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63-586: The Codex is named after its discoverer, Italian Maronite scholar and Vatican librarian of Lebanese origin Giuseppe Simone Assemani , who discovered it and bought it in Jerusalem in 1736. His nephew Stefano Evodio donated it to the Vatican Library , where the codex is still kept today. By content it is an Aprakos (weekly, service) Gospel. It contains only pericopes (starting with the beginning of

126-537: A Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the National Assembly has historically been a Shi'ite . Maronites derive their name from Maron , a 4th-century Syriac Christian saint venerated by multiple Christian traditions. He is often conflated with John Maron , the first Maronite Patriarch, who ruled 685-707. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Lebanese people is a blend of many peoples that have come to rule

189-683: A Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant whose members belong to the Maronite Church . The largest concentration has traditionally resided near Mount Lebanon in modern Lebanon . The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular church in full communion with the pope and the rest of the Catholic Church . The Maronites derive their name from Saint Maron ,

252-512: A Syriac Christian whose followers migrated to the area of Mount Lebanon from their previous place of residence around the area of Antioch , and established the nucleus of the Maronite Church. Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. The spread of Christianity in Lebanon was very slow where paganism persisted, especially in the mountaintop strongholds of Mount Lebanon. During

315-536: A Syriac Christian , going on to explain that to him and many Lebanese the "acceptance" of Lebanon's "Arab identity" according to the Taef Agreement was not something that they "accepted" but instead were forced into signing through pressure. The official declared "Arab Identity" of Lebanon was created in 1990 based on the Taif Agreement, without any free discussion or debate among Lebanese people and while Lebanon

378-689: A Chalcedonian conflict resulted in the massacre of 350 Maronite monks. Some sources detail the massacre was exacted under the orders of Monophysite Emperor Anastasius I, while others assign the responsibility to the Miaphysite Jacobite Syriacs. Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 637 AD, the Christians living in the low lands and coastal cities began to settle in the Mount Lebanon and to

441-825: A Patriarch made the Byzantine Emperor furious, which led to the persecution of the Maronites by the Byzantines. Following the Byzantine persecutions in the Orontes valley, many Maronite monks left their lands in the Orontes Valley and took refuge in the mountains of Lebanon. The Maronite community migrated since the mid 7th century and through the 8th century, moving from the Orontes Valley in central Syria to Mount Lebanon , becoming

504-418: A dialect of Aramaic called Syriac . Syriac remains the liturgical language of the Maronite Church. Phoenicianism is an identity on the part of Lebanese Christians that has developed into an integrated ideology led by key thinkers, but there are a few who have stood out more than others: Charles Corm , Michel Chiha , and Said Aql in their promotion of Phoenicianism . In post civil-war Lebanon since

567-739: A dialect. A Maronite community of about 11,000 people lives in Israel. The 2017 Annuario Pontificio reported that 10,000 people belonged to the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land and 504 people belonged to the Exarchate of Jerusalem and Palestine . [REDACTED] Catholicism portal According to various sources the Maronite diaspora is estimated to be somewhere between 7 and 12 million individuals, much larger than

630-678: A key role in the establishment of Greater Lebanon by the French Mandate. With only two exceptions, all Lebanese presidents have been Maronites as part of a tradition that persists as part of the National Pact , by which the Prime Minister has historically been a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of the National Assembly has historically been a Shia Muslim . A unique feature of the Lebanese system

693-868: A more security-minded view of Lebanon. They regarded the national project as mainly a program for the security of Maronites and a bulwark against threats from Muslims and their hinterland. The right-wing yet secular Guardians of the Cedars , with its exiled Leader and founder Etienne Saqr (also the father of singers Karol Sakr and Pascale Sakr ) took no sectarian stance and even had Muslim members who joined in their radical stance against Arabism and Palestinian forces in Lebanon . Saqr summarized his party's view on Arab Identity in their official ideological manifesto by stating Lebanon will remain, as always, Lebanese without any labels. The French passed through it yet it remained Lebanese. The Ottomans ruled it and it remained Lebanese. The stinky winds of Arabism blow through it, but

