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The Maronite Church
We are a Christian community that has ancient roots going back to the Apostles.
Our church comes from the Syriac Maronite Catholic Tradition that is in Communion with the Pope through our Patriarch in Lebanon. Our bishop is based in Los Angeles where he presides over 40 other Maronite churches from Ohio to California. -We seek to celebrate the saving presence of Christ among us through worship, social interaction, and service. -We are glad that you are here!
Yes, We are Catholic.
The Catholic 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.
The Eastern Catholic 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:
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Dogmatic Faith
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Seven Mysteries (Sacraments)
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Moral Teachings
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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:
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Encompasses a unique liturgy, theology, spirituality and discipline;
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Is characterized by Her own cultural and linguistic tradition;
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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.
The Maronite Church
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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 â–
Our Maronite Parish in Cincinnati
Founding parishioners came to Cincinnati during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from the Middle East, fleeing the Ottoman persecutions and World War I. Many families from Lebanon, Syria Palestine, Jordan, etc. established their life here and gathered as a parish in 1910. The Divine Liturgy began to be celebrated by Rev. Beshara Kayata as first pastor, in a building on Third and Broadway streets.
The parish was served by Maronite priests until 1939, then Latin archdiocesan priests until 1948, when the late Msgr.
Joseph Abood was appointed pastor, serving the church for the next 39 years (1948-1987).
The church was forced to move in 1955 to make way for a roadway extension project. At this time the building on Victory Parkway was purchased. The parish worshiped in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains for about a year while the new building was renovated. In 1981 a large hall was added, and in 2017 the Thomas ctr. was acquired.
In the mid. 80s and 90s, the priests and community of St. Anthony of Padua assisted in establishing the Maronite community of St. Ignatius of Antioch in Dayton, OH.
In 2010 the parish celebrated its centennial. On July 2016, the Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Peter Cardinal Rai, visited Cincinnati. The Church was remodeled in 2021 despite the pandemic.
Thank God we are a vibrant family serving hundreds of Maronites and the faithful of the Metropolitan Cincinnati area, Northern and Central Kentucky, Eastern Indiana and beyond â–