Ditto! Was the definition of phronema that I posted, correct? It's a new word for me. Going on my understanding of its meaning and, given that I am a Roman Catholic, immersed in a Maronite tradition, I can only compare my experiences with the definition I posted.
Please enlighten me.
There are no short descriptions for an historical record that dates back to the time of the Apostles. At best, I can give you some excerpts along with a link to the entire history of the Maronite Catholic Church.
The Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 11:19) tell us that due to the persecution that ensued after the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the Christian community was dispersed and some carried the message to Phoenicia. Describing the journey of St. Paul, chapter 21 of Acts informs us that when Paul came to Tyre he "looked for the disciples there and stayed with them for a week". These references indicate to us that Christianity was established in Lebanon from its earliest days. Very soon, Tyre, Sidon, and Beirut became dioceses with their own bishops.
The Maronites (as well as the Melkites) were staunch defenders of the Council of Chalcedon. The monks of St. Maron took the lead in preaching the true doctrine and stopping the propagation of heresy.
In a letter addressed to Pope Hormisdas in 517, monks of St. Maron (a hermit) address the Pope as the one occupying the Chair of St. Peter, and inform him that they are undergoing many sufferings and attacks patiently. They single out Antiochian Patriarchs Severus and Peter, who, they say, anathematize the Council of Chalcedon and Pope Leo, whose formula the Council had adopted. The Maronites are mocked for their support of the Council and are suffering afflictions. The Emperor Anastasius had sent an army that had marched through the district of Apamea closing monasteries and expelling the monks. Some had been beaten and others were thrown into prison. While on the way to St. Simon Stylite, the Maronites had been ambushed and 350 monks were killed, even though some of them had taken refuge at the altar. The monastery was burned. The Maronites appealed to the Emperor in Constantinople, but to no avail. Now, they appeal to the Pope for deliverance against the enemies of the Fathers and the Council.
The Moslem conquests of the seventh century had a profound effect on the church of Antioch and the region in which the Monastery of St. Maron was located. Maronite immigration to Lebanon, which had begun some time before, was intensified, especially since the enemies of the Maronites sided with the Moslem armies against the Maronites. The choice of Lebanon was understandable since its mountains were almost impenetrable. The oldest known Maronite establishment in Lebanon is Mar Mammas in Ehden in 749. Maronites had immigrated also to Cyprus and Rhodes.
Thus we see that the Maronite Church rooted in the ascetic spirit of St. Maron, was molded into a community of faith with a monastic stamp. Its origin and early development help to explain why its liturgical life is characterized by simplicity and a hopeful anticipation of the future kingdom. From its birth it has been called upon to defend the faith in its preaching and teaching and to witness to the faith in persecution and martyrdom. Its vocation is to live the Gospel of Christ whatever the circumstances and whatever the place in which it finds itself.
These are the early origins of the Maronites.
I have been told, though by Melkites, that the Maronites want "to be more Roman Catholic than the Pope". I understand that the Maronite Liturgy is a relatively recent creation, from the 1920s perhaps, and that liturgical hymns are being written to this day.
Again, there is no short answer to this but here is a brief summary.
The Maronites aligned themselves with Rome. In 1580 Pope Gregory XIII sent the Jesuits John Baptist Eliano and John Baptist Bruno to Lebanon as his legates. They brought with them many religious articles including a number of books. Because of the need for printed books for Syriac speaking Christians, the Holy Father had established a Syriac printing press in Rome. Among the books that were published and brought by the legates was a catechism printed in karshuni [Arabic written in Syriac letters], which had been composed by Fr. Bruno and translated by Fr Eliano. It was modeled after the one composed by Peter Canisius after the Council of Trent, and it advocated many of the sacramental practices of the Roman Church. Other publications included a book on the decrees of the Council of Trent, a book on the heresies of the Jacobites and the Nestorians, and translations of the Imitation of Christ and the prayers of the Latin Mass.
