Introduction to Syriac Spirituality
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Introduction to Syriac Spirituality Zoom Sessions
Friday, March 22, 2024
A New Maronite Saint
Good news to share with your catechists and children.
Friday, March 15, 2024
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Letter of Bishop Gregory on the Year of Prayer
5 March 2024
Cir.24.32
Dear Brother Priests, Deacons and Subdeacons, Consecrated Men and Women, Lay Faithful,
On January 21, 2024, Pope Francis opened the Year of Prayer in anticipation of the Jubilee Year 2025. The Holy Father’s intention is to have us look closely at how we relate to the Church, to the family, and to the world, according to the wisdom of the Second Vatican Council, and then apply this practically to our own life of prayer.
As you know, Pope Saint Paul VI beatified Saint Sharbel at the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, along with a missionary priest martyr, Jacques Berthieu, who served in Madagascar, Africa. What an honor for us as Maronites, to have shared in this spotlight, and what a message the Saintly Pontiff gave to the world (and to us!) that prayer, silence, sacrifice, and a missionary spirit are the ways forward to the renewal of the Church, the family, and the world!
In the Apostolic Letter by which Sharbel was declared blessed, we read this:
“We should mention that we recently decreed the same honors (Beatification) for Jacques Berthieu, who won the prize by struggling in the action of life as though in a spiritual combat. Now, a monk, removed from all human association and given over to contemplation of divine things in solitude, is extolled. Both lives are commended by the Church…. Sharbel who represented anew the life, distinguished by the sanctity of the ancient hermits, kept his mind unperturbed…so that from the happiness of his soul would flow the cheerfulness of his countenance.”
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, during this Year of Prayer, let us use this opportunity, in the same spirit that animated Pope Saint Paul VI at the end of the Second Vatican Council when he pointed to Saint Sharbel as a model of prayer and devotion, so that we may keep our “minds unperturbed” and thus from the “happiness of our soul” God will cause to “flow the cheerfulness of our countenance.”
+ Gregory
PS: Please see the link below for some of the offerings of our new Saint Sharbel Spiritual Life Center on prayer and life of the holiness. https://saintsharbelcenter.
Friday, March 1, 2024
YEAR OF PRAYER RESOURCES
>Year of Prayer 2024 - How can we live it? Read More Here
>Weekly Rosary with our Eparchy every Thursday
Join every Thursday at 5:00 PM via Zoom to pray the rosary for all the souls of the faithful departed. Father Vince, pastor of Our Lady of Purgatory, and Bishop Gregory, along with many from our Eparchy participate in this devotion.
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Lenten Scripture Sharing 2024
Guest Presenters:
Feb 22: Healing of the Hemorrhaging Woman – Fr. Rudy Wakim
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Feast of Saint Maron - February 9th
Saint Maron is the spiritual father of the Maronites, and the saint from whom the Maronite Church draws its name. The Maronite rite is one of 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that is in full communion with the Holy See of Rome. Of all the Eastern Churches, the Maronite Church is the only one known by the name of a person—Saint Maron.
The only source we have on Saint Maron’s Life is from his biographer, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, who wrote “Historia Religiosa” in the fifth century (The Religious History, also known as A History of the Monks of Syria). He describes the life of hermits in Cyrrhus and vicinity. In chapter 16 Theodoret mentions that Saint Maron was one of those hermits.The Diocese of Cyrrhus was west of Euphratia in northern Syria. Cyrrhus was at a distance of two days north east of Antioch and about 70 kms north west of Aleppo. [1]
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Vocations Curricula
Vocation Curricula (can be taught at anytime in your catechetical year)
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Icons of the Three Sundays of Commemoration
Ahead of the Season of Great Lent, the Maronite Church celebrates three Sundays of Commemorations.
First, she commemorates all the deceased priests of the Church, as Christ has established the priesthood for his Church and entrusted it with great responsibilities.
Next, she commemorates the Righteous and the Just, which is the Maronite Church’s equivalent to the feast of All Saints in the Latin Church. On this day, the Church calls to mind all the men and women, children of the Church, who have followed the path of justice and righteousness. She remembers the prophets, apostles and martyrs, the hermits, ascetics, men and women religious, as well as all Christians who have led holy lives.
The final commemoration is that of all the faithful Christians who have departed this life in the faith. This feast is the Maronite Church’s equivalent to the feast of All Souls in the Latin Church. (excerpt from the Maronite Synaxarion)
Sunday of the Priests
Sunday of the Righteous and Just
Sunday of the Faithful Departed