Our Lady of Lebanon Church – GTA

Season of the Great Lent – A Time of Transformation

17. February, 2020Past EventsNo comments

Lent in the Maronite Church begins on Cana Sunday or Entrance into the Great Lent. Ashes are given on Monday to begin the Great Lent that ends on Easter Sunday.

The Great Lent recalls the gestures of mercy of the Savior toward His people. This fifty-day period invites the believer to meditate on the sinful human condition, and the meaning of the salvific sufferings and death of Christ. These fifty days reflect the penitential tone and monastic spirit of the Maronite Church.

The seven Lenten weeks are divided into three cycles. The first cycle includes the Sundays that focus on the cure of the Leper (Mk 1:35-45), the cure of the Haemorrhaging Woman (Lk 8:40-56) and the Parable of the Lost Son (Lk 15:11-32). The second cycle, given the title of miracles, incorporates the Sunday Gospels of the cure of the Paralytic (Mk 2:1-12) and the cure of the Blind (Mk 10:46-52). The third weekday cycle is referred to as Hosanna week and includes Palm Sunday and Passion Week (Jn 12:12-22).

Lent is achieved not so much by way of fasting and abstinence, but rather by a transformation in attitude, about caring for the other, building up society and becoming an ambassador of good will. In the Maronite Lectionary, the Sunday Gospel passages throughout Lent focus on the healing and forgiving powers of Jesus, a reminder that Lent is a time to transform one’s life, just as the water was changed to wine in the Sunday Gospel that marks the entry into the Lenten Season.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. Holy Week provides liturgical experiences of sublime music and ritual. In particular on Good Friday a large model of the crucified Jesus is laid to rest in what is a coffin like wooden box and congregational members are invited to lay their gathered flowers there. The coffin is then carried outside on the shoulders of four strong men and as the congregation leave the service they walk under the coffin as a sign of blessing. At the close of the service, the coffin with the crucified figure, is placed in a make shift cave (tomb). This is then closed off, symbolizing the burial of Jesus.

At the Easter midnight Mass, the empty coffin is brought out and people are invited to take a flower that had been previously placed there. This represents the symbol of new life. In concluding the Maronite celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord, the faithful greet one another with the refrain, ‘Christ is risen! Truly he is Risen!’

Lenten guidelines for the Maronites:

All Maronites over the age of 14, who are physically capable, are to abstain from meat on Ash Monday and all Fridays of Lent.
Ash Monday and the Great Friday of the Crucifixion are also days of fasting. Fasting in the Maronite Church involves eating and drinking nothing at all (except water and medicine) from midnight until noon. The rest of the day normal meals can be taken, but without meat. All Maronites who are physically capable are to fast on these two days.
As a reminder, each Sunday during lent is a celebration of the Resurrection and isn’t therefore Lent, so any things you have give up for Lent are properly set aside on Sundays.

To say it another way:

Ash Monday – fast until noon, then no meat

All Fridays during Lent – abstain from meat, no fasting required

Good Friday – fast until noon, then no meat

Abstinence means no eating of meat. Fasting means no food or beverage (except for water) between 12 Midnight to 12 Noon. Those over 60, and those with any medical condition or illness where fasting is deleterious are dispensed from this obligation, as are those who are required to perform strenuous labor.

But there is more than fasting! Great Lent is a time of prayer, penance, and change of heart; turning from sin and facing the Lord. Fasting and abstinence are part of the larger program we are encouraged to engage in during Lent. All parishioners are encouraged to seek Sacrament of Reconciliation at some point before Easter Sunday. You are encouraged to give to those less fortunate, either through the second collection for Bishop’s charity or to individuals or organizations.

We should focus on concrete acts of mercy during this Season of Lent. Corporal acts of mercy can be visiting relatives at nursing homes, making bag of personal care items to give to the homeless when they ask us for money at roadside crossings, or giving money to help organizations who help the neediest in our society.

Season of the Glorious Epiphany (Denho)

27. December, 2019Past EventsNo comments

In our Maronite Church the “Season of the Glorious Epiphany (Denho)” begins on January 6th, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It is known in Syriac as Denho.