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756-438: A purposeful exclusion of Arabism in the segment. The speech met with applause afterward from the audience; What we are missing today is an important element of our life and our honor, which is our identity. I will tell you today, that I as a Lebanese citizen , my identity is Maronite , Syriac Christian , and Lebanese ( Arabic : مارونية سريانية مسيحية لبنانية mārūniyya, suryāniyya masīḥiyya, lubnāniyya). Etienne Sakr , of

819-568: Is a Christian-based political party of Maronite majority and former militia. it currently holds 4 of the 128 seats in parliament, all of which are Christian. As a militia , it played a pivotal role during the Lebanese Civil War as it controlled its own Maronite canton (Marounistan) as part of the Lebanese Front . The party is also led by the Gemayel family , a notable Maronite family based in

882-690: Is a small river in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate in Lebanon , with a length of about 23 km. The river emerges from two sources: The Roueiss grotto in Aaqoura that provides two thirds the flow of the Nahr Ibrahim and from a huge cavern, the Afqa Grotto, that provides a third of the flow, nearly 1.5 km above sea level before it drops steeply through a series of falls and passes through a sheer gorge through

945-540: Is no distinct pattern that shows that one community carries significantly more Phoenician than another." Although Christianity existed in Roman Phoenice since the time of the Apostles, Christians were a minority among the majority pagans by the time Emperor Theodosius I issued The Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD. The coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon remained prosperous during Roman rule, but Phoenicia had ceased to be

1008-622: Is the principle of "confessional distribution": all religious community has an allotted number of deputies in the Parliament. Thirty-four seats in parliament are reserved for Maronites. The largest party is the Lebanese Forces that receives most of its support from the Maronite Christians but it also supported by other Christian sects throughout the country. It currently has 19 seats in parliament, 11 of them being Maronite. The Phalange Party

1071-559: Is well known, was assembled against them and in which they suffered sentence of condemnation. Now however...they repented all of these heresies and returned to the catholic church". The Maronites have also had a presence in Cyprus since the early 9th century and many Maronites went there following the Sultan Saladin 's successful Siege of Jerusalem in 1187 AD. During the papacy of Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585), steps were taken to bring

1134-699: The Arab identity instead. This conflict of ideas of identity is believed to be one of the pivotal disputes between the Muslim and Christian populations of Lebanon and what mainly divides the country to the detriment of national unity. In general it appears that Muslims focus more on the Arab identity of the Lebanese history and culture whereas the Christian communities–especially the Maronites, focus on their history and struggles as an ethnoreligious group as distinct from Arab identity and

1197-599: The Druze founded modern Lebanon in Ottoman Lebanon in the early 18th century, through the ruling and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in the Ottoman Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate . All Lebanese presidents , with the exception of Charles Debbas and Petro Trad , have been Maronites as part of a continued tradition of the National Pact , by which the prime minister has historically been

1260-645: The Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of São Paulo , Brazil, had 521,000 members; in 2020 the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney , Australia, had 161,370 members; in 2020 the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Montreal , Canada, had 94,300 members; in 2021 the Eparchy of Our Lady of the Martyrs of Lebanon in Mexico had 167,190 members; in 2021 the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles in the United States had 47,480 members; in 2020 and

1323-528: The Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn in the United States had 23,939 members. According to the Annuario Pontificio , 51,520 people belonged to the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Paris in 2021. In Europe, some Belgian Maronites are involved in the trade of diamonds in the diamond district of Antwerp . According to the Annuario Pontificio , 74,900 belonged to

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1386-732: The Guardians of the Cedars Lebanese party, in an interview responded "We are not Arabs" to an interview question about the Guardians of the Cedars' ideology of Lebanon being Lebanese. He continued by talking about how describing Lebanon as being not Arab was a crime in present-day Lebanon, about the Lebanese Civil War, and about Arabism as being a first step towards Islamism, claiming that "the Arabs want to annex Lebanon" and in order to do this "to push

