Origin Maron, a fourth-century
monk and a contemporary and friend of
John Chrysostom, left Antioch for the
Orontes River in modern-day Syria to lead an
ascetic life, following the traditions of
Anthony the Great of the Desert and of
Pachomius. Many of his followers also lived a monastic lifestyle. According to the tradition of the Maronite Church, 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 now
Lebanon, and to a lesser degree
Syria,
Jordan and
Palestine. Saint Maron spent his life on a mountain in Syria, generally believed to be
"Kefar-Nabo" on the mountain of
Ol-Yambos in the
Taurus Mountains, contemporary
Turkey, becoming the cradle of the Maronite movement established in the
Monastery of Saint Maron. Following Maron's death in 410 AD, his disciples built the Beth-Maron monastery at
Apamea (present day
Qalaat al-Madiq). This formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church. In 452, after the
Council of Chalcedon, the monastery was expanded by the
Byzantine emperor Marcian. 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. The
Maronites subscribed to the beliefs of the
Council of Chalcedon in 451. Conflicts between Chalcedonian Maronites and
Monophysites could become violent. A 517 letter from Chalcedonian Maronites to
Pope Hormisdas said Monophysites killed
350 Maronite monks and burned the
Monastery of Saint Simeon Stylites in an act of
sectarian violence among Christians. Later,
Justinian I restored the community. Correspondence concerning the event brought the Maronites papal and orthodox recognition, indicated by a letter from
Pope Hormisdas (514–523) dated 10 February 518. Representatives from Beth-Maron participated in the Constantinople synods of
536 and
553. An outbreak of civil war during the reign of Emperor
Phocas brought forth riots in the cities of Syria and Palestine and incursions by Persian king
Khosrow II. In 609, the Patriarch of Antioch,
Anastasius II, was killed either at the hands of some soldiers or locals. This left the Maronites without a leader, which continued because of the final
Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. In the aftermath of the war, Emperor
Heraclius propagated a new Christological doctrine in an attempt to unify the various Christian churches of the East, who were divided over accepting the
Council of Chalcedon. This doctrine, called
Monothelitism, held that Jesus 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 of
Pope Honorius I (see
Controversy over Honorius I), and was meant as a compromise between supporters of Chalcedon, such as the Maronites, and opponents, such as the
Jacobites.
Monothelitism failed to settle the schism, however, and was declared a heresy at the
Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680–681. The Council condemned both Honorius and Patriarch
Sergius I of Constantinople but did not explicitly mention the Maronites. and the question remains a matter of controversy. Elias El-Hāyek attributes much of the confusion to
Eutyches of Alexandria, whose
Annals El-Hāyek contain erroneous material regarding the early Maronite Church, which was then picked up by
William of Tyre and others. However,
Donald Attwater, a 20th-century historian of Eastern Christianity, affirmed the view that Maronites broke communion with Rome over monothelitism, however briefly.
First Maronite Patriarch ,
Mount Lebanon The Patriarch of Antioch
Anastasius 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 of
Batroun as Patriarch of Antioch and all the East. in exchange for a substantial payment and half the revenues of Cyprus. Additional resettlement efforts allowed Justinian to reinforce naval forces depleted by earlier conflicts. John Maron established himself in the remote
Qadisha Valley in Lebanon. In 694, Justinian sent troops against the Maronites in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Patriarch.
Islamic rule , blue headscarf and black
hijab After they came under Arab rule following the
Muslim conquest of Syria (634–638), Maronite immigration to Lebanon, which had begun some time before, increased, intensifying under the Abbasid caliph
al-Ma'mun (813–833). To eliminate internal dissent, from 1289 to 1291 Egyptian Mamluk troops descended on Mount Lebanon, destroying forts and monasteries.
Crusades Following the Muslim conquest of Eastern Christendom outside
Anatolia and Europe in the 7th century and after the establishment of secured lines of demarcation between Islamic
caliphs and Byzantine emperors, little was heard from the Maronites for 400 years. Secure in their mountain strongholds, the Maronites were contacted in the mountains near
Tripoli, Lebanon, by
Raymond of Toulouse on his way to conquer Jerusalem in the
Great Crusade of 1096–1099. Raymond later returned to
besiege Tripoli (1102–1109) after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, and relations between the Maronites and European Christianity were subsequently reestablished. The Maronites assisted the crusaders and affirmed their affiliation with the
Holy See of Rome in 1182.
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."
Fakhr-al-Din II (1572–1635) was a
Druze prince and a leader of the Emirate of
Chouf 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." The Khāzin sheikhs subsequently increased in power and influence. In 1662, with the mediation of
Jesuit missionaries, Abū Nawfal al-Khāzin was named French consul, despite complaints by Marseille merchants that he was not from Marseille, France. with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including
1860 Mount Lebanon civil war. The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through a governing and social system known as the "
Maronite–Druze dualism" in the
Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.
Synod of Mount Lebanon (1736) (1803–1871) Due to closer ties with the Latin Church, the Maronite Church became one of the most
Latinized of the
Eastern 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 the
rosary and the
Stations of the Cross. The Maronite missal (
Qurbono) was first printed between 1592 and 1594 in Rome, although with fewer anaphoras. Patriarch
Stephan al-Duwayhî (1670–1704), (later
beatified), was able to find a middle ground between reformers and conservatives, and re-vitalized Maronite liturgical tradition. 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 of
unleavened bread in the
eucharistic service.
French rule Independent Lebanon Following the first decades of independence, the Maronite patriarchs
Antun ‘Arıdah and his successor
Bolos Meouchi placed a crucial role (among other things in establishing relations with the state of Israel), a role that increased due to the failure of the Lebanese state and its institutions in the later half of the 20th century. Clerics of the Maronite Church, led by Archbishop
Pietro Sfair, participated in the
Second Vatican Council as Council Fathers, and had an instrumental role in the drafting of
Nostra aetate and promoting fraternal relations with both Judaism and Islam. The
Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) consumed the Maronite Church with some 670,000 Christians being replaced as a result of the war. In
Orientale lumen, the Apostolic Letter to the Churches of the East, issued 2 May 1995,
Pope John Paul II quotes
Orientalium 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."
Patriarch Sfeir's personal commitment accelerated liturgical reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992 he published a new Maronite
Missal. There has also been a revival of the eremitic tradition of the Maronite Church which also resulted in a repopulation of the
Qadisha valley by Maronites and other Christians. == Organization ==