Although reduced in numbers today, the distinct but relatedMaronite ethno-religious groupremains a principal grouping in Lebanon,[14] with smaller minorities of Maronites inSyria,Cyprus,Israel, andJordan.Emigration since the 19th century means that about two-thirds of the Maronite Church's roughly 3.5 million members in 2017[15] were located outside "The Antiochian's Range", where they are part of the worldwideLebanese diaspora.
St. Maron: Russian orthodox iconRemains of the arch of Brad Cathedral north of Aleppo, where Saint Maron's tomb was attached
Maron, a fourth-centurymonk and a contemporary and friend ofJohn Chrysostom, left Antioch for theOrontes River in modern-day Syria to lead anascetic life, following the traditions ofAnthony the Great of the Desert and ofPachomius. Many of his followers also lived a monastic lifestyle. Maron is considered the founder of the spiritual and monastic movement that evolved into what is now the Maronite Church. Maronite Christianity has had a profound influence on what is nowLebanon, and to a lesser degreeSyria,Jordan andPalestine. Saint Maron spent his life on a mountain in Syria, generally believed to be"Kefar-Nabo" on the mountain ofOl-Yambos in theTaurus Mountains, contemporaryTurkey, becoming the cradle of the Maronite movement established in theMonastery of Saint Maron.
The Maronite movement reached Lebanon when St. Maron's first disciple,Abraham of Cyrrhus, who was called the "Apostle of Lebanon", set out to convert the non-Christians by introducing them to St. Maron.[17]
TheMaronites subscribed to the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon in 451.Monophysites of Antioch slew 350 monks and burned the monastery in an act ofsectarian violence among Christians. Later,Justinian I restored the community. Correspondence concerning the event brought the Maronites papal and orthodox recognition, indicated by a letter fromPope Hormisdas (514–523) dated 10 February 518.[18] Representatives from Beth-Maron participated in the Constantinople synods of536 and553.
An outbreak of civil war during the reign of EmperorPhocas brought forth riots in the cities of Syria and Palestine and incursions by Persian kingKhosrow II. In 609, the Patriarch of Antioch,Anastasius II, was killed either at the hands of some soldiers or locals.[19] This left the Maronites without a leader, which continued because of the finalByzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628.
In the aftermath of the war, the emperorHeraclius propagated a new Christological doctrine in an attempt to unify the various Christian churches of the East, who were divided over accepting theCouncil of Chalcedon. This doctrine, calledMonothelitism, held that Christ had two natures (one divine and one human) but only one will (not a divine will and also a human will), based on a phrasing ofPope Honorius I (seeControversy over Honorius I), and was meant as a compromise between supporters of Chalcedon, such as the Maronites, and opponents, such as theJacobites.Monothelitism failed to settle the schism, however, and was declared a heresy at theSixth Ecumenical Council in 680–681. The Council condemned both Honorius and PatriarchSergius I of Constantinople but did not explicitly mention the Maronites.[16]
Contemporary Greek and Arab sources suggest the Maronites rejected theThird Council of Constantinople and accepted monothelitism,[20] only moving away from it in the time of theCrusades in order to avoid being branded heretics by the crusaders. The Maronite Church, however, rejects the assertions that the Maronites were ever monothelites and broke communion with Rome;[21] and the question remains a matter of controversy.[20] Elias El-Hāyek attributes much of the confusion to Eutyches of Alexandria, whoseAnnals El-Hāyek claimed contain erroneous material regarding the early Maronite Church, which was then picked up byWilliam of Tyre and others.[16] Robert W. Crawford concluded the same, pointing out that the heretic "Maro" mentioned in theAnnals, which William of Tyre considers as the namesake of the Maronites, was aNestorian from Edessa and could not have beenMaron orJohn Maron.[22] However,Donald Attwater, a 20th-century historian of Eastern Christianity, affirmed the view that Maronites broke communion with Rome over monothelitism, however briefly.[23]
The Patriarch of AntiochAnastasius II died in 609, and Constantinople began to appoint a series of titular patriarchs, who resided in Constantinople. In 685, the Maronites elected Bishop John Maron ofBatroun as Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.[16]
The Eastern Mediterranean under Umayyad rule, with the Mardaites zones showed in Mount Lebanon and the Amanus
In 687, as part of an agreements withAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Byzantine emperorJustinian II sent 12,000 Christian Maronites from Lebanon to Armenia,[24] in exchange for a substantial payment and half the revenues of Cyprus.[16] There they were conscripted as rowers andmarines in theByzantine navy.[25] Additional resettlement efforts allowed Justinian to reinforce naval forces depleted by earlier conflicts.[26]
