Saint Maron, ermite
Parmi les nombreux moines
de Syrie adonnés aux formes les plus rudes et les plus rigoureuses de l’ascèse,
Théodoret de Cyr fait mémoire de l’un d’eux qui « ayant décidé de vivre à ciel
ouvert, se retira sur le sommet d’une montagne ». C’est le moine Maron, cet
ermite qui vécut en anachorète dans le nord du Liban dans la région actuelle
d'Homs, passant toute sa vie exposé aux intempéries et entièrement voué à la
prière. Après sa mort, survenue vers 423, un monastère s'élèvera sur son
tombeau et "Mar Maroun" deviendra un grand lieu de pèlerinage. Ce
monastère sera la capitale religieuse des chrétiens de Syrie qui furent appelés
"ceux de Maroun" ou maronites. Ils conservèrent ce nom quand, pour
éviter d'être exterminés par les musulmans envahisseurs, ils se réfugièrent
dans les montagnes du Liban. L'Eglise maronite compte actuellement près de deux
millions de fidèles regroupés en un patriarcat rattaché à Rome de tout temps.
Saint Maron
Moine au Liban, père de
l'Église maronite (+ 410)
Il vécut en anachorète dans le nord du Liban dans la région actuelle d'Homs. Il s'était construit une petite hutte à côté d'un temple païen abandonné, mais en fait il passait tout son temps en plein air, s'exposant volontairement à toutes les intempéries. Après sa mort, un monastère s'élèvera sur son tombeau et "Mar Maroun" deviendra un grand lieu de pèlerinage. Ce monastère sera la capitale religieuse des chrétiens de Syrie qui furent appelés "ceux de Maroun" ou maronites. Ils conservèrent ce nom quand, pour éviter d'être exterminés par les musulmans envahisseurs, ils se réfugièrent dans les montagnes du Liban. L'Église maronite compte actuellement près de deux millions de fidèles regroupés en un patriarcat rattaché à Rome de tout temps.
Saint Maroun est fêté le 9 février au Liban.
"A l'exemple de Saint Maron, et sous l'influence de sa vie édifiante, beaucoup de disciples vouèrent une bonne partie de leur existence à la prière, tandis que d'autres s'isolaient sur les cimes des montagnes, ou se cloîtraient dans les grottes pour communier avec le divin. La renommée et la sainteté de Maron étaient si grandes que Saint Jean Chrysostome lui dépêcha une lettre vers l'an 405 qui témoignait du respect qu'il vouait au Saint et demandait d'intercéder pour lui dans sa prière." (source: vie de Saint Maron - Opus Libani)
- vidéo: Les maronites célèbrent la fête de Saint Maroun (Christian Media Center - 2017)
Sur la montagne près d'Apamée en Syrie, vers 423, saint Maron, ermite, qui se
donna de tout son cœur à une pénitence et une vie intérieure profonde. Sur sa
tombe fut construit un monastère célèbre, d'où tire son origine la nation qui
plus tard portera son nom.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/600/Saint-Maron.html
SAINT MARON
Référence Historique
La seule référence capable de nous renseigner sur la vie du Saint est l’"
Historia Religiosa" de Théodoret, évêque de Cyr, écrite vers l’an 440 et
dans laquelle l’écrivain évoque la vie des ascètes de la Cyrrhestique et de ses
environs. Le chapitre XVI du livre contient amples détails sur le Saint, sur sa
vie mystique et son empreinte indéniable sur ses disciples.
Location géographique
La Cyrrhestique où se déroula la vie de Saint Maron est située en Syrie du
Nord. L’organisation romaine de l’époque avait divisé la province de Syrie en
trois parties: La Syrie Première ou Syrie Creuse (Coele-Syrie), avec Antioche
pour métropole. La Syrie Seconde ou Syrie Heureuse (Salutaris), avec Apamée
pour métropole. La Syrie Troisième ou Euphratèse, avec Hiérapolis (mieux connu
sous le nom de Membej) pour métropole
Les régions situés au sud d'Apamée, s'étendant jusqu'aux frontières
méridionales Libanaises étaient divisées en deux sections: La Phoenicie
Libanaise, avec Homs puis Damas pour métropole et La Phoenicie Maritime avec
Tyr pour capitale. Le diocèse de Cyrrhestique, qui avait à sa tête l'évêque
Théodoret de Cyr s'étendait à l'ouest de L'Euphratése.
Une distance évalué à deux jours de marches séparait la ville de Cyr situé au
nord-est d'Antioches. Soixante dix kilomètres la séparaient de la ville d'Alep.
Si l'on se référe à l'historien Théodoret de Cyr. St Marron, ayant choisit de
mener une vie d'ascète, élu domicile au sommet d'une montagne abrupte qui porte
le nom de Nabo, (par référence au dieu païen Nabo) dont le temple était au
sommet de cette montagne. Le village avoisinant était connu sous le nom de Kfar
Nabo.
Vie Exemplaire
Saint Maron consacra le temple au culte du vrai Dieu. A l’exemple de Saint
Maron, et sous l’influence de sa vie édifiante, beaucoup de disciples vouèrent
une bonne partie de leur existence à la prière, tandis que d’autres s’isolaient
sur les cîmes des montagnes, ou se cloîtraient dans les grottes pour communier
avec le divin. La renommée et la sainteté de Maron étaient si grandes que Saint
Jean Chrysostome lui dépêcha une lettre vers l’an 405 qui témoignait du respect
qu’il vouait au Saint et demandait d’intercéder pour lui dans sa prière.
D’après Théodoret, Saint Maron, décédé vers l’année 410, aurait exprimé son
désir d’être inhumé dans la tombe de Saint Zabina, qui représentait pour lui le
modèle de vie édifiante. Sitôt sa mort connue, "les habitants d’un bourg
limitrophe fort peuplé, survinrent en masse, dispersèrent les autres,
s’emparèrent de ce trésor tant convoité, édifièrent un vaste tombeau et depuis,
ils en récoltent le profit, honorant ce vainqueur d’une fête publique".
Il semble que le village mentionné par l’historien est celui de Barad, proche
de Kfar Nabo, si dense en population et chef-lieu d’une large contrée. Au début
du Ve siècle, époque qui coïncide si bien avec la date du décès de Saint Maron
en 410, une grande église y fut édifiée à l’intérieur de laquelle se trouve un
sarcophage qui aurait servi à garder la dépouille de Saint Maron. Dans la
tradition maronite, les disciples de Saint Maron auraient transféré ses
reliques, en particulier son crâne, au couvent de Saint Maron ou "Beit
Maroun", édifié en l’an 452 sur l’Oronte entre Alep et Hama en Syrie
actuelle.
Relique du Saint
Le crâne fut ramené au Liban, au couvent de Kfarhaï, dans le région de Batroun,
au début du VII’ siècle. Écoutons ce que dit le patriarche Douaihi: "Quand
Jean Maron fut établi à Kfarhaï, il construisit un sanctuaire et un couvent
dédiés à Saint Maron. Il y déposa le crâne du Saint artisan miraculeux de
guérison des maladies. C’est pour cette raison que le couvent fut connu par
Rech Maro c’est-à-dire Tête de Maron",
La tête du Saint fut transférée plus tard en Italie. En l’année 1130,
débarquait en Syrie l’un des moines bénédictins, alors chef du Couvent de la
Croix situé à peu de distance de la ville de Foligno en Italie, prit livraison
du crâne de Saint Maron, après avoir effectué son pèlérinage aux Lieux Saints.
De retour en son pays, il prêcha les vertus du Saint auquel la foule des
fidèles voua un culte fervent. C’est alors que l’évêque de Foligno fit transférer
le crâne dans l’église de l’archevêché en 1194. Les fidèles coulèrent une
statue en argent représentant l’effigie du Saint et dans laquelle ils
déposèrent ses reliques. Monseigneur Youssef-el-Debs relate que lors de son
passage en Italie en 1887, l’évêque de Foligno lui remit quelques fragments de
reliques de Saint.
SOURCE : http://www.opuslibani.org.lb/maroun/st001fr.htm
St.
Maron's Maronite Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Saint Maron, l’ermite qui
a fui les hommes mais que les hommes ont suivi
Le Liban populaire et
officiel célèbre le 9 février de chaque année le souvenir de Maron, un saint
ermite qui vécut au IVe et début du Ve siècle en Syrie du Nord et dont les
disciples aujourd’hui ont essaimé dans le monde entier après avoir élu domicile
au Liban.
Saint Maron
Du temps de saint Maron,
la Syrie du Nord se divisait administrativement en trois régions : la Syrie
première ou Syrie creuse (Koïlésyrie) dont le chef-lieu était Antioche ; la
Syrie seconde ou Syrie la bonne dont le chef-lieu était Apamée ; la Syrie
troisième, enfin, ou Syrie de l’Euphrate dont le chef-lieu était Hiérapolis ou
Manbig. À l’ouest de la Syrie euphratique et au nord de la Syrie première
s’étendait une région immense dont la superficie atteignait quarante mille
carrés environ. On l’appelait Cyrrée ou la Cyrrhestique, du nom de Cyr, sa plus
grande cité. Cyr, qui était à deux jours de marche au N.-E. d’Antioche et à
70km environ au N.-O. d’Alep, se trouvait dans une sorte de vallée spacieuse
entourée de montagnes peu élevées en une chaîne de sommets dont l’altitude ne
dépassait guère 800 mètres. C’est à cette ville, dont les ruines sont encore
visibles à 15km au N.-O. de Killis en Turquie, que fut envoyé, en 423, le
prédicateur et historien Théodoret d’Antioche, sacré récemment évêque de la
région. Il écrivit un livre sur l’Histoire religieuse où il rapporte de
nombreux détails sur les œuvres des ascètes, leurs mortifications, la manière
dont Dieu, par leur médiation, manifestait sa générosité et opérait des
miracles ; citant, en particulier, ceux qui, dans son évêché, étaient devenus
célèbres et dont la sainteté avait eu un rayonnement bienfaisant et, à leur
tête, Maron le «divin» comme il l’appelait. Mais qui était au juste ce saint
homme ?
C’est dans une lettre que
saint Jean Chrysostome a envoyé de son lieu d’exil, Cucuse, ville d’Arménie, à
«Maron le prêtre ermite», autour des années 404 – 405, qu’il est fait mention,
pour la première fois, de saint Maron. Il s’agit de la trente-sixième lettre du
saint précité publiée dans la Patrologie Grecque de Migne. Ce document-témoin,
écrit par un contemporain, prouve que le grand patriarche connaissait bien le
prêtre ermite, qu’il entretenait des relations épistolaires directes avec lui,
qu’il appréciait sa piété et lui demandait même, du lieu de son exil, de se
souvenir de lui dans ses prières.
La lecture de l’Histoire
de Théodoret montre que Maron l’ermite naquit dans son évêché, y a vécu sa vie
d’ermite, y est mort et y fut enterré. D’où son dire – après avoir mentionné
les ermites d’Antioche et de ses environs – «qu’il inaugure les biographies des
ermites de Cyr». Puis, après avoir rapporté les faits de Mycimas et
d’Achbicymas il passe à saint Maron et enchaîne : «La plupart des ermites de la
région de Cyr ont suivi la voie tracée par Maron l’ermite se faisant ses
disciples». Il y a quelque désaccord sur la détermination du lieu de naissance
du saint. Toutefois, la plupart des historiens admettent qu’il est né dans la
région de Cyr et non à proximité d’Antioche. Toujours est-il que les premières
personnes prises par ce rayonnement spirituel jaillissant de l’une de leurs
collines ce sont les habitants de Cyr. Sur cette colline, on avait jadis
construit un temple païen tombé en ruines au cours des siècles. La région est
ainsi devenue déserte et soustraite à l’activité des habitants.
