The Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family in Sydney gathered for a thanksgiving Mass marking the beatification of the order’s co-founder, Patriarch Elias Howayek. Source: OzArab Media.
Maronite Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay celebrated the Mass on Saturday at Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Harris Park. He was joined by Melkite Bishop Robert Rabbat, Superior General of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries Fr Elias Sleiman and diocesan priests.
In his homily, Bishop Tarabay highlighted the importance of holiness in the life of the Church and its faithful, emphasising the call to return to the roots and fundamental values upon which we build our homeland.
Following the Mass, a gathering was held around a table of fellowship in the church hall.
Mother Superior Sr Marie Antoinette Saade and Bishop Tarabay each addressed the gathering, reflecting on the significance of this historic ecclesiastical and national occasion and the importance of Blessed Patriarch Elias Howayek’s legacy and mission for the Church and Lebanon.
The celebration concluded with a prayer that, through the intercession of Blessed Patriarch Elias Howayek, “the Lord may grant us a share of his faith when our confidence grows weak, his courage when we are afraid, his wisdom when the winds of disagreement and division trouble us, and his hope when the future appears uncertain”.
According to Vatican News, the miracle recognised for the beatification of Patriarch Elias Howayek dates back to 1965 and concerns the healing of Nayef Abou Assi, a Druze officer in the Lebanese army who suffered from chronic bilateral spondylolysis. According to reports, he awoke completely healed after dreaming of the patriarch.
Born in Helta, Lebanon, on December 4, 1843, Blessed Howayek entered the seminary at 16 and later travelled to Rome to study theology, where he was ordained a priest in 1870. Returning to Lebanon, he co-founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family with Mother Rosalie Nasr, the first female apostolic religious institute in the Maronite Church.
Elected Maronite Patriarch of Antioch in 1899, he dedicated three decades to clerical formation and catechesis while becoming a leading voice for Lebanese independence from the Ottoman Empire.
He died in Bkerké in 1931, remembered as a man of dialogue, pastoral charity and evangelical poverty, widely revered as a Lebanese “founding father”.
FULL STORY
Thanksgiving Mass to celebrate beatification of Patriarch Howayek (By Elie Kaltoum, OzArab Media)
Pope authorises beatification of Lebanese ‘founding father’ (Vatican News)