John Maron established himself in the remoteQadisha Valley in Lebanon. In 694, Justinian sent troops against the Maronites in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Patriarch.[27] John Maron died in 707 at the Monastery of St. Maron in Lebanon. Around 749 the Maronite community, in the Lebanon mountains, built the Mar-Mama church atEhden. Meanwhile, caught between the Byzantines and the Arabs, the monastery at Beth-Maron struggled to survive.[28]
1779 painting of a Maronite nun from Mount Lebanon, with brownjilbab, blue headscarf and blackhijab
After they came under Arab rule following theMuslim conquest of Syria (634–638), Maronite immigration to Lebanon, which had begun some time before, increased, intensifying under the Abbasid caliphal-Ma'mun (813–33).[27]
To eliminate internal dissent, from 1289 to 1291 Egyptian Mamluk troops descended on Mount Lebanon, destroying forts and monasteries.[29]
Following the Muslim conquest of Eastern Christendom outsideAnatolia and Europe in the 7th century and after the establishment of secured lines of demarcation between Islamiccaliphs and Byzantine emperors, little was heard from the Maronites for 400 years. Secure in their mountain strongholds, the Maronites were re-discovered in the mountains nearTripoli, Lebanon, byRaymond of Toulouse on his way to conquer Jerusalem in theGreat Crusade of 1096–1099. Raymond later returned tobesiege Tripoli (1102–1109) after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, and relations between the Maronites and European Christianity were subsequently reestablished.[30]
The Maronites assisted the crusaders and affirmed their affiliation with theHoly See of Rome in 1182.[31] To commemorate their communion, Maronite Patriarch Youseff Al Jirjisi received the crown and staff, marking his patriarchal authority, fromPope Paschal II in 1100 AD. In 1131, Maronite Patriarch Gregorios Al-Halati received letters from PopeInnocent II in which the Papacy recognized the authority of thePatriarchate of Antioch. PatriarchJeremias II Al-Amshitti (1199–1230) became the first Maronite Patriarch to visit Rome when he attended theFourth Council of the Lateran in 1215.[31] The Patriarchate of Antioch was also represented at theCouncil of Ferrara-Florence in 1438.[32]Peter Hans Kolvenbach notes, "This contact with the Latin Church enriched the intellectual world of Europe in the Middle Ages. Maronites taught Oriental languages and literature at the universities of Italy and France."[28]
During the Mamluk rule over Lebanon the Maronites were persecuted, with many being killed and others emigrating to Cyprus. Maronite Patriarch Gabriel II was burned alive in 1367 by the Mamluks and after a Mamluk campaign against the patriarch residence in Ilig (close to Byblos), the patriarchal seat was moved to theMonastery of Our Lady of Qannubin, where it remained until the nineteenth century.[33]
In theOttoman Empire, indigenous concentrated religious communities dealt mainly with the provincial administration. Officially, Maronites had to pay thejizya tax as non-Muslims, but sometimes the monks and clergy were exempt because they were considered to be "poor".[34]
Fakhr-al-Din II (1572–1635) was aDruze prince and a leader of the Emirate ofChouf District in the governorate of Mount Lebanon. Maronite Abū Nādir al-Khāzin was one of his foremost supporters and served as Fakhr-al-Din's adjutant. Phares notes that "The emirs prospered from the intellectual skills and trading talents of the Maronites, while the Christians gained political protection, autonomy and a local ally against the ever-present threat of direct Ottoman rule."[35] In 1649, Patriarch Yuhanna al-Sufrari placed the Maronites under French protection, and the French opened a consulate in Beirut.[36]
The Khāzin sheikhs subsequently increased in power and influence. In 1662, with the mediation ofJesuit missionaries, Abū Nawfal al-Khāzin was named French consul, despite complaints by Marseille merchants that he was not from Marseille.[34] The Church prospered from the protection and influence of the Khāzins, but at the expense of interference in church affairs, particularly ecclesiastical appointments, which the Khāzins saw as an extension of their political influence.[35]
Bachir Chehab II was the first and last Maronite ruler of the Emirate of Mount Lebanon.[37]
Due to closer ties with the Latin Church, the Maronite Church became one of the mostLatinized of theEastern Catholic Churches. Contacts between the Maronite monks and Rome were revived during the Crusades. The Maronites introduced to Eastern Churches Western devotional practices such as therosary and theStations of the Cross.[28] Late in the 16th century,Pope Gregory XIII sent Jesuits to the Lebanese monasteries to ensure that their practice conformed to decisions made at theCouncil of Trent.[29] TheMaronite College in Rome was established by Gregory XIII in 1584.[35] The Maronite missal (Qurbono) was first printed between 1592 and 1594 in Rome, although with fewer anaphoras.
