Maronite Church – early years till 15th century
The Maronite Church
– formed in 8th century
– named after the hermit Saint Maroun (410) and a monastery (build in his name)
Saint Maroun
– hermit
– 350 – 410 or around 590 (al- Batriq)
– district area of Cyrrhus (northwest of modern- day Syria and its borders with Turkey)
– famous for his eremitic life; many followed his asceticism (between the cities of Hama and Ma’arrat al- Nu’Man in Syria); gift of healing
– two historical documents tell of him
1.letter by Saint John Chrysostom (344 – 40)
2.Theodoret (393- 458), Bishop of Cyr
→ disciples spread ideo into area of Apamea (150 km south), founded monastery with his name
Currhus and Apamea shared monastic connection, in the fertile area lived many hermits and monks in monastries or hermit cells, which were geographically connected to each other.
Monastery:
date of foundation is not sure
Abu al-Feda (1273- 1331): Arab Muslim historian; writes of the foundation in the third year of Emperor Marcianus’ reign → 452 (this would bis a year after Chalcedon)
Sa’id Ben al-Batriq (940): Patriarch of Alexandria; relates of a „monk named maroin, who said that our Lord the Christ had two natures … and one Hapstasis; so he polluted the minds of people. … so they named his followers and the believers in his teachings „Maronites“. When Maroin died, [they] built a monastery in Hama….“; al- Batriq states the life of Saint Maroun during the period of Moreeq the King of the Rum (582 – 602). Therefore, this history sees the building of the monastry over 100 years later than Chalcedon, other Arabian historians like Al- Mass’oodi, depend on Ibn al- Batriq.
Recent literature seems to take the year 452 as the accurate date.
Theodoret (died 458) , tells us of the building of a church over the remains of Saint Maron after his death.
The monastery of Saint Maron, which was founded near the church, was suited near Apameus, in the Valley of the Orentes.
It became head of a powerful federation of many other monastries in Lebanon and Syria and took part in the theological disputes of that time.
The date of it’s destruction isn’t exactly known but it occured after the tenth century. The Arab historian al- Mas’oodi tells about the monastery, which was destroyed, because of the repeated assaults of the Arabs and the Sultan.
6th century
In 451, the Council of Chalcedon leads to unmendable breaks in the church, namelely between those who follow Chalcedon and those who don’t, the so-called „Monophysites“.
Monastery on Maroun appears as a fierce defender of the Council of Chalcedon.
For example the authorities of the monasteries gave their signatures to letters and group appeals against Severus of Antioch and Peter of Apamea, both opposers of the Council of Chalcedon.
The struggle for domination over Antioch was a political and a religious one and the monastery took part in the theological controversies.
For example there is a Manuscript, dating back to the 12th century, which contains two letters, one of the monks of the beit Maroun (monastery) to the group of an anti- Chalcedonian, and the other one the answer to the letter. The first letter contains five questions about the two natures and one hypostasis, the second one is the reply, both letters show the bitterness, with which each to parties defended their position.
The defening of Chalcedon led to severe persecution of the Maronites at the hands of the Monophysites. For example in 517, about 350 monks were killed on their pilgrimige in an ambush organized by Severus, the Patriarch of Antioch.
The doctrine of the One Will
After the victory of Emperor Heraclius over the Persians ins 628, historical sources indicate, that the monks of the monastery of Saint Maroun have played a substantial role in supporting the Emperors regime.
Emperor Heraclius started to strenghtening the empire by fortifying the borders and trying to establish the internal unity of the kingdom once again.
Emperor Heraclius tried to intervene and quiet down the situation with his dogmatic formula „Ekthesis“ in the year 638. It stated that there are two natures an Christ and one hypostasis, one energy and one will. The thought was, that the formulation of „one will“ would appease those, who poclaimed a „one nature“ doctrine.
The Chalcedon Antiochians with the monks of Beit Maroun as leaders accepted it. But the controversies between the churches were already to strong and what followed was a long period of oppression for the non- chalcedonian Churches
During early Arab rule
During the Arab conquest, the Muslims were mostly greeted as liberators from the Chalcedonien and Byzanthinian persecution by the so-called Monophysites.
During the Arab conquest of Syria starting in 634, the Maronites stood against the muslim conquerors.
The Maronites, although using the Arabic language in business and literature, they didn’t see themselves as Arabs, but as descendents fron the original inhabitants of the are, the Phoinicians.
They saw themselves and their monasteries, used for refugee centers, as lasting islands against the Muslim invasion.
After the arabic conquest the most of the maronite Areas lie outside the East Roman Empire.
The Sixth Ecumenical Council:
Emperor Constantine IV (668-685) convened the Council in 680, but it was not attended by bishops from Syria or Palastine because these areas now lay outside the Roman boundaries.
The former doctrine of one will in the Lord Jesus was abandoned.
This Council decreed there are two wills and two energies in Christ. The Antiochian side however, far away from everything that happened in Constantinople, kept holding on the teaching of the one will, the one son who is the only source for all the acts of salvation. The Antiochian Patriarch Makarius, who clinged on the doctrine of one will, was disposed of and replaced with Theophanes, who accepeted the daclaration of two wills and who stayed in Constantinopel and was succeeded by two other Patriarchs who never came once in the area of Antioch.
The monks of monastery St. Maroun continued to represent the Chalcedonians, but they held fast to the proclamation of the one will.
