The Maronite Church

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             As the Apostles and other Christians went forth from Jerusalem they encountered different traditions, cultures, customs and languages. Soon the Church became a  communion of Churches united in love with each other, looking to the See of Peter in Rome as the first among them all. The Gospel of Christ has reached the four corners of the world.

 

Jesus prayed for their unity, “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). For Catholics united with the Pope in Rome, there is already an amazing unity even within the reality of cultural diversity.

 

The Catholic Church, comprised of twenty-one Eastern Churches and one Western Church, is a communion of Churches, with the Pope as the visible head, “gathered in the one spirit,
breathing as though with two lungs - of the east and of the west - and burning with the love of Christ in one heart - having two ventricles” (Sacri Canones; Pope John Paul II).

 

One of the Eastern Catholic Churches is the Maronite Church. She has Her own hierarchy composed of a Patriarch who is Her father and head, and over forty Bishops who shepherd the many Eparchies (Dioceses) in Lebanon, the Middle East, the U.S.A. and throughout the world. The Patriarch governs the Church in a synodal manner with the body of bishops as is customary in the Eastern Churches.

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             There are six major traditions of the Catholic Church:

Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian,  Chaldean, Constantinopolitan / Byzantine, Latin /Roman.

             Each Catholic Church practices a common faith according to one of the six major traditions. The Maronite Church follows the Antiochene Syriac Tradition.

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             All Churches within the communion of Catholic Churches share the same:

• Dogmatic Faith

• Seven Mysteries (Sacraments)

• Moral Teachings

• Unity with the Pope of Rome.

All Catholics believe the same truths of the faith yet worship differently. One could say they share the same essence of faith, but have a different
expression of that faith.

Each Church embraces its own culture and tradition to
express Her faith in Jesus the Risen Lord.

 

Each one of the Catholic Churches:

•  Encompasses a unique liturgy, theology, spirituality and discipline;

• Is characterized by Her own cultural and linguistic tradition;

•  Is guided by a Patriarch, Major Archbishop, Metropolitan or other Hierarch, who along with the Synod of Bishops is in full communion with the Pope, the Successor of Saint Peter.

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The Maronite Church dates back to the early Christians of Antioch where “they were called
Christians for the first time” (Acts 11:26). She still uses as Her
liturgical language, Syriac, a
dialect of the Aramaic that Jesus Himself spoke, and takes Her name from the priest-hermit, Saint Maron, who died in 410 A.D.

Within a few years after Saint Maron’s death, over 800 monks adopted his way of life and became known as the
Maronites. Later, the Muslim invasions (7th -10th century), coupled with conflicts from within the Byzantine Empire, caused the Maronites to flee the plains of Syria and their churches and monasteries to the natural
protection of the mountains of Lebanon where they first lived in caves, using the mountains as their stronghold, establishing their villages around their churches and monasteries. For centuries, Maronites survived under difficult conditions and persecution.  St. John Maron is the first patriarch of Antioch to reside in Lebanon, he was elected in 702.

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The Maronite Church is the author of the establishment of the country of Lebanon; in its National Pact, the president of the republic is Maronite.

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Today Maronites have spread around the world where they seek to “flourish like the cedars of Lebanon.” (Ps. 92:12) while
following the example of their predecessors in the faith such as St. Sharbel, St. Rafqa, St. Nimatullah, Blessed Estephan, Blessed Jaques Haddad…

 

The United States is home to two Maronite Eparchies with about ninety (90) parishes, along with a Seminary, 2 Monasteries, 2 Convents, and a National Shrine to Our Lady of Lebanon ■