PatriarchStephan al-Duwayhî (1670–1704), (laterbeatified), was able to find a middle ground between reformers and conservatives, and re-vitalized Maronite liturgical tradition.[32]
The Synod of Mount Lebanon (also Council of Luwayza) sought to incorporate both traditions and become a major turning point in the history of the Maronite Church. Maronite orientalistJoseph Simon Assemani presided as papal legate forPope Clement XII. The synod drafted a Code of Canons for the Maronite Church and created the first regular diocesan structure.[31] The Council of Luwayza led to a more effective church structure and to gradual emancipation from the influence of Maronite families.[42] The council also formalized many of the Latin practices that had developed, but also attempted to preserve ancient Maronite liturgical tradition. Among the changes it decreed where the separation of baptism and confirmation, performing baptism by pouring water over the head instead of full immersion and the use ofunleavened bread in theeucharistic service.[43]
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InOrientale lumen, the Apostolic Letter to the Churches of the East, issued 2 May 1995,Pope John Paul II quotesOrientalium Ecclesiarum, the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches:
It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Catholic Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality. Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have "the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own unique disciplines. For these are guaranteed by ancient tradition and seem to be better suited to the customs of their faithful and to the good of their souls."[44]
Patriarch Sfeir's personal commitment accelerated liturgical reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992 he published a new MaroniteMissal.[32] This represents an attempt to return to the original form of the Antiochene Liturgy, removing the liturgical Latinization of past centuries. There are six Anaphoras.
Between 2003 and 2006 the largest Maronite synod since the Lebanese Council of 1736 took place. One of the most important outcomes was the decision to strengthen relations between local, Lebanese institutions and the Maronite institutions and communities abroad.[45] Patriarch Sfeir stated thatSacrosanctum concilium and the Roman liturgical changes following Vatican II apply to the Maronite Church.Sancrosanctum Concilium says, "Among these principles and norms there are some which can and should be applied both to the Roman rite and also to all the other rites. The practical norms which follow, however, should be taken as applying only to the Roman rite, except for those which, in the very nature of things, affect other rites as well."[46]
ThePeshitta is the standard Syriac Bible, used by the Maronite Church, amongst others. The illustration is of the Peshitta text ofExodus 13:14–16 produced inAmida in the year 464.The Monastery of Saint Anthony of Qozhaya, in the Zgharta district, North Lebanon
Clerical celibacy is not strictly required for Maronite deacons and priests of parishes outside of North America; monks, however, must remain celibate, as well as bishops who are normally selected from the monasteries. Around 50% of the Maronitediocesan priests in the Middle East aremarried.[48] Due to a long-term understanding with their Latin counterparts in North America, Maronite priests in that area have traditionally remained celibate. However, in February 2014, Wissam Akiki was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the U.S. Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon at St. Raymond's Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis. Deacon Akiki is the first married man to be ordained to the Maronite priesthood in North America and will not be expected to remain continent.[49]
In the 12th century, about 40,000 Maronites resided in the area around Antioch and modern-day Lebanon.[31] By the 21st century, estimates suggest that the Maronite diaspora population may have grown to more than twice the estimated 2 million Maronites living in their historic homelands in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.[56]
Maronite Pastoral Center in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Immigration of Maronite faithful from the Middle East to the United States began during the latter part of the nineteenth century. When the faithful were able to obtain a priest, communities were established as parishes under the jurisdiction of the local Latin bishops. In January 1966, Pope Paul VI established the Maronite Apostolic Exarchate for the Maronite faithful of the United States. In a decree of the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, Bishop Francis Mansour Zayek was appointed the first exarch. The see, in Detroit, Michigan, with a cathedral under the patronage of Saint Maron, was suffragan to the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1971,Pope Paul VI elevated the Exarchate to the status of an Eparchy, with the name of Eparchy of Saint Maron of Detroit. In 1977, the see of the Eparchy of Saint Maron was transferred to Brooklyn, New York, with the cathedral under the patronage of Our Lady of Lebanon. The name of the Eparchy was modified to Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn.[60]
In 1994, the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon was established with the cathedral at Los Angeles, California, under the patronage of Our Lady of Lebanon.[60]John George Chedid, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, was ordained as the first Bishop of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles at the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Los Angeles, California, where he served until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80. In December 2000,Robert Joseph Shaheen succeeded Chedid as eparch.
