Blessed Patriarch Elias Howayek
Elias Howayek served as the 72nd Patriarch of the Maronite Church for thirty-two years, the longest patriarchate in the Church's modern history. He is remembered as a father to the poor, as the founder of the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, and above all for the leading role he played in the founding of Greater Lebanon in 1920. The cause for his canonization was opened in 2011, and he was declared Venerable in 2019. He was declared Blessed on July 25, 2026. (1)
Early Life
Elias Howayek was born toward the end of December 1843 in Helta, a village in the Batroun district of North Lebanon. He was the eldest of seven children, three boys and four girls. His father, the priest known as Father Boutros Howayek, and his mother, Ghorra Tannous Howayek, were both from Helta, and the boy was baptized on January 5, 1844, in the village's Church of Our Lady.
He grew up in a home that was poor but devout, as he was raised in the household of a priest who relied entirely on God's providence. The family lived modestly and within its means, asking for nothing beyond what was needed to do God's will, and Elias was brought up in a spirit of piety, honesty and hard work. His father's greatest concern was to see his children educated, since it was the one inheritance he could offer them and the one thing that could secure their future.
Elias received his first schooling under the village oak tree. From there, his formation for the Maronite priesthood took him to the seminary of Kfarhay, also in the Batroun district, in 1851, then to the seminary of Ghazir, in the Keserwan district of Mount Lebanon, in 1859, and finally to Rome in 1866 to complete his theological studies. Two years before his ordination, in a letter to his father, he set down the conviction that would guide him for the rest of his life:
Divine Providence looks after all things,
for its Greater Glory.
I request from you that you remember me
in your prayers,
that I may remain
the son of this Divine Providence.
Letter of Elias Howayek to his father, March 6, 1868
Elias Howayek was born toward the end of December 1843 in Helta, a village in the Batroun district of North Lebanon. He was the eldest of seven children, three boys and four girls. His father, the priest known as Father Boutros Howayek, and his mother, Ghorra Tannous Howayek, were both from Helta, and the boy was baptized on January 5, 1844, in the village's Church of Our Lady.
He grew up in a home that was poor but devout, as he was raised in the household of a priest who relied entirely on God's providence. The family lived modestly and within its means, asking for nothing beyond what was needed to do God's will, and Elias was brought up in a spirit of piety, honesty and hard work. His father's greatest concern was to see his children educated, since it was the one inheritance he could offer them and the one thing that could secure their future.
Elias received his first schooling under the village oak tree. From there, his formation for the Maronite priesthood took him to the seminary of Kfarhay, also in the Batroun district, in 1851, then to the seminary of Ghazir, in the Keserwan district of Mount Lebanon, in 1859, and finally to Rome in 1866 to complete his theological studies. Two years before his ordination, in a letter to his father, he set down the conviction that would guide him for the rest of his life:
Divine Providence looks after all things,
for its Greater Glory.
I request from you that you remember me
in your prayers,
that I may remain
the son of this Divine Providence.
Letter of Elias Howayek to his father, March 6, 1868
Priesthood and Patriarchate
Elias Howayek was ordained a priest on June 5, 1870, and returned to Lebanon that August. In 1872, Patriarch Boulos Massaad appointed him his private secretary, a position he held for nearly two decades and through which he came to know the workings of the Maronite Patriarchate intimately. On December 14, 1889, he was consecrated bishop, receiving the titular see of Arca, an ancient city in what is today the Akkar region of North Lebanon, and serving as Auxiliary Bishop to the Patriarch.
On August 15, 1895, while still a bishop, Elias Howayek founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family in Ebreen, a village in the Batroun district of North Lebanon, together with Mother Rosalie Nasr and Sister Stephanie Kardouch. It was the first Maronite congregation of women religious dedicated to apostolic life, established to serve families, children, the sick, the elderly and the poor. The Congregation remains active today, its Mother House still in Ebreen, with communities across Lebanon, Syria, Australia and the United States.
