The Tricentenary, a priority
The tricentenary of the Lebanese Maronite Order ranks as a priority, for three hundred years of existence cannot be ignored. It is a priority and a necessity, for it shakes the Order out of any spirit of routine to give it new impetus.
It is the living proof of the concern felt by the monks for their home fires, for they are well aware of time that is passing, of its influence on human institutions and of the consequences that follow of a charisma and enthusiasm that can vie with those of the beginnings.
The Tricentenary of the Order, a milestone of time
Deep inside himself, man finds himself overtaken by the flow of time which hastens on, beyond his will, and takes with it his existence and his very life.
He feels that it is bearing him along to his death. So he must make a halt at the milestones that mark his passage, not to put a brake on the march of time, but to take breath again, to take a hold on his life, and to live it to the full.
The Tricentenary of the Order, the crossroads of its history
It is a difficult and dangerous crossing, a decisive event in the history of the Order, which must turn its eyes to the past and then to the future, considering the present hour that stands between.
It must do absolutely everything in its power to reach a better understanding of the past and of the events and of the personalities that marked it.
At the same time, by learning from the past and by reaching full awareness of the true facts of its present situation, it must lay firm foundations for its future inspiration.
Let us be frank; cover-ups, compromises and sublime complacency will not assure the continuity that we aspire to, the upward thrust that we seek and the unchanging monastic ideals that we adhere to. On the contrary, what we need is above all an objective and impartial reading both of the past and of the present. In the light of the results of this effort, we shall be able to turn our attention to new horizons. Here we experience the permanent passage from death to life.
This tricentenary takes the form of a crossroads which is both difficult and delicate, from the point of view both of our vision and of the choice we make. It is a duty then for the Order, being aware of the importance of its task and of the weight of the responsibility it bears, to pray and to meditate at length so that this tricentenary may be a permanent Pentecost all along our existential progress.
The Tricentenary of the Order, a quest for identity both personal and collective
Celebrating the centenary of the Order is an action for complete awareness, and even involves a kind of salutary inquietude which brings each one of us face-to-face with what he is, both singly and in his collectivity. It calls us back to our first great love, to that first spark that inflamed us, and to that first inspiration that urged us to embrace the life of a monk.
It places each of us before the one thing that is truly necessary in our lives, the person of Christ Jesus, in whom we confide our whole personal and collective existence, that Christ Jesus who is the sole reason for the monastic life and without whom it would forget its responsibilities and lose all courage.
This centenary is a time of self-examination, which the Order is glad to undertake in order to discover in what way it has lagged behind the times, where it has been neglectful, and what needs to be remedied. This process becomes a phenomenon of its life and an expression of the profound and permanent aspiration of man towards better things, leaving the stagnation which
is a death without resurrection.
This climate of questing sets apart the life of he who is turned towards the future, not only with ardour and determination, but also with the flexibility of he who repents and acknowledges his faults and with all modesty strives to make good what many long years have destroyed.
He does not rely on his own force, but lets the driving energy of the Holy Spirit take hold of him. He knows that the Spirit is the source of all regeneration of mankind, the source of life, and the active drive behind any renewal.
The Tricentenary of the Order, an ardent call for renewal
The centenary calls for a courageous renewal and a perennial transformation, with as its starting-point a conscious and responsible self-criticism which throws aside all supine self-satisfaction.
On this great occasion and on every single day, the Order is called upon to renew itself with new aspirations, and the same holds true for every one of its sons. This means that its history goes before it, builds itself up and sets itself down on paper before its eyes, urging it to achieve its ultimate aim.
It is in this way that the monastic life grows, founded on an answer to God that is daily, absolute and perpetual, an Amen that knows no end.
This answer characterises the life and the onward march of the Order, which bears witness to a truth unknown in the world of men and to a mystery that it incarnates in its essence and that it aspires to.
The Order Conscious of Its Own Identity
The Lebanese Maronite Order, authentic according to the Gospel
Our Constitution defines the Order as follows: “The Lebanese Maronite Order is one of the ways of authentic monastic life.”