C’est alors, au cours de
la deuxième moitié du IVe siècle, qu’un moine ermite recherchant la solitude et
la tranquillité s’y installa. Il «consacra» le temple païen – réservé aux
démons depuis les temps anciens, comme le dit Théodoret – et s’en servit pour
l’adoration du Dieu unique. Il passait ses jours et ses nuits «sous la voûte du
ciel» veillant et adorant. Si le temps devenait mauvais, s’il faisait plus
froid et si la neige venait à tomber, il se réfugiait alors non pas dans les
ruines du temple où il n’allait que pour célébrer la messe, semble-t-il, mais
dans une petite tente faite de peau de chèvre – et les chèvres existaient en
grand nombre dans ces régions montagneuses – pareille à cette tente décrite par
Théodoret même dans sa biographie de Jacques l’ermite, disciple de Maron.
Toutefois il s’abritait peu souvent sous cette tente et si le ciel se calmait,
il revenait dans son lieu d’ermitage dénudé. Pour ce qui est de ses exercices
ascétiques, «il ne se contentait pas d’exercer son âme à ceux devenus habituels»,
tels le jeûne, les longues prières, les nuits de veille consacrées à la pensée
de Dieu, la pratique prolongée de la génuflexion et de l’adoration, la
récitation de la prière à heures fixes, la méditation sur les perfections
divines, la contemplation de Dieu, la claustration dans un espace étroit dont
il ne sortait que pour travailler la terre en vue d’épuiser le corps et d’en
étouffer les désirs ; le fait de mâter le corps avec des vêtements rudes, des
bures en poils, celui de se priver parfois de s’asseoir et de dormir durant des
nuits entières, puis enfin le fait de se consacrer à prêcher les visiteurs, à
les conseiller et à consoler ceux qui, parmi eux, étaient tristes ou malheureux
; Maron ne se contentait pas de tout cela. Il y ajoutait ce que «sa sagesse
inventait afin d’atteindre la pleine sagesse, car le combattant se soucie
d’équilibrer la grâce et les actes, la récompense du lutteur étant à la mesure
de ses actes».
Maron l’ermite a fui les
hommes et les hommes l’ont suivi. Il a fui la célébrité sur le sommet d’une
montagne isolée, mais ses actes l’ont rendu célèbre et le parfum de sa sainteté
s’est propagé jusqu’à la grande capitale du pays, jusqu’à Antioche et de là il
parvint aux confins de l’Empire. Saint Jean Chrysostome parle de lui dans son
lieu d’exil à Cucuse, ville d’Arménie. Le saint patriarche avait connu l’ermite
en personne – ainsi que cela ressort de sa lettre célèbre – et la valeur de sa
sainteté ; aussi a-t-il pensé à lui dans son exil et lui a-t-il écrit cette
lettre précieuse, chargée d’affection spirituelle réciproque, de respect
mutuel, de fraternité dans le Christ, malgré la différence hiérarchique entre
le grand patriarche et le simple moine. Il écrivit en 404 ou 405 alors que les
deux saints parvenaient au terme de leur vie : «À Maron le prêtre ermite, les
liens d’affection et d’amitié qui nous unissent à vous, vous rendent présent à
nous, car les yeux de l’amour percent naturellement les distances et l’usure du
temps ne les affaiblit pas. Nous aurions aimé vous écrire plus souvent, mais
certaines difficultés et la rareté des voyageurs qui vont vers vous nous en
empêchent. À présent, nous vous envoyons nos meilleures salutations et nous
aimons vous assurer que nous portons toujours vivant votre souvenir où que nous
soyons, vu la place de choix que vous occupez dans notre pensée. Ne soyez donc
pas avare de vos bonnes nouvelles, car les nouvelles de votre bonne santé nous
procurent, dans notre solitude et exil, la plus grande joie et la plus grande
consolation, et nous nous réjouissons beaucoup de savoir que vous vous portez
bien. Tout ce que nous vous demandons c’est de prier Dieu pour nous. Maron le
bienheureux, temple de l’esprit saint et pur, s’est épuisé au service du
Seigneur depuis le matin jusqu’au soir».
Aussi a-t-il mérité le
repos au crépuscule de cette vie pleine. C’était vers l’an 410. Nous déduisons
cela de la confrontation des faits et des textes ; nous savons ainsi que saint
Jean Chrysostome a écrit sa lettre à Maron en 405, dans les meilleures
suppositions, donc deux ans avant la mort de Chrysostome. D’autre part, nous
apprenons, dans l’Histoire de Théodoret, qu’après la mort de Maron une grande
église a été érigée en son nom, qui est devenue un lieu de pèlerinage. Et l’on
sait que Théodoret a écrit son Histoire au cours de son épiscopat (423 – 458),
ce qui fait que la mort de saint Maron a dû avoir lieu entre 405 et 423. Si à
présent nous devions admettre que quelques années se sont écoulées après la
mort du saint et la construction de cette grande église qui ont permis à
celle-ci de devenir assez célèbre pour que Théodoret en parle avec insistance,
nous ne serions pas éloignés de l’année 410 historiquement convenue pour la
mort de saint Maron (…) . Le saint est mort entouré d’un grand nombre de ses
disciples qui avaient peuplé les monts et les vallées de la Cyrrhestique ainsi
que ses grottes, si bien qu’elle était devenue un jardin fleuri où
s’épanouissaient les fruits d’une sainteté riche de diversité.
Peut-être que le disciple
le plus attaché au Maître et le plus proche de l’idéal de la spiritualité
était-ce directeur de conscience que fut saint Zabéna. Il semble, en effet,
qu’il fut plus âgé que saint Maron, et saint Maron respectait sa vieillesse
sainte, en louait les vertus, imitait certaines de ses pratiques ascétiques,
l’appelait père et maître, lui envoyait ses visiteurs en vue d’obtenir sa
bénédiction. C’est pourquoi certains historiens font de Zabéna le maître de saint
Maron, alors que d’autres le considèrent son disciple. Il s’est fait aussi que
Zabéna est mort avant Maron. Celui-ci demanda alors, vers la fin de ses jours,
d’être enterré dans la tombe de Zabéna, voulant confirmer par là les vertus du
vieillard disparu et visant à donner à ses disciples une leçon d’humilité et
d’abnégation. Toutefois sa dernière volonté n’a pas été exaucée. À peine
avait-il rendu l’âme que les foules affluèrent des villages nombreux vers son
corps. Les uns et les autres ne désiraient qu’une chose : ravir le corps et
l’enterrer dans leur village. La dispute a failli dégénérer en bataille. Et ce
sont les habitants d’un village du sud de Cyr qui, ayant finalement triomphé,
ont emporté le corps et l’ont enterré dans leur village. C’est alors qu’ils ont
édifié sur la tombe cette église que mentionne Théodoret et qu’il situe loin de
Cyr, son siège épiscopal, sans qu’elle soit pourtant en dehors de son évêché. À
ce sujet il écrit : «Bien que nous soyons loin du saint, sa bénédiction nous
touche, et son souvenir tient pour nous lieu de ses reliques». Ainsi, la tombe
du saint et la première église érigée en son nom se situeraient au nord de la
Syrie, vers le sud de Cyr, à mi-distance entre elle et Alep. Telles sont les
déductions du P. Lammens.
La tradition maronite
veut que le crâne de saint Maron ait été transporté, d’abord, de cette église,
au couvent de Maron le Grand ou «Maison de Maron», Beit Marum, construit
au bord de l’Oronte, puis de là au Liban dans le couvent de Maron sis à l’est
du village dit «Kfarhay» dans le Batroun. Et ce, d’après l’histoire de Douayhy
qui écrit : «Une fois Jean Maron établi à Kfarhay, il fit construire un temple
et un couvent au nom de saint Maron. Il plaça le crâne miraculeux de ce dernier
à l’intérieur de ce temple. D’où le nom du couvent “Rich Moro” c’est-à-dire :
tête de Maron. Mais le crâne du saint n’est resté au Liabn que quelques siècles
seulement, après quoi il fut transporté en Italie par un moine bénédictin».
Le même Douayhy écrit : «En
l’an 1130 après Jésus-Christ, l’un des moines de saint Benoît, qui était
supérieur du couvent de la Croix sis près de Foligno en Italie, vint en Syrie.
Après avoir visité les lieux saints et alors qu’il était sur le point de
rentrer chez lui, il retrouva le crâne de saint Maron. Il eut une joie
indescriptible. Et quand il parvint chez lui, il se mit à raconter au peuple
les vertus de l’Abbé Maron… On lui édifia alors une église en son nom. Puis
comme l’évêque de Foligno, nommé Luc, était de ceux qui honoraient le saint, il
transporta son crâne honorable dans la ville même, et ce en 1194, et il le
plaça dans l’église épiscopale. C’est alors que les fidèles lui coulèrent une
statue en argent et l’y mirent».
Assemani se trouve
d’accord avec Douayhy pour dire que saint Jean Maron avait transporté «le crâne
de saint Maron depuis le couvent de Hama jusqu’au couvent de Kfarhay». Car
Douayhy et Assemani situent le grand couvent de Maron à Hama. Le P. Lammens
écrit : «La tradition confirme que le crâne du saint ermite a été transporté au
Liban après la destruction de son couvent près d’Apamée. Mgr Youssef Debs
(1907) a eu la chance d’avoir une partie de cette relique précieuse pendant son
séjour en Italie». Il écrit à ce sujet : «J’ai eu l’occasion, lors de mon
séjour à Rome en 1887, de rencontrer l’évêque de Foligno et de lui parler de ce
sujet. Il m’a confirmé que la tradition chez eux confirme ce que j’ai relaté et
qu’il reste encore dans leur église une partie du crâne de saint Maron dont on
distribue des reliques aux fidèles. Je lui ai demandé de m’en accorder quelque
partie. Il me fit cadeau de cinq reliques. Je l’ai remercié pour ce cadeau qui,
pour moi, était plus précieux que l’or et que les bijoux». [1] .
À partir du Liban et de
la Syrie, un rayonnement qui s’est étendu à Chypre, Rhodes et Malt.e La
spiritualité est rayonnement qui passe les frontières et couvre les distances
sans vacarme ni bruit. L’ascète abandonne le monde et se réfugie, cœur et
esprit, en Dieu ; il mène ainsi une vie d’ermite, de prisonnier volontaire,
loin des préoccupations de la vie et des sollicitations de la société, loin de
tout contact humain direct. Il ne vit pas au grand jour ni ne proclame ses
opinions dans le monde. Aucun journal ne parle de lui, aucune bouche ne propage
ses défauts ou ses hauts faits. Sur cette terre, rien ne lui importe davantage
que de glorifier le Créateur pour la beauté de ce qu’Il fait. Il déserte les
hommes, traçant entre le monde et lui une ligne de volonté qu’il ne
retraversera plus. Il s’élève, pas à pas, dans son ascèse, s’éloignant des
hommes, ou bien il élit demeure dans le creux d’un tronc d’arbre quelconque pour
échapper au regard des curieux ; ou bien, enfin, il escalade le sommet d’une
montagne solitaire pour se réfugier dans les ruines abandonnées, croyant ne
plus marquer par son influence les hommes ni en être marqué.