1449-493: The Marada Movement , National Liberal Party and Independence Movement . People born into Christian families or clans who have either Aramaic or Maronite cultural heritage are considered an ethnicity separate from Israeli Arabs and since 2014 can register themselves as Arameans. The Christians who have applied so far for recognition as Aramean are mostly Galilean Maronites . In addition, some 500 Christian adherents of

1512-648: The Phoenician legacy of the Lebanese people and has promoted the use of the Lebanese dialect written in a modified Latin alphabet , rather than the Arabic one , although both alphabets have descended from the Phoenician alphabet. In opposition to such views, Arabism was affirmed at the March 1936 Congress of the Coast and Four Districts, when the Muslim leadership at the conference made

1575-528: The Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Damascus , reject this. Mass emigration to the Americas at the outset of the 20th century, famine during World War I that killed an estimated one third to one half of the population, the 1860 Mount Lebanon conflict and the Lebanese Civil War between 1975 and 1990 greatly decreased their numbers in the Levant; however Maronites today form more than one quarter of

1638-582: The Taif agreement , politically Phoenicianism is restricted to a small group. Among leaders of the movement, Said Akl and Etienne Saqr have been notable names, some going as far as voicing anti-Arab views. In his book the Israeli writer Mordechai Nisan , who at times met with some of them during the war, quoted Said Akl , a famous Lebanese poet and philosopher, as saying; "I would cut off my right hand, and not associate myself to an Arab." Akl believes in emphasizing

1701-454: The 1860 massacres, many Maronites fled to Egypt. Antonios Bachaalany, a Maronite from Salima (Baabda district) was the first emigrant to the New World, where he reached the United States in 1854 and died there two years later. According to the Maronite church, there were approximately 1,062,000 Maronites in Lebanon in 1994, where they constitute up to 32% of the population. Under the terms of

1764-580: The 5th century AD, Saint Maron sent Abraham of Cyrrhus , often referred to as the Apostle of Lebanon, to convert the still significant pagan population of Lebanon to Christianity . The area's inhabitants renamed the Adonis River the Abraham River after Saint Abraham preached there. The early Maronites were Hellenized Semites, natives of Byzantine Syria who spoke Greek and Syriac , yet identified with

1827-649: The Apostolic Exarchate of West and Central Africa ( Nigeria ) in 2020. The Diocese is centered in Ibadan , Nigeria and covers the countries of Angola , Benin , Burkina Faso , Cameroon , Central African Republic , Chad , Republic of the Congo , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Côte d'Ivoire , Equatorial Guinea , Gabon , Gambia , Ghana , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Liberia , Mali , Mauritania , Niger . Senegal , Sierra Leone and Togo . In 1920, Maronites played

1890-480: The Arab world, while also reaffirming the Lebanese identity, as well as refraining from Arab characterization as it would deny them their striving achievement of having fended off the Arabs and Turks physically, culturally, and spiritually since their conception. The Maronite perseverance led to their existence even to today. Lebanese Maronites are known to be specifically linked to the root of Lebanese Nationalism and opposition to Pan-Arabism in Lebanon, this being

1953-665: The Aramean Christian Foundation in Israel, led by IDF Major Shadi Khalloul Risho and the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, headed by Father Gabriel Naddaf of the Greek-Orthodox Church and Major Ihab Shlayan. Shadi Khalloul Risho is also a member of the Israeli right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, and was placed 15th in the 2015 parliamentary elections in the party's member list; the party however received only 5 seats. The followers of

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2016-584: The Assyrian Patriarch of the Church of the East , Awa III proclaiming: We affirm that we are one Syriac people, rooted in the beloved East and we form its essential constituents, despite our number and the variety of our apostolic traditions. Our witness to our Christian faith in general, and to our Syriac identity in particular, is a constant source of concern for us. Therefore, we took the time to deepen our role in