From here, “The monastic life being a way that we follow by a particular gift of God, in order to fulfil the Christian vocation as perfectly as possible,” the Lebanese Maronite Order has become one of the various ways, or rather a particular gift of God, for living and fulfilling the Christian vocation in all its Gospel authenticity.
This means that there exists one unique dynamic force which aspires, according to one unique orientation, towards one unique objective, namely the attainment of that evangelical perfection which it is the duty of every baptised person, with a soul fortified by baptismal regeneration, to attain.
Consequently, the Christian monk, inspired by the Holy Spirit, should endeavour ceaselessly to have the action of the Holy Spirit fulfilled in his person. He shall go forever forwards and aspire to the accomplishment of the action of Christ in himself by making difficult and total choices. It is, therefore, clear that the monastic life has the Gospel as its source, starting with a call to an authentic way of life supposing faith in the Saviour and in his disciples.
In this way, the Lebanese Monk, like any other monk, is “the Christian who by the gift of the Holy Spirit aspires to live according to the spirit of the Gospel, in such a manner as to attain the plenitude of Christ, thanks to regeneration by baptism.”
The Lebanese Maronite Order is one way of living the authentic monastic life, which has its deepest source in the Gospel. It has, therefore, evangelical authenticity.
A monastic tradition, Maronite, Syriac and Antiochean
Our Constitution adds to the definition of the Order that it “conforms to the monastic tradition according to the spirit of the Antiochean, Syriac, Maronite Church.”
This spirit emanates from a deep understanding of the event that Jesus Christ truly is. This understanding is based, on the one hand, on faith in the mystery of the Incarnation and, on the other, on the practice of this faith.
This supposes a way of life such as that which the Son of God followed on earth, having taken flesh from the Virgin Mary, and consists of a balance between consecration to prayer and the gift of oneself to the masses.
Prayer occupies a choice place in the life of Christ. It is the starting-point from which all his activity flows and it precedes any work that he does. Jesus often withdrew far from the crowds, into some “desert place”, in order to pray (Mark I 35, Luke IV 42 and VI 12, 13).
On the one hand, this desert is a place where calm and tranquillity reign, where one may achieve the complete, total and perfect gift of oneself to God, and on the other it is an interior process that takes place in the heart whereby, first and foremost, a disturbed spirit can reconstitute itself. He who prays withdraws into himself, far from noise and tumult. He further strives against all that troubles his mind and so lets peace reign within that he might pray. Such is the relationship of union with God.
Jesus did not need to pray. During his life on earth he was all the time conscious of his relationship with the Father and of the presence of the Father within himself. This is a relationship of unity, for the Father and he are but one. This is a relation of filiation and of reciprocal love between the Father and the Son. It is a relationship of nature, for the Son by his essence is equal to the Father.
Yet despite all this, he withdrew into the desert or onto the mountain in order to pray. The times he spent in prayer marked special moments in his relationship with the Father ; so it was to teach us to pray that Jesus gave himself to prayer, and to teach us that prayer is essentially the experiencing of the relationship of man to God, who lives in man's hearts.
The Jesus who prays and seeks the solitude of the desert is also he who is the apostle and the saviour of human society (Mark I 38, 39, Luke IV 43, 44 and VI 17-19).
Indeed, we notice that during the life of Jesus on earth, prayer and withdrawal preceded his apostolic activity and his healing of the sick on every occasion. They were his preparation for mingling with the crowds. For him, preaching was the purpose for which he came among men, as an act of obedience to his Father in Heaven who had sent him, that is to say, of his union with the Father by love and obedience. It was thus that he lived and thus that he taught that apostolic action engenders a deep-seated union with God the Father.
It is on the basis of the personality of Jesus and of the incarnate life that he led on earth that the Antiochean, Syriac, Maronite tradition comes to awareness of the mystery of the Incarnation and gives it concrete reality through a way of life in which union with God by means of prayer is the golden rule, the starting point, the dynamic force and the reference for apostolic action, which is in turn its logical and spontaneous expression.
The Lebanese Maronite Order, in the spirit of the Antiochean, Syriac, Maronite tradition
In accordance with this spirit, “our Order consecrates itself to the service of God and of neighbour by prayer and by the apostolate. It seeks to ally the life of the apostolate to the collective prayer of the Divine Office and to ascetic practice.”