Maronites and many Eastern Christian churches celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of Jesus Christ, focusing on the Baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist. The Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord is a major feast in our Eastern Tradition. The importance of Christ’s baptism is described in the Gospels of apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and is the first manifestation of the Holy Trinity to mankind. Epiphany/Theophany comes from the Greek word “Theophania” which means appearance of God or manifestation of God.

An important part of the feast is the blessing of holy water, which signifies Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.

Our Heavenly Father Himself, with His mighty voice and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, said of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, with these words, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ God said these words while Jesus was standing in the Jordan River. And most of the people who gathered on the banks of the Jordan to hear the sermons of St. John the Baptist heard and observed this unique presentation, thus making this feast the first feast in the Christian church before Christmas was introduced as a separate feast, according to St. John Chrysostom.

Through baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we become the children of God and heirs of the heavenly kingdom. Only Holy Baptism can liberate us from the bondage of Original Sin, and the holy water possesses the power that casts away evil.

The Epiphany water is blessed with a lighted charcoal which signifies the fire of the Spirit who entered the Jordan River at Christ’s Baptism. In our Maronite liturgy, this is the meaning of the ritual of immersing the inflamed charcoal in the water. It is like mixing fire and water, the fire represents divinity and the water represents our life or the material world. Symbolically, when our Lord went into the water to be baptized by Saint John the Baptist, he sanctified the water, the essential element of life. The water symbolizes the origin of creation and of every creature which is in need of sanctification through the Holy Spirit. This water is then sprinkled on the congregation by the priest reminding them of their own baptism in which they put on a robe of Christ and were cleansed from their original sin. The water is also taken home and can be sprinkled or consumed so that the Holy Spirit may sanctify us and our material world submitting everything to the will of God.

In addition to Jesus’ baptism, Theophany in the some churches traditionally included the Nativity, the wedding feast at Cana, the visit by the Magi and the presentation of Jesus in the Temple as a child, all of which indicate in some way the manifestation of God on Earth.”

In Maronite culture many people wait to have their babies baptized and confirmed (chrismated) on or around Denho.

However, for all Syriac Christians, Denho is a time to reflect on the consequences of at least the first two stages of our Initiation, namely, what happened to us by being baptized (incorporation into the Church, the Body of Christ; and the door to life in the Holy Trinity being opened); and in Chrismation (Confirmation) and outpouring of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, knowledge, understanding, courage, counsel, piety and holy fear), leading us to experience the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (joy, peace, love, gentleness, self-control, patience, kindness, faith, etc.).”

OLOL New Year Party

6. December, 2019Past EventsNo comments

BIBLE STUDY @ OLOL

21. September, 2019Past EventsNo comments

Come join us at our monthly gathering

to study and meditate the Word of God.

Saturday Feb. 22th, 2020 at 6:30pm: Saint Charbel Mass Mass followed by Bible Study

Wednesday Apr. 22th, 2020 at 7:30pm: Saint Charbel Mass Mass followed by Bible Study

Friday May 22th, 2020 at 7:30pm: Saint Charbel Mass Mass followed by Bible Study

Monday June 22th, 2020 at 7:30pm: Saint Charbel Mass Mass followed by Bible Study

God’s Word is powerful and will change our life!

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

9. September, 2019Past EventsNo comments

The Story of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ’s life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior’s tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman.

The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus’ head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.”

To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica’s dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.

Reflection

The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewelry. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome’s authority—including Christians who refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine’s edict of toleration.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

5. September, 2019Past EventsNo comments

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Church has celebrated Mary’s birth since at least the sixth century. A September birth was chosen because the Eastern Church begins its Church year with September. The September 8 date helped determine the date for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s birth. However, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child who will advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. Such a story, like many biblical counterparts, stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.

Saint Augustine connects Mary’s birth with Jesus’ saving work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” The opening prayer at Mass speaks of the birth of Mary’s Son as the dawn of our salvation, and asks for an increase of peace.

Reflection

We can see every human birth as a call for new hope in the world. The love of two human beings has joined with God in his creative work. The loving parents have shown hope in a world filled with travail. The new child has the potential to be a channel of God’s love and peace to the world.

This is all true in a magnificent way in Mary. If Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s love, Mary is the foreshadowing of that love. If Jesus has brought the fullness of salvation, Mary is its dawning.

Birthday celebrations bring happiness to the celebrant as well as to family and friends. Next to the birth of Jesus, Mary’s birth offers the greatest possible happiness to the world. Each time we celebrate her birth, we can confidently hope for an increase of peace in our hearts and in the world at large.

Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

7. August, 2019Past EventsNo comments

The Story of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.

We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries, the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However by the 13th century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names—Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption—from at least the fifth or sixth century. Today it is celebrated as a solemnity.

Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testaments, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.

Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to believe in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven.

Reflection

In the light of the Assumption of Mary, it is easy to pray her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) with new meaning. In her glory she proclaims the greatness of the Lord and finds joy in God her savior. God has done marvels to her and she leads others to recognize God’s holiness. She is the lowly handmaid who deeply reverenced her God and has been raised to the heights. From her position of strength she will help the lowly and the poor find justice on earth, and she will challenge the rich and powerful to distrust wealth and power as a source of happiness.

Assumption OLOL Picnic, August 17th 2019

7. August, 2019Past EventsNo comments

On the occasion of the feast of
Assumption of the Virgin Mary,

Our Lady of Lebanon Church
invites you all to a Picnic.

A shout out to OLOL’s Youth groups:
OLOL Summer Campers
IGNITE OLOL
SPARK OLOL
along with their parents and friends to join us at
OLOL’s Assumption Picnic

Date: AUGUST 17, 2019 (starting 1pm)
Location: “Boyd Conservation Park“
8739 Islington Ave, Woodbridge, ON, L4L 1A6
(Islington & Rutherford)

“Let’s reinforce our Youth’s bonding,
cherish their good camp memories
& start an annual end of summer Youth gathering tradition”

Fun & entertainment activities will be coordinated by camp executives.
Let’s have the Youth come wearing their favorite OLOL camp T-shirt!
Parents and friends, bring your food, BBQ, and let’s celebrate our Youths’ solidarity.
Camp Kitchen Moms will infuse this picnic with their special recipe of SAJ treats.

All are welcome

Entertainment @ Lebanese Festival Toronto 2019,

27. June, 2019Past EventsNo comments

As promised we will be having entertainment all weekend long at the Lebanese Festival Toronto 2019,

Friday 19, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July 2019.

so please join us for some food, music and lots of dancing!

We are waiting for you at the Armenian Centre (50 Hallcrown Pl, North York, ON)

For more information please visit our website:

https://www.lebanesefestivaltoronto.com/
#LebaneseFestivalTO

Pentecost – The Descent of the Holy Spirit

27. June, 2019Past EventsNo comments

This feast of the Pentecost is of great importance as it marks the coming of the Holy Spirit. The “Rabulla Gospels” were with the Maronites since the 6th Century. They are one of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts and are based on the Syriac Peshita version of the Gospel. They also contain this icon of Pentecost. The icon invites us to contemplate the scene of the Gospel and live it in your own life.

The large blue arch in the icon symbolizes the heavenly realm. The trees that are growing above the blue represent the Garden of Paradise. The Holy Spirit descends on the Upper Chamber where the apostles are assembled at Pentecost. “Blessed is He who exalted Adam and caused him to return to Paradise.” (from Hymns on Paradise from St Ephrem)

The dove descending is the Spirit of the Living God. It descends from the blue heavenly realm and enters the earthly realm to rest on Mary who is speaking with the apostles. The dove echoes Jesus earlier baptism. This is also reflective of the scene in Acts 2:3 where tongues of fire res on each disciples head.

The inclusion of Mary in the icon is important. Syriac theology has been instrumental in the development of early Marian theology. Mary is not mentioned in the scene in Acts 2, however she is mentioned as being with the Apostles earlier in Acts 1:14. The icon puts Mary center stage in the scene and puts her in a place of prominence. Her dark blue robe stands in contrast to the paler blue of the apostles and her halo is golden in comparison to the violet of the apostles. The icon is depicting the the gathering of Christ’s Church. Christ had ascended nine days earlier and left Mary as the leading Church custodian among the apostles.

Around Mary you can see a concentration of red which is representative of the divine. This is a typological reference to God who in the Old Testament is fire, for example the burning bush at Mt Sinai. The rocky sapphire stones on which they stand are a reference to Exodus 24:10 “and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.” They now see God by way of the Spirit.

Take a moment this Sunday and contemplate the icon. Feel the warmth of the Spirit in your life, it is the link for us between heaven and earth.