Eparchies operate inSão Paulo in Brazil, as well as in Colombia, Mexico, France, Australia,[61] South Africa, Canada and Argentina.[57]
Former Brazilian presidentMichel Temer, the firstLebanese Brazilian to have led the nation, was the son of two Maronite Catholic Lebanese immigrants.[62][63]
^Richard P. Mc Brien,The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (New York: Harper One, 2008), 450. O'Brien notes: The Vatican II document,Orientalium Ecclesiarum, "acknowledged that the Eastern Catholic communities are true Churches and not just rites within the Catholic Church."
^Book of Offering: According to the Rite of the Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church. Bkerke, Lebanon: Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East. 2012.
^Reyes, Adelaida (2014).Music and Minorities from Around the World: Research, Documentation and Interdisciplinary Study. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 45.ISBN9781443870948.The Maronites are an ethnoreligious group in the Levant.
^Donald Attwater (1937). Joseph Husslein (ed.).The Christian Churches of the East: Volume I: Churches in Communion With Rome.Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company. pp. 165–167.
^Bury, J.B., A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene, Vol. II, MacMillan & Co., 1889, p. 321
^Treadgold, Warren T.,Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081, 1998, Stanford University Press, p. 72,ISBN0-8047-3163-2,
^Ostrogorsky, George,History of the Byzantine state, (Joan Hussey, trans.), 1957, Rutgers University Press, pp. 116–122,ISBN0-8135-0599-2
Hazran, Yusri (2013).The Druze Community and the Lebanese State: Between Confrontation and Reconciliation. Routledge. p. 32.ISBN9781317931737.the Druze had been able to live in harmony with the Christian
Artzi, Pinḥas (1984).Confrontation and Coexistence. Bar-Ilan University Press. p. 166.ISBN9789652260499... Europeans who visited the area during this period related that the Druze "love the Christians more than the other believers," and that they "hate the Turks, the Muslims and the Arabs [Bedouin] with an intense hatred.
CHURCHILL (1862).The Druzes and the Maronites. Montserrat Abbey Library. p. 25...the Druzes and Christians lived together in the most perfect harmony and good-will..
Hobby (1985).Near East/South Asia Report. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. p. 53.the Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains in the past lived in complete harmony..
^Deeb, Marius (2013).Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah: The Unholy Alliance and Its War on Lebanon. Hoover Press.ISBN9780817916664.the Maronites and the Druze, who founded Lebanon in the early eighteenth century.
^Galadza, Peter (2010)."Eastern Catholic Christianity". In Parry, Kenneth (ed.).The Blackwell companion to Eastern Christianity. Blackwell companions to religion. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 303.ISBN978-1-4443-3361-9.
Michael Breydy: Geschichte der syro-arabischen Literatur der Maroniten vom VII. bis XVI. Jahrhundert. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1985,ISBN3-531-03194-5
R. J. Mouawad,Les Maronites. Chrétiens du Liban, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, 2009,ISBN978-2-503-53041-3
Maronite Church.New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 2003.
Riley-Smith, Johnathan.The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995)
Suermann, Harald.Histoire des origines de l'Eglise Maronite, PUSEK, Kaslik, 2010,ISBN978-9953-491-67-7
Barber, Malcolm.Letters from the East: Crusades, Pilgrims and Settlers in the 12th–13th centuries, Ashgate Press, Reading, United Kingdom, 2013,ISBN978-1-4724-1393-2
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