Who We Are

WE ARE MARONITE

The name Maronite is attributed to the Syriac Christian hermit Saint Maron (or Marun; in Aramaic “Mroy Moroon”) who is said to have lived in the mountainous area of Kfar-Nabo in Syria in the late 4^th or the early 5^th century. The earliest known written mention of Saint Maron (d.410) dates back to c. 440 and can be found in Theodoret (393-466) – Bishop of Cyrrhus’ – Historia Religiosa and in a letter of John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople (344-407), both written in Greek¹.

Theodoret wrote:

After Saint Maron’s death his followers founded a religious Christian movement that known as Maronites, which would later become the Maronite Church.
The Maronite movement would reach Lebanon through his first disciple Abraham of Cyrrhus, who moved there as missionary, and was known as the Apostle of Lebanon. Saint Maron’s saintly life and his miracles attracted many followers from across the Levant. In sacred Christian art Saint Maron is often represented portrayed kneeling in prayer or standing wearing a black monastic habit with a hanging stole, holding a long Episcopal crosier staffed by a globe which is surmounted by the bifid Maronite cross in his right hand, and a miniature church maquette in his left hand.

Our Christian family belongs to the Antiochian Catholic rite that continues to celebrate its millenary Syriac Aramaic tradition. The Antiochian rite, of which the Maronite Church is part, dates back to the 5^th century Antioch and Jerusalem, from where is expanded throughout Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and in the 17th century to the southwestern Indian coast where a Syro-Malabar Church was founded. The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome, and is the third largest of the Eastern or Oriental Catholic churches that has no non-Catholic counterpart. On February 9, 2011, His Holiness Pope Benedict the XVI celebrated the 1600th Anniversary of the existence of the Maronites as a confirmation of the full communion of the Maronite Church with the Holy See of Rome, and blessed the Statue of Saint Maron during a massive ceremony: the 12th and last statue to be placed on the walls of the Vatican.

“Hardy, martial mountaineers, the Maronites valiantly preserved their liberty and folkways. The Muslim caliphate (632–1258) could not absorb them, and two caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty (661–750) paid them tribute. Under the rule of the Ottoman Turks, the Maronites maintained their religion and customs under the protection of France, largely because of their geographic isolation. In the 19th century, however, the Ottoman government incited a neighboring mountain people of Lebanon, the Druzes, against the Maronites, a policy that culminated in the great Maronite massacre of 1860. As a result of this incident, the Maronites achieved formal autonomy within the Ottoman Empire under a nonnative Christian ruler. In 1920, following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Maronites of Lebanon became self-ruling under French protection. Since the establishment of a fully independent Lebanon in 1943, they have constituted one of the two major religious groups in the country. The government is run by a coalition of Christian, Muslim, and Druze parties, but the president is always Maronite.”³

The immediate spiritual head of the Maronite Church after the Pope is the “Patriarch of Antioch and all the East,” who is presently Mar Beshara Boutros al-Rai, residing in Bkerki, in the Casa of Kesrouan, in Lebanon. The church retains the ancient West Syrian liturgy today, even though the vernacular tongue of the Maronites is Arabic. After the Second Vatican Council the Maronites were freed of papal efforts to Latinize their rite.

Maronites of the expansion today are also found in southern Europe and North and South America, having emigrated in the 19th century under the pressure of persecutions. Wherever they go, Maronites maintain and celebrate their own liturgy, traditions and culture and have their own clergy, some of whom are married.

The Eparchy of Saint Maron Canada

Saint Pope John Paul II founded the Eparchy of Saint Maron – Canada (ESMC) on August 27, 1982, about half a century after the arrival of Catholicism in Canada. 4 Maronites had been well established in the country for about a century and were prospering and considerably growing in number.

The first Eparch5 served from1982 to 1990 was Msgr. Elias Chahine, and after him Msgrs. Georges Abi-Saber (1990 – 1996) and Joseph Khoury (1996 – 2013). Our current Eparch, H. Exc. Paul-Marwan Tabet was installed on February 24, 2013.

Our Eparchy is a national jurisdiction, servicing the entire Maronite community of Canada, with a population exceeding 85,000 distributed across the country. We currently have 21 priests serving a total of 16 parishes and two missions. Of the 21 parish priests seven are monks, 3 of the Maronite Lebanese Order (MLO), and four of the Maronite Antonine Order (MAO), and three retired priests. Four nuns of the Maronite Antonine Sisters Order (MASO) of Ottawa manage the Providence Foundation established in 1989, which consists of a private daycare, an academy and a school with a capacity of 700 students.

Prior to the institution of the Eparchy of Saint Maron in Canada in 1982, every Maronite parish and mission was part of circumscription of the Latin diocese in its local area.

