دير مار شلّيطا - تنوّرين الفوقامن أقدم كنائس تنّورين، يرجّح البعض أن يكون البناء في الأصل هيكلاً وثنيًّا. الكنيسة مزدوجة بمذبحين: مار شليطا ومار جرجس، دلالة على أنّ الكنيسة تعود لأواسط العصر البيزنطيّ. دير مار شليطا يحوي نقوشًا مميّزة: صليب العاموديّين، الصليب الورديّ، والنجوم المثمّنة والمسدّسة. جرسها من عمل فارس النفّاع سنة ١٩٤٤. في الكنيسة لوحتين غير موقّعتين لمار جرجس ومار شليطا تعودا لما قبل القرن السادس عشر.The monastery of St Challita - Tannourin el FawkaIt is one of the oldest churches in Tannourin, and used to be a pagan temple according to some sources. The double choir indicates that the structure dates back to the mid Byzantine era. The monastery of St Chalyta is finely built with rare encrypted geometric shapes on the apses : the rose cross, the cross of the stylite, the six and the eight pointed stars... The bell is done by of Fares el Nafah in 1944. In the church are two paintings for St Challita and St George dating back to the XVIth century and not signed.
كاتدرائيّة مار مارون - بيت الدّين سنة ١٨٢٩ وهب الأمير قاسم شهاب المطران يوحنا الحلو (البطريرك لاحقًا) قطعة أرض لبناء كنيسة على اسم مار مارون لأبناء البلدة، هذه الكنيسة الأولى هي السكرستيّا اليوم. سعى لبناء الكنيسة الحاليّة الأمير بشير الثاني الشهابيّ الكبير، وكرّسها البطريرك يوسف حبيش في زيارته لمركز الإمارة في أيّار سنة ١٨٣٧، وجعلها كرسيًّا لرئيس أساقفة صور وصيدا المطران عبدالله البستاني، وبنى له دارًا للمطرانيّة بقربها، ليكون مركز المطران بجوار مركز الإمارة. تعرّضت الكنيسة للتخريب مرّتين: سنة ١٨٦٠ و١٩٨٣. أعيد ترميمها أخيرًا في تسعينيّات القرن العشرين.
The Cathedral of St Maroun - Beit El Din In 1829 Prince Qasem Chehab gave Bishop Youhanna El Helou (later Patriarch) a parcel of land to build a church dedicated to St Maroun on, this old church is used today as a sacristy. The current cathedral was built by Prince Bechir the second Chehab and consecrated by Patriarch Youssef Hobeich during his visit to the seat of power in Beit El Din in May 1838, and made it the seat of the archbishop of Tyr and Sidon, with its first prelate Archbishop Abdallah El Boustany. The archbishopric was constructed adjacent to the church, so that the seat of the Archbishop would be near the princely palace. The church was devastated during the wars of 1860 and 1983, and finally renovated during the nineties.
Basilica of Our Lady of Mantara - بازيليك سيدة المنطرة, Maghdoucheh, Lebanon
مقام سيدة المنطرة العجائبي مغدوشة
Maghdoucheh
Saida
South
Our Lady of Mantara is a Melkite Greek Catholic Marian shrine in Maghdouché, Lebanon, discovered on 8 September 1721 by a young shepherd. The grotto, which according to a legend dates to ancient times, was subsequently cared after by Monsignor Eftemios Saïfi, Melkite Catholic bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Sidon. The shrine consists of a tower crowned with the statue of the Virgin and Child, a cathedral, a cemetery and a sacred cave believed to be the one where the Virgin Mary rested while she waited for Jesus while he was in Tyre and Sidon. (Women were not allowed in some cities). Since its discovery, it has been steadily visited by families particularly each year on the occasion of the feast of the Nativity of Mary on 8 September.