In this way, then, the Order follows the Syriac Antiochean tradition and reflects one particular aspect of the life of Our Lord on earth. As a consequence, it follows Christ and communicates with him according to the spirit of the Maronite Church. It aspires always to live according to this spirit, but we must bear in mind that this is only an aspiration, for it is by no means easy to reconcile two orientations which seem destined to remain apart. This spirit confers on the Order a character of its own that it endeavours to safeguard, for it can be nothing other than most beneficial to the Church. Indeed, prayer, worship and asceticism enrich the Church with saints, who never lived for selfish motives but consecrated themselves to the service of their neighbours and the satisfaction of their needs.
The Lebanese Maronite Order lives and incarnates this spirit in the “desert” of the monastic life. This offers “an appropriate atmosphere for the monk and his brothers to give themselves to the service of God, to worship and to the practice of asceticism.”
Life in the monastery supposes that the monk remains there and leaves its walls only for some urgent reason or for rendering service. He must, therefore, be deeply attached to life in the cloister, to find tranquillity there and not give way to lassitude, to boredom or to melancholy precisely because of this permanent habitation, all the more so since failure would make his life lose all meaning and thrust him into a terrifying vacuum. Life in the monastery also supposes that the monk will find joy living in community with brothers to whom he is bound by love, and it supposes likewise that all are bound by one sole aim and form one family in the cloister, in other words, one eucharistic community. In this way, it will provide a suitable atmosphere and the right surroundings for the practice of the service of God, for asceticism and for worship.
The cloistered community is also “the appropriate framework allowing the monk to acquire an authentic spirit of apostolate.”
Any authentic apostolate is inseparable from prayer and asceticism, which must be its nourishment and its source. It is based on a life deeply rooted in Christ, for the monk who finds Christ and knows him understands also how to address mankind, his brothers. Life in a monastic community, therefore, constitutes the right framework for acquiring an apostolic spirit, for it is synonymous with life, love and sharing, in spite of all the differences and peculiarities to be found in human nature. The essential thing, one that this form of life offers, is that a monk should be an apostle in his immediate surroundings, in the community of his particular cloister.
The Lebanese Maronite Order lives according to the spirit of the Syriac and Antiochean tradition by withdrawing into its hermitage close to God.
It distinguishes itself by this characteristic even though this is not exclusive to it. By uniting the ascetic and community life to the life of the missionary, it is equally characterised by the fact of offering its sons the possibility of seeking refuge close to God in the hermitage. In this way, it is a fertile field where vocations of different kinds take form and are nurtured. Among its sons there are saints such as Sharbel Makhlouf, the hermit of Annaya, and several others. The eremitic tradition is carried on by its present hermit, Father Anthony (Antonios) Shina, in the Hermitage of St. Paul of Thebes (Mar Boula) at the
Monastery of St. Anthony (Mar Antonios) at Quzhayya.
Life alone with God in the hermitage is, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, like any action aimed at serving God and neighbour. This inspiration is given to him who practises “charity in the monastery”, to him who, having passed between the grindstones of monastic community life, has become the chosen leaven, devoted to the service of his brethren, loving everyone and loved by everyone. Without this, life apart in the hermitage would be no more than flight from community life and a catering to individualistic temperament.
The life of the solitary in his hermitage reveals that it also is apostolic in its deepest meaning. Just as crowds sought Jesus in the desert (Mark I 35, Luke IV 42), so those in quest of prayers or the grace of a cure go to seek out the hermit monk.
The Lebanese Maronite Order, a charisma serving the people of God
“With Christ as its model, the Order must be sensitive to the hopes and to the real needs of the people of God...”
The Order constitutes a part of this people and belongs to it. Following the example of the Son of God, who became Son of Man to save mankind, it has lived the mystery of the Incarnation, being familiar over the course of the centuries with the hopes of the common people, whether in Lebanon or round the world, providing for their needs, accompanying them everywhere, and being constantly aware of their most pressing needs.