Mais il s’aperçoit,
progressivement, que sa charité illumine des horizons où la vue se perd, que
ses méditations spirituelles et ses prières muettes trouvent des échos qu’il
n’imaginait pas pouvoir entendre, et qu’au pied de son ermitage afflue une
moisson qu’il n’a pas eu le sentiment d’avoir auparavant semée. En fait, notre
monde est un univers clos où rien de ce que nous mettons ne se perd. (…) Tel
est le secret qui pousse quelques âmes élues à la solitude et à l’isolement.
Tel est le principe même des ordres contemplatifs et des maîtres de cellules
d’ermitages (…) qui se sont isolés du monde afin de prier pour le monde. Et
qu’est-ce que la prière, sinon cette tension qui élève, vers son Créateur,
l’âme humaine illuminée, pleine de reconnaissance et de louanges. Sa lumière
retombe alors en grâces et bénédictions même sur ceux qui ne prient pas!
N’est-ce pas là le principe où reviennent ceux qui sollicitent les invocations
des justes et la prière des saints.
(…) J’entends que les individus sont en
rapport étroit les uns avec les autres, qu’ils le veulent ou non, qu’ils
s’unissent ou se divisent, si bien qu’il est impossible de séparer l’homme de
l’humanité entière dont il participe. Ne nous étonnons donc pas de voir les
bienfaits d’un homme ainsi que ses méfaits se heurter un temps dans la
conscience d’une société qu’il trouble.
Faudrait-il admettre que
l’apparition de St Maron avec St Jean Chrysostome, à une même époque, était
vaine? Ainsi que celle de St Basile le Grand, de St Jérôme, de Théodoret, des
autres moines, ermites et pèlerins de Dieu ? Ou bien que la prospérité de ce
jardin de la vie érémitique au IVe siècle et dans ce coin de l’Orient était
spontanée et sans raison. St Maron a décidé de s’éloigner des hommes et les
hommes l’ont suivi ! Il a opté pour une vie humble et inconnue, et les gens se
sont livré bataille pour conserver son corps. Il a mené une vie de chasteté,
s’est refusé à cohabiter avec des parents, s’est privé d’enfants et n’a pas
voulu fonder une famille. Mais à peine a-t-il quitté ce monde de vanité que ses
fils spirituels se répandirent par centaines, par milliers, par dizaines de
milliers même dans tous les coins de la terre. Nous les retrouvons dans la
Cyrrhestique, ermites et cénobites, sur les rives de l’Oronte, moines et
communauté, défendant jusqu’au martyre et dès l’aube du VIe siècle la foi
orthodoxe pure ; nous les retrouvons à Édesse, savants, poètes et historiens,
exerçant leur influence, au début de l’époque des Abbassides et jusqu’à Bagdad
même. À Homs, Hama, Sayzar, Ma’arrat an-Nu’man, Alep, Antioche, Manbig,
Qinnisrin et Damas, nous retrouvons une multitude importante, au prestige
considérable et à l’influence profonde.
À partir du VIe siècle,
nous les retrouvons enfin au Mont-Liban où ils s’abritent dans les grottes et
les cavernes pour fuir la persécution des Jacobites que secondent les autorités
politiques. Ils colonisent les hauteurs de ces montagnes, les cultivent, y
installent fermes et villages, édifient couvents et églises. Ils tâchent à
élever le niveau de piété et de spiritualité des indigènes grâce aux sermons de
leurs moines et à l’exemple de leurs ermites. De nombreux Araméens et Grecs se
joignent à eux, au dire d’Ibn al-Batriq, ainsi que les Garagimahs et les esclaves
en fuite réfugiés au Liban pour recouvrer leur liberté.
Puis à leur tour, les
Mardaïtes s’unissent à eux au cours de la seconde moitié du VIIe siècle. Ainsi
ils achèvent de devenir, grâce à l’appui de Byzance, une force qui a pu
menacer, par deux fois, l’État des Omayyades à l’époque de Mo’awiah (660 – 680)
et l’obliger deux fois de suite à un armistice avec les empereurs de Byzance,
Constantin IV puis Justinien II, et à l’acceptation, enfin, des conditions
sévères imposées. Depuis lors, les Mardaïtes se joignent aux maronites et aux
autres peuplades du Liban, ce qui accroît leur puissance et renforce leur
liberté et leur autonomie dans leur montagne imprenable. Si bien qu’ils n’ont
pas reculé devant la révolution contre les Abbassides, en 759, alors que cet
État était au sommet de la gloire et de la puissance. Ils dévalent ainsi
de Mnaytrah, occupent fermes et plaines, et se dirigent sur Baalbeck. Mais
là ils tombent dans une embuscade dressée par le gouverneur abbasside et leur
révolution échoue. Cependant, elle revigore en eux cet esprit de fierté et de
refus de toute servitude.
D’une génération à
l’autre, leur nombre augmente, surtout après la destruction du grand Couvent,
dans la première moitié du Xe siècle. C’est alors qu’ils émigrent vers la montagne
et que leur territoire s’étend depuis le littoral et les montagnes du Nord du
Liban jusqu’au centre. Peut-être que leurs premières régions d’immigration
étaient-elles Jebbet Bécharré et le littoral de Batroun. Ils y
sont parvenus en suivant le cours de l’Oronte depuis Apamée, Hama et Homs,
pratiquant cette faille naturelle jusqu’au littoral de Tripoli. De là, ils ont
dû remonter la vallée de Qadisha, distribuant leurs anachorètes et ermites dans
les grottes, les cavernes et autres ermitages naturels, ou bien continuant leur
chemin le long de la côte jusqu’aux alentours de Kfarhay et ses environs. Une
partie d’entre eux a dû suivre la route sud de l’Oronte jusqu’à ses sources
près de Ras-Baalbeck ; de là ils ont escaladé les failles parvenant, ainsi, aux
alentours de Akoura, Kartaba et Laklouk. Très rapidement, ils ont édifié leurs
églises et couvents et se sont constitués en hiérarchie ecclésiastique
ordonnée, depuis le patriarche jusqu’aux autres supérieurs en passant par les
archevêques et évêques. Leur organisation était si complète qu’on peut
affirmer, à juste raison, que depuis cette époque ils ont formé une nation
particulière et autonome assimilant tous ses éléments à une réalité sociale
unique, à un rite unique et à une langue unique. Tant et si bien que lorsque
l’avant-garde des Croisés apparut, les maronites les soutinrent avec 30 000
archers dont les Francs, à l’unanimité, admiraient le courage et l’adresse.
Depuis ces temps-là, les
maronites émigrèrent vers les régions proches d’abord. C’est ainsi qu’on les
retrouve dans la Ville Sainte où leurs églises nombreuses confirment leur grand
nombre. Puis ils traversent la mer vers les îles et s’installent à Chypre,
Rhodes et Malte. Depuis le XIe siècle, leur plus grande colonie se trouve à
Chypre, disséminée dans trente villages différents avec ses églises et couvents
nombreux et un évêque pour s’en occuper. Le nom de l’évêché de Chypre existe
jusqu’à la date de ce jour et figure sur la liste des évêchés maronites, de
même qu’il existe toujours, dans l’île, un reste d’authentiques maronites.
Toutefois, la langue grecque a dû dominer leurs rapports avec les habitants de
l’île. C’est pourquoi ils ont conservé, pour leurs seules conversations
intimes, leur langue d’origine qu’ils ont véhiculée du Liban pendant le Moyen
Âge, qu’ils se transmettent oralement et avec laquelle ils s’entendent à
l’exclusivité de toute autre langue. Cette langue apparaît comme un mélange de syriaque
et d’arabe, pareille à celle que les Libanais utilisaient il y a quelques
siècles.
En revanche, à Malte,
l’arabe n’a pas été entièrement oublié grâce à leur présence. D’autre part, les
maronites restés dans leur lieu d’origine se sont étendus dans le nord de la
Syrie. La zone d’influence des habitants d’Édesse, dont le personnage le plus
en vue était Simon le Maronite mentionné dans l’Histoire des Croisés,
s’étendait jusqu’à Aïntab à l’ouest, jusqu’au Mossoul et Bagdad au sud où l’on
trouvait une colonie importante, dont s’occupait un évêque particulier. Quant
aux maronites d’Alep, ils ont bénéficié d’une affluence nouvelle de Libanais au
cours du XVe siècle. Ils se sont ainsi réorganisé conservant, de même, leur
évêque propre.
Toutefois, le vrai pays
de la communauté maronite c’est, aujourd’hui, le Liban. Elle s’y est réfugiée,
installée et y a fait souche depuis le VIe siècle nouant son destin avec le
sien. Elle y a vécu, s’y est constituée, y a enraciné son arbre généalogique
qui a poussé ses ramifications dans le monde entier. Toutefois, elle a conservé
l’habitude d’y revenir dans la joie de même que dans le malheur. La communauté
maronite est fille du Liban et le Liban, dans ses nombreux aspects et
particularités, a été façonné par les maronites. Il n’est donc pas étrange de
considérer son fondateur comme la plus belle figure libanaise qui, du haut de
l’Éternité, veille sur ses fils dans leur patrie et sur le destin de ce pays
placé entre leurs mains.
Après avoir conté
l’histoire de «Maron le Divin», Théodoret a parlé abondamment de ses nombreux
disciples répartis dans toute la région de Cyr. Le plus célèbre d’entre eux,
après Zabéna que nous avons mentionné, fut saint Jacques que Théodoret
connaissait personnellement. Il l’a mentionné comme il a mentionné tous ses
compagnons ; toutefois il lui a réservé des qualificatifs qu’il n’attribua à
nul autre, contant son histoire, après celle de Maron, dans les termes que
voici : «Et Maron a planté pour Dieu ce jardin qui a fleuri dans toutes les
parties de Cyr». Or la meilleure et la plus belle fleur de ce jardin c’est le
Grand Jacques auquel s’appliquent ces paroles du Prophète David : «Le juste
poussera comme un palmier, il grandira comme un cèdre du Liban».
Jacques s’était rendu
célèbre par sa générosité d’âme et par sa consécration au service de Dieu.
D’abord il s’était enfermé dans un lieu étroit, ensuite il avait fui les
visiteurs dans une montagne éloignée, demeurant dans son ermitage durant
trente-huit ans, chargé de fer, ne mangeant que des lentilles mouillées,
faisant des miracles, ressuscitant même des morts, ainsi qu’en témoigne son évêque
Théodoret qui lui avait rendu visite et qui s’était étonné de ce qu’il avait
vu.
Article publié par Hareth Boustany sur le journal L’Orient Le jour le 8 février 2022
Principale référence : «Saint Maron» de Fouad E. Boustany, dans
la traduction française de César Nasr
_(14590534997).jpg)
Also
known as
Maro of Beit-Marun
Maron
Marone
Maroun
14 February on
some calendars
Profile
Hermit who
lived near the Orontes River at Cyrrhus, generally in the open with no shelter.
When he found a pagan temple,
he dedicated it to God and
made it his oratory. Ordained in 405. Spent his
nights standing in prayer.
Had the gift of healing,
both physical
ills and of vices. Founded monasteries and
trained monks in Syria.
Friend of and greatly revered by Saint John
Chrysostom. Spiritual teacher of Saint Limnaeus.
The Maronite
Christians take their name from the saint.
Born
433 of
natural causes
buried between
Apamea and Emesa, where a monastery grew
up around his tomb
Saint
Maron of Brooklyn for the Maronites, eparchy of
Saint-Maron
de Montréal, Québec, diocese of
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Maronites
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
MLA
Citation
“Saint
Maro“. CatholicSaints.Info. 7 February 2023. Web. 13 February 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-maro/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-maro/
February
14
From Theodoret Philoth. c. 16. 22.