On January 7, 1899, Bishop Howayek was elected Patriarch of the Maronite Church and installed two days later. Over the thirty-two years that followed, he worked to strengthen Maronite institutions both within Lebanon and abroad. He reopened the Maronite College in Rome, secured a Maronite church in Paris with the French government funding the education of eight Maronite students there, founded a Maronite eparchy in Egypt, and purchased a house for the Maronite community in Jerusalem. He sent delegates to support Lebanese migrants scattered across the world, and under his leadership the parishes of Lebanon flourished with twenty-two new churches built during his years in office.
Closer to home, he built the Patriarchate's summer residence in Dimane, in the Bsharri district of North Lebanon overlooking the Qadisha Valley, and established the tradition of annual spiritual retreats for the bishops at Bkerki, the Patriarchate's seat in the Keserwan district of Mount Lebanon. He made the formation of priests a personal concern, sending seminarians to complete their studies in Rome and Paris and visiting them himself to assess their vocation and progress. He made annual pastoral visits to parishes, including those in the most remote villages, brought irrigation to the fields around Bkerki, and had olive and mulberry trees planted across the Patriarchate's estates.
On May 3, 1908, he raised the statue of Our Lady of Lebanon above Harissa, in the Keserwan district of Mount Lebanon, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The hilltop shrine he crowned that day has since grown into one of Lebanon's most visited pilgrimage sites, attracting Christians and Muslims alike.
In 1911, he established a Patriarchal agency for the Maronites of Cairo and sent it its first Maronite Patriarchal delegate, extending the Church's reach into Egypt's growing Lebanese community. In 1913, he consecrated the Church of the Holy Family in Ebreen. This was the village in the Batroun district where he had founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family less than two decades earlier, and to which he would return after his death.
The heaviest trial of his patriarchate came with the First World War, when the Ottoman blockade of Mount Lebanon brought famine to his people. Patriarch Howayek opened the Patriarchate's treasury in Bkerki to feed the hungry and called on the monasteries to do the same, sheltering the region's poor through the worst years of the war.
In 1919, he led the Lebanese delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference to press for Lebanon's independence within its historic borders. His persistence bore fruit on September 1, 1920, when he stood beside General Gouraud at the declaration of the State of Greater Lebanon, a moment many historians credit directly to his years of advocacy. On his way to that same Peace Conference in 1919, he is remembered to have said:
I cannot rely on politics
but on God and this rosary.
Patriarch Elias Howayek, on his way to Paris for the Peace Conference, 1919
Patriarch Elias Howayek died on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1931.
Elias Howayek was ordained a priest on June 5, 1870, and returned to Lebanon that August. In 1872, Patriarch Boulos Massaad appointed him his private secretary, a position he held for nearly two decades and through which he came to know the workings of the Maronite Patriarchate intimately. On December 14, 1889, he was consecrated bishop, receiving the titular see of Arca, an ancient city in what is today the Akkar region of North Lebanon, and serving as Auxiliary Bishop to the Patriarch.
On August 15, 1895, while still a bishop, Elias Howayek founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family in Ebreen, a village in the Batroun district of North Lebanon, together with Mother Rosalie Nasr and Sister Stephanie Kardouch. It was the first Maronite congregation of women religious dedicated to apostolic life, established to serve families, children, the sick, the elderly and the poor. The Congregation remains active today, its Mother House still in Ebreen, with communities across Lebanon, Syria, Australia and the United States.
On January 7, 1899, Bishop Howayek was elected Patriarch of the Maronite Church and installed two days later. Over the thirty-two years that followed, he worked to strengthen Maronite institutions both within Lebanon and abroad. He reopened the Maronite College in Rome, secured a Maronite church in Paris with the French government funding the education of eight Maronite students there, founded a Maronite eparchy in Egypt, and purchased a house for the Maronite community in Jerusalem. He sent delegates to support Lebanese migrants scattered across the world, and under his leadership the parishes of Lebanon flourished with twenty-two new churches built during his years in office.
