Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, presided over a Mass service in Bkirki this morning on the occasion of Saint Maroun’s Day.

In his homily, the Patriarch considered that this blessed occasion invites members of the Maronite Sect to return to their identity in terms of rejecting seclusion and narrow personal interests.

“All these years our Church has been in full partnership with the Mother Church of Rome, rooted in our identity and our land and spread throughout the world in the example of the fragrant Cedar of Lebanon, firmly rooted in its land while its branches are spread throughout the globe…This is the basis of our culture and civilization, and this is the basis of every action that we must take, as a guarantee for man, humanity, and the dignity of the human person, ecclesiastically, socially, nationally, and politically,” the Patriarch underlined.

“He who is ignorant of his roots lives in chaos and corruption, and he who is ignorant of his past is ignorant of his reality and his future,” al-Rahi continued.

“Today, Saint Maroun’s feast is nothing but a reminder of our identity and a call to our consciences and roots. We ask our father Maroun to make us realize his spirituality so that we can live according to his example while we bear responsibility for his name and way of life,” the Patriarch asserted.

At the end of his homily, al-Rahi extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, wishing a speedy recovery for the wounded, and thanking God for protecting Lebanon and the Lebanese from this disaster.

After the Mass, the Patriarch received well-wishers who congratulated him on Saint Maroun’s Day.

Source: National News Agency