In this way, according to the teaching of the sacred books, “our Fathers the Lebanese Monks eagerly carried on their holy apostolic activity; this had advantageous consequences for themselves and profited every social group in which they settled.”
Our Constitution may therefore embrace “the apostolate of work” for reasons we now give. 1 n the one hand, monastic activity in its various domains is no other than an application of the teaching of God found in Holy Scripture; it is an act of obedience to God who wishes man to be in His own image and likeness, worker and creator. On the other hand, as the activity of the monk obeys no motive of materialistic or pecuniary gain, but rather aims at providing the means for a decent daily existence, it must necessarily be one aspect of the consecration of the monk to Our Lord, in such a way that he will not let himself be seduced or dominated by other creatures. Further, since action seeking no return is the proof of the depth of love, the action must be without thought of return.
Our Constitution, in consequence, speaks of “the apostolate of work”, since our predecessors, the early Lebanese Monks, acquired by the sweat of their brows the possessions and the goods now held by the Order and handed them downs as an inheritance to their successors.
“They have eaten their bread by the sweat of their brow. They have wearied themselves with the labour of their hands.” “They have every right to declare, like the holy apostle:
“... now we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we ever have our meals at anyone's table without paying for them; no, we worked night and day, slaving and straining, so as not to be a burden on any of you.” II Thess. III 8.
Finally, our Constitution has every reason to speak of the “aptstolate of work” for our forerunners, the Lebanese Monks, fulfilled their apostolic mission by building monasteries and schools in the poorest regions so as to come to the help of the population, whether by teaching the rudiments of literacy to the children or by instructing the inhabitants in various agricultural techniques and in all that followed. Their purpose was not profiteering from work or trade. They did not settle in the richer regions to rake in money. Rather, they consecrated their service to the population at large and to the poor in particular. Thus their activity became a true apostolate and their monastic life was harnessed to the service of the people, the people to whom they themselves belonged.
This is why their “apostolate of work” bore fruit profitable to themselves and to the inhabitants among whom they lived. They built their monasteries and acquired extensive lands together with a good reputation ; they were enriched by the trust of the people and were strengthened by it. All this happened thanks to their loyal apostolic spirit, which made their work a service. Their “apostolate of work” profited society as a whole wherever they were present. By their zeal and their action, they helped the common people make progress in every domain.
“The apostolate of work” accomplished by our Fathers the Lebanese Monks embraced more than one aspect. It was thanks to them that the people learned methods of agriculture and were shown how to apply them. The monks gave the people an example of determination and application. They zealously instructed the peasants who ploughed the land to surmount the difficulties with courage and patience until they overcame them and could harvest the generous gifts of the tended soil.
As for the arts and crafts practised in the Order, this sector has always flourished. Among the monks there were masons, sculptors, blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, printers, cobblers, plumbers, painters, photographers, medical practitioners and men skilled in the applied arts. All these skills flourished in the Order, and such crafts were not only actively pursued in the monasteries but also taught to the layfolk attached to them.
The monastery, with all its personnel busily engaged inside and all around it, was overflowing with activity, like a hive of industrious bees, with no place for those who had opted out of society, for the idle or for shiftless vagabonds. The life of the Order became itself a mission spreading from the heart of the monastery out into the society around, guiding it and giving it direction. By this very fact, the monasteries of the Order were transformed into centres of civilising influence and into cultural meeting-grounds.
Teaching is one of the most important activities to be included in “the apostolate of work”. Although the Order was founded principally on the ascetic life, it by no means neglected teaching and the apostolic activity that flows from it. Even during the lifetime of the founders of the Order, during its very first years, as soon as a monastery was built a school would be opened nearby. At a later stage, the Order never failed to assure future generations of an education that was both modern and adapted to needs. The Holy Spirit University at Kaslik, with its faculties, institutes and departments, is the living proof of the continuity of the educational mission carried on by the Order for the benefit of the people.