Closer to home, he built the Patriarchate's summer residence in Dimane, in the Bsharri district of North Lebanon overlooking the Qadisha Valley, and established the tradition of annual spiritual retreats for the bishops at Bkerki, the Patriarchate's seat in the Keserwan district of Mount Lebanon. He made the formation of priests a personal concern, sending seminarians to complete their studies in Rome and Paris and visiting them himself to assess their vocation and progress. He made annual pastoral visits to parishes, including those in the most remote villages, brought irrigation to the fields around Bkerki, and had olive and mulberry trees planted across the Patriarchate's estates.
On May 3, 1908, he raised the statue of Our Lady of Lebanon above Harissa, in the Keserwan district of Mount Lebanon, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The hilltop shrine he crowned that day has since grown into one of Lebanon's most visited pilgrimage sites, attracting Christians and Muslims alike.
In 1911, he established a Patriarchal agency for the Maronites of Cairo and sent it its first Maronite Patriarchal delegate, extending the Church's reach into Egypt's growing Lebanese community. In 1913, he consecrated the Church of the Holy Family in Ebreen. This was the village in the Batroun district where he had founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family less than two decades earlier, and to which he would return after his death.
The heaviest trial of his patriarchate came with the First World War, when the Ottoman blockade of Mount Lebanon brought famine to his people. Patriarch Howayek opened the Patriarchate's treasury in Bkerki to feed the hungry and called on the monasteries to do the same, sheltering the region's poor through the worst years of the war.
In 1919, he led the Lebanese delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference to press for Lebanon's independence within its historic borders. His persistence bore fruit on September 1, 1920, when he stood beside General Gouraud at the declaration of the State of Greater Lebanon, a moment many historians credit directly to his years of advocacy. On his way to that same Peace Conference in 1919, he is remembered to have said:
I cannot rely on politics
but on God and this rosary.
Patriarch Elias Howayek, on his way to Paris for the Peace Conference, 1919
Patriarch Elias Howayek died on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1931.
Personality
Patriarch Howayek was known as a man of great zeal, a deeply respected shepherd, and a father who stayed close to the needs of his people, especially the poor and the vulnerable. Having grown up in a simple home and known poverty himself, he never lost sight of the less fortunate, even as he rose to the highest office of the Maronite Church. Like the Prophet Elijah, he was fond of repeating the words “zeal for your house has consumed me,” and he pursued the priesthood, holiness and God's will with the same passion he brought to everything else, praying often in his own words:
My God, I have no one but you and no Lord but you.
My God, you are my strength and my support
and my pride and my refuge;
I have no support but you and no refuge but in you.
You are my God and my Master and I have no one but you.
I desire to love you, prepare me to love you.
He had, by every account, a penetrating mind, given over to the search for truth. He had little patience for falsehood or ambiguity and was respected in turn for his honesty. In all his dealings, his only weapon was truth, even when it cost him dearly, and his word was trusted absolutely because it was never given lightly. His vision, though, reached well beyond Lebanon: the institutions he built abroad were meant to outlast him, and he pursued them all while insisting that he remained no more than an instrument of God's will.
This same clarity of purpose shaped how he treated those beneath him. He rejected every form of oppression, working to bring exiled Lebanese back to their homeland, to free those unjustly imprisoned, and to lighten the taxes and forced labor placed on his people. He believed that hardship was often rooted in a lack of opportunity and education and that neglecting the poor stripped them of their dignity, and he devoted much of his life to addressing the causes of poverty rather than only its effects. Though he received the highest honors of his time, he died owning nothing and was known to say:
Give, give to all!
There is no distinction for me
between Christian and Muslim.
It was this same belief, that the family was the foundation of a healthy society, that led him to found the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family. Even today, families who turn to his intercession attribute to him particular graces, among them the grace of children.