24. 30. Tillem. t. 12. p. 412. Le Quien, Oriens Christ, t. 3. p. 5. Jos.
Assemani Bibl. Orient. t. 1. p. 497.
A.D. 433.
ST. MARO, made choice of a
solitary abode on a mountain in the diocess of Syria and near that city, where,
out of a spirit of mortification, he lived for the most part in the open air.
He had indeed a little hut, covered with goat skins, to shelter him from the
inclemencies of the weather; but he very seldom made use of it for that
purpose, even on the most urgent occasions. Finding here a heathen temple, he
dedicated it to the true God, and made it his house of prayer. Being renowned
for sanctity, he was raised, in 405, to the dignity of priesthood. St.
Chrysostom, who had a singular regard for him, wrote to him from Cucusus, the
place of his banishment, and recommended himself to his prayers, and begged to
hear from him by every opportunity. 1St.
Zebinus, our saint’s master, surpassed all the solitaries of his time, with
regard to assiduity in prayer. He devoted to this exercise whole days and
nights, without being sensible of any weariness or fatigue: nay, his ardour for
it seemed rather to increase than slacken by its continuance. He generally
prayed in an erect posture; but in his old age was forced to support his body
by leaning on a staff. He gave advice in very few words to those that came to
see him, to gain the more time for heavenly contemplation. St. Maro imitated
his constancy in prayer: yet he not only received all visitants with great
tenderness, but encouraged their stay with him; though few were willing to pass
the whole night in prayer standing. God recompensed his labours with most
abundant graces, and the gift of curing all distempers, both of body and mind.
He prescribed admirable remedies against all vices. This drew great multitudes
to him, and he erected many monasteries in Syria, and trained up holy
solitaries. Theodoret, bishop of Cyr, says, that the great number of monks who
peopled his diocess were the fruit of his instructions. The chief among his
disciples was St. James of Cyr, who gloried that he had received from the hands
of Saint Maro his first hair-cloth.
God called St. Maro to his Glory
after a short illness, which showed, says Theodoret, the great weakness to
which his body was reduced. A pious contest ensued among the neighbouring
provinces about his burial. The inhabitants of a large and populous place
carried off the treasure, and built to his honour a spacious church over his
tomb, to which a monastery was adjoined, which seems to have been the monastery
of St. Maro in the diocess of Apamea. 2
Note 1. S. Chrys. ep. 36. [back]
Note
2. It is not altogether certain whether this
monastery near Apamea, or another on the Orontes, between Apamea and Emesa, or
a third in Palmyrene, (for each of them bore his name,) possessed his body, or
gave name to the people called Maronites. It seems most probable of the second,
the abbot of which is styled primate of all the monasteries of the second
Syria, in the acts of the second council of Constantinople, under the patriarch
Mennas, in 536, and he subscribes first in a common letter to Pope Hormisdas,
in 517. The Maronites were called so from these religious, in the fifth
century, and adhered to the council of Chalcedon against the Eutychians. They
were joined in communion with the Melchites or Loyalists, who maintained the
authority of the council of Chalcedon. The Maronites, with their patriarch, who
live in Syria, towards the sea-coast, especially about Mount Libanus, are
steady in the communion of the Catholic church, and profess a strict obedience
to the pope, as its supreme pastor; and such has always been the conduct of
that nation, except during a very short time, that they were inveigled into the
Greek schism; and some fell into Eutychianism, and a greater number into
Nestorianism; they returned to the communion of the Catholic church under
Gregory XIII. and Clement VIII. as Stephen Assemani proves (Assemani, Act.
Mart. t. 2. p. 410.) against the slander of Eutychius in his Arabic Annals,
which had imposed upon Renaudot. The Maronites keep the feast of St. Maro on
the 9th, the Greeks on the 14th of February. The seminary of the Maronites at
Rome, founded by Gregory XIII. under the direction of the Jesuits, have
produced several great men, who have exceedingly promoted true literature,
especially the Oriental; such as Abraham Eckellensis, the three Assemani,
Joseph, Stephen Evodius, and Lewis, known by his judicious writings on the
ceremonies of the church. The patriarch of the Maronites, styled of Antioch,
resides in the monastery of Canabine, at the foot of Mount Libanus; he is
confirmed by the pope, and has under him five metropolitans, namely, of Tyre,
Damascus, Tripolis, Aleppo, and Nicosia, in Cyprus. See Le Quien, Oriens
Christianus, t. 3. p. 46. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume II: February. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/210/2/
St. Maroun (ca
345-410) was from the ancient area of Cyrrhus (Cyrus) in what is now southern
Turkey, not far from the Syrian city of Aleppo. He lived the life of an
ascetic, at a hill top where an ancient temple to the Babylonian god Nabo
stood, which he converted to a Christian church. His hermit lifestyle was
characterized as living “in the open air.” Where he resided, the summers were
very hot and the winters very cold, but he was willing to be exposed to these
extremes in order to focus on his spiritual goals and overcome concerns for his
body.
The Christian tradition
of the area where he lived dates back to St. Peter, who established a church in
Antioch and visited there several times, approximately during the period 35-55
A.D., before moving on to Rome, where he was martyred around 67 A.D.
A record of St. Maroun’s
life comes to us from St. Theodoret (393-457), who was born in Antioch and
became bishop of Cyrrhus (423-457); he was a respected writer of his time. He
wrote the book Historia Religiosa, describing a number of hermit-monks, and
gave praise to St. Maroun, noting his powers of healing, after describing St.
Acepsimas:
“After him [Acepsimas] I
shall recall Maroun, for he too adorned the godly choir of the saints. Embracing
the open-air life, he repaired to a hill-top formerly honored by the impious.
Consecrating to God the precinct of demons on it, he lived there, pitching a
small tent which he seldom used. He practiced not only the usual labors, but
devised others as well, heaping up the wealth of philosophy.”
“The Umpire measured out
grace according to his labors: so the magnificent one gave in abundance the
gift of healing, with the result that his fame circulated everywhere, attracted
everyone from every side and taught by experience the truth of the report. One
could see fevers quenched by the dew of his blessing, shivering quieted, demons
put to flight, and varied diseases of every kind cured by a single remedy; the
progeny of physicians apply to each disease the appropriate remedy, but the
prayer of the saint is a common antidote for every distress.”
“He cured not only
infirmities of the body, but applied suitable treatment to souls as well,
healing this man’s greed and that man’s anger, to this man supplying teaching
in self-control and to that providing lessons in justice, correcting this man’s
intemperance and shaking up another man’s sloth. Applying this mode of
cultivation, he produced many plants of philosophy, and it was he who planted
for God the garden that now flourishes in the region of Cyrrhus. A product of
his planting was the great James [known now as St. James of Cyrrhestica], to
whom one could reasonably apply the prophetic utterance, ‘the righteous man
will flower as the palm tree, and be multiplied like the cedar of Lebanon’,
[Psalm 92:12] and also all the others whom, with God’s help, I shall recall
individually….”
In Theodoret’s
description, one of the specific conditions mentioned as being alleviated by
St. Maroun was ‘shivering,’ for which he retained a strong reputation even
after his death. Thus, St. Maroun has long been known as the saint to appeal to
in cases of disorders involving trembling and shaking, such as Parkinson’s
disease.
We learn of the respect
St. Maroun gained during his life from a letter by the well-known theologian
St. John Chrysostom (347-407), who was later declared a “doctor of the Church:”
“To Maroun, the Monk
Priest:
We are bound to you by
love and interior disposition, and see you here before us as if you were actually
present. For such are the eyes of love; their vision is neither interrupted by
distance nor dimmed by time. We wished to write more frequently to your
reverence, but since this is not easy on account of the difficulty of the road
and the problems to which travelers are subject, whenever opportunity allows we
address ourselves to your honor and assure you that we hold you constantly in
our mind and carry you about in our soul wherever we may be. And take care
yourself that you write to us as often as you can, telling us how you are, so
that although separated physically we might be cheered by learning constantly
about your health and receive much consolation as we sit in solitude. For it
brings us no small joy to hear about your health. And above all please pray for
us.”
Chrysostom was in
Antioch, about a two days journey from Maroun’s residence, and the difficulty
of the road mentioned in his letter revealed the dangerous travel at the time.
Concerns for Maroun’s health probably reflected his old age at the time this was
written (around 405 A.D.), while Maroun continued to live in the often severe
environment.
St. Maroun became so
popular that his numerous followers were known as Maronites. After his death, a
Maronite monastery (Beth-Maroun) was built around 452 near Saint Maroun’s tomb;
Theodoret also described the profound devotion which the monks of the monastery
had to their departed spiritual father. The monastery engendered a larger
community where men and women, under the guidance of the monks, could find
material and spiritual happiness. The monastery, situated not far from Mount
Lebanon, belonged to the patriarchy of the Church of Antioch. As the hardships
of the early Christian church continued, the faithful set their hopes on the
Maronite community where, in spite of persecutions and devastating wars, the
spiritual leaders provided guidance and protection. For centuries the spiritual
leaders of the Maronites have kept watch over the political and social rights
of their people.
The Maronite movement
reached Lebanon during its earliest days when St. Maroun’s first disciple,
Abraham of Cyrrhus, moved there to evangelize; he became known as the Apostle
of Lebanon. For the past few centuries, the center of Maronite life has been in
Lebanon (it is pointed out that the town of Cana, where the famous wedding
feast took place with Mary, Jesus, and his new disciples in attendance, is in
southern Lebanon). Today, there are Maronites in most countries, and they
number more than 4 million. The liturgical rite of St. Chrysostom, which has
been utilized in the Eastern churches (some rely on the rite of St. Basil), is
adapted for the Maronite rite, one of 22 rites of the Catholic Church.
A unique cross was
developed to represent the Marionite faith, one which gives tribute to the Holy
Trinity by having three crossbars representing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
There is also frequent reference in Marion tradition to the cedars of Lebanon
(Cedrus libani), mentioned several times in the bible; these cedars make-up a
large forest in northern Lebanon near the area where St. Maroun lived. The
cross has an appearance like these cedars (dramatically presented in the
painting below from 1907); in fact, sometimes the three-bar cross is drawn as a
cedar.
There were many people
inspired by Maroun, who led lives imitating his, living as hermits and avoiding
any comforts; others lived in an isolated monastic setting. Monastic life in
the Maronite community was formally organized in 1695, when several independent
monasteries in Lebanon were collected under one religious order. The monks were
divided into three categories: lay brothers, priests and hermits; all
pronounced vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and humility. In 1770, this
Order was then divided into two organizations: the Lebanese Maronite Order
(Baladite Order) and the Aleppine Order, renamed the Lebanese Mariamite in
1969.
Saint Maroun’s feast day
is celebrated on February 9 in the Maronite churches around the world. This day
is also an official national day in the State of Lebanon.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-maroun/
Maro of Beit-Marun, Abbot
(AC)
(also known as Maron)
Died c. 435. Saint Maro
was a hermit on a mountain in Syria near the Orontes River, where he had a
little hut covered with sheep skins to shelter him from the weather, but lived
in a spirit of mortification in the open air most of the time. When he found a
pagan temple nearby, he dedicated it to God and made it his oratory. In 405
Maro was ordained to the priesthood.
Saint John Chrysostom had
a singular regard for Maro. During one of his banishments, John wrote from
Cucusus and commended himself to Maro's prayers and begged to hear from him at
every opportunity (Chrysostom's epistle 36).
Under the direction of
Saint Zebinus, Maro learned to pray without ceasing. Zebinus surpassed all the
solitaries of his time in his assiduity to prayer to which he devoted whole
days and nights without any weariness or fatigue. His ardor for prayer seemed
to increase, rather than slacken with time. Zebinus gave advice to those who
sought it in as few words as possible in order to spend more time in heavenly
contemplation.
