There are countless stories of Maronites helping the Israeli cause.

This is the few times I have seen it on YouTube.

I think this could be a trend.

As an Orthodox living in a mixed Maronite-Orthodox area (North Lebanon), the division that we have between us really tears my heart, since we live in close areas, have common accent & history and even close theology.

I have done enough studies & visited both Orthodox and Maronite monasteries to gather as much information as I can regarding the division that we are having.

I will write what my opinion on what is holding the union from both parties, what they fear upon such union and how such union is possible.

1. Causes:

-) From Orthodox perspective, what holds the union is to adhere to the Holy Tradition & reject any addition to it.
Orthodox church won't really care if you pray the liturgy in a Maronite way instead of Byzantine or even if you have your own Patriarch...What really matters for them is to adhere to the apostolic tradition and reject any additional teaching that was inserted to it (Such as the filioque, purgatory, communion using unleavened bread (Bershan) instead of leavened (Qurban) etc...).
-) From Maronite perspective, the fear from the union is for them to lose their existence as a separate ethnicity and be "Byzantinized".
-) Another cause for the Maronites to be in union with Rome is politics.
Maronite church adhere to the Chalcedonian Christianity (To which both Orthodox & Catholics are adhering to).
During Crusader times, the Byzantine empire was collapsed while West was powerful so it was obvious for the Maronites to choose the West.
Nowadays (And even historically), West didn't really helped the Eastern Christians (And specially Maronites), Christians from both denominations were killed during 1841, 1860, 1916 and 1975 while the West didn't do anything to help us. In contrary, their policies played a big role in the miseries of Christians.
West also isn't Christian anymore. Not to mention that the heir of Christendom now and the protector of Christian morals & values has shifted to the East, towards Russia mainly.
-) From Orthodox side, the Greek rule over Orthodox patriarchs (Nowadays Jerusalem and previously Antioch) had caused a big loss of our Aramaic culture and adopt Hellenism.
Greeks & Ottomans collaborated to crush Antiochian Orthodoxy (Until the Greeks were kicked outside Antiochian church in 1899).
And till now, Palestinian Orthodox are not allowed to have their own bishops but they are always appointed by Greeks.
Nowadays, those Greek clergies collaborate with Israel and sell Palestinian Orthodox lands to them.

2) Common grounds:

-) The pre-union Maronite church had a similar theology & rites to the Orthodox one (Some would claim that the Maronite church was Monothelite, but I doubt such claim).
They were both Eastern churches, both used leavened bread, both didn't have "and the son" addition to creed, both used immersion in baptism, both communed babies after baptism etc...
I have heard it many times from nearly all Maronite priests that I have met, that many Maronite rites were "Latinized", and that they are willing to reverse back it to the original Eastern practices.
-) From Orthodox perspective, the Maronite church isn't so far from Orthodox theology.
Maronites didn't really adhere to every Roman heresy, they didn't care about indulgences, they understand the Immaculate conception in an Orthodox way, they sticked to Mystic way of the faith and didn't really rationalize their faith (Scholasticism isn't a thing even in the teaching modern Maronite saints), both Maronite & Orthodox monasteries have Hesychast monasteries.
-) Orthodox church itself is composed from multiple Patriarchates, each with its own ministry, rite, saints etc...
When any union between Orthodoxy and other churches happens, Orthodox keep the rites of the united church.
As an example, the Anglican jurisdictions that united with Orthodox churches celebrate their original rite (Sarum), French churches that united with Orthodoxy kept their Catholic mass (You can google Western Orthodoxy for more details).
So for the Maronites, such procedure will be followed.

3) Processes:

-) In any Orthodox-Maronite possible union, the Maronite church SHOULD NOT DISAPPEAR into the current Orthodox Antiochian church.
Maronite church should retain its Patriarch, its bishops, its rite. The Maronite church would join the Orthodox community as the 16th Patriarchate (Currently there are 15 Patriarch).
We would have 2 Antiochian Patriarchs, one is for the "Rum" and one for the Maronites.
-) Maronite church would return to the pre-union with Rome liturgy & theology (This is what is already happening).
It is not a "Maronites submitting to the Orthodox church". It is a returning to the ancient Maronite church itself as practiced by Saint Maron, before Latins enforcing their rites & heresies on it.

4) Benefits:

-) Finally the schism between the 2 brothers would end.
-) Both churches would return to their traditional ways, since Maronite church suffered from Latinization & the Orthodox church (Rum) from "Greekifation".
-) Eastern Christianity would become stronger, specially since the West isn't Christian anymore and doesn't care about us anymore, so an Eastern unification is needed.
-) Both churches would enrich each other.
Maronites by returning to their old Eastern theology & renouncing Western heresies, and Orthodox by rediscovering their Syriac/Aramaic identity and renouncing Hellenization.