Ancient era Many historians agree that the devotion to the Virgin Mary in Lebanon replaced the Phoenician worship of Astarte. Temples and shrines to Astarte were converted to Christian places of worship, honoring the Virgin. This is also true in Maghdouché where within the vicinity of Our Lady of Awaiting are the remains of a shrine to Astarte.
Middle Ages During the reign of Emperor Constantine, his mother, Saint Helena of Constantinople, requested in 324 the destruction of all pagan temples and idols dedicated to Astarte. The Astarte shrine in Maghdouché was probably destroyed at that time and converted to a place of devotion to the Holy Mother.
Since the early Christian era, the inhabitants of Maghdouché have venerated the cave where the Virgin Mary rested while she waited for her son, Jesus to finish preaching in Sidon. Saint Helena asked the Bishop of Tyre to consecrate a little chapel at the cave in Maghdouché. She sent the people of Maghdouché an icon of the mother and child and some altar furnishings. Historians believe that Saint Helena asked the people to name the chapel, and they named it "Our Lady of Awaiting" because it was there that the holy mother waited for her son.[4] Mantara is derivative of the Semitic root ntr, which means “to wait."
Saint Helena provided funds from the imperial treasury for the maintenance of the chapel. The funding continued for three centuries of Byzantine rule in Phoenicia until Khalid ibn al-Walid defeated Emperor Heraclius at the Battle of the Yarmuk.[4] While the caliph Omar, who became ruler of Jerusalem, was a pious and humble man, sparing Christendom's holiest shrines and being tolerant of his Christian subjects, the Arab rulers of the rest of Byzantium were less tolerant of the Christians, especially in the maritime cities of Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Byblos, and Tripoli.[4] After the majority of the Sidonians converted to Islam to receive promised privileges and immunities, the people of Maghdouché withdrew to higher elevation up Mount Lebanon. The caliphate had recognised the Christians of Mount Lebanon as autonomous communities, paying a fixed tax. Before abandoning their village, they concealed the entrance to the cave of Our Lady of Awaiting with stones, earth and vines. The people left the village through obscure mountain paths to the strongholds of Christian Lebanon. The legend of Our Lady of Awaiting was passed down to the exiled generations of Maghdouché for one thousand years.
The people of Maghdouché did not return to their ancestral home despite the arrival of the Crusaders in Sidon. The Crusaders spent most of the 12th and 13th centuries in the shadow of Maghdouché without ever suspecting the sacred cave's existence even though they built a small fort, called La Franche Garde, within meters of the hidden entrance to the cave.
Modern era The people of Maghdouché only returned to their ancestral village during the reign of the Druze Prince Fakhreddin II (1572-1635). The prince, who was considered a tolerant and enlightened ruler of his day and age, believed in equality amongst the diverse religious followers of his Lebanon. To demonstrate this equality, he appointed a Maronite Catholic as Prime Minister, a Muslim as Minister of the Interior, a Druze as Army Commander and a Jew as Finance Minister. His reign was a rare example of non-sectarianism, and it soon became the most prosperous principality in the Ottoman Empire.
It was not easy to relocate the sacred cave even though the men of Maghdouché worked for hundreds of years near the grotto, pulling down the stones of the Crusader fort for building material for their new homes. The cave was finally rediscovered on 8 September 1721 by a young shepherd when one of his goats fell in a well-like opening in the porous limestone. Wanting to save his goat, the shepherd made a rope from vine twigs, tied it to a tree, and descended into the hole, but the rope broke and he fell. When his eyes became accustomed to the darkness of the grotto, the boy saw a soft glimmer of a golden object, which turned out to be Saint Helena’s icon of the Mother and Child. The boy climbed up the stone walls and ran to the village to tell his discovery.
