The Maronite Church: Her Identity, Vocation, and Mission
By Fr. Antoine Beshaalany
The original Arabic article can be read HERE.
Icon of Saint Maron, Father of the Maronite Church.
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The elements of the identity, vocation, and mission of the Maronite Church form, combined, the living heritage that marks her uniqueness within the universal Church in experiencing the Mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ and in witnessing to this Mystery within the Patriarchal territory and the countries of expansion.
Above all, the Patriarchal Maronite Church is an actualization of the Mystery of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church in the particular milieu in which she is called to witness to her apostolic faith and biblical values. For the Maronite Church, returning to the common heritage of all Antiochene and Syriac Churches is an ecumenical commitment that contributes to recovering full unity between all these Churches. |
The principal elements of the identity of the Maronite Church
1-An Antiochene Syriac Church with a Particular Liturgical Heritage
The Maronite Church was formed within the Antiochene Church, which is born out of Apostolic preaching, in the place where disciples were called Christians for the first time.
It is in Antioch that the first theology of the particular Church appeared, which manifests and actualizes her unity and universality in the Eucharistic celebration over which presides the Bishop or his vicar.
Our Antiochene Maronite Church belongs to the family of Churches of Syriac heritage. Syriac Fathers who have expressed their faith in biblical language have enriched the Syriac heritage. Fathers, such as Ephrem, Jacob of Sarug, and others, composed prayers in poetic form. We still draw from this deep spirituality, which has a Marian character, today.
2-A Chalcedonian Church
The Maronite Church persists in her fidelity to the Mystery of salvation as professed by the Creed, defined by the Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon in AD 451. This Creed teaches that Christ is in two full natures, divine and human, united in the person of Jesus Christ but remaining unconfused after the hypostatic union. This emphasizes Christ’s humanity and the truth of the incarnation and salvation.
The Maronite Liturgy expresses eloquently the effects of the Incarnation on human life. The Divine Liturgy prays: “You have united, O Lord, your divinity with our humanity and our humanity with your divinity; your life with our mortality and our mortality with your life. You have assumed what is ours, and you have given us what is yours, for the life and salvation of our souls. To you be glory forever.” The Maronite Church realizes, in the light of her long history, that her faith in the Mystery of Incarnation according to the Chalcedonian formula contributed to a Maronite spirituality incarnated in her Lebanese and Levantine milieu. Hence, the Maronite Church and her allies in human development strive so that all people recover, through Jesus Christ, their dignity and God’s image in them.
3-A Patriarchal Church with an Ascetic and Monastic Character
The Antiochene Syriac Maronite Patriarchate grew in the shadow of the Monastery of Saint Maron at the beginning of the eighth century. The Maronites emerged as a sui iuris ecclesial community within the Patriarchal See, and their ascetic and monastic characteristics influenced their spirituality and their ecclesiastical organization. Our Church considers John Maron–monk, and, later, superior of the Monastery of Saint Maron–the first Maronite Patriarch. He was the first in a list of many patriarch-monks that extended all the way to the seventeenth century, for monastic life was concomitant with episcopal and patriarchal ministry in our Church.
The ascetic and monastic foundation of the Maronite Patriarchate made the Church throughout history a large monastic community, which forms the Patriarch’s parish–a parish centered around the Patriarchal See–and which saw in the person occupying that See “a father and a head” and the guarantor of her unity. Monastic life is a foundational evangelical charism that formed and imprinted itself on our Church throughout history.
4-A Church in full communion with the Roman Apostolic See
Communion with Rome is an essential element of the identity, vocation, and mission of the Maronite Church. It gives the Maronite Church an ecumenical role, especially in this region. It is also a modest model of recovering the unity of the Universal Church through full unity between Churches. The Maronites became part of the Church shepherded by the Bishop of Rome, while largely preserving their liturgical rites and ecclesiastical organization. Openness to the West and benefitting from its scientific and intellectual capabilities contributed to shaping Lebanon’s unique identity, which is built on multiculturalism.
Communion between the Maronite Church and the Holy See clearly is manifest in Synods, especially the episcopal Synod for Lebanon (1995) which culminated in the Apostolic Exhortation “New hope for Lebanon” (1997).
5-A Church Incarnated in her Lebanese and Levantine Milieu and in the Countries of Expansion
The matter of the relationship between the Maronites and their environment leads us to examine the organic bond between God’s Church and the environment in which she is incarnated, even though we know that Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, for God has set us as witnesses to him in this world.
The Maronite presence is no longer confined to the Antiochene Patriarchate; in fact, it spans over several countries.