2079-676: The BBC placed the number of Maronites in Syria at between 28,000 and 60,000. Maronites first migrated to Cyprus in the 8th century, and there are approximately 5,800 Maronites on the island today, the vast majority in the Republic of Cyprus . The community historically spoke Cypriot Maronite Arabic , but today Cypriot Maronites speak the Greek language , with the Cypriot government designating Cypriot Maronite Arabic as

2142-483: The Christians continued to settle in the Mountains of Lebanon. The Christians that chose to remain in the newly Arab-controlled areas and inhabited by the Arab invaders gradually became a minority and many of those converted to Islam in order to escape taxation and to further their own political and professional advancement. In 685 AD, St. John Maron became the first Patriarch of the Maronite Church. The appointing of

2205-815: The Christians out (of Lebanon)", this being "the plan since 1975", among other issues. On 16 December 2022, at the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Residence in Atchaneh, Lebanon, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch , Ignatius Aphrem II issued a joint statement with the Maronite Patriarch , Bechara Boutros al-Rahi , the Syriac Catholic Patriarch , Ignatius Joseph III Yonan , the Chaldean Patriarch , Louis Raphaël I Sako and

2268-477: The East and to find ways to activate it and strengthen it. We discussed the available means of supporting our people to remain in the homeland which was baptized with the blood of our forefathers and ancestors. In this regard, we have renewed our firm resolve to continue our fatherly ministry to our people in order to help them remain in their countries and to stop the migrations caused by the current conflicts and political, economic, and social difficult conditions that

2331-482: The Gospel of John), i.e. lectures prepared for the celebrations in church. At the end of the manuscript there is a Menologium which has lessons to be read during the feasts of the menaion (Sts. Demetrius, Theodosius, Clement and other saints). The codex is held by many to be the most beautiful Old Church Slavonic book. The first person to write about the codex was Mateo Karaman in his work Identitá della lingua letterale slava (manuscript, Zadar 1746). The manuscript

2394-569: The Greek-speaking populace of Constantinople and Antioch. They were able to maintain an independent status in Mount Lebanon and its coastline after the Muslim conquest of the Levant , keeping their Christian religion, and even their distinct Lebanese Aramaic as late as the 19th century. While Maronites identify primarily as native Lebanese of Maronite origin, many identify as Arab Christians . Others identify as descendants of Phoenicians . Some Maronites argue that they are of Mardaite ancestry, while other historians, such as Clement Joseph David,

2457-399: The Maronite Church form a part of the Syriac Christians and belong to the West Syriac Rite . The Maronite Syriac Church of Antioch traces its foundation to Maron , an early 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. Before the conquest by Arabian Muslims reached Lebanon, the Lebanese people , including those who would become Muslim and the majority who would remain Christian, spoke

2520-442: The Maronite population living in their historic homelands in Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Israel, and Palestine. Due to cultural and religious assimilation, especially in the Americas , many Maronites or those of Maronite descent might not identify as Maronite or are unaware of their Maronite heritage. According to the Annuario Pontificio , in 2020 the Eparchy of San Charbel in Buenos Aires , Argentina, had 750,000 members; in 2021

2583-415: The Maronites numbered 40,000 people. During the several centuries of separation from the rest of the Christian world, they often claim to have been in full communion with the Catholic Church throughout. Despite this the majority of the accounts of those interacting with them at the time indicate that they were monothelites ; notable figures from the era such as the medieval historian Jacques de Vitry and

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2646-407: The Maronites still closer to Rome. The Maronite College in Rome ( Pontificio Collegio dei Maroniti ) being founded by Gregory XIII in 1584. By the 17th century, the Maronites had developed a strong natural liking for Europe – particularly France. The relationship between the Druze and Christians has been characterized by harmony and peaceful coexistence , with amicable relations between

2709-414: The National Pact agreement between the various political and religious leaders of Lebanon, the president of the country must be a Maronite Christian. There is also a small Maronite Christian community in Syria. In 2017, the Annuario Pontificio reported that 3,300 people belonged to the Archeparchy of Aleppo , 15,000 in the Archeparchy of Damascus and 45,000 in the Eparchy of Lattaquié ). In 2015,

