16 produced in Amida in the year 464. |
The head of the Maronite Church is the
Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, who is elected by the bishops of the Maronite church and now resides in Bkirki, north of
Beirut. The current Patriarch (since
1986) is
Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. When a new patriarch is elected and enthroned, he requests ecclesiastic communion from the
Pope, thus maintaining the
Catholic Church communion.
Although Catholic in doctrine, Maronites retain their own
liturgy and hierarchy. Strictly speaking, the Maronite church belongs to the
Antiochene Tradition and is a
West Syro-Antiochene Rite.
Syriac is the
liturgical language, instead of
Latin. Cardinal
Sfeir's personal commitment accelerated liturgical reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, bearing fruit in
1992 with the publication of a new Maronite
Missal. This represents an attempt to return to the original form of the
Antiochene Liturgy. The Service of the Word has been described as far more enriched than previous Missals, and it features six
Anaphoras (Eucharistic Prayers).
Celibacy is not required for deacons or priests with
parishes, but monks must remain celibate, as are bishops who are normally selected from the monasteries. The bishops who serve as eparchs and archeparchs of the eparchies and archeparchies (the equivalent of diocese and archdiocese in the Western Church) are answerable to the patriarch.
The exact worldwide Maronite population is not known, although it is at least 3 million, according to the Catholic Church. [
1] It is estimated that 640,000 to 850,000 remain in
Lebanon where they constitute up to 23% of the population. According to a Lebanese agreement celebrated among the various religious leaders, the president must be a Maronite. Syrian Maronites total 40,000 and they follow the archdioceses of
Aleppo and
Damascus and the
Diocese of
Latakia. There is also a Maronite community in
Cyprus which speaks
Cypriot Maronite Arabic. They are a recognized religious minority on the island and the community elects a representative to sit in the house of representatives (parliament) to voice their interests. They are probably descended from those Maronites who accompanied the crusaders there.
In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
Ottoman persecution led many Maronites to emigrate to
Latin America, as well as
North America,
Europe and
Australia, where they founded Maronite parishes.
The two residing eparchies in the United States have issued their own "Maronite Census". The Census is designed to estimate approximately how many Maronites reside in the United States due to their emigrations to that country. Many Maronites have been assimilated into American culture, often taking on Roman Catholicism as there were no Maronite parishes or priests available. The Census was designed to locate those people.
Modern
Maronites, like other
Christians in the
Levant, often adopt
French or other
Western European
given names for their children like "
Michel", "
Georges", "
Carole", "
Charles", "
Antoine", and "
Pierre".
Given names of
Arabic origins identical with those of their
Muslim neighbors are also common, such as "Khalil," "Samir," "Salim," "Jameel," or "Tawfik." Other common names are strictly Christian and are
Aramaic, or
Lebanese Arabic, forms of biblical,
Hebrew, or Greek Christian names, such as "Antun," (Anthony, also "Tanios" or "Tannous"), "Butros" (Peter), "Semaan" or "Shamaoun" (Simon), "Jeryes" (George), "Elie" (Ilyas, or Elias), or "Beshara" (literally, "Good News" in reference to the
Gospel). Many are also named after Maronite saints, including the Aramaic names "Maroun" (after their patron saint, Maron), and "Sharbel", or "Charbel".
*
Aramaic history*
Bsharri* Kamal Salibi -
A House of Many Mansions - The History of Lebanon Reconsidered (University of California Press, 1990).
* Father AJ Salim -
Captivated by Your Teachings - A Resource Book for Adult Maronite Catholics (ET Nedder Publishing, Tucson, Arizona, 2002)
*
Maronite Church.
New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 2003.
* Riley-Smith, Johnathan -
The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995)
* Soffee, Anne Thomas -
Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love (Chicago Review Press, Chicago, 2002)
*
Article at Phoenicia.org*
Our Lady of Lebanon*
Beith Souryoyé Morounoyé - The Syriac Maronites*
The Maronite Patriarchate*
The USA Maronite Census*
The Maronite Catholic Church of Australia*
Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn*
Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of St. Louis*
The Eastern Catholic Churches*
Catholic Encyclopedia - Maronites*
Catholic World News: Trying to Shake a Troubled Past — Maronite population discussed
