Tripoli – The church of St Maroun

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.

كنيسة مار يوسف - القبع, Qabaa, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة مار يوسف

City:  Qabaa Jezzine

District:  Jezzine

Governorate:  South

History: 

كنيسة مار يوسف - القبع جزّين

بنيت الكنيسة سنة ١٩٠٠ بسعي عائلة غانم الذين جعلوا مدافنهم بقربها. جدّدت في ١٩ آذار سنة ١٩٦٣. الكنيسة صغيرة، تتبع رعيّة بلدة قيتولة جزّين، تضم لوحةً غربيّة الصنع لمار يوسف، وتتميّز بالنقوش والزخرفة على الجصّ.

The church of St Joseph - Eh Qobeh Jezzine

The church was built in 1900 by the Ghanem family who built their cemetery near it. It was renewed on the 19th of march 1963. The church is small, a dependency of the nearby Qaytouli’s parish. It possesses a classical painting of St Joseph. The church also contains intricate Gipson carvings.

College Mar Abda, Deir El Qamar, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  دير مار عبدا - دير القمر

Year built:  1849

City:  Deir El-Qamar

District:  Chouf

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History:  دير مار عبدا - دير القمر سنة ١٨٤٩، تأسّس الدير على يد الأب نعمة الله البكفاوي والأب بطرس الغزيريّ، بهدف خدمة النفوس في منطقة دير القمر. سنة ١٨٩٥، على عهد الأب العام سابا دريان، اتمّ الاب المدبّر افرام حنين الديراني بناء الدير، وأنشأ مدرسة لأبناء الرهبانية. سنة ١٩٦٣، تمّ بناء مدرسة مار عبدا. سنة ٢٠٠١، تمّ إفتتاح فرع لجامعة سيّدة اللويزة في الدير مكان الثانويّة الرسميّة وفرع للجامعة اللبنانية. سنة ٢٠٠٥، تم ترميم الدير وإصلاح غرفه والصالون والاقبية ليستقبل الرهبان والحركات الرسولية. يتميّز الدير بهندسته الفريدة وهي مزيج من فنّ العمارة اللبنانيّة والحلبيّة. The monastery of St. Abda - Deir el Qamar The monastery was built in 1849, to provide pastoral and spiritual assistance in Deir el Qamar. In 1895 during the mandate of Abbot Saba Derian the monastery was completed and a monastic school was erected. In 1963 the school was renewed and opened to the public. In 2001 a branch of NDU and of the Lebanese University were opened next to the monastery. In 2005 the monastery was renewed. The building is a great late 19th century witness to Lebanese architecture with elements of Aleppo’s art and arabesque.