Pope Benedict XVI blesses the statue of St. Maron before his weekly general audience in Vatican City February 23, 2011. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano/Handout
Posted on 02/23/2011 3:15:59 PM PST by Pyro7480
The Maronite community of the world is celebrating the installation of the newest statue at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Pope Benedict XVI blessed the 18-foot tall marble statue of St. Maron on the morning of Feb. 23. It was placed into the last open space of a series of large niches in the exterior wall of St. Peter's Basilica.
St. Maron established the first "Maronite" community based on a monastic spirituality in the 4th century. This year, the Church is celebrating the 1,600th anniversary of his death.
Despite hardship, the Maronite Church has remained intact and in communion with the Catholic Church and today has around three million members. Nearly one-third of these live in Lebanon.
Fr. Domique Hanna told CNA that the event was a special one for the Maronites of the world. Fr. Hanna is a parish priest at St. Joseph's Maronite Church, which offers a place of worship for 200 families in Atlanta, Ga.
"It's a confirmation and re-establishment that we are in full communion with the Catholic Church, with the Holy See," he said of the day's ceremony. "We are very proud of that."
They are also proud that St. Maron has taken such a visible place among the many saints of the Church remembered in statues around the Vatican, said Fr. Hanna. His community celebrates an anniversary of its own this March, a century since the establishment of the parish.
Cardinal Patriarch Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir of Antioch of the Maronites was present with the Pope for the ceremony with a delegation from the Lebanon-based Church. Lebanese president, Gen. Michel Suleiman, and other government ministers and Church officials were also there.
L'Osservatore reported that, for Cardinal Sfeir, the 20-ton statue represented peace and reconciliation for Lebanon.
Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, addressed the gathering on the occasion. He said that the ceremony was "an act of affection, esteem and gratitude to the Maronite Church which in the course of the centuries has suffered so much for staying faithful to Jesus, to the Church and to the Pope."
"The statue of St. Maron will remind us every day of your heroic example and be an invitation to pray for you," he told the Lebanese delegations.
The statue was sculpted from a single block of the famed white marble of Carrara, Italy by Spanish artist Marco Augusto Dueñas.
Engraved into its base is the phrase in Aramaic from Psalm 92, "The just shall flourish like the palm tree, shall grow like a cedar of Lebanon."
Catholic ping!
Thank you. I didn’t know how the Maronite rite orginated.
Very informative.
God bless our wonderful Pontiff!
.
Saint Maron- 1600th Jubilee
Lord God, you called your chosen one, Saint Maron, to the monastic life, perfected him in divine virtues, and guided him along the difficult road to the heavenly kingdom. During this jubilee year, commemorating 1600 years since the death of your chosen one, Saint Maron, when he was called to the house of your heavenly Father; We ask you, through his intercession, to immerse us in your love that we may walk in your path, heed your commandments, and follow in his footsteps. May his holy example resonate throughout our lives. With your love, may we achieve that final destination reached by our father, Saint Maron, and carry your Gospel throughout the world. Through his intercession, may we attain the glory of the resurrection and everlasting life in you. Glory and thanks are due to you, to your blessed Father, and to your living Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen
Pope Benedict XVI (C) blesses the faithful in front of the statue of St. Maron (R) before his weekly general audience in Vatican City February 23, 2011.
Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman (C) arrives at the blessing ceremony of St. Maron by Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City February 23, 2011. According to an agreement between the various political and religious leaders of Lebanon, the president of the country must be a Maronite.
Some History
It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). Antioch, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, became a center for Christianity. According to Catholic tradition, the first Bishop was Saint Peter before his travels to Rome. The third Bishop was the Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch. Antioch became one of the five original Patriarchates (the Pentarchy) after Constantine recognized Christianity.
St. Maron, a contemporary and friend of St. John Chrysostom, was a monk in the fourth century who left Antioch for the Orontes River to lead an ascetic life, following the traditions of Anthony the Great of the Desert and Pachomius. Many of his followers also lived a monastic lifestyle. Following the death of Maron in 410 AD, his disciples built a monastery in his memory and formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church.
The Maronites held fast to the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. When 350 monks were slain by the Monophysites of Antioch, the Maronites sought refuge in the mountains of Lebanon. Correspondence concerning the event brought papal and orthodox recognition of the Maronites, which was solidified by Pope Hormisdas (514-523 AD) on February 10, AD 518. A monastery was built around the shrine of St. Maro after the Council of Chalcedon.
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