Qsaibeh – Our Lady of Deliverance

Monastery of Saint John Marcus Jbeil Lebanese Maronite Order, Byblos, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  مار يوحنا مرقس - جبيل

Year built:  1115

City:  Jbayl

District:  Jbeil

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History: 

A beautiful Romanesque church, Eglise Saint Jean Marc is the cathedral church of Jbail-Byblos. The Church is dedicated to Saint Jean Mark, the patron saint of the town, who is said to have founded the first Christian community of Byblos. The church itself was built in 1115 A.D by the Crusaders, originally as the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. After their departure, earthquakes, invasions and other disasters have repeatedly damaged the structure, and for a few centuries it remained disused. In 1764, Emir Youssef Chehab, of the Druze dynasty that ruled a semi- autonomous Lebanon under the Ottomans, donated the church to L’Ordre Libanais Maronite (Lebanese Maronite Order) which subsequently restored and reopened in 1776 after re-dedicating it to St Jean Marc. British bombardments of Lebanon in 1840 caused further damage, but the church was restored yet again. Eglise Saint Jean Marc continues to serve the Maronite Christian community. One interesting feature in the church is its open- air domed baptistery on the northern side which dates from the original construction in 1115 A.D, The church is situated on Rue de Port, between the port and the archaeological area.

Saint Georges Church, Ghalboun, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة مار جرجس

City:  Ghalboun

District:  Jbeil

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History: 

كنيسة مار جرجس: غلبون

كنيسة القرية الأولى كانت تقع في محلّة الحوش. بعد توسّع القرية مع بداية القرن التاسع عشر، قرّر الأهالي بناء كنيسةٍ جديدةٍ مكان محبسة مار جرجس والتي كانت قائمة بدورها على أنقاض معبدٍ فارسيٍ. وواجهة الكنيسة الغربية ما زالت تحتفظ بشعار الإمبراطوريّة الفارسية، النمر وزهرة اللّوتوس.. أما المذبح القديم فقد إستقدمه الخوري بطرس أبي سليمان من روما، بواسطة البطريرك الياس الحويّك. ورُسمت على جدران الكنيسة أيقونات بريشة كنعان ديب الذي رسم أيقونة مار جرجس القديمة،سنة ١٩٠٤. سنة ٢٠٠٦ رُمّمت الكنيسة.

The church of St George - Ghalboun

The first parochial church was built in the Hawsh area. With the expansion of the village in the beguiling of the XIXth century the locals decided to build their new church over an old hermitage dedicated to St George. The hermitage was built over a Persian Achaemenid watch tower. The church’s western wall still holds a stone from the old tower with Achaemenid engravings: a tiger and a lotus. The church was decorated with frescoes and a painting of St George by Kanaan Dib in 1904. The old marble altar was brought from Rome by Fr. Boutros Abi Sleiman with the aid of Patriarch Elias Howeyck. In 2006 the church was restored.

Ain Warka Monastery, Ghosta, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  دير ومدرسة عين ورقة - غوسطا

Year built:  1660

City:  Ghosta

District:  Keserwan

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History: 

من أهم أديرة غوسطا، أسّسه المطران جرجس خيرالله أسطفان سنة 1660. وفي 14 أيلول 1698 كرّس كنيسة الدير البطريرك أسطفان الدويهي. في العام 1789 وقّع خلفه البطريرك يوسف أسطفان صك تحويل الدير الى مدرسة اكليريكيّة. وافتُتحت مدرسة عين ورقة سنة 1797-1798 على عهد البطريرك يوسف التيّان على قوانين وبرامج المدرسة المارونيّة في روما. ولم تلبث أن ضاهت جامعات أوروبا، فكانت أول جامعة في الشرق، حتى لقّبها مارون عبود بـ"سوربون الشرق"، حيث كانت تدرّس فيها خمس لغات الى جانب العلوم اللاهوتيّة والفلسفيّة. وقد قيل على سبيل المزاح أنّ "دجاجات عين ورقة تتكلم خمس لغات". خرّجت المدرسة أربعة بطاركة وعشرون مطرانًا، وعنها نشأت المدارس الأخرى التي انتشرت في البلاد، وخرّجت روّاد النهضة العربيّة في القرن التاسع عشر. هي اليوم ميتم بعهدة راهبات القربان الأقدس المارونيّات.
The monastery of Ain Warqa
Located in Ghosta Keserwan, it was built by Bishop Gerges Khairallah Estefan in 1660. The grand church was dedicated by Patriarch Stephen Doueihi on the 14th of September year 1698. During the pontificate of Patriarch Joseph Estephan, the monastery was transformed into a seminary in 1789. The first scholastic year was in 1797-1798 during the pontificate of Patriarch Joseph Tyan, according to the curriculum of the Maronite Grand Seminary in Rome. The reputation of the school was so great that it competed with the grand seminaries of Europe, and ranked first in the Middle East. The seminary was even called by the great author Maroun Abboud “the Sorbone of the East”. The curriculum included five languages, along with theological, philosophical, and scientific studies.The most important alumnus where four patriarchs and twenty bishops, and a great numer of notable writers and scientists that were the pioneers of the Arabic renaissance during the nineteenth century. The school was also named the mother of all schools in Syria and Lebanon. Today it is used as a foster home in the custody of the Maronite sisters of the Most Blessed Sacrament.