The Sixth Ecumenical Council was a purely Roman- Constantinopel one and that the Antiochian church, now outside of the empire’s boundaries, were cut off from the theological disputes which took place in the empire, for example was the Council not even attended by bishops from Syria or Palastine and news from the two big cities needed a long time to reach the Christians outside the borders.
In 609 the last Antiochian patriarch died and a nominal patriarch was named, who resided in Constantinople, far away from his official See in Antioch. In 702 Constantinople stopped naming patriarchs alltogether and the See of Antioch became vacant between 702 and 742.
Local struggles for authority became so fierce, that the Caliph gave permission to install a Chalcedonian Antiochian patriarch.
Around 745, a Chalcedonion Patriarch, who accepted the Sixth Council was seated and this seem to have divided the Chalcedon Antiochians into those who accepted the doctrine of the two wills and those who held fast on the proclamation of the one will.
To this time, the Maronite community appears already to have it’s own primate and patriarchal structure as the election of the first Patriarch Saint John maron in 685 shows.
Whereas the monks of St. Maroun had been the foremost representatives of the Chalcedonian Christians until now, the (now) seperate Maronite Church became subject of persecution.
At the beginning of the 10th century, the large monastery of Saint Maroun was destroyed and the Maronite Patriarch moved into Mount Lebanon.
The Maronite Patriarchate
The first patriarch of the Maronite Church was Saint John Maron, who carried the same name as the spiritual father of the church. He was ordained to priesterhood in the Monastery of Saint Maron and consecreated Bishop of Batroun by the papal legate of that time. Since the Antiochian Patriarch was seated in Constantinople, far away from the Middle East, the Maronites had to organize themselves both politically and religiously in order to survive in a often hostile environment.
In 685 John Maron became their patriarch- elect until 707. (Atiya: A History of Eastern Christianity)
Under his leadership, the Maronites organized themselves and even withstood an attack by an army sent by Emperor Justinian II, who was urged by the Caliph Abdel e- Malik to destroy their growing independence.
It was also during Saint John Maron’s Patriarchate, that the Lebanon was consecrated as a homeland for the Maronites and in the year 934, also the Patriarchal seat was moved to Lebanon from Antioch.
But although the Maronites seeked out the protection of the mountains, they were part of the communal life in the Muslim ruled estates. For example they served in the administration of the caliphs and sultans, they even sometimes served in the armed forces.
While they established their national identity in the mountains of Lebanon, they also spread throughout the surrounding countries, where monasteries and churches where buildt and where the church became a great force in both religious and economical existence of the people.
The Crusades and the Mamlouks’ era
The first Crusaders in 1096 were welcomed by the Maronites, because they shared companionship in faith and in the fight against the Muslims. The arrival of the crusaders reestablished the ties between the Maronites and the Holy See in Rome, which were nearly cut-off during Muslim rule.
In 1215 the Patriarch Jeremiah al-‘Amshiti even personally attended the Lateran Council in Rome.
Also, the clergy adopted some of Latin usages, for example wearing the mitre and the ring.
The Maronites seemed to have helped the Crusaders with guides over the mountain passes, armed manforce and supplyments. This lead to a priviledged position of the Maronites in the regions conquered by the Crusaders, especially the French. (Muslims in US p8)
But during the 8th Crusade, first led by the king of France himself, the Crusaders eventually lost ground and 1291 they suffered their final defeat with the fall of Saint John of Acre.
The Maronites, now once again cut off from European help, suffered severe reprecussions because of their help for the Crusaders.
Patriarch Daniel was captured and killed by soldiers of the Sultan and many Maronites fled to Malta, Rhodes or Cyprus, which was still under French domination at that time, before it was also invaded by Turks in 1570, during which many of the Maronites there where killed.
Since 1291, after the defeat of the Crusadern, Syria was now under the Mamlouk’s reign.
The Maronites organized themselves under their Patriarch in Northern Libanon. Their different settlements where led by mouqaddamin, their own people, but who had to answer to the Mamlouk governor in Tripoli.
The time of the Mamlouk’s was a time of severe persecution for the Maronites, many villages ad monasteries where destroyed and their Patriarch Gabriel of Hajjloula was burnt alive by the governor of Tripoli.
Franciscanian visitors reported the situation of the Maronites to Rome. (MUS p. 10)
But through all the communications with Rome, Monotheletism, the doctrine of the one will, persisted up until the middle of the 15th century. Even when the Maronites were present at the Council of Florence in 1439, where they reassured their adherence to Rome, it was only six years later, that the Archbishop Elias of Cyprus in his congregation abjured the heresy of the one will and declared their submission to Rome. As we see, Romanization was by no means completed during the Middle Ages.
The position of the Maronites within the Roman Church didn’t gain stability until the 16th or maybe 17th century. After the beginning of the 16th century the Patriarch could establish direct contact with the pope in Rome and now the approval for succession was asked of the Roman See.
But thourough all this, the Maronites Church kept it’s Oriental and traditional practices.
The Maronites under the Ottomans
After the Ottoman Sultan Selim I. conquered the whole Middle East in 1516, four centuries of Ottoman domination in Libanon followed.
For the Maronites, this era mostly meant oppressive Turkish governors, persecution and extortion.
Written by Kerstin Jud
Olive Tree in the Qadisha Valley
Study in Beirut 