Maro imitated Zebinus's
constancy in prayer, yet he not only received all visitors with great
tenderness but also encourage them to stay with him. Few, however, were willing
to pass the night standing in prayer. God rewarded Maro's charity and constancy
with abundant graces including the gift of healing. He prescribed admirable
remedies against all vices, which drew crowds to him.
So great were the number
of people drawn to God by Maro's words and prayers.
Upon Maro's death, a
pious contest ensued among the neighboring provinces about his burial. A
spacious church was built over his tomb adjoining the monastery of Saint Maro
in the diocese of Apamea between Apamea and Emesa (Homs). The people in Lebanon
and Syria called Maronites (a rite united to the Universal Church) are said to
derive their name from this monastery, Bait-Marun, and look on Saint Maro as
their patriarch and patron saint (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia,
Husenbeth).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0214.shtml
.jpg)
Cathédrale
Saint-Maron sur le boulevard Gouin à Montréal
Saint-Maron
Cathedral on Gouin Boulevard in Montréal, Québec, Canada
Maronites
This article will give
first the present state of the Maronite nation and Church; after which
their history will be studied, with a special examination of the much discussed
problem of the origin of the Church and the
nation and their unvarying orthodoxy.
Present state of the
Maronites
Ethnographical and
political
The Maronites
(Syriac Marunôye; Arabic Mawarinah) number about 300,000 souls, distributed
in Syria,
Palestine, Cyprus,
and Egypt. Of
this number about 230,000 inhabit the Lebanon, forming nearly five-eighths of
the population of that vilayet and the main constituent of the population in
four out of seven kaïmakats, viz., those of Batrun, Kasrawan, Meten, and Gizzin
(the Orthodox Greeks predominating in Koura, the Catholic Greeks in
Zahlé, and the Druses in Shûf). They are of Syrian race, but
for many centuries have spoken only Arabic, though in a dialect which must have
retained many Syriac peculiarities. In the mountain districts manners are very
simple, and the Maronites are occupied with tillage and cattle-grazing, or the
silk industry; in the towns they are engaged in commerce. Bloody vendettas, due
to family and
clan rivalries, are still kept up in the mountain districts. The population
increases very rapidly, and numbers of Maronites emigrate to the
different provinces of the Ottoman Empire, to Europe,
particularly France,
to the French colonies, but most of all to the United States. The
emigrants return with their fortunes made, and too often bring with them a
taste for luxury and pleasure, sometimes also a decided indifference to
religion which in some instances, degenerates into hostility.
For many centuries the
Maronite mountaineers have been able to keep themselves half independent of
the Ottoman Empire.
At the opening of the nineteenth century their organization was entirely feudal. The
aristocratic families —
who, especially when they travelled in Europe, affected
princely rank — elected the emir. The power of the Maronite emir preponderated
in the Lebanon, especially when the Syrian family of Benî
Shibâb forsook Islam for Christianity. The famous
emir Beshîr, ostensibly a Mussulman, was really a
Maronite; but after his fall the condition of the Maronites changed for the
worse. A merciless struggle against the Druses, commencing in 1845, devastated
the whole Lebanon. Two emirs were then created, a Maronite and a Druse, both
bearing the title of Kaïmakam, and they were held responsible to the Pasha of
Saïda. In 1860 the Druses, impelled by fanaticism, massacred a large number of
Maronites at Damascus and
in the Lebanon. As the Turkish Government
looked on supinely at this process of extermination, France intervened:
an expedition led by General de Beaufort d'Hautpoult restored order. In 1861
the present system, with a single governor for all the Lebanon, was
inaugurated. This governor is appointed by the Turkish Government
for five years. There are no more feudal rights; all are equal
before the law,
without distinction of race; each nation has its sheik, or mayor, who
takes cognizance of communal affairs, and is a judge in the provincial council.
Every Maronite between the ages of fifteen and sixty pays taxes, with the
exception of the clergy,
though contributions are levied on monastic property. In contrast to
the rule among the other rites, the Maronite patriarch is not obliged to solicit
his firman of investiture from the sultan; but, on the other hand, he is not
the temporal head of his nation, and has no agent at the Sublime Porte, the
Maronites being, together with the other Uniat communities,
represented by the Vakeel of the Latins. Outside of the Lebanon they are
entirely subject to the Turks; in these regions
the bishops —
e.g., the Archbishop of Beirut — must
obtain their bérat, in default of which they would have no standing with
the civil government, and could not sit in the provincial council.
Like the other Catholic communities
of the Turkish Empire,
the Maronites are under the protection of France, but in their
case the protectorate is combined with more cordial relations dating from the
connection between this people and the French as early as the twelfth century.
This cordiality has been strengthened by numerous French interventions, from
the Capitulations of Francis
I to the campaign of 1861, and by the wide diffusion of the French language and
French culture, thanks to the numerous establishments in the Lebanon under the
direction of French missionaries — Jesuits, Lazarists, and
religious women of
different orders. It is impossible to foresee what changes will be wrought in
the situation of the Maronites, national and international, by the accession to
power of the "Young Turks".
The Maronite Church
The Maronite Church is
divided into nine dioceses:
Gibail and Batrun (60,000 souls); Beirut and one
part of the Lebanon (50,000); Tyre and Sidon
(47,000); Baalbek and
Kesraouan (40,000); Tripoli (35,000); Cyprus and another
part of the Lebanon (30,000); Damascus and Hauran (25,000); Aleppo and Cilicia
(5000); Egypt (7000).
The last-named diocese is
under a vicar patriarchal, who also has charge of the Maronite communities in
foreign parts — Leghorn, Marseilles, Paris — and
particularly those in America.
(1) The Patriarch
The official title
is Patriarcha Antiochenus Maronitarum. The Maronite patriarch shares
the title of Antioch with three other Catholic patriarchs —
the Melchite,
the Syrian Catholic,
and the Latin (titular) — one schismatical (Orthodox),
and one heretical (Syrian
Jacobite). The question will be considered later on, whether, apart from the
concession of the Holy
See, the Maronite patriarch can allege historical right to the title of
Antioch. Since the fifteenth century his traditional residence has been
the cloister of
St. Mary of Kanôbin, where are the tombs of the patriarchs. In winter he
resides at Bkerke, below Beirut, in the district of Kesraouan. He himself
administers the Diocese of Gibail-Batrun, but with the assistance of the
titular Bishops of St-Jean d'Acre, Tarsus, and Nazareth, who also
assist him in the general administration of the patriarchate. He has
the right to
nominate others, and there are also several patriarchal vicars who are
not bishops. The
patriarch is elected by the Maronite bishops, usually on the
ninth day after the see has
been declared vacant. He must be not less than forty years of age, and two-thirds
of the whole number of votes are required to elect him. On the next day
the enthronization takes
place, and then the solemn benediction of the newly elected patriarch. The
proceedings of the assembly are transmitted to Rome; the pope may either
approve or disapprove the election; if he approves, he sends the pallium to the new
patriarch; if not, he quashes the acts of the assembly and is free to name a
candidate of his own choice. The chief prerogatives of the patriarch are: to
convoke national councils; to choose and consecrate bishops; to hear and
judge charges against bishops;
to visit dioceses other
than his own once in every three years. He blesses the holy oils and
distributes them to the clergy and laity; he grants indulgences, receives
the tithes and
the taxes for dispensations,
and may accept legacies, whether personal or for the Church. Before 1736 he
received fees for ordinations and the blessing of holy oils; this
privilege being suppressed, Benedict XIV substituted
for it permission to receive a subsidium caritativum. The distinctive
insignia of the patriarch are the masnaftô (a form of head-dress),
the phainô (a kind of cape or cope), the orarion (a kind of pallium), the tiara, or mitre (other bishops wear only
the orarion and the mitre),
the pastoral staff surmounted
with a cross, and, in the Latin fashion, the pastoral ring and the pectoral cross. To sum
up, the Maronite patriarch exercises over his subjects, virtually, the
authority of a metropolitan.
He himself is accountable only to the pope and the Congregation of Propaganda;
he is bound to make his visit ad limina only once in every ten years.
The present (1910) occupant of the patriarchal throne is Mgr. Elias Hoysk,
elected in 1899.
(2) The Episcopate
The bishops are
nominated by the patriarch. The title of Archbishop (metropolitan),
attached to the Sees of Aleppo, Beirut, Damascus, Tyre and Sidon, and
Tripoli, is purely honorary. A bishop without
a diocese resides
at Ehden. It has been said above that the patriarch nominates a certain number
of titular bishops. The bishop, besides his
spiritual functions, exercises, especially outside of the Vilayet of the
Lebanon, a judicial and civil jurisdiction.
The bishops are
assisted by chorepiscopi, archdeacons, economi,
and periodeutes (bardût). The chorepiscopus visits,
and can also consecrate,
churches. The chorepiscopus of
the episcopal residence occupies the first place in the cathedral in the
absence of the bishop.
The periodeutes, as his name indicates, is a kind of vicar forane who acts for
the bishop in
the inspection of the rural clergy. The economus is
the bishop's coadjutor
for the administration of church property and
the episcopal mensa.
(3) The Clergy
Of the 300 parishes some are
given by the bishops to
regulars, others to seculars. Priests without parishes are celibate and
dependent on the patriarch. The others are married — that is to say, they marry
while in minor
orders, but cannot marry a second time. There are about 1100 secular priests and
800 regulars. The education of
the clergy is
carried on in five patriarchal and nine diocesan seminaries. Many study
at Rome, and a
great number in France,
thanks to the "Œuvre de St Louis" and the burses supported by the
French Government. The intellectual standard
of the Maronite clergy is
decidedly higher than that of the schismatical and heretical clergy who surround
them. The married priests of
the rural parishes are
often very simple men, still more often they are far from well-to-do, living
almost exclusively on the honoraria received for Masses and the
presents of farm produce given them by the country people. Most of them have to
eke out these resources by cultivating their little portions of land or
engaging in some modest industry.
(4) The Religious
These number about 2000,
of whom 800 are priests.
They all observe the rule known as that of St. Anthony, but are divided into
three congregations: the oldest, that of St. Anthony, or of Eliseus, was
approved in 1732. It was afterwards divided into Aleppines and peasants, or
Baladites, a division approved by Clement XIV in
1770. In the meantime another Antonian congregation had been founded under the
patronage of Isaias, and approved in 1740. The Aleppines have 6 monasteries; the
Isaians, 13 or 14; the Baladites, 25. The Aleppines have a procurator at Rome, residing near S.
Pietro in Vincoli. The lay brothers give
themselves up to manual labour; the priests, to intellectual, with the
care of souls,
having charge of a great many parishes. The monastic
habit consists of a black tunic and a girdle of leather, a cowl, mantle, and
sandals. — There are also seven monasteries, containing
about 200 religious, under a rule founded by a former Bishop of Aleppo. At Aintoura,
also, there are some Maronite sisters following the Salesian Rule.
(5) The Liturgy
The Maronite is a Syrian Rite, Syriac
being the liturgical language,
though the Gospel is read in Arabic for the benefit of the people. Many of
the priests, who
are not sufficiently learned to perform the Liturgy in Syriac, use Arabic
instead, but Arabic written in Syriac characters (Karshuni). The liturgy is of
the Syrian type, i.e., the liturgy of St. James, but much disfigured by
attempts to adapt it to Roman usages. Adaptation, often useless and servile, to
Roman usages is the distinguishing characteristic of the Maronite among Oriental Rites. This
appears, not only in the Liturgy, but also in the administration of all the
Sacraments. The Maronites consecrate unleavened
bread, they do not mingle warm water in the Chalice, and they celebrate many
Masses at the same altar. Communion under both kinds was
discouraged by Gregory
XIII and at last formally forbidden in 1736, though it is still
permitted for the deacon at
high Mass. Benedict
XIV forbade the communicating of newly baptized infants.