History of the Maronites in Canada

The first Maronite presence in Canada dates back to the second half of 19th century, when a number of Lebanese and Damascene Christians emigrated to the West, especially to North America. Out of the 3,388,543 Maronites worldwide a bit more than 85,000 are in Canada.

Immigration of Maronites to Canada occurred gradually in four main waves:

First immigration wave

(between 1860 and 1914)

This first wave draws Maronite emigrants the mostly from Lebanon, and those of Damascus as well as Egyptian Maronites. The atrocious massacres of Christians in Bilad –al Shām – very similar to those today’s Middle Eastern Christians are enduring – particularly in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860 – 1861, drove survivor Christians of various rites to leave their invaded homeland and flee in search of a secure welcoming country where they could live with dignity. The first Maronite Canadian immigrants arrived by sea to Halifax – Nova Scotia circa 1884 from whence they dispersed to various cities such as Montreal and Toronto, working mainly in factories. Safe and secure in their new home away from home, Canada allowed them to maintain their faith, their attachment to the Church of their forefathers and their rich culture and traditions.

Second Immigration wave

(1930 to the late 1950s)

The instability in Lebanon’s history before and after its independence in 1943 caused an economic downturn that particularly affected Mount Lebanon during this period. The War of 1948 brought 110,000 refugees into Lebanon, which further destabilized the country’s economy. This drove a large number of Maronites of Mount Lebanon to immigrate to several countries in seek of a more prosperous future. Already in 1925-1926, in Montreal for instance, Lebanese immigrants who were mainly Christian and of whom many were Maronites – owned 200 businesses, and most of them are salaried, working as skilled workers, entrepreneurs and professionals various industries such as medicine, law, insurance agents, chartered accountants, interpreters, and members of the clergy.

Third immigration wave

(1960 to the mid 1980s)

In the 60s Canada received another wave Maronite immigrants many of whom were skilled workers, professionals, entrepreneurs, academics and university level students. The Six-Day War that devastated Lebanon in 1967-1968, the Civil Lebanese War of 1975 that lasted 15 years and the South-Lebanon Conflict (1985-2000), forced the young students in studying in Canada to remain in the country in order to avoid peril and uncertainty. In 1992 with the increasing number of Maronites in Canada, the Holy See deemed it necessary to establish a diocese and founded the Eparchy of Saint Maron in Montreal.

Fourth immigration wave

(between 1989 to 2014)

After a series of wars including in 2000, 2007, and the Syria War spill-over in Lebanon which started since 2011, as well as other conflicts, a fourth wave of Maronite immigrants from Lebanon and Syria essentially brought a number of Christian families of whom many Maronites, who fled to avoid being caught up in the political and military conflicts confronting the diverse communities.

The Maronite immigrants of Canada have always played a key role in the economic and socio-cultural dynamic of their new welcoming homeland. The unity of the Maronite community rich in its diversity is defined by three fundamental causes we assume in their culture:

Living their faith in the Holy Trinity, through Jesus Christ, God Incarnate on a daily basis to build a pluralist society that celebrated diversity.

Affirming responsible human freedom as a Natural Right, given to every human person, indiscriminately, with its personal dignity being the absolute untouchable value above all values.

Rooting their engagement deeply into the land on which we live, in order to witness to our faith and freedom.’’

Wherever they live Maronites treasure their human and Christian values, which are a staple of their perpetuity as a community.

“The text of Theodoret is published in “Patrologiae Graecae”, vol. LXXXII, 1864, column 1417 and 1419 and that of John Chrysostom in “Patrologiae Graecae”, vol. 51.3, 1862, the 36 epistle, column 630. “ Cf. Guita G. Hourani, Saint Maron’s Relic “Ornament of the Divine Choir of Saints, The Electronic Journal of Maronite Studies, The Maronite Research Institute (MARI), January 1997, (http://maroniteinstitute.org/MARI/JMS/january97/Saint_Marons_Relic.htm)
Cf. Guita G. Hourani, Saint Maron’s Relic “Ornament of the Divine Choir of Saints, The Electronic Journal of Maronite Studies, The Maronite Research Institute (MARI), January 1997, (http://maroniteinstitute.org/MARI/JMS/january97/Saint_Marons_Relic.htm)
“Maronite Church”, Encyclopaedia Britannica.
In 1497 the Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto (c. 1450 – c.1499) landed on the Island of Newfoundland, claimed the land for his sponsor King Henry VII England, and raised the Papal banners in recognition of the religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Cf. P D’Epiro, M.D. Pinkowish, “Sprezzatura: 50 ways Italian genius shaped the world” pp. 179–180.
According to the Catholic Encyclopaedia, the title Eparch is interchangeably used with Bishop, as is the term Eparchy synonymous with diocese.