The Church of Saint Charbel

St Maroun and the Maronite Church

Saint Charbel did not appear from nowhere. He is the best-known son of the Maronite Church - an Eastern Catholic Church born around a Syrian hermit in the fourth century, carried through sixteen centuries of mountains, persecution, and emigration. This is that story, and why it matters for understanding him.

Saint Charbel's Story St Nimatullah St Rafqa

St Maroun and the First Monks

The Maronites trace their origin to the late fourth century, when disciples gathered around a monk named Maroun - St Maron - who lived as a hermit on a mountain near Cyrrhus, in what is now northwest Syria. Theodoret of Cyrrhus wrote about him, and St John Chrysostom counted him a friend and correspondent. After his death (around 410), his disciples founded the monastery of Beit-Maroun on the Orontes, between Aleppo and Antioch, and evangelized the region. In the fifth century the monastery firmly supported the Council of Chalcedon. The Maronite Church keeps his feast on February 9.

The Move to Mount Lebanon

By the eighth century, pressed by the upheavals of the region, the monks and their people had moved into the remote mountains of Lebanon. There, in relative isolation, they developed a distinct identity as a church and began electing their own head, who took the title Patriarch of Antioch and All the East - the office held today at Bkerke. The Qadisha Valley, the "Holy Valley," became the heart of that mountain world; centuries later, it formed St Nimatullah, St Rafqa, and Saint Charbel.

Union with Rome

Contact with the Latin Church deepened in the Crusader era: in 1182 the Maronite nation formally confirmed its union with Rome, and Maronite tradition holds that communion with the Holy See was never truly broken. Patriarch Jeremias al-Amshitti attended the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 - the first Maronite Patriarch to visit Rome. A Maronite College was founded in Rome in 1584, and the great reforming Lebanese Synod of 1736 gave the church a code of canons and a regular diocesan structure that still shapes it today.

The Monastic Orders

Maronite monasticism flowered into organized orders. Chief among them is the Lebanese Maronite Order, founded in 1695 to revive the monastic heritage - the order of Qozhaya and Kfifan, of Annaya and Jrabta. Every Maronite saint this site covers belongs to it: Nimatullah (canonized 2004), Rafqa (2001), and Charbel (1977), alongside St Sharbel's own order-brother tradition reaching back to the Holy Valley.

Persecution, France, and Independence

From the sixteenth century the Maronite homeland lived under Ottoman rule, with France increasingly acting as protector. The massacres of 1860 - in which churches and monasteries were destroyed and thousands killed - drew French military intervention. After the First World War, Lebanon came under French mandate, and at independence in 1943 the new state's conventions reserved the presidency for a Maronite. The fifteen-year civil war (1975-1990) devastated the country and scattered the community; Pope John Paul II warned in 1989 that "the disappearance of Lebanon would be one of the world's greatest sorrows," visited Lebanon in 1997, and convened a special Synod for Lebanon in 1995.

Maronites Worldwide Today

Emigration made the Maronite Church global. CNEWA counts roughly 3.3 million Maronites worldwide: strong dioceses in Lebanon, and flourishing communities in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico - often more numerous abroad than at home. The liturgy is of West Syrian origin, a variation of the Syriac liturgy of St James, celebrated today largely in Arabic with Syriac preserved at its heart. Wherever they went, the emigrants carried their saints with them - which is how a hermit of Annaya came to be prayed to on every continent: see Saint Charbel around the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Maronites Catholic?

Yes. The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with Rome, with its own patriarch, liturgy, and canon law. Maronite tradition holds that communion with the Holy See was never interrupted; the union was formally confirmed in 1182.

Why are they called Maronites?

After St Maroun (St Maron), the fourth-century hermit near Cyrrhus whose disciples founded the monastery of Beit-Maroun on the Orontes and evangelized the region.

Who was St Maroun?

A monk who lived as a hermit on a mountain near Cyrrhus in Syria, who died around 410. Theodoret of Cyrrhus wrote about him, St John Chrysostom corresponded with him, and the Maronite Church keeps his feast on February 9.

What language is the Maronite liturgy?

Its roots are West Syrian - the liturgy descends from the Syriac liturgy of St James. Originally celebrated in Syriac, it is today mostly in Arabic, with Syriac preserved in its most sacred parts.

How many Maronites are there today?

CNEWA estimates about 3.3 million worldwide, with large diaspora communities in the Americas and Australia - often more numerous outside Lebanon than within it.

What is the Lebanese Maronite Order?

The monastic order founded in 1695 to revive Maronite monastic life - the order of Saint Charbel, St Nimatullah, and St Rafqa, centered on the monasteries of the Qadisha Valley.