Deir el Qamar – Monastery Saint Abda

Church Mar Maroun, Tripoli, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة مار مارون

City:  Trablous Ez-Zahrieh

District:  Tripoli

Governorate:  North

History: 

كنيسة مار مارون - طرابلس

بُنيت الكنيسة وسط مدينة طرابلس سنة ١٩٥٦ في عهد المثلث الرحمات المطران أنطون عبد، صمّمها المهندس الإيطاليّ بيار أريكوني. نمطها بازيليكيّ بشكل صليب لاتينيّ وقبّة، مع برج ساعة في مقدّمها. تتميّز الكنيسة بمذابحها من رخام الكرارة الإيطاليّ وهي من عمل مؤسسة شبطيني الطرابلسيّة. كذلك تتميّز بالأثاث البيعيّ الغربيّ الطراز. رمّم البناء سنة ٢٠٠١ بسعي المثلث الرحمات المطران يوحنا فؤاد الحاج.

The church of St Maroun - Tripoli

The church was built in 1956 during the pontificate of Archbishop Antoun Abed. It was designed by the italian architect Pierre Ariconi according to a latin cross basilical plan with a transept and a dome. The church holds a bell tower with a clock on the western front. The church interior has a neo gothic style with carrera marble altars made by the Chabtiny association from Tripoli. The church aslo holds western style church furnishings. The building was restored in 2001 during the pontificate of Archbishop Youhanna Fouad el Hajj.

Our Lady Of The Rosary, Hrajel, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة سيّدة الورديّة

City:  Hrajel

District:  Keserwan

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History: 

كنيسة سيّدة الورديّة - حراجل

عام ١٧٢٢، بُنيَت كنيسة سيّدة الورديَّة على أنقاض معبدٍ وثنيّ. وفي العام ١٨٢١، بُنيَت كنيسةٌ أكبر حول الكنيسة القديمة. ولـمّا انتهى البناء هُدمَت الكنيسة القديمة، وكان ذلك في العام ١٨٦٢. العام ١٩٥٥ وُسِّعت الكنيسة وأُضيف عليها قسمٌ جديدٌ وأصبَحَتْ على ما هي عليه اليوم. اللوحة التصويريّة من عمل كنعان ديب الدلبتاوي.

The church of Our Lady of the Rosary - Hrajel

In 1722 the first church was built over the ruins of a pagan temple. In 1821 a bigger structure surrounded the old church and totally replaced it in 1862. In 1955 the church took its final form. The painting over the main altar is the work of Kanaan Dib.

Deir Saydet el Natour, Hraiche, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  سيدة الناطور

City:  Enfeh

District:  Koura

Governorate:  North

History: 

The convent’s ancient origin is attached to a legend. A rich man of the region committed adultery; filled with remorse, he attached a padlocked iron chain to his ankle and threw the key into the sea-shore and survived on the fish brought to him by local fishermen, who called him the guardian of the cavern. One day, a fisherman brought him a fish, in whose entrails the hermit found the key of the padlock. He knew then that God had delivered him from his suffering, and he built a convent above the cavern. He dedicated it to The Mother of God, but it also took the name of the Guardian.

The daily life of the convent is regulated by the flow of visitors who come to fulfill vows and make prayers. Sister Catherine al-Jamal is the principal resident of Dayr al-Natour, and she has done everything within her power to restore it.

According to the Crusader document, the Monastery of the Presentation of Our Lady Natour was built by Cistercians. Indeed, the Church interior resembles that of the Cistercian Church of Balamand, built in 1157. Otherwise, the history of Dayr al-Natour is hidden in obscurity, although it is said that the local Orthodox community took it over after the departure of the Crusaders. Its name is almost unmentioned by historical sources during the Mamluk and most of the Ottoman period, although it is reported that French corsairs attacked the Monastery at the beginning of the eighteenth century and killed a monk.

In 1838, the Ottoman authorities gave permission to the Monastery to be rebuilt. In the second half of the nineteenth century, it contained several monks and a superior, and it possessed fifteen dunums of land. During the First World War, it was bombarded by a Russian ship. A few years later, the Monastery lost its last Superior, Basilios Debs, who became Archbishop of Akkar. After his departure, monastic life ended at Dayr al-Natour.

During the twentieth century, the deserted monastery became a refuge for shepherds from the neighboring regions. In 1973, Sister Catherine al-Jamal moved to Dayr al-Natour and began to restore it from its ruin.