2772-420: The Syriac Catholic Church in Israel are expected to apply for the recreated ethnic status, as well as several hundred Aramaic-speaking adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Though supported by Gabriel Naddaf , the move was condemned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which described it as "an attempt to divide the Palestinian minority in Israel". This recognition comes after about seven years of activity by

2835-596: The case during 1958 Lebanon crisis . Muslim Arab nationalists backed by Gamel Abdel Nasser tried to overthrow the then Maronite dominated government in power, due to displeasure at the government's pro-western policies and their lack of commitment and duty to the so-called "Arab brotherhood" by preferring to keep Lebanon away from the Arab League and the political confrontations of the Middle East. A more hard-nosed nationalism among some Maronites leaders, who saw Lebanese nationalism more in terms of its confessional roots and failed to be carried away by Chiha's vision, clung to

2898-411: The chronicler of the Pope, William of Tyre affirming this, the latter of which (William Tyre) recorded both their kindness upon receiving him and the monothelitic views of which they recanted, stating; "The heresy of Maro and his followers is and was that in our Lord Jesus Christ, there exists and did exist from the beginning one will and one energy only, as may be learned from the sixth council, which as

2961-418: The coastal cities of the coast which did not particularly interest the Muslim Arabs; the area consisting of those regions extending from Sidon in the South and up to Batroun and the south of Tripoli in the north. The Arab conquerors settled in various cities of the coast to reduce Byzantine interference even though they were not interested in maritime trade. Since the mountains offered no attraction to them,

3024-549: The declaration that Lebanon was an Arab country, indistinguishable from its Arab neighbors. In the April 1936 Beirut municipal elections, Christian and Muslim politicians were divided along Phoenician and Arab lines in the matter of whether the Lebanese coast should be claimed by Syria or given to Lebanon, increasing the already mounting tensions between the two communities. Phoenicianism is still disputed by many Arabist scholars who have on occasion tried to convince its adherents to abandon their claims as false, and to embrace and accept

3087-428: The god of war (or by Ares himself disguised as a boar, depending on the version). According to the myth, Adonis's blood flowed in the river, making the water reddish for centuries and spawning a carpet of scarlet buttercups along the river's banks. Indeed, the river flows red each February due to the volume of soil washed off the mountains by heavy winter rains, making it appear that the water is filled with blood Due to

3150-415: The issue of identity was brought up on several occasions, by various politicians including Druze leader Walid Jumblatt , who claimed that all Lebanese lack somewhat of a real identity and the country is yet to discover one everybody could agree on. Sami Gemayel , of the Gemayel clan and son of former president Amin Gemayel , stated he did not consider himself an Arab but instead identified himself as

3213-438: The land over the course of thousands of years. In a 2013 interview, Pierre Zalloua , a Lebanese biologist who took part in the National Geographic Society 's Genographic Project , pointed out that genetic variation preceded religious variation and divisions: "Lebanon already had well-differentiated communities with their own genetic peculiarities, but not significant differences, and religions came as layers of paint on top. There

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3276-424: The majority of the Christians in the hills around Tripoli and Byblos by the 10th century. The Maronites managed then to become "civilly semiautonomous" where they settled and kept speaking Lebanese Aramaic in daily life and Classical Syriac for their liturgy. The Maronites welcomed the conquering Christians of the First Crusade in 1096 AD. Around the late 12th century, according to William of Tyre ,

3339-572: The manuscript is characterized by frequent vocalizations of yers ( ъ > o , ь > e ), occasional loss of epenthesis, and ь is frequently replaced with hard ъ , esp. after r . These are the traits pointing to the Macedonian area, and are shared with Codex Marianus . Yers are also frequently omitted word-finally, and occasionally non-etymologically mixed ( ь being written after k and g ). Maronite Maronites ( Arabic : الموارنة , romanized :  Al-Mawārinah ; Syriac : ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ , romanized :  Marunoye ) are

