Mrouj – The church of St Thecla

Bkassine, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة سيّدة النجاة

Year built:  1855

City:  Bkassine

District:  Jezzine

Governorate:  South

History: 

كنيسة سيّدة النجاة - بكاسين

بُنيت الكنيسة سنة ١٨٥٥، بعقدٍ مصالب. تعرّضت للتخريب إبّان حوادث سنة ١٨٦٠، ورمّمت أواخر القرن العشرين. تحوي الكنيسة على لوحة سيّدة الحبل بلا دنس وهي من عمل غربيّ، كذلك لوحة مار يوسف ومجموعة زجاجيّات.

The church of Our Lady of Deliverance - Bkassine

The church was built in 1855, and consists of a single arched vault. The building was sabotaged during the war of 1860 and finally restored in the late XXth century. The church holds a European late XIXth century painting depicting the Immaculate conception. The modern painting of St Joseph and the stained glass windows are the work of the artist André Nammour.

Mar abda church, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  دير مار عبدا المشمّر - زكريت

Year built:  1685

City:  Zakrit

District:  Metn

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History: 

بُنيَ الدّير على تلّةٍ في ضواحي زكريت على ضفاف نهر الكلب. الكنيسة القديمة بُنيت على أنقاض هيكلٍ وثنيّ عقب حملة المماليك على كسروان، وجُدِّدت سنة ١٦٨٥، بحسب كتاب تاريخ الأزمنة للبطريرك إسطفان الدويهيّ. إستلمت الرهبانيّة الأنطونيّة المارونيّة الكنيسة وبنت ديرًا سنة ١٧١٦. أمّا الكنيسة الجديدة فبنيت سنة ١٨١٠ بإعتناء الأمير حسن قاسم الشهابي، أيّام رئاسة الأب يوسف البشابيّ العامّة. لوحة مار عبدا هي من عمل داود القرم، سنة ١٨٨٤. وفي الكنيسة لوحة أُخرى للقدّيس من عمل أسعد رنّو. يقصد هذا الدّير المؤمنون طالبين شفاعة مار عبدا العجائبيّ خصوصًا النّساء العواقر والأطفال المرضى.

Built on a hill in the vicinity of Zakrit near Nahr El Kalb, the first church was built over the ruins of a roman temple after the Mamluk’s campaign on Kesserwan and renovated in 1685 according to Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy in his book Tarikh al Azmina. The Antonine Maronite Order acquired the church and the monks built a new monastery in 1716. In 1810 a new church was built on top of the first one with the help of Prince Hassan Abou Qasem Shehab, when Fr Youssef al Bchabby was abbot. The main painting is the work of Dawoud el Qorm, dating back to year 1884. Another painting of the saint is kept in the church and is the work of Assad Renno. St Abda’s church is believed to be miraculous especially for baron ladies and sick children

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.