أنطش مار يوسف - بسكنتاسنة ١٧٧٠ بدأ أهالي بسكنتا ببناء كنيسة على إسم القدِّيس يوسف، لكنّ البناء تعثّر. فكان ذلك سببًا لدعوة الرهبانيَّة اللبنانيَّة إلى تسلُّمها، سنة ١٧٧١، بناءً على طلب الأهالي. مقابل ذلك، كان على الرهبانيَّة أن تنشئ مدرسةً لتعليم الأحداث وإرشاد القريب في الأمور الروحيَّة. أتمَّت الرهبانيَّة، سنة ١٧٧٦، تشييد الكنيسة، وأنشأت مدرسةً على اسم القدِّيس يوسف، فكانت أقدم مدرسةٍ في بسكنتا، تهتمُّ بتعليم الأولاد مبادئ الدين والأخلاق، واللغتَين السريانيَّة والعربيَّة.The presbytery of St Joseph - BaskintaIn 1770 the locals of Baskinta began building a church dedicated to St Joseph, yet due to the lack of funds, they decided to hand the church to the Lebanese Maronite Order. The agreement was settled in 1771 and a school to teach the children and provide spiritual guidance was erected by the order. In 1776 the church was dedicated and the first Baskintan school opened providing a program that teaches Syriac, Arabic, Morals, and Catechism.
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.
بُنيت الكنيسة الأولى سنة ١٦٧٢، وكرّسها البطريرك إسطفان الدويهيّ. سنة ١٨٢٨ كانت الكنيسة أصبحت ضيّقة، فأُخذت جحارتها، بالإضافة إلى حجارة كنيسةٍ قديمةٍ مهجورةٍ على اسم مار عبدا، كانت تخصّ آل الشمالي قبل نزوحهم إلى بلدة سهيلة. كان البناء بسعي الخوري نقولا صفير. الكنيسة كناية عن عقدٍ مُصالب ينتهي بحنية. تضمّ أربعة مذابح: مار زخيا، السيّدة، القلب الأقدس، مار يوسف. الكنيسة تحافظ على طابعها الأصليّ بنقوشها وزخرفتها الملوّنة والأشكال الهندسيّة على الجدران والأسقف.
The church of St Zakhia (St Nicolas) - Ajaltoun
The first church was built in 1672, and dedicated by Patriarch Estefan el Douwaihy. In 1828 the church became too small for the increasing number of villagers. With the help of Fr Nkoula Sfeir, two old churches were dismantled: the old St Zakhia and an old ruined chapel dedicated to St Abda that belonged to the Chemaly family that moved to Shaileh. The stones were used to build the new church. The structure is a crossed vault, with four altars: St Zakhia, the Madonna, the Sacred Heart, and St Joseph. The church still conserves its original decorum with colored floral motifs and arabesques.
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