Here you See Tomb of Saint-Rafqa... Our Lady of Lebanon... The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mantara... The Shrine of Saint Elias... Wadi Qadisha... Shrine Saint Nimatullah & Saint Estephan Nehme... Shrine Saint Charbel... Temple Of Saints-Jezzine... Miracle of Qana ... Saint Nicholas Cathedral...

Saturday 30 July 2011

The Shrine of St. Elias

People say that the St. Elias the living( he didn't die), has passed by this land and specifically by this part of Saida in Lebanon, that is why they built this temple in order to remember St. Elias and get blesses , and to glorify and worship God.

Wadi Qadisha


Wadi Qadisha, lies within the Becharre and Zgharta Districts of the North Governorate of Lebanon which also has a river, called the Nahr Qadisha. There are many religious sites like, caves, chapels and monasteries and some really requires long walk for their difficult access.
The word Qadisha comes from a Semitic root meaning "Holy" and Wadi Qadisha is the "Holy Valley". Since the Early Middle Ages generations of Monks, hermits, ascetics and anchorites found asylum there. These religious men, who belonged to the various confessions that grew out of medieval controversies over the nature of Christ, included the Nestorians, Monophysites, chalcedoniansand Monothelites. Even Muslims Soufis were found in this valley. They prayed in many languages: Greek, Arabic, Syriac and Ethiopian.
The Valley is nearby the Forest of the Cedars of God( The cedars used in order to build the Salomon’s Temple in Jerusalem).
The Qadisha Valley is some of the most ancient Christian monastic communities of the Middle East, including Deir Qannoubine(where seventeen Maronite patriarchs are buried in a chapel near the monastery), Deir Mar Elisha(where the Lebanese Maronite Order was founded in 1696) and Deir Mar Antonios Qozhaya(home to Lebanon's first printing press), and chapels like the Chapel of Mart Chmouni, Chapel of Lady Hawqa.
At the entrance of Becharre Lady Qadisha stands on the top of the valley. This village is also the birthplace of Gibran Khalil Gebran, and where his tomb is present nowadays in the Mar Sarkis Monastery.










Saint Nimatullah & Saint Estephan Nehme

Youssef is known as the Saint Nimatullah who died in the monastery of Saints Qobrianos and Youstina, in December 14, 1858, after being severally ill for years.
His Tomb is in Batroun, in a small village called Kfifan. In the same Monastery  of Saints Cyril & Justin it is the tomb of the Saint Estephan Nehme.
Also the Monastery is a beautiful place with gardens, and fonts of water. A museum displaying where the saints lived and study, and their actions of worship.


The Tomb of Saint Charbel

Declared Blessed in 1965 and a saint in the October 9, 1977. His tomb is located on Annaya, District of Byblos where also is the Monastery of Mar Maroun and a museum displays the objetcs that belonged to the Saint.

Many people visit this place and also the grotto of Mar Charbel where he used to go and pray, which is situated in Bekaakafra, in Ain Al Hawr place.