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Welcome to Saint Charbel
Maronite Church
Saint Charbel Church in Ottawa, Ontario
is a place for the glory of God and the preservation of
the Lebanese heritage. We are a cornerstone of the Maronite
community in Ottawa, and invite you to come worship with
us. Read more.
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Brief
History of the Maronites
and St-Maron Maronite Catholics:
The first Maronites originated as an ecclesiastical
grouping of Christians who assembled around the hermit monk
Maron about the year 400 A.D. on the mountain slopes of Cry,
near Antioch, Syria. Born in the late fourth century, Maron
became a priest and then a hermit, retiring to a mountain
of Taurus near Antioch above the banks of the Orontes River.
Maron's life was one of piety and dedication to the simple
life of prayer and meditation; his holiness attracted many
persons to join him and to convert others to Christianity
through the spreading of the Gospel. He converted an old pagan
temple along the Orontes river into a monastery. Here, many
disciples gathered around him and followed his rule. Some
became monks and hermits themselves, while others spread the
teachings of Christ, as missionaries, through Central and
North Syria. Much of the details of the life of St. Maron
have been lost, but it is known that he performed many miracles
of healing, as attested by his historian, Theodoret, the Bishop
of Cyr. After Maron's death in the year 410 A.D., his disciples
saved his remains and in spite of strong persecution, his
tomb became a place of religious pilgrimage. St. John Maron,
the first Patriarch of the Maronite people, was a monk of
the monastery of St. Maron, who was elected by the religious
community to secure the Apostolic succession to the See of
Antioch. |
Accordingly,
the Maronite Patriarchate was initiated by the election of
John Maron in 686 A.D. and has continued, since his death
in 707 A.D., to the present time. A total of 72 Patriarchs
to the present successor, Cardinal Nesrallah Sfeir, Patriarch
of Antioch and the Entire East. Late in the seventh century,
due to religious persecution and heresy, the Maronite monks
became obliged to seek refuge in Lebanon, where St. Maron's
relics were transferred to the Patriarchal residence in Kafarhai.
In the year 1130, they were removed to Foligno, Italy, and
placed in the Cathedral there. The Maronites have, over the
centuries, preserved the teachings of the Catholic Church
intact, without any blemish, schism or heretical branch. Many
have died for their faith. Popes have repeatedly praised their
loyalty to they Holy See.
The history of the Maronite Church is a story of a people
who were continually willing to sacrifice their lives and
possessions for religious convictions and human liberties.
Today the Maronite Church is established throughout the world.
In Lebanon and abroad there are approximately ten million
Maronites.
Maronites are also credited for using the Aramaic language,
in their liturgy, the same language Jesus spoke during his
earthly life and ministry. The Maronite Church is an Eastern
Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome.
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