Baptism is administered in the Latin manner, and since 1736 confirmation, which
is reserved to the bishop,
has been given separately. The formula for absolution is not
deprecative, as it is in other Eastern Rites, but
indicative, as in the Latin, and Maronite priests can validly
absolve Catholics of
all rites. The orders are: tonsure, psalte, or
chanter, lector,
sub-deacon, deacon, priest. Ordination
as psalte may be received at the age of seven; as deacon, at twenty-one;
as priest, at
thirty, or, with a dispensation,
at twenty-five. Wednesday and Friday of every week are days of abstinence; a
fast lasts until midday, and the abstinence is from meat and eggs. Lent lasts for
seven weeks, beginning at Quinquagesima; the fast
is observed every day except Saturdays, Sundays, and certain
feast days; fish is allowed. There are neither ember days nor
vigils, but there is abstinence during twenty days of Advent and fourteen
days preceding the feast of Sts Peter and Paul. Latin devotional practices are
more customary among the Maronites than in any other Uniat Eastern Church —
benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament, the Way of the Cross, the Rosary, the devotion to
the Sacred Heart, etc.
(6) The Faithful
In the interior of the
country the faithful are
strongly attached to their faith and very
respectful to the monks and
the other clergy.
Surrounded by Mussulmans,
schismatics, and heretics,
they are proud to call themselves Roman Catholics;
but education is
as yet but little developed, despite the laudable efforts of some of the bishops, and
although schools have
been established, largely through the efforts of the Latin missionaries and the
support of the society of
the Ecoles d'Orient, besides the Collège de la Sagesse at Beirut. Returning
emigrants do nothing to raise the moral and religious standard. The influence
of the Western press is outrageously bad. Wealthy Maronites, too often
indifferent, if not worse, do not concern themselves about this state of
affairs, which is a serious cause of anxiety to the more intelligent and
enlightened among the clergy.
But the Maronite nation as a whole remains faithful to its traditions. If they
are not exactly the most important community of Eastern Uniats in point of
numbers, it is at least true to say that
they form the most effective fulcrum for the exertion of a Catholic propaganda
in the Lebanon and on the Syrian coast.
History of the Maronites
All competent authorities
agree as to the history of the Maronites as far back as the sixteenth century,
but beyond that period the unanimity ceases. They themselves assert at once the
high antiquity and the perpetual orthodoxy of their
nation; but both of these pretensions have constantly been denied by
their Christian —
even Catholic —
rivals in Syria,
the Melchites,
whether Catholic or
Orthodox, the Jacobite
Syrians, and the Catholic Syrians.
Some European scholars
accept the Maronite view; the majority reject it. So many points in the
primitive history of the nation are still obscure that we can here only set
forth the arguments advanced on either side, without drawing any conclusion.
The whole discussion
gravitates around a text of the twelfth century. William of Tyre (De
Bello Sacro, XX, viii) relates the conversion of 40,000 Maronites in the year
1182. The substance of the leading text is as follows: "After they [the
nation that had been converted, in the vicinity of Byblos] had for five
hundred years adhered to the false teaching of
an heresiarch named Maro, so that they took from him the name of Maronites,
and, being separated from the true Church had
been following their own peculiar liturgy [ab ecclesia fidelium sequestrati
seorsim sacramenta conficerent sua], they came to the Patriarch of Antioch, Aymery, the
third of the Latin patriarchs,
and, having abjured their error, were, with their
patriarch and some bishops,
reunited to the true Church.
They declared themselves ready to accept and observe the prescriptions of
the Roman Church.
There were more than 40,000 of them, occupying the whole region of the Lebanon,
and they were of great use to the Latins in the war against
the Saracens.
The error of
Maro and his adherents is and was, as may be read in the Sixth Council, that
in Jesus Christ there
was, and had been since the beginning only one will and one energy. And after
their separation they had embraced still other pernicious doctrines."
We proceed to consider
the various interpretations given to this text.
The Maronite position
Maro, a Syrian monk, who died in the
fifth century and is noticed by Theodoret (Religionis Historia, xvi), had
gathered together some disciples on the banks of the Orantes, between Emesa
and Apamea.
After his death the faithful built, at the place, where he had lived, a monastery which
they named after him. When Syria was divided
by heresies,
the monks of
Beit-Marun remained invariably faithful to the cause of orthodoxy, and rallied
to it the neighbouring inhabitants. This was the cradle of the Maronite nation.
The Jacobite chroniclers bear witness that these populations aided the Emperor
Heraclius in the struggle against Monophysitism even
by force (c. 630). Moreover, thirty years later when Mu‘awyah, the future
caliph, was governor of Damascus (658-58),
they disputed with the Jacobites in his
presence, and the Jacobites,
being worsted, had to pay a large penalty. The Emperor Heraclius and his
successors having meanwhile succumbed to the Monothelite heresy,
which was afterwards condemned in the Council of 681, the Maronites, who until
then had been partisans of the Byzantine emperor (Melchites), broke with him,
so as not to be in communion with a heretic. From this event
dates the national independence of the Maronites. Justinian II (Rhinotmetes)
wished to reduce them to subjection: in 694 his forces attacked the monastery, destroyed it,
and marched over the mountain towards Tripoli, to complete their conquest. But
the Maronites, with the Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, St. John Maro,
at their head, routed the Greeks near Amiun, and saved that autonomy which they
were able to maintain through succeeding ages. They are to be identified with
the Mardaïtes of Syria,
who, in the Lebanon, on the frontier of the Empire, successfully struggled with
the Byzantines and
the Arabs. There
the Crusaders found
them, and formed very close relations with them. William of Tyre relates
that, in 1182, the Maronites to the number of 40,000, were converted from Monothelitism; but
either this is an error of
information, due to William's having copied, without critically examining, the
Annals of Eutychius,
an Egyptian Melchite who calumniated the
Maronites, or else these 40,000 were only a very small part of the nation who
had, through ignorance,
allowed themselves to be led astray by the Monothelite propaganda
of a bishop named
Thomas of Kfar-tas. Besides, the Maronites can show an unbroken list of patriarchs between
the time of St. John Maro and that of Pope Innocent III;
these patriarchs,
never having erred in faith, or strayed
into schism, are
the only legitimate heirs of the Patriarchate of Antioch, or at least they have
a claim to that title certainly not inferior to the claim of any rival. — Such
is the case frequently presented by Maronites, and in the last place by Mgr.
Debs, Archbishop of Beirut (Perpétuelle
orthodoxie des Maronites).
Criticism of the Maronite
position
(1) The Monastery of St.
Maro before the Monothelite Controversy
The existence since the
sixth century of a convent of
St. Maro, or of Beit-Marun, between Apamea and Elmesa, on the right bank of the
Orontes, is an established fact, and it may very well have been built on the
spot where Maro the solitary dwelt, of whom Theodoret speaks. This convent suffered
for its devotion to the true faith, as is strikingly
evident from an address presented by its monks to the Metropolitan of Apamea in 517, and
to Pope Hormisdas, complaining of the Monophysites, who had
massacred 350 monks for
siding with the Council
of Chalcedon. In 536 the apocrisarius Paul appears at Constantinople
subscribing the Acts of the Fourth Œcumenical Council in the name of the monks of St. Maro.
In 553, this same convent is
represented at the Fifth Œcumenical Council by the priest John and
the deacon Paul.
The orthodox emperors,
particularly Justinian (Procopius, "De Ædific.", V, ix) and
Heraclius, gave liberal tokens of their regard for the monastery. The part
played by the monks of
St. Maro, isolated in the midst of an almost entirely Monophysite population,
should not be underrated. But it will be observed that in the texts cited there
is mention of a single convent, and not by any
means of a population such as could possibly have originated the Maronite
nation of later times.
(2) St. John Maro
The true founder of the
Maronite nation, the patriarch St. John Maro, would have lived towards the
close of the seventh century, but, unfortunately, his very existence is
extremely doubtful.
All the Syriac authors and the Byzantine priest Timotheus
derive the name Maronite from that of the convent Beni-Marun.
The words of Timotheus are: Maronîtai dè kèklentai àpò toû monasteríon
aútôn Marò kalonménou èn Suría (in P.G. LXXXVI, 65 and note 53). Renaudot absolutely
denies the existence of John Maro. But, supposing that he did exist, as may be
inferred from the testimony of the tenth-century Melchite Patriarch Eutychius (the
earliest text bearing on the point), his identity has baffled all researches.
His name is not to be found in any list of Melchite Patriarchs
of Antioch, whether Greek or Syriac. As the patriarchs of the
seventh and eighth centuries were orthodox, there was no
reason why St. John Maro should have been placed at the head of an
alleged orthodox branch
of the Church of
Antioch. The episcopal records of Antioch for the period in question may be
summarized as follows: 685, election of Theophanes; 686, probable election of
Alexander; 692, George assists at the Trullan Council; 702-42,
vacancy of the See of Antioch on account of Mussulman persecutions;
742, election of Stephen. But, according to Mgr Debs, the latest Maronite
historian, St. John Maro would have occupied the patriarchal See of Antioch
from 685 to 707.
The Maronites insist,
affirming that St. John Maro must have been Patriarch of Antioch because his
works present him under that title. The works of John Maro referred to are an
exposition of the Liturgy of St. James and a treatise on the Faith. The former
is published by Joseph Aloysius Assemani in his "Codex Liturgicus"
and certainly bears the name of John Maro, but the present writer has elsewhere
shown that this alleged commentary of St. John Maro is no other than the famous
commentary of Dionysius bar-Salibi, a Monophysite author
of the twelfth century, with mutilations, additions, and accommodations to suit
the changes by which the Maronites have endeavoured to make the Syriac Liturgy
resemble the Roman (Dionysius Bar Salibi, "expositio liturgiæ", ed.
Labourt, pref.). The treatise on the Faith is not likely to be any more
authentic than the liturgical work:
it bears a remarkable resemblance to a theological treatise
of Leontius of
Byzantium, and should therefore, very probably, be referred to the second
half of the sixth century and the first half of the seventh — a period much
earlier than that which the Maronites assign to St. John Maro. Besides, it
contains nothing about Monothelitism —
which, in fact, did not yet exist. John Maro, we must therefore conclude, is a
very problematic personality;
if he existed at all, it was as a simple monk, not by any means
as a Melchite Patriarch of Antioch.
(3) Uninterrupted
Orthodoxy of the Maronites
It is to be remembered
that before the rise of Monothelitism, the monks of St. Maro,
to whom the Maronites trace their origin, were faithful to the Council of Chalcedon as
accepted by the Byzantine emperors; they were Melchites in the
full sense of the term — i.e., Imperialists, representing the Byzantine creed
among populations which had abandoned it, and, we may add, representing the
Byzantine language and Byzantine culture among peoples whose speech and manners
were those of Syria.
