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Seasons of the Great Lent, Passion & Resurrection in the Maronite Church for 2021

2/14/2021

Christ in the Wilderness by Ivan Kramskoy, 1872

The first season (February 14, 2021), Cana Sunday, to Hosanna or Palm Sunday, March 28), Great Lent, is a preparation for the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, and the second, the Season of Resurrection, unfolds before us, over a period of fifty days, the meaning and joy of the Resurrection of the Lord. The feast of the Resurrection is thus the center and pivotal point of this whole liturgical season, as well as the whole liturgical year.

According to the ancient Antiochene (Church of Antioch) tradition, the Sundays of Great Lent commemorate the gestures of mercy of the Savior towards his people, which were, at the same time, as Saint John says, "the signs urging the faith." During Lent we journey to that safe harbor guarded by the glorious beacon of the cross.

Passion Week (March 29 to April 3) shows us and helps us to follow, each of the perplexities of the passion of our beloved Savior in order to better us by it, associate ourselves to it, and to benefit through its merits so that we too might share in the hope of rising with Christ.

The Season of Resurrection (April 4 to May 22) makes us appreciate the salvation which was obtained for us by the death of our Lord, the Good Shepherd, "who gave his life for his sheep".

Introduction- Season of the Great Lent

The Season of Great Lent marks the Church's period of preparation for the feast of feasts, the Resurrection of our Lord. This season recalls the forty-day period the Lord spent in the desert in prayer and fasting and at the same time, it invites us to personal conversion through penance, fasting, prayer and almsgiving. During this season we follow the Lord as he goes up to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise to a glorious new life.

The seven Sundays of Great Lent are:
-        Entrance into Lent, Cana Sunday;
-        First Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Leper;
-        Second Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Hemorrhaging Woman;
-        Third Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Prodigal Son;
-        Fourth Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Paralytic;
-        Fifth Sunday of Lent, Sunday of Bartimaeus the Blind;
-        Sixth Sunday of Lent, Hosanna Sunday.

These Sundays of Great Lent place the miracles of the Lord before us, especially his healing miracles, which are the messianic signs of his power over sin and death. They point to the greatest wonder of God, the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Each of these miracles are signs of the faith of the one being healed. We are called to respond to Jesus as they did by deepening our faith in the Lord and Giver of life. (From Prayer of the Faithful According to the Maronite Liturgical Year)

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Innu Indigenous Community in Canada, Installs a Statue of Saint Sharbel in Church.

1/11/2021

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On December 24, 2020, the Innu indigenous community of Sheshatshiu [1], Canada, installed a statue of Saint Sharbel in Tshitshitua Shushep (Saint Joseph) Church, Our Lady of Snows Parish [2] in the Corner Brook and Labrador Diocese.

A good question will be: How did this community hear about Saint Sharbel, a saint from the other part of the world?
Here’s the story.

In 2017, Fr. Joe Pichai, from the missionary Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian), founded by St. Vincent de Paul, was asked by the Bishop of the Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador, Canada to work among the Innu indigenous people in Sheshatshiu, Our Lady of Snows Parish. The Innu people have a long history of strong faith with the Catholic Church, since they were evangelized in 1615. More about the Innu Catholic community history HERE.

Fr. Joe tells The Family of Saint Sharbel his story about encountering St Sharbel and introducing him to the Innu community:

Last year one of my parishioners, Simon Andrew, had a liver transplant in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I prayed for him and the transplant was successful. Simon returned home after the operation. Beginning of June 2020, I remember opening my iPad and while browsing through, I found a movie on St. Sharbel. I watched the whole movie, and then a desire sprouted in my heart to pray to St. Sharbel for his intercession for the healing of the many sick people in my community. I googled and found the email address of The Family of Saint Sharbel. I wrote them an email requesting a medal and holy oil for my friend Simon Andrew. To my surprise I got a quick reply and also a small parcel with all the things I requested.

My friend Simon was not feeling well in the fall of 2020. So he travelled to see the liver specialist at the Health Sciences Hospital in St. John’s, Newfoundland, at the beginning of October 2020. On the basis of his routine monthly blood tests, Simon was told that his body was rejecting the liver transplant. He was very upset about it. He called me that day, I told him not to lose heart and that I am praying for him and moreover I am going to start praying a Novena to St. Sharbel, especially for him. I started the Novena to St. Sharbel on October 3. Simon and his wife Tina returned from St. John’s by car, a three-day trip. By this time, he was so physically unwell that he was unable to drive. He got back to our town and went straight to the Labrador Grenfell Regional Hospital in Goose Bay Labrador and was admitted overnight. He was again told that they could do nothing for him, but they increased his anti-rejection drugs anyway. They did the blood work and reported that his kidneys are not working well. He was devastated. He was really down and gave up hope. I gave him hope. I asked him to join in the 9 days of the Novena prayers and on the last day of the Novena I anointed him and gave him the medal I received from The Family of Saint Sharbel.

The following day, I met him in the grocery store, and he told me that the doctors from St. John’s called him and told him that there was NO problem with his liver. It is perfectly well. An hour after this call, the doctors from the local hospital called him and said that the blood work that was done lately shows that his kidneys are perfectly alright. They concluded that he has nothing to worry about. He shared the news with me, and I began to cry with joy and thankfulness. I told him to wear the medal of St. Sharbel all the time possible.

Simon believes in the power of St. Sharbel to heal. He has not made a public testimony, but I have shared the story with the parishioners, who are encouraged in their faith.

