Tag: Maronite Catholicism

From the earliest centuries of the church, the spiritual life has been understood as a progression in stages from the body, to the soul, to the spirit. Maronite Seminarian Dominic Altakchy explains how this ascent relies on hope.

The rosary, while not of Maronite origin, is believed to have been adopted by Lebanese Catholics as early as 1580. The great Maronite saints were all devoted to Our Lady through the rosary, a habit we should share, writes Antonious Tarrazi.

Maronite Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay has called on all faithful to pray for peace, as Israel began a “targeted ground operation” in southern Lebanon on 1 October, following airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior commanders in a Beirut bunker on 27 September.

Maronite Eparch of Australia, NZ and Oceania, Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay, joined Pope Francis in Papua New Guinea. From visits to youth, to the pope’s embrace of PNG’s rich culture, the message was one of ‘tangible hope’ and encouragement, Bishop Tarabay writes.

Blessed Estephan Nehme’s words were few yet filled with wisdom, reflecting a deep relationship with Christ, being focussed on words he had repeated since his childhood: “God sees me.”

Thousands of people have flocked to the Maronite Patriarchal headquarters in Bkerke for the beatification of the 17th century Maronite Patriarch, Estephan Douaihy. Among them, numerous Lebanese Australians. They had travelled specifically for the occasion, despite official Australian travel warnings because of the volatile conflict in the south, writes Deacon Ghassan Nakhoul.

After the Passion, the disciples had fallen back into their own lives with heavy hearts. But when Christ appeared to them and charged St Peter to “feed my sheep,” he revealed something about the nature of love, writes David El-Hachem.