The mission of Maronite Church revolves around the human person and human dignity. The Maronite Patriarchate never intended Lebanon to be a Christian country, but a country for all its children.
The Church’s mission flows from the Mystery of the Economy of Salvation, which is the work of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for us and for our salvation.
The Church’s missionary vocation is inseparable from her ecumenical vocation, which is built on Apostolic faith and love for God and neighbor.
Annaya – Friday, December 8, 2006.
1-An Antiochene Syriac Church with a Particular Liturgical Heritage
The Maronite Church was formed within the Antiochene Church, which is born out of Apostolic preaching, in the place where disciples were called Christians for the first time.
It is in Antioch that the first theology of the particular Church appeared, which manifests and actualizes her unity and universality in the Eucharistic celebration over which presides the Bishop or his vicar.
Our Antiochene Maronite Church belongs to the family of Churches of Syriac heritage. Syriac Fathers who have expressed their faith in biblical language have enriched the Syriac heritage. Fathers, such as Ephrem, Jacob of Sarug, and others, composed prayers in poetic form. We still draw from this deep spirituality, which has a Marian character, today.
2-A Chalcedonian Church
The Maronite Church persists in her fidelity to the Mystery of salvation as professed by the Creed, defined by the Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon in AD 451. This Creed teaches that Christ is in two full natures, divine and human, united in the person of Jesus Christ but remaining unconfused after the hypostatic union. This emphasizes Christ’s humanity and the truth of the incarnation and salvation.
The Maronite Liturgy expresses eloquently the effects of the Incarnation on human life. The Divine Liturgy prays: “You have united, O Lord, your divinity with our humanity and our humanity with your divinity; your life with our mortality and our mortality with your life. You have assumed what is ours, and you have given us what is yours, for the life and salvation of our souls. To you be glory forever.” The Maronite Church realizes, in the light of her long history, that her faith in the Mystery of Incarnation according to the Chalcedonian formula contributed to a Maronite spirituality incarnated in her Lebanese and Levantine milieu. Hence, the Maronite Church and her allies in human development strive so that all people recover, through Jesus Christ, their dignity and God’s image in them.
3-A Patriarchal Church with an Ascetic and Monastic Character
The Antiochene Syriac Maronite Patriarchate grew in the shadow of the Monastery of Saint Maron at the beginning of the eighth century. The Maronites emerged as a sui iuris ecclesial community within the Patriarchal See, and their ascetic and monastic characteristics influenced their spirituality and their ecclesiastical organization. Our Church considers John Maron–monk, and, later, superior of the Monastery of Saint Maron–the first Maronite Patriarch. He was the first in a list of many patriarch-monks that extended all the way to the seventeenth century, for monastic life was concomitant with episcopal and patriarchal ministry in our Church.
The ascetic and monastic foundation of the Maronite Patriarchate made the Church throughout history a large monastic community, which forms the Patriarch’s parish–a parish centered around the Patriarchal See–and which saw in the person occupying that See “a father and a head” and the guarantor of her unity. Monastic life is a foundational evangelical charism that formed and imprinted itself on our Church throughout history.
4-A Church in full communion with the Roman Apostolic See
Communion with Rome is an essential element of the identity, vocation, and mission of the Maronite Church. It gives the Maronite Church an ecumenical role, especially in this region. It is also a modest model of recovering the unity of the Universal Church through full unity between Churches. The Maronites became part of the Church shepherded by the Bishop of Rome, while largely preserving their liturgical rites and ecclesiastical organization. Openness to the West and benefitting from its scientific and intellectual capabilities contributed to shaping Lebanon’s unique identity, which is built on multiculturalism.
Communion between the Maronite Church and the Holy See clearly is manifest in Synods, especially the episcopal Synod for Lebanon (1995) which culminated in the Apostolic Exhortation “New hope for Lebanon” (1997).
5-A Church Incarnated in her Lebanese and Levantine Milieu and in the Countries of Expansion
The matter of the relationship between the Maronites and their environment leads us to examine the organic bond between God’s Church and the environment in which she is incarnated, even though we know that Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, for God has set us as witnesses to him in this world.
The Maronite presence is no longer confined to the Antiochene Patriarchate; in fact, it spans over several countries.
The mission of Maronite Church revolves around the human person and human dignity. The Maronite Patriarchate never intended Lebanon to be a Christian country, but a country for all its children.
The Church’s mission flows from the Mystery of the Economy of Salvation, which is the work of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for us and for our salvation.
The Church’s missionary vocation is inseparable from her ecumenical vocation, which is built on Apostolic faith and love for God and neighbor.
Annaya – Friday, December 8, 2006.