Patriarch Howayek was known as a man of great zeal, a deeply respected shepherd, and a father who stayed close to the needs of his people, especially the poor and the vulnerable. Having grown up in a simple home and known poverty himself, he never lost sight of the less fortunate, even as he rose to the highest office of the Maronite Church. Like the Prophet Elijah, he was fond of repeating the words “zeal for your house has consumed me,” and he pursued the priesthood, holiness and God's will with the same passion he brought to everything else, praying often in his own words:
My God, I have no one but you and no Lord but you.
My God, you are my strength and my support
and my pride and my refuge;
I have no support but you and no refuge but in you.
You are my God and my Master and I have no one but you.
I desire to love you, prepare me to love you.
He had, by every account, a penetrating mind, given over to the search for truth. He had little patience for falsehood or ambiguity and was respected in turn for his honesty. In all his dealings, his only weapon was truth, even when it cost him dearly, and his word was trusted absolutely because it was never given lightly. His vision, though, reached well beyond Lebanon: the institutions he built abroad were meant to outlast him, and he pursued them all while insisting that he remained no more than an instrument of God's will.
This same clarity of purpose shaped how he treated those beneath him. He rejected every form of oppression, working to bring exiled Lebanese back to their homeland, to free those unjustly imprisoned, and to lighten the taxes and forced labor placed on his people. He believed that hardship was often rooted in a lack of opportunity and education and that neglecting the poor stripped them of their dignity, and he devoted much of his life to addressing the causes of poverty rather than only its effects. Though he received the highest honors of his time, he died owning nothing and was known to say:
Give, give to all!
There is no distinction for me
between Christian and Muslim.
It was this same belief, that the family was the foundation of a healthy society, that led him to found the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family. Even today, families who turn to his intercession attribute to him particular graces, among them the grace of children.
Spirituality
Patriarch Howayek's spirituality rested on a complete trust in Divine Providence and a lifelong pursuit of God's glory above all else. Despite the honors that came with his office, he lived simply and kept a disciplined rhythm of prayer even under the heaviest demands on his time. In his final letter to the Sisters of the Holy Family, written five months before his death, he set down what he had practiced throughout his life:
Whether I have a short life or a long one,
whether I die at this very hour or later on,
I accept all from the hands of God!
On God I rely, on him who is my complete satisfaction.
He watches over me during my times of joy and sorrow,
and my only concern is to do his will.
Letter of Patriarch Elias Howayek to the Sisters of the Holy Family, July 25, 1931
He was known during his lifetime as the Son of Divine Providence, and often repeated the words, “If the eyes of Divine Providence are turned upon you, sleep well, for you are secure despite all fears.” He held that every event of human life, whatever its nature, was a gift from God to be received in faith, and the faithful today continue to attribute graces to his intercession.
Two prayers of Patriarch Elias Howayek, in his own words:
I beseech you, my God, to grant me the grace
to serve you according to your Providence.
I desire from you your presence and your love,
and the fire of your love filling my heart.
Remove from it all leanings
and all attachments displeasing to you.
For I have consecrated my life
and all I am to your service and love.
Do with me as you will;
you are my Lord, Master and God
and I am your servant and creation molded by you.
Yet I dare call myself only the least of your children;
I call you my kind and caring Father.
To you be glory and thanksgiving forever. Amen.
Prayer on the occasion of his Ordination to the Priesthood, 1870
My God, let me live and die pleasing you.
My Lord, be generous to me with
the grace of your pleasure in me,
for it is my only good, my only treasure,
my pride, my life, my hope, my happiness
and my only desire. It is my everything.
Guide me and lead me,
and enlighten my mind
with the light of your boundless wisdom,
for I depend entirely on your mercy
and on nothing else.
All I desire is your good pleasure,
and nothing more. Amen.
Patriarch Howayek's spirituality rested on a complete trust in Divine Providence and a lifelong pursuit of God's glory above all else. Despite the honors that came with his office, he lived simply and kept a disciplined rhythm of prayer even under the heaviest demands on his time. In his final letter to the Sisters of the Holy Family, written five months before his death, he set down what he had practiced throughout his life:
Whether I have a short life or a long one,
whether I die at this very hour or later on,
I accept all from the hands of God!