In aligning themselves with Rome, they subjected themselves to some Latin influences. Perhaps one of the most important results of the Papal legations to Lebanon in 1578 and 1580 was the founding of the Maronite College in Rome. The impact and importance of the Maronite College cannot be underestimated. Students of the College were responsible for the spreading of knowledge in Europe about the East including its language, history, religions and institutions. From the College were graduated scholars whose works have been precious aids to European Orientalists. With the establishment of the Maronite College, Rome was in a position to learn more accurately the customs and traditions of the Maronites. On the other hand, a great number of patriarchs and bishops of the succeeding centuries were graduates of the Maronite College, and therefore attuned to the mind of Rome.
Oh, it's just too long to post excerpts. Suffice it to say that with the establishment of relations between the Maronites and Rome, others were sent to Lebanon to 'latinize' the Maronite liturgy. In the process, some of the Maronite liturgical texts were burned. The loss of many 'Anaphoras' resulted.
The Vatican II Council declared that "all should realize it is of supreme importance to understand, venerate, preserve, and foster the exceedingly rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern churches, in order faithfully to preserve the fullness of Christian tradition" (Unitatis Redintegrato, 15). Pope John Paul II said that "the Catholic Church is both Eastern and Western."
The Maronite liturgy has been subjected over the centuries, to many influences. In the post-Vatican II Latin Church, the introduction of the vernacular language into the Roman liturgy has encouraged all nations to celebrate the unique sacrifice of the Lord in the language, music and symbolism proper to each people and culture. While the Latin Church is rediscovering, sometimes painfully, the riches of this liturgical renewal, the Maronites always celebrated a liturgy in which they can recognize their culture and history: their relation to Antioch, their monastic origins, their contact with the Latin Church. It is always with emotion that the Maronites listen to the words of consecration sung by the Maronite priest in Syriac, so close to the language in which our Lord, on the day before He suffered and died, pronounced these words for the first time.
The Maronite liturgy stresses these words with gestures which probably belong to a very old Christian symbolism. After the words, "He gave thanks and praise, and blessed the bread," the priest blesses the bread with the sign of the cross; and after the words "He broke the bread," he touches the four ends of the host. In the same way, the sign of the cross is drawn on the chalice, and after the words, "this blood is to be shed", the priest inclines the chalice to the four sides as if to shed it in reality. With these gestures, the Maronite liturgy likes to stress the universal character of the Eucharist, and the faithful, by their "Amen", participate in this universal gift and universal mission.
There is another important element in the consecration of the Maronite liturgy. While the Latin Mass brings the consecration to a close by the recitation of the words "Do this in memory of me," the Maronite liturgy continues with the biblical reference "Do this in memory of me . . . until I come again," a verse which always was a favorite text in the spirituality of Antioch.
In this addition, the eschatological character of the theology of Antioch, which the Maronite Church has inherited and enriched, clearly takes form. Once more this theology is situated between the theology of the East and that of the West, as the Maronite patriarch pointed out in one of his interventions at Vatican Council II. While the theology of the West has always stressed the actualization of the world, and while the theology of Byzantine Christianity continues to celebrate the divine liturgy which the Risen Lord accomplishes in His heavenly glory (compared to which all things of this world are vain and idle) the Maronite liturgy celebrates the Eucharist in expectation of the coming of the Lord.
The Maronites in their liturgy are painfully aware of the fact that we are actually not in the glory of the Lord and in the plenitude of His redemption. We are awaiting it. On the other hand, they realize in faith that this sacramental sign is really rahbouno, a pledge of glory to come, and zouodo, a viaticum which really transforms a simple terrestrial being into a pilgrim on the way to his or her home, the "house of the heavenly Father".
Apologies for such a lengthy response ... it might have been longer! The interventions of the Maronite bishops at the Vatican Council and the publications of Maronite scholars show clearly that the Maronites are aware of the precious contribution that the realistic and biblical theology of Antioch can make, not only in the dialogue between Rome and Byzantium, but especially in the delicate interfaith relations with Islam and Synagogue for which the death of God and the divinization of a man remain a scandal.