by Judy Lorms, Director of Mary's Pilgrims , a Catholic Travel Group (888-663-1750)


Our Holy Father has encouraged us as Catholics to acquaint ourselves with the other rites of the Holy Catholic Church. We can respond to this suggestion by visiting the shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Lebanon, which is staffed by Msgr. Bill Bonczewski, a Maronite priest. The shrine is located in North Jackson, Ohio. The Maronites have always had a great amount of love and devotion for the Mother of God. Devotion to Mary has been in the Church since her departure from this earth but the Maronites have many more titles by which Mary is recognized and venerated. Devotion to Our Lady under the title of Our Lady of Lebanon is one of the oldest of this rite, which was founded by St. Maron. Some other titles common to Our Lady are: Our Lady of the Seeds, Jan 15; Our Lady of the Wheat, or the Harvest, May 15; Our Lady of the Grapevines, Aug. 15." Patriarch Doueihy, (+ 1 704) is quoted as saying: "We ask Mary to look over and care for the crops of wheat and grapes because from them we offer to God the Body and Blood of her Divine Son". Mary is the "Blessed Field" wherein germinates the grain of wheat Who gives life to the world. Mary is called the "Good Earth", the "Thirsty Ground" where the Heavenly Grain of Wheat germinated and the "Blessed Tree".

Lebanon is mentioned often throughout the Old Testament. Most of the biblical occurrences of Lebanon refer to its Cedars, a tall evergreen tree having level spreading branches, short dark needles and fragrant hardwood. These trees are native to the mountains of Lebanon, Syria and Asia Minor and yield a hard and durable timber. In biblical times they were considered a symbol of longevity, In fact the evergreen Cedars are a symbol of security, strength, prosperity and incorruptibility. Lebanon therefore is mentioned as a synonym of fertility), and security with praises to its glory, namely, the vast and thick woods of Cedar trees.(Jer, 18,14;11 Kings, 14,9). The Cedars being the patriarchs of the vegetable kingdom, represent for the prophets, poets and writers (Judges 9,15) of the Holy Bible the idea of power and of unshakable firmness(Is. 2,13- Ez. 31,3).

From the little town of Nazareth, the Virgin Mary may have glimpsed the southern hills of Lebanon and from Capharnaum she was able to see the summit of Mt. Hermon. Tradition tells us that Mary visited this land of beauty, commonly referred to as Phoenicia in our history books. Early in Christ's ministry He visited the area of Tyre and Sidon looking for a few days of peace and quiet, Close to Tyre is the well called "Birket Essaide" and it is not far from that place where a woman cried out to Jesus: "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts that nursed You".

Sometimes we forget that Christ Himself needed time just to relax. If He did, how much more must we have a need to take time to pray and reflect. We may not be able to go to Lebanon but we can go to His Mother in this quiet little place of refuge.

The name "Maronites" is given to a branch of the Aramaic Antiochian Church because they are followers of St. Maron, a monk who lived in Northern Syria at the end of the fourth century.

The Maronite traditions, therefore, are of the Apostolic See of Antioch, where St. Peter became its first Bishop, and from where St. Paul launched the evangelization of the Gentiles. it was in Antioch that Christ followers were called Christians for the first time. The Maronite liturgy is the original liturgy, which developed at Antioch in the Aramaic language right after the time of the Apostles and is ascribed to St. James the Less.

The Syro Maronite liturgy constantly implores the intercession of the Mother of God and sings eloquently her glories. Our Mother is commemorated after her Son is present on the altar, because the Consecration is a remembrance of His life and the reiteration of her wonderful Motherhood as she, in a very special way was taking care of the Divine Mystery which appeared from her. she understood by a special grace the mysteries hidden to mankind and she taught the shepherds, the magi, the apostles and the evangelists as Luke mentioned at the beginning of his gospel. (Lk. I, 1),

To obtain times of Daily Mass and devotion you may contact the shrine by calling 1 330 538-3351

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1 American Heritage illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary Pg. 288
2 Mary Cedar of Our Catholic Faith; Bishop Francis M. Zayek, S.T.D.

Judy Lormes is a contributing writer to The Catholic Times Newspaper, where this article was published in the Fall of 2000. She is the Director of Mary's Pilgrims (the Merry Pilgrims) tour group.

For further information, please contact:
Mary's Pilgrims
c/o Judy Lorms
1620 E. Broad St., Su. 1002
Columbus, OH 43203-2027
Telephone: 888-663-1750, 614-253-5839
Fax: 361-904-0003

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