Pastoral activity is another side of “the apostolate of work”. In fact, the Order does not limit its aims to the practice of the ascetic life, for the Constitution itself imposes on the monks the duty to carry on pastoral activity wherever this is needed, whether in Lebanon or in the countries to which the Lebanese have emigrated. “Ever since its foundation, our Order has contributed to transmitting the message of Christ and of the Church to the whole world, in different ways, and by means adapted to the times and in conformity with the demands of the Church, while at the same time ensuring that monastic life remain the preferred and fundamental way for apostolic life, for it is the school which forms and educates the missionary monk.”
Support for the weak is yet another part of “the apostolate of work”. For those of its people who are defenceless, the Order shows particular concern, as can be seen in past and present times of difficulty and trial. Thus it was that during World War I (1914-1918) it mortgaged all its property with the French government in return for French subventions for the suffering people of Lebanon. History repeated itself, most recently during the events which disturbed Lebanon during the years 1975-1990, when the small country of Lebanon became a battleground for outsiders, who finally gave the Lebanese the task of completing the destruction, brother against brother, that they themselves had left unfinished. During this time, as during the atrocious wars that tortured Lebanon in the past, the Order always stood beside its people with its personnel, its monasteries and its money.
This special care of the Order for the weak is not confined to any particular conjuncture or moment. It is not limited to any passing trials, whatever their length, but goes beyond them to cover daily life.
As evidence of this, there is the hospital sector administered by the Order, which does admirable work in its concern for the handicapped and the elderly, as well as for the sick and for orphans. It proves yet again that the Lebanese Maronite Order has the authentic spirit of the Gospel and in this way gives true expression to its most splendid page: “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome, naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me” (Matt. XXV 34-40).
It will be seen that our existence as monks is in itself something necessary for the Church. A Church without monastic life is a poor Church, not responding to its basic demands. Religious life in community is, then, deeply and essentially Church-oriented and missionary. It is a shining Gospel light illuminating the universe. It was the case with St. Sharbel in the monastery, in the hermitage and in the field where he laboured; with Blessed Rafqa in her secluded life behind the walls of her convent cloister; and with the Venerable Father Naamatallah Kassab al-Hardini in his solitary asceticism, practised in the very heart of the monastery while engaged in his administrative duties. So, witness to Christ within the monastery seems to be one of the fundamental needs of the Church and, what is more, the guarantee of its continuity.
The Maronite Church began as a monastic community. Its particular character formed and developed in the shadow, in the surroundings and in the neighbourhood of the monastery. With roots in the Monastery of St. Maroun, it flourished elsewhere. When it fled persecution, it took refuge in the monasteries, reaching the Holy Valley in Lebanon.
As it grew aware of itself, the Maronite Church turned to the world in a movement of mutual interaction. It was through this that it came to be known and through this that it followed its course. If the Maronite Church ever happened to neglect this dimension integral to it, or to stray away from this tradition, it would lose its identity and fall into ruin. Monasticism is its destiny and its responsibility, ever since the moment chosen by Providence for it to be born. Consequently, the monastery appears throughout the history of the Maronite Church and in relation to it as an existential and essential guarantee. It is the force of the Church and the measure of its force. If the monastery were to decline, the Church would be undermined. But if it is strengthened, then the Church will be stronger and its components drawn closer together. It is this aspect which makes our monastic life a cause of intimate concern to the Church; for our Order represents the continuity of a noble monastic heritage.
We finally arrive at a view of the future which may briefly be summarized as follows:
The Order must be fully aware of the continuity of its truth as a social, ecclesiastical and personal cause and remain faithful to its Gospel authenticity, to its roots in the past and to its own identity, which is realised and confirmed in the ascensional movement of history. These considerations should lead it to a correct reading of the signs of the times, in this way receiving inspiration from the Spirit of the Lord, which acts throughout the universe and throughout the whole long story of mankind; it must follow contemporary developments without either stagnation or, on the other hand, loss of identity.
It must form monks who will lead, upholding a cause, carrying high the torch and passing on the flame. It should make a conscious effort to form in the long term monks who know no frontiers, “moines sans frontiers”, monks who will have as the measure of their universality the degree to which they belong to Christ and to his love. In this way, they will merit that it be said of them, as it was said of the first Christians: “Every foreign land is their fatherland, and every fatherland for them is a foreign land.”
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