There is no reason to think that, when the Byzantine emperors, by way of one
last effort at union with their Jacobite subjects, Syrian and Egyptian, endeavoured to
secure the triumph of Monothelitism —
a sort of compromise between Monophysistism and Chalcedonian orthodoxy —
the monks of
St. Maro abandoned the Imperialist party and faithfully adhered to orthodoxy. On the
contrary, all the documents suggest that the monks of Beit-Marun
embraced Monothelitism,
and still adhered to that heresy even after
the Council of 681, when the emperors had abjured it. It is
not very difficult to produce evidence of this in a text of Dionysius of
Tell-Mahré (d. 845) preserved to us in the chronicle of Michael the Syrian,
which shows Heraclius forcing most of the Syrian monks to accept his
Ecthesis, and those of Beit-Marun are counted among the staunchest partisans of
the emperor. One very instructive passage in this same chronicle, referring to
the year 727, recounts at length a quarrel between the two branches of the
Chalcedonians, the orthodox and
the Monothelites,
where the former are called Maximists, after St. Maximus the confessor, the
uncompromising adversary of the Monothelites, while the
latter are described as the "party of Beit-Marun" and "monks of
Beit-Marun". We are here told how the monks of St. Maro
have a bishop in
their monastery,
how they convert most of the Melchites of the
country districts to Monothelitism and
even successfully contend with the Maximists (i.e., the Catholics) for the
possession of a church at Aleppo. From that time
on, being cut off from communion with the Melchite (Catholic) Patriarch of Antioch, they do as
the Jacobites did
before them, and for the same reasons: they set up a separate Church,
eschewing, however, with equal horror the Monophysites, who reject
the Council of
Chalcedon, and the Catholics who
condemn the Monothelite Ecthesis
of Heraclius and accept the Sixth Œcumenical Council. Why the monks of
Beit-Marun, hitherto so faithful to the Byzantine emperors, should have
deserted them when they returned to orthodoxy, we do
not know; but it
is certain that
in this defection the Maronite Church and nation had its origin, and that the
name Maronite thenceforward becomes a synonym for Monothelite, as well
with Byzantine as with Nestorian or Monophysite writers.
Says the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, referring to this period: "The
Maronites remained as they are now. They ordain a patriarch and bishops from
their convent.
They are separated from Maximus, in that they confess only one will in Christ,
and say: 'Who was crucified for us'. But they accept the Synod of
Chalcedon." St.
Germanus of Constantinople, in his treatise "De Hæresibus et
Synodis" (about the year 735), writes: "There are some heretics who,
rejecting the Fifth and Sixth Councils, nevertheless contend against the Jacobites. The latter
treat them as men without sense, because, while accepting the Fourth Council,
they try to reject the next two. Such are the Maronites, whose monastery is
situated in the very mountains of Syria." (The Fourth
Council was that of Chalcedon.) St. John Damascene,
a Doctor of the
Church (d. 749), also considered the Maronites heretics. He reproaches
them, among other things, with continuing to add the words staurotheis dì
emâs (Who didst suffer for us on the Cross) to the Trisagion, an addition
susceptible of an orthodox sense,
but which had eventually been prohibited in order to prevent misunderstanding
[maronísomen prosthémenoi tô trisagío tèn staúrosin ("We shall be following
Maro, if we join the Crucifixion to our Trisagion" — "De Hymno
Trisagio", ch. v). Cf. perì òrthoû phronematos, ch. v.]. A little
later, Timotheus I, Patriarch of
the Nestorians,
receives a letter from the Maronites, proposing that he should admit them to
his communion. His reply is extant, though as yet unpublished, in which he
felicitates them on rejecting, as he himself does, the idea of more than
one energy and one will in Christ (Monothelitism), but lays
down certain conditions which amount to an acceptance of his Nestorianism, though in
a mitigated form. Analogous testimony may be found in the works of the Melchite controversialist
Theodore Abukara (d. c. 820) and the Jacobite theologian Habib
Abu-Raïta (about the same period), as also in the treatise "De Receptione
Hareticorum" attributed to the priest Timotheus
(P.G., 86, 65). Thus, in the eighth century there exists a Maronite Church
distinct from the Catholic Church and from
the Monophysite Church;
this Church extends far into the plain of Syria and prevails
especially in the mountain regions about the monastery of
Beit-Marun. In the ninth century this Church was probably confined to the
mountain regions. The destruction of the monastery of
Beit-Marun did not put an end to it; it completed its organization by setting
up a patriarch, the first known Maronite patriarch dating from 1121,
though there may have been others before him. The Maronite mountaineers
preserved a relative autonomy between the Byzantine emperors, on the one hand,
who reconquered Antioch in the tenth century, and, on the other hand, the Mussulmans. The Crusaders entered
into relations with them. In 1182, almost the entire nation — 40,000 of them —
were converted. From the moment when their influence ceased to extend over the
hellenized lowlands of Syria, the Maronites
ceased to speak any language but Syriac, and used no other in their liturgy. It
is impossible to assign a date to this disappearance of hellenism among them.
At the end of the eighth century the Maronite Theophilus of Edessa knew enough Greek
to translate and comment on the Homeric poems. It is very likely that Greek was
the chief language used in the monastery of
Beit-Marun, at least until the ninth century; that monastery having
been destroyed, there remained only country and mountain villages where nothing
but Syriac had ever been used either colloquially or in the liturgy.
It would be pleasant to
be able at least to say that the orthodoxy of the
Maronites has been constant since 1182, but unfortunately, even this cannot be
asserted. There have been at least partial defections among them. No doubt the patriarch
Jeremias al Amshîti visited Innocent III at Rome in 1215, and
he is known to have taken home with him some projects of liturgical reform.
But in 1445, after the Council of Florence, the
Maronites of Cyprus return
to Catholicism (Hefele, "Histoire
des counciles", tr. Delare, XI, 540). In 1451, Pius II, in his letter
to Mahomet II, still ranks them among the heretics. Gryphone, an
illustrious Flemish Franciscan of the
end of the fifteenth century, converted a large number of them, receiving
several into the Order of St. Francis, and one of them, Gabriel Glaï
(Barclaïus, or Benclaïus), whom he had caused to be consecrated Bishop of Lefkosia
in Cyprus, was
the first Maronite scholar to attempt to establish his nation's claim to
unvarying orthodoxy:
in a letter written in 1495 he gives what purports to be a list of eighteen
Maronite patriarchs in
succession, from the beginning of their Church down to his own time, taken from
documents which he assumes to come down from the year 1315. — It is obvious to
remark how recent all that is. — The Franciscan Suriano
("Il trattato di Terra Santa e dell' Oriente di fr. Fr. Suriano", ed.
Golubovitch), who was delegated to
the Maronites by Leo
X, in 1515, points out many traits of ignorance and many
abuses among them, and regards Maro as a Monothelite. However, it
may be asserted that the Maronites never relapsed into Monothelitism after
Gryphone's mission. Since James of Hadat (1439-48) all their patriarchs have
been strictly orthodox.
The Maronite Church since
the sixteenth century
The Lateran Council of
1516 was the beginning of a new era, which has also been the most brilliant, in
Maronite history. The letters of the patriarch Simon Peter and of his bishops may be
found in the eleventh session of that council (19 Dec., 1516). From that time
the Maronites were to be in permanent and uninterrupted contact with Rome. Moses of Akbar
(1526-67) received a letter from Pius IV. The patriarch
Michael sought the intervention of Gregory XIII and
received the pallium from
him. That great pontiff was the most distinguished benefactor of the Maronite
Church: he established at Rome a hospital for them,
and then the Maronite College to which the bishops could send
six of their subjects. Many famous savants have gone out of this
college: George Amira, the grammarian, who died patriarch in 1633; Isaac of
Schadrê; Gabriel Siouni, professor at the Sapienza, afterwards interpreter to
King Louis XIII and collaborator in the Polyglot Bible (d. 1648); Abraham of Hakel
(Ecchelensis), a very prolific writer, professor at Rome and afterwards
at Paris, and
collaborator in the Polyglot Bible; above all, the Assemani — Joseph Simeon,
editor of the "Bibliotheca Orientalis", Stephanus Evodius, and Joseph
Aloysius. Another Maronite college was founded at Ravenna by Innocent X, but was
amalgamated with that at Rome in 1665. After
the French
Revolution the Maronite College was attached to the Congregation of Propaganda.
In the patriarchate of
Sergius Risius, the successor of Michael, the Jesuit Jerome
Dandini, by order of Clement
VIII, directed a general
council of the Maronites at Kannobin in 1616, which enacted twenty-one
canons, correcting abuses and effecting reforms in liturgical matters;
the liturgical reforms
of the council of 1596, however, were extremely moderate. Other patriarchs were: Joseph II Risius,
who, in 1606, introduced the Gregorian Calendar; John XI (d. 1633), to
whom Paul V sent
the pallium in
1610; Gregory Amira (1633-44); Joseph III of Akur (1644-47); John XII of Soffra
(d. 1656). The last two of these prelates converted
a great many Jacobites.
Stephen of Ehdem (d. 1704) composed a history of his predecessors from 1095 to
1699. Peter James II was deposed in 1705, but Joseph Mubarak, who was elected
in his place, was not recognized by Clement XI, and, through
the intervention of Propaganda,
which demanded the holding of another council, Peter James II was restored in
1713.
Under Joseph IV (1733-42)
was held a second national council, which is of highest importance. Pope Clement XII delegated
Joseph Simeon Assemani, who was assisted by his nephew Stephanus Evodius, with
an express mandate to cause the Council of Trent to
be promulgated in
the Lebanon. The Jesuit Fromage
was appointed synodal orator. According to the letter which he sent to his
superiors (published at the beginning of Mansi's thirty-eighth volume), the
chief abuses to be corrected by the ablegate were: (1) The Maronite bishops, in virtue of an
ancient custom, had in their households a certain number of religious women, whose lodgings
were, as a rule, separated from the bishop's only by a
door of communication. (2) The patriarch had reserved to himself exclusively
the right to consecrate the holy oils and
distribute them among the bishops and clergy in
consideration of money payments. (3) Marriage dispensations were
sold for a money price. (4) The Blessed Sacrament was
not reserved in most of the country churches, and was seldom to be found except
in the churches of religious communities.
(5) Married priests were
permitted to remarry. (6) Churches lacked their becoming ornaments, and
"the members of Jesus Christ, necessary succour", while, on the other
hand, there were too many bishops — fifteen
to one hundred and fifty parishes. (7) The
Maronites of Aleppo had,
for ten or twelve years past, been singing the Liturgy in Arabic only.
With great difficultly,
J. S. Assemani overcame the ill will of the patriarch and the intrigues of
the bishops: the
Council of the Lebanon at last convened in the monastery of St.
Mary of Luweïza, fourteen Maronite bishops, one Syrian, and
one Armenian assisting.
The abuses enumerated above were reformed, and measures were taken to
combat ignorance by
establishing schools.
The following decisions were also taken: the Filioque was introduced into the
Creed; in the Synaxary, not only the first six councils were to be mentioned,
but also the Seventh (Nicæa, 787), the Eighth (Constantinople, 869), the Council of Florence (1439),
and the Council of
Trent; the pope was
to be named in the Mass and in other parts of the liturgy; confirmation was
reserved to the bishop;
the consecration of
the holy chrism and
the holy oils was
set for Holy
Thursday; the altar bread was to take the circular form in use at Rome, must be composed
only of flour and water, and must contain no oil or salt, after the Syrian
tradition; the wine must be mixed with a little water; communion under both
species was no longer permitted except to priests and deacons; the ecclesiastical hierarchy was
definitely organized, and the ceremonial of ordination fixed;
the number of bishoprics was
reduced to eight.