There were many people who have experienced healing after receiving the anointing with the holy oil of Saint Sharbel. That happens only by the mercy and love of God through the intercession of St. Sharbel. Glory to God. Amen.

On Wednesday, January 13, 2021, the community will be screening a movie about Saint Sharbel. The next day Fr. Joe will start the novena to Saint Sharbel, followed by prayer for healing. The novena ends on the 22nd of January. You can check the announcement HERE.

The Family of Saint Sharbel contributed to Fr. Joe’s efforts to acquire a 52-inch statue of Saint Sharbel. Fr. Joe’s hope was that he could install this statue in his church on December 24 which is Christmas eve and the memorial of the death of Saint Sharbel. The statue was delivered on December 21 and installed on December 24; thanks be to God.

[1]. Sheshatshiu is an Innu federal reserve in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located approximately 30 kilometers north of Goose Bay.
[2]. Our Lady of Snows-Sheshatshiu: https://www.facebook.com/Our-Lady-of-Snows-Sheshatshiu-1053670304790206/

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Saint Sharbel Gave Two Deaf Druze Children "the Ability to Speak"

11/24/2020

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Miracle number 93 from the Register of New Miracles happened with the two children Yusef and Karam Majdi Al-Salman, born in Syria in 2013. They are from the Unitarian Druze Community, residing in Aley, Lebanon. The father is a wedding planner.

One day, the father decided to take his family on a trip to Byblos area, so he took them to Laqlouq, where they spent their day. On their way back, they stopped at Annaya, and it was their first visit to the region. Upon their arrival, the mother felt a shiver down her spine, and since her children were mute, she prayed in front of the tomb of Saint Sharbel, asking him to intercede for her two children before the Lord and give them the ability to speak.

Help Beirut Heal

When they returned home, and while she was asleep, Saint Sharbel appeared to her, and when she rose from her sleep, her oldest son began to speak, and on the second day her youngest son began to speak as well. The family came from Aley to Annaya to thank Saint Sharbel for giving their children, Yusef and Karam, the ability to speak. They recorded the miracle on April 18, 2016

The Tomb of Saint Sharbel, Annaya-Lebanon. Photo by Fr. Shadi Bechara

Read More Of Saint Sharbel's Miraculous Healings.

Read Testimonies of Healings.

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Saint Sharbel's Miraculous Healing of a Lebanese Sunni Muslim kid

11/16/2020

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Miracle number 29 from the Register of New Miracles happened with Yousef Bassam Mari, born in Qab Elias-Lebanon in 2004. His father is Sunni Muslim; his mother is Christian, and her name is Rola Mahrout. The child is in the custody of his mother due to the parents' divorce.

Yousef had a stomach infection, so his mother admitted him to Tal Shiha Hospital in Zahle-Lebanon. There the treating doctor injected him with a contrast dye to reveal the source of the infection in his stomach. Due to medical error, the doctor did not give him water after the injection, so his kidneys stopped functioning and became solidified, so that even dialysis did not help him. Yousef was brought into the care room, and in turn, the mother called the Minister of Health, informing him that there was a medical error, so that the doctor would assume responsibility.

help the people of beirut

Photo by Fr. Shadi Beshara

One of the mother’s relatives gave her a relic from Saint Sharbel and said to her, "Go into the care room and ask Saint Sharbel to intercede for your son with the Lord so that he could heal him from his illness and hang the relic in Yousef’s robes." So, the mother entered the boy's room, hung Saint Sharbel’s relic on her son’s robes, and stood near him praying. As she was standing near him, Yousef said to his mother, "Mom, I want to urinate." The nurses told his mother, "He feels that he needs to urinate, but he cannot do that because his kidneys are not working." The boy urged his mother, and she brought him the urinal, where he urinated blood and a little bit of urine, but it was only a few minutes until he urinated about five liters of urine. Yousef was cured. His mother Rola called the Minister of Health and dropped the case, saying to him, "Saint Sharbel has cured my son Yousef and spared the doctor at the same time". She took her son to a church and baptized him.

She came to Annaya with her son and his medical records and recorded the miracle of his recovery, thanking Saint Sharbel for his intercession with her son, on September 22, 2015.

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Miraculous Healing of a Lebanese Druze kid, Agenor Naser

11/5/2020

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Miracle number 57 in the Register of New Miracles happened with the kid Agenor Ziyad Naser, born in Btater, Lebanon in 2013. He is a Unitarian Druze and lives in Ain Anoub, Lebanon.

Agenor had tonsillitis. Dr. Nabil Naim treated him in his clinic, but the infection became chronic. The doctor decided to perform a surgery to remove the tonsils if medication treatment fails. The child's temperature rose significantly, and he was shaking like a leaf. So, his family wrapped him in blankets and gave him medicine, but his temperature did not go down. His father decided to treat him with a suppository to lower his temperature, but it was to no avail. Then, the father took a cotton swab with Saint Sharbel’s oil on it and spread the oil on his child's neck and face and asked Saint Sharbel to heal him. And it was only moments until the child threw the blankets off his body and told his parents, "The black-dressed uncle with the white beard and the black cloth on his head came to me and held me in his hands. He put something in my mouth which had a bad taste, but he cured me and he’s heading to my brother Angelo’s room, so be quiet and don’t scream”.

The family rejoiced over the boy’s recovery and thanked Saint Sharbel for the blessing of Agenor’s healing and the blessing of his brother Angelo. They came from Ain Anoub to thank him and recorded the miracle on December 4, 2016.