On God I rely, on him who is my complete satisfaction.
He watches over me during my times of joy and sorrow,
and my only concern is to do his will.
Letter of Patriarch Elias Howayek to the Sisters of the Holy Family, July 25, 1931
He was known during his lifetime as the Son of Divine Providence, and often repeated the words, “If the eyes of Divine Providence are turned upon you, sleep well, for you are secure despite all fears.” He held that every event of human life, whatever its nature, was a gift from God to be received in faith, and the faithful today continue to attribute graces to his intercession.
Two prayers of Patriarch Elias Howayek, in his own words:
I beseech you, my God, to grant me the grace
to serve you according to your Providence.
I desire from you your presence and your love,
and the fire of your love filling my heart.
Remove from it all leanings
and all attachments displeasing to you.
For I have consecrated my life
and all I am to your service and love.
Do with me as you will;
you are my Lord, Master and God
and I am your servant and creation molded by you.
Yet I dare call myself only the least of your children;
I call you my kind and caring Father.
To you be glory and thanksgiving forever. Amen.
Prayer on the occasion of his Ordination to the Priesthood, 1870
My God, let me live and die pleasing you.
My Lord, be generous to me with
the grace of your pleasure in me,
for it is my only good, my only treasure,
my pride, my life, my hope, my happiness
and my only desire. It is my everything.
Guide me and lead me,
and enlighten my mind
with the light of your boundless wisdom,
for I depend entirely on your mercy
and on nothing else.
All I desire is your good pleasure,
and nothing more. Amen.
Cause
Patriarch Howayek was first buried at Bkerki. On May 11th and 12th, 1936, his remains were transferred to the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Ebreen where they have rested ever since and where the faithful continue to come and pray at his tomb.
The cause for his canonization was opened in 2011 when the Maronite Eparchy of Batroun petitioned Rome to investigate his life and virtues, granting him the title Servant of God. In the years that followed, his writings and the testimony of those who could speak to his reputation for holiness were gathered and examined, and the resulting documentation was carried forward to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican. On July 5, 2019, Pope Francis declared him Venerable in recognition of his life of heroic virtue.
The cause for his canonization was opened in 2011 when the Maronite Eparchy of Batroun petitioned Rome to investigate his life and virtues, granting him the title Servant of God. In the years that followed, his writings and the testimony of those who could speak to his reputation for holiness were gathered and examined, and the resulting documentation was carried forward to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican. On July 5, 2019, Pope Francis declared him Venerable in recognition of his life of heroic virtue.
Official Beatification Miracle
The miracle recognized for his beatification dates back to 1965: the sudden and medically inexplicable healing of Nayef Abou Assi, a Druze officer in the Lebanese Army who suffered from chronic bilateral spondylolysis, a severe spinal condition. He woke fully healed after seeing the Patriarch in a dream. Pope Leo XIV signed the decree recognizing the miracle on May 22, 2026, clearing the final step toward the beatification.
On April 18, 2026, in preparation for the ceremony, his tomb in Ebreen was opened at the request of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints so that his relics could be identified and set aside.
Blessed Patriarch Elias Howayek was beatified on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at the Patriarchal Shrine and Summer Residence in Dimane, North Lebanon.
The miracle recognized for his beatification dates back to 1965: the sudden and medically inexplicable healing of Nayef Abou Assi, a Druze officer in the Lebanese Army who suffered from chronic bilateral spondylolysis, a severe spinal condition. He woke fully healed after seeing the Patriarch in a dream. Pope Leo XIV signed the decree recognizing the miracle on May 22, 2026, clearing the final step toward the beatification.
On April 18, 2026, in preparation for the ceremony, his tomb in Ebreen was opened at the request of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints so that his relics could be identified and set aside.
Blessed Patriarch Elias Howayek was beatified on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at the Patriarchal Shrine and Summer Residence in Dimane, North Lebanon.
