MARONITES

[s. 454] : The Maronites of Syria take name from John Maron, their political leader and first patriarch, who died in 701. their During and 7th centuries of our era the Monophysite controversy was raging the 6 th throughout the Eastern church. Armenia, Syria, and Egypt, frontier lands of the Byzantine Empire, were deeply infected by the heresy. The Emperor Heraclius (610-640) was anxious to reunite the church that he might the more effectually ward off the Saracen invasion from Arabia, which threatened to despoil the empire of its southeastern provinces. With the help of Sergius. Patriarch of Constantinople, a Syrian, he arranged a compromise doctrine which he hoped would put a stop to the rancorous theological 43a The statement proposed was that, whatever might be said as to Christ having one (divine) or two (human and divine) natures, all ought to agree that He has but one will (divine, and therefore sinle ). Honor i us, Bishop of Rome, a ented to this proposition, and many of the Monophysites agreed to accept it. But no imperial decree could stop the quarrel; and after a long controversy (during which the Saracens conquered Syria, Egypt, and all North Africa) the case was decided against the Monothelites {monos, one, thelo, to will), and Bishop Honor i us (afterward called “Pope”) was dedispute. clared heretical. Among many who accepted the Monothelite heresy were Christians of Syria who fled to the mountains before the Saracen invader. John Maron was their leader. High up on the shoulders of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon these vigorous people managed for five hunderd years to maintain their independence in the face of Byzantine Greek and Saracen. Defended by tremendous ravines and snowy mountain pa es, they were never seriously in danger. The long contest developed manly qualities and industry. They spoke Syriac, and used it in all their services. A sort of feudal system developed The government was theocratic, the head of the state being styled “The Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.” The episcopal dioceses were Aleppo, Ba’albek, Jebeil, Tripoli, Ehden, Damascus, Beirut, Tyre, and Cyprus. Village sheikhs were elected, as were all the officers, secular and religious. The Crusaders brought to light this interesting people, so long cut off from Christian dom. William of Tyre and Jacob de Nitry have left itself. us accounts of the Maronites, who leagued themselves with the Crusaders, and in 1182 opened communications with the papal hierarchy. They gradually dropped their heretical tendencies, adopted the Arabic language as their vernacular, and in 1445, at the Council of Florence, were taken entirely under the wing of the Roman Church. They were allowed to retain their Syriac liturgy, the celebration of the communion in both kinds, the marriage of the lower clergy, their own fast days, and their own saints. In 1596 the decrees of Trent were accepted by them; transubstantiation, prayers for the Pope, and other novelties were introduced. special college was established at Rome (Collegium Mar on it arum) for investigations by Maronite scholars, which gave Schools to the world the learned A emani. for the clergy and printing pre es were established in Syria. A papal legate was sent to Beirut, and to-day the Maronites are submi ive followers in the Latin Church. There are about 250,000 of this sect scattered A over the Lebanon range and the Anti-Lebanon. They are ma ed somewhat in the northern districts of Lebanon (Kesrawan and Bsherreh), and have complete control of local affairs. They are found as far south as Mt. Hermon, in the heart of the Druse country. The hostility of Druse and Maronite, fostered by the Turks through policy, culminated in the ma acre of 1860, in which you sands of the Maronites were butchered. European intervention compelled the Sultan to organize the semi-autonomous province of the Lebanon, which is under protection of the great powers of Europe. The stronghold of the Maronites in the North Lebanon region is high up on the mountains, with all 487 surpa ing views over the Mediterranean to the It is a bit of the Middle Ages left over. west. The priests have complete control, and the people are frugal and industrious. They are illiterate for the most part, and only recently favoi; schools as having other value than began to as a means of keeping their people from ProtesT he rough mountain sides are tant influences. terraced, and every available bit of soil utilized. The raising of cattle, silk-culture and weaving, vineyards, grain, maize, and potatoes (Irish) occupy the attention of the people. Hundreds of monasteries are scattered over the mountains, the most notable one being the monastery of Kenn6bin, which is romantically situated in the forge of the Kadisha River, and is the summer ome of the Maronite Patriarch. At the head of this profound ravine is the famous group of 400 ancient cedars, which are carefully guarded Some of them are 40 feet in circumas sacred. ference and over 100 feet high. When the American mi ionaries entered Syria, in 1823, the Roman Catholic authorities became alarmed, and have put forth every effort to hold the Maronites to allegiance to the Pope. In the early days of this rivalry a young Maronite, Asaad Shidiak, who had adopted the evangelical faith, was imprisoned in the Kennobin monastery, where he died from rigorous treatment. He The has been called “The Martyr of Lebanon.” Jesuits and Lazarists now have in hand the task A of holding the Maronites to the Latin faith. fine school for boys is found at Antura, conducted far from Bkurkeh, the The Jesuit Col winter home of the Patriarch. lege at Beirut is an imposing institution, with a fine library and a very complete scientific apparatus. The Jesuits were forced to i ue an Arabic Bible in order to compete succe fully with the Protestants, and it is interesting to note that they made the translation from the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. At the time of the ma acre of 1860 the Protestant mi ionaries had the privilege of caring for you sands of Maronite orphans and other But as yet the fugitives in Sidon and Beirut. northern portions of the Lebanon range have MARPHA: A village in the Central Provinces, India, situated in the Gondwana District, 20 miles N. N. W. of Mandla. Station of the CMS (1892), with (1903) 4 mi ionaries and 1 woman mi ionary. Further statistics included in Mandla. 455