The publication of the
decrees of this council did not, of course, completely transform Maronite
manners and customs. In 1743, two candidates for the patriarchate were
chosen. Clement XIV was obliged to annul
the election: he chose Simon Euodius, Archbishop of Damascus (d. 1756),
who was succeeded by Tobias Peter (1756-66). In the next patriarchal reign,
that of Joseph Peter Stefani, a certain Anna Agsmi founded a congregation of
religious women of
the Sacred Heart; the Holy
See suppressed the congregation and condemned its foundress, who, by
means of her reputation for sanctity, was
disseminating grave errors.
Joseph Peter, who defended her in spite of everything, was placed under interdict in 1779,
but was reconciled some years later. After him came Michael Fadl (d. 1795),
Peter Gemaïl (d. 1797), Peter Thian (1797-1809), and Joseph Dolci (1809-23).
The last, in 1818, abolished, by the action of a synod, the custom by which, in
many places, there were pairs of monasteries, one for
men, the other for women.
Under Joseph Habaïsch the struggles with the Druses (see I, above) began,
continuing under his successor, Joseph Ghazm (1846-55). Peter Paul Massaad
(1855-90) during his long and fruitful term on the patriarchal throne witnessed
events of extreme gravity — the revolt of the people against the sheikhs and
the massacres of 1860. The Maronite Church owes much to him: his firmness of
character and the loftiness of his aims had the utmost possible effect in
lessening the evil consequences
and breaking the shock of these conflicts. The immediate predecessor of the
present (1910) patriarch, Mgr. Hoyek, was John Peter Hadj (1890-99).
Sources
I. For the councils of 1596 and 1736 see MANSI, Sacrarum conciliorum nova et angmplissima collectio (Florence and Venice, 1759-98). For the history of the Maronites, MICHAEL THE SYRIAN, Chronicle, ed. NAU in Opuscules Maronites in Revue de l'Orient Chrétien, IV.
II. ANCIENT WORKS. — Maronite: NAÏRONI, Dissertatio de origine nomine ac religione Maronitarum (Rome, 1679); IDEM, Evoplia fidei (Rome, 1694); J. S. ASSEMANI, Bibliotheca orientalis, I (Rome, 1719), 496 sqq. Western: DANDINI, Missione apostolica al Patriarrca e Maroniti (Cesena, 1656), French tr., SIMON, Voyage du Mont. Liban (Paris, 1685); LE QUIEN, Oriens Christianus, III: Ecclesia Maronitarum de Monte Libano, 1-100. See also the works of the travellers and missionaries among the Maronites; the chief, besides WILLIAM OF TYRE, are JACQUES DE VITRY; LUDOLF OF SUCHEN, De itinere hierosolymitano; GRYPHONE, SURIANO, FROMAGE.
III. MODERN WORKS. — Maronite: DEBS, La perpétuelle orthodoxie des
Maronites (Beirut, s. d.); CHEBLI, Le patriarcat Maronite
d'Antioche in Revue de l'Or. Chrét., VIII, 133 sqq.; for the
Maronite theory, NAU, Opuscules maronites in Rev. de l'Or.
chrét., IV. Western: LAMMENS, Fr. Gryphon et le Liban au
XVIe siècle in Revue de l'Or. Chrét., IV, 68 sqq.; and
especially the articles of VAILHÉ in Echos d'Orient, Origines religieuses
des Maronites, IV, 96, 154; V, 281; Melchites et Maronites, VI, 271; Fra
Suriano et la perpétuelle orthodoxie des Maronites, VII, 99; Le
monothélisme des Maronites d'après les auteurs Melchites, IX,
91; L'Église Maronite du Ve au IXe siècle, IX, 257, 344;
also NEHER, in Kirchenlex., s.v. Maroniten; KESSLER
in Realencyc. für prot. theol., s.v. Maroniten.
Labourt, Jérôme. "Maronites." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Feb. 2023 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09683c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by WGKofron. With thanks to St.
Mary's Church, Akron, Ohio.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09683c.htm
Venerable Maron the
Hermit of Syria
Commemorated on February 14
Saint Maron was born in
the fourth century near the city of Cyrrhus in Syria. He spent almost all his
time beneath the open sky in prayer, vigil, ascetical works and strict fasting.
He obtained from God the gift of healing the sick and casting out demons. He
counselled those who turned to him for advice to be temperate, to be concerned
for their salvation, and to guard against avarice and anger.
Saint Maron, a friend of
Saint John Chrysostom, died before 423 at an advanced age.
Some of Saint Maron’s
disciples were James the Hermit (November 26), Limnius (February 23), and
Domnina (March 1). Saint Maron founded many monasteries around Cyrrhus, and
converted a pagan temple near Antioch into a Christian church.
SOURCE : https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2023/02/14/100524-venerable-maron-the-hermit-of-syria
San
Marón de Líbano acompañado de sus discípulos, 1863. El cuadro está en la
iglesia de Jezzine
Saint
Maroun and his Disciples, 1863. The painting is in the Saint Maroun parish
church of Jezzine.
San Marone Eremita
m. Siria, 410 circa
«Ora ricorderò Marone, perché pure lui ha abbellito il coro dei santi. Mentre i medici prescrivono per ogni malattia un farmaco diverso, la sua medicina era sempre la stessa, comune a tutti i santi: la preghiera. Non curava solo le malattie del corpo, ma anche quelle dell’anima: guariva uno dall’avarizia, un altro dall’ira, istruiva questo nella temperanza, quello nella giustizia» (Teodoreto di Ciro).
Sappiamo poco della vita di Marone, un monaco eremita vissuto in Siria tra il IV e il V secolo. Pur possedendo una capanna coperta di pelli di capra, ne faceva poco uso, vivendo per lo più a cielo aperto. Trascorreva la maggior parte del suo tempo assorto in preghiera. La sua solitudine, tuttavia, non durò a lungo. Presto accorsero a lui discepoli e semplici fedeli per ricevere consigli.
Tutti egli esortava alla preghiera, invitandoli a trascorrere con lui l’intera
notte nella lode di Dio. I suoi consigli erano spesso accompagnati da
guarigioni fisiche e psichiche. Non meno apprezzata era la sua guida spirituale
al punto che Teodoreto afferma che tutti i monaci di Ciro furono da lui
istruiti. Morì verso il 410 e il suo corpo venne sepolto nel celebre monastero
di Beth-Maron, nella regione di Apamea. Un secolo più tardi, a causa delle
invasioni arabe della Siria, molti cristiani si stabilirono in quella zona
montuosa. Fu l’origine di quella Chiesa che dal nome del santo prese il nome di
maronita. Nel Medio Evo, un buon numero di maroniti aderì all’unione con la
Chiesa cattolica. Per questo nel XVI secolo venne aperto a Roma un importante
collegio per lo studio della lingua e della tradizione maronita. Ancora
oggi san Marone è venerato nelle regioni montuose della Siria e del Libano.
Martirologio Romano: Su
un monte presso Apamea in Siria, san Marone, eremita, totalmente dedito
all’aspra penitenza e alla contemplazione, presso il cui sepolcro fu eretto un
celebre monastero, da cui ebbe poi origine una comunità cristiana che da lui
prese il nome.
Assai ammirato dal celeberrimo Giovanni Crisostomo, San Marone visse a cavallo tra il IV ed il V secolo, eremita nei pressi della città di Ciro in Siria. Pur possedendo una capanna coperta di pelli di capra, si narra che ne abbia poco usufruito, vivendo principalmente all’aperto. Fu fedele discepolo di San Zebino, il quale era solito dispensare consigli estremamente succinti per poter trascorrere il maggior tempo possibile conversando con Dio. Scovate le rovine di un tempio pagano, Marone volle dedicarlo all’unico vero Dio, trasformandolo così nel suo luogo privilegiato di preghiera. Coloro che vi si recavano per consultarsi con il santo e per chiedergli consiglio non solo erano accolti con cortesia, ma venivano inoltre invitati ad unirsi a lui nell’orazione, cosa che spesso consisteva nel vegliare per l’intera notte. Si guadagnò la fama di taumaturgo, compiendo prodigiose guarigioni sia fisiche che psichiche, ma anche la sua reputazione quale direttore spirituale non fu da meno. Molti dei suoi ammiratori maturarono poi la decisione di farsi monaci o eremiti ed il vescovo Teodoreto di Ciro giunse a testimoniare che tutti i monaci della sua diocesi fossero stati istruiti da Marone.
Il santo eremita morì dopo una breve malattia, logorato dai rigori della sua vita, ma non è ben definita la data esatta della sua morte, da collocarsi comunque nella prima metà del V secolo. Purtroppo non si hanno notizie più approfondite e storicamente attendibili su questo santo, nonostante la sua popolarità. Alcune province confinanti si contesero il possesso dei suoi resti, che infine furono tumulati nel celebre monastero di Beth-Maron, nella regione siriana di Apamea, nei pressi della fonte del fiume Oronte. La Chiesa definita “maronita” afferma di aver avuto origine proprio in quel luogo e venera il santo eremita come proprio fondatore, facendone memoria anche nel canone della loro Divina Liturgia. Per alcuni storici è tuttavia difficile che le origini dei cristiani maroniti risalgano oltre il VII secolo, quando cioè si separarono dalla Chiesa adottando il monoteismo, eresia condannata dal concilio di Calcedonia nel 680. Il loro nome sarebbe collegato con maggiore probabilità al leggendario Giovanni Marone, da essi venerato anch’egli come santo, che fu monaco a Beth-Maron e nel 676 divenne vescovo di Botira su insistenza del patriarca monotelita Macario e primo patriarca maronita.
Distrutto dagli invasori arabi nel X secolo, il monastero fu ricostruito a Kefr-Nay nel distretto di Botira e qui venne traslata la testa di San Marone. Nel 1182, durante le crociate, ben quarantamila maroniti si convertirono al cattolicesimo e da allora la loro Chiesa rimase sempre unita a Roma, pur mantenendo una propria liturgia ed un proprio calendario. Sotto la protezione della Chiesa Cattolica i maroniti conobbero un periodo di prosperità e nel 1584 papa Gregorio fondò a Roma un collegio maronita che attirò le attenzioni di molti studiosi. Il XIX fu però il Venerdì Santo della Chiesa maronita: nel 1860 molti furono massacrati e patirono terribilmente per mano dei turchi, l’abate di Deir el-Khamar fu orribilmente torturato e circa sedicimila fedeli vennero espulsi dalle loro abitazioni. Nel 1926 il pontefice Pio XI beatificò un gruppo di undici vittime di tale persecuzione, capeggiato dal francescano Emanuele Ruiz Lopez, del quale facevano parte anche tre fratelli laici maroniti: trattasi dei beati Francesco, Abdel-Mooti e Raffaele Massabki. Ulteriori sanguinosi massacri colpirono i maroniti nel XX secolo, durante la prima guerra mondiale ed in Libano anche negli anni ’80.
Il Martyrologium Romanum commemora San Marone, presunto fondatore di questa grande Chiesa orientale, in data 9 febbraio, mentre i sinassari bizantini lo ricordano al 14 febbraio.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92497
S. Vailhé. « Origines religieuses des Maronites », Revue des études byzantines Année 1900 4-2 pp. 96-102 : https://www.persee.fr/doc/rebyz_1146-9447_1900_num_4_2_3324
Jean-Baptiste Chabot. « Les origines de la légende de saint Maron », Mémoires de l'Institut de France Année 1951 43-2 pp. 1-19 : https://www.persee.fr/doc/minf_0398-3609_1951_num_43_2_1006
Voir aussi : Voir aussi : http://www.olmbelgique.org/Pages/EgliseMaronite.aspx
http://mouka.perso.infonie.fr/maronite_rizk.htm
http://www.maronite-heritage.com/Saint%20Maron.php