سنة ١٧٠٨ وصل ثلاثة رهبان أرمن إلى لبنان لتأسيس رهبانيّة أرمنيّة، فأوقف لهم الشّيخ صخر الخازن، أراضًا في وادي غوسطا سنة ١٧١٦. فأنشىء الرهبان إكليريكيّة وامتدّ بناء الدير والكنيسة إلى سنة ١٧٣٣. سنة ١٨٦٥ اشترى الخوري يوحنّا حبيب (المطران لاحقًا)، الدّير من الرّهبان الأرمن حيث انتقل هؤلاء إلى بزمّار، وأسّس جمعيّة المرسلين اللّبنانيّين في الدّير مع العديد من الكهنة وفي مقدَّمهم الخوري إسطفان قزاح، الرّئيس العام الأوّل. إهتمّ الكريميوّن ووسّعوه.. وقد كان هذا الدّير ملجأً للعديد من المهجّرين والمشرّدين والجياع والهاربين من ظلم السّلطات العثمانيّة. خضع البناء لعدّة عمليّات ترميم كان آخرها سنة ٢٠١٣. كان الدّير مركزًا للرّئاسة العامّة للجمعية حتّى العام ١٩٢١، وهو حاليًّا ديراً للابتداء، توجد فيه كنيسة المُخلّص وتحوي لوحةً زيتيّةً قديمة،، تدعى "الثّالوث المتألّم"، ولوحة أخرى أرمنيّة للميلاد. وفي الكنيسة أيضًا مدافن عائدة إلى كلّ من المطران يوحنّا الحبيب مؤسّس الجمعيّة، والخوري اسطفان قزاح رئيسها العام الأوّل، والمطران شكرالله خوري، .
The Holy Savior Monastery - Kreim Ghosta
The monastery was established in 1708 by three Armenian monks who arrived in Lebanon with the intention of creating an Armenian monastic order. Located in Wadi Ghosta, Lebanon, the monastery's history is intertwined with various events and figures over the centuries. In 1716, Sheikh Sakhr al-Khazen granted the Armenian monks lands in Wadi Ghosta, enabling them to establish their monastic order. The construction of the monastery and church complex took several decades, finally extending until 1733. It served as a seminary, providing education and spiritual guidance to the community. Fast forward to 1865, and the ownership of the monastery changed hands. Father John Habib, who later became a Bishop, purchased the monastery from the Armenian monks. With this transaction, the Armenian monks relocated to Bzommar, and Father John Habib initiated the Lebanese Missionaries Congregation within the monastery. Many priests were part of this association, and Father Stephen Qazah became its first superior general. Throughout its history, the Holy Savior Monastery played a crucial role in the local community. It served as a refuge for the displaced, homeless, hungry, and those seeking refuge from the oppression of the Ottoman authorities. The monastery experienced several periods of restoration to preserve its historical significance and structural integrity. The last restoration took place in 2013, ensuring that the monastery continued to stand as a testament to its enduring history and cultural importance. The Holy Savior Monastery, historically serving as the center of the general presidency of the association until 1921, has evolved into a monastery dedicated to novices in the present day. Nestled within its walls is the sacred Church of the Savior, housing cherished relics from the past. One of the notable treasures preserved within the church is an ancient oil painting named "The Suffering Trinity." This artwork carries profound emotional depth and holds a place of reverence within the community, reminding all who behold it of the timeless spiritual journey. Adding to the artistic splendor, another precious possession within the church is an Armenian painting depicting the Nativity. This painting enriches the spiritual ambiance of the sanctuary, reflecting the shared heritage and faith of those who seek solace and inspiration within its halls. Moreover, the church stands as a memorial to the esteemed figures who have shaped the legacy of the monastery and the association it represents. The burials of Bishop Youhanna Al-Habib, the visionary founder of the Lebanese Missionaries Association, Father Estephan Qazzah, the dedicated first general president, and Bishop Shukrallah Khoury, a revered spiritual leader, grace the church grounds. As the monastery continues to embrace novices and nurture their spiritual growth, it remains an enduring symbol of devotion, compassion, and hope. The presence of these sacred artifacts and burials serves as a constant reminder of the monastery's illustrious past and the profound impact it has had on the lives of those who seek solace and enlightenment within its sanctuary.
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