Aqoura – The monastery of St Edna

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Mar Edna Monastery, Aaqoura, Lebanon

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دير مار إدنا

Aaqoura

Jbeil

Mount Lebanon

دير مار ادنا - العاقورةادنا هو لقب سريانيّ لمار طراخونيوس، وهو من القدّيسين الأكثر شهرة عند موارنة القرون الوسطى. بني هذا الدّير سنة ٥٠٩ على أنقاضٍ رومانيّة ما زالت ماثلة، ويتألّف من كنيسة بخوروسين ما يزال القسم الجنوبيّ منها ماثل. بقيّة الدّير ودير البنات أي دير الراهبات العابدات الذي بقربه أنقاض. قنطرة الحنية مزيّنة بالعديد من الصلبان والنقوش التي ترمز للتجسد والفداء. كان الدّير مقرًّا لأساقفة العاقورة مدى قرون ومن أشهرهم البطريرك يوحنا السابع العاقوري الذي توفي سنة ١٣٥٧.The monastery of St Edna - AqouraEdna is a title given by syriacs to St Trakhonius, who was one of the most venerated saints by the medieval Maronites. The monastery was built in 509 over roman ruins that are still visible, and it consists of a two aped church, with the southern part of the church still standing. The rest of the church and monastery and the adjacent nunnery are all in ruins. The apse is decorated with crosses and symbols of the Incarnation and Redemption. The monastery was the seat of Aqoura’s bishops for centuries, the most famous of them was patriarch John VII El Aqoury who died in 1357.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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بحسب أحد التقاليد بنى الملك حصرائيم (الذي منه اسم بلدة حصرون) قصرًا وهيكلًا في هذا الموضع تحوّل في الجيل الرابع إلى كنيسةٍ على اسم مار لابي وهو اللقب السريانيّ ليهوذا الرسول. بني القسم الشرقيّ من الكنيسة في القرن الثالث عشر، وأضيف سنة ١٧٧٠ القسم الغربيّ. أخذت الكنيسة شكلها مع الصليبيّين، وهي عقد سريريّ منخفض بحنية واحدة. تضمّ الكنيسة مجموعةً من اللوحات التي تعود للقرن الثامن عشر وهي مزيج بين الأيقونة المشرقيّة وفنّ عصر النهضة.

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