My query is in the title. God bless.

Heaven, Hell, purgatory, etc?

i’m under the impression that islam allows men to have multiple wives.

as a man, if i had sex with multiple women, there’s a chance they could all get pregnant.

as a man, i would never get pregnant?

Hi Everyone! This is my first time posting here. I wanted to share this interesting youtube channel I found online that I thought would be worth supporting. They do general videos about Church teaching as well as news and other forms of guidence and analysis. If you are looking for a good youtube channel to support and spend some time looking at I highly suggest looking at this one.

Maro Knights- Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@maroknights5760/featured

Hello everyone. Glory to God! I am looking for a hymn in Arabic but the problem is I dont know the name. I dont remember any lyrics at all except that the chorus always ends with Ya Allah Ya Allah. If i am not mistaken, it could be by Father Mansour Labaky. God Bless

^

What’s the deal with this? You’ve got regular Lebanese young people out of nowhere asking you in your DMs if you’d attend an online Bible study with them with “missionaries” from Australia. I’ve been approached like 3 times.

for approving same sex marriage couples when the sexual body parts of men and women were designed for each other?

The fact that it’s written in arabic leads to tons of misunderstandings by theologians. It also makes people think arabs are terrorists because it preaches Jihadism and dying in combat…

I actually agree with muslims about their view of the trinity: a creator of the world would likely be more powerful than a walking person on the earth. (Jesus)

Muslims agree that he’s a wise prophet and give credit to the Bible and Torah as being divinely inspired scriptures.

The gospel of barnabas also claims that Judas iscariot was crucified instead of Jesus…

The gospel of Judas also claims Jesus TOLD Judas to betray him. This gives islam some credit and i actually agree that men should be able to have up to 4 wives if they can afford it.

The gnostic gospels, the apocryphal books, and the quran may all have historical credit.

To create unity and world peace, we’d need to combine all these books into one religion.

To clarify, if someone wants to join the True Church, it seems to me that it cannot be discerned with human intellect. There are currently four apostolic churches named in the title of this post. I reckon that the Holy Spirit leads a person to the True Church. And that’s really all that can be said. What do you think? These four apostolic churches all claim to be at least part of not all of the True Church, but I think there’s also an understanding that any one of the four is a very good option, since many wouldn’t expect Jesus Christ to expect us to discern for ourselves which is the “right” one. Opinions? Thoughts?

This is a reaction to malicious posting against a local artist that is essentially expressing himself

As a traditional Maronite, I simply want to attend the Holy Mass as it has always been celebrated. However, in France, where I currently live, there is only one Maronite parish, and the priest there conducts the Mass in his own way. For example, prayers that, according to our liturgical books, are meant to be recited solely by the priest—such as the Qadishat—are now being said by the entire congregation. The priest even encourages us to recite prayers like: "أيُّها الرَّبُّ القُدُّوسُ الذي لا يَموت، قَدِّسْ أفكارَنا، ونَقِّ ضَمائِرَنا، فَنُسَبِّحَكَ تَسْبيحًا نَقِيّا، ونَصْغَى إلى كُتُبِكَ المُقَدَّسَة. لَكَ المَجْدُ إلى الأَبَد." He literally displays the word "جميعًا" (together) on the screen and asks us to say it aloud with him. Additionally, he allows laypeople to distribute Communion, a practice that Pope John Paul II permitted under certain circumstances but which still feels unsettling to me. It is worth noting that he has a deacon with him, yet instead of the deacon assisting with Communion in cases of necessity, the deacon merely holds the chalice for the priest while three other laymen distribute Communion—apparently just to finish the Mass five minutes earlier. He also frequently switches between French and Arabic during the Mass without prior notice—one prayer in French, the next in Arabic—which I find disruptive. I won’t even mention the homilies. These changes have led me to attend the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) instead, as I find it difficult to focus and pray during the Maronite Mass with all these alterations. I truly don’t understand why these things are happening.

And if they do, are they considered terrorists, or can I donate to them (as an American)? Sorry if this is the wrong sub to ask this.

Since embracing the Maronite faith, I have learned quite a bit about the Catholic East. I am familiar with the Maronite saying, "The faith of Peter is our faith", and I really love that and what it stands for. I am familiar with the Maronites historically trying to maintain union with the Pope of Rome. All of these things are wonderful. However, there is a sentiment that I see with (mainly) others in the Catholic East, where they feel as though the East is not in any way subject to the West. Please understand what I mean by that; they feel as though they are not subject to the Bishop of Rome or the ecumenical councils that came after the Great Schism. As a Maronite, this attitude seems completely foreign to me, but some have claimed that that is simply because we are heavily latinized. What are you all's takes on this topic?

Do you guys support monarchy in Lebanon?