3402-425: The maritime empire it once was centuries ago and the north of Berytus ( Beirut ) and the mountains of Lebanon concentrated a big part of the intellectual and religious activities. Very few Roman temples were built in the coastal cities, hence the reason for the reign of paganism in the interior of the land. The Maronite movement reached Lebanon when in 402 AD Saint Maron's first disciple, Abraham of Cyrrhus , who

3465-419: The mountains. It passes through the town of Nahr Ibrahim before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea . The city takes its name from the river ( nahr means river in Arabic). The ancient city of Byblos stood near its outlet and was a site for the veneration of Adonis , the god of love, rebirth, and beauty in Phoenician mythology . He was said to have been killed near the river by a wild boar sent by Ares ,

3528-451: The regions of Achrafieh and Metn which carries the legacy of Pierre and Bashir Gemayel . The Free Patriotic Movement is Christian-based political party which follows the agenda of former president Michel Aoun . It currently holds 17 seats of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament. The party has large support in Christian districts like Batroun and Jezzine . Other smaller Maronite-based parties that only receive local support includes,

3591-443: The total population of modern-day Lebanon. Though concentrated in Lebanon, Maronites also show presence in the neighboring Levant , as well as a significant part in the Lebanese diaspora in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Africa. The Maronite Church, under the patriarch of Antioch , has branches in nearly all countries where Maronite Christian communities live, in both the Levant and the Lebanese diaspora . The Maronites and

3654-403: The two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war . In the 19th century, thousands of Maronites were massacred by the Lebanese Druze during the 1860 conflict. According to some estimates about 11,000 Lebanese Christians (including Maronites) were killed; over 4,000 died from hunger and disease as a result of the war. After

3717-456: The wind will wither away and Lebanon will remain Lebanese. I do not know what will become of those wretched people who claim that Lebanon is Arabic when Arabism disappears from the map of the Middle East and a new Middle East would emerge, which is clean from Arabs and Arabism . On an Al Jazeera special dedicated to the political Christian clans of Lebanon and their struggle for power in the 2009 election entitled, "Lebanon: The Family Business",

3780-463: The world is witnessing, and that is significantly affecting in the Middle East. Therefore, we pray for our countries' citizens who are suffering because of these crises that are affecting their daily lives. We assure them to continue our Christian witness and ministry to help all people and preserve their dignities and rights. Abraham River The Nahr Ibrahim ( Arabic : نَهر إبراهيم ; Abraham River) also known as Adonis River ( نَهر أَدونيس ),

3843-440: Was called the Apostle of Lebanon, realized that there were many non-Christians in Lebanon and so he set out to convert the Phoenician inhabitants of the coastal lines and mountains of Lebanon, introducing them to the way of Saint Maron. In 451 AD, the Maronites followed the Council of Chalcedon , rejecting both monophysitism and miaphysitisim in favor of maintaining full communion with the then united Catholic Church. In 517 AD,

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3906-611: Was published by Franjo Rački (Zagreb 1865, Glagolitic), Ivan Črnčić ( Assemanovo izborno evangjelje ; Rome 1878, published privately, transcribed in Latin), Josef Vajs and Josef Kurz ( Evangeliář Assemanův, Kodex vatikánský 3. slovanský, 2. vols , Prague 1929, ČSAV, phototypical edition) - republished by Josef Kurz in 1966 in Cyrillic transcription. The newest Bulgarian edition is by Vera Ivanova-Mavrodinova and Aksinia Džurova from 1981 ( Asemanievo evangelie ; Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo), with facsimile reproductions. The manuscript abounds with ligatures. Linguistic analysis has shown that

3969-417: Was under Syrian custody and in the presence of armed Syrian military inside the Lebanese parliament when votes on constitutional amendments were taking place. In a speech in 2009 to a crowd of Christian Kataeb supporters Gemayel declared that he felt there was importance in Christians in Lebanon finding an identity and went on to state what he finds identification with as a Lebanese Christian, concluding with

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