The book by Fr. Halim Noujaim and Dr. Pierre Moukarzel was presented at the Festival of Intelias in Lebanon on 11th March 2010. The Festival is organized by an important Lebanese cultural movement and, as well as being an exhibition, also officially presents recently published books of a certain academic value.
"The Franciscans and the Maronites” was published on 28th November 2009, during the Franciscan Congress for the end of the eighth centenary of the Order of Friars Minor.
The book is in Arabic and is currently being translated into Italian; it is hoped that it will be printed at the end of next summer. The subject is relations between the Franciscans and the Maronites, from 1233 go 1516, i.e. from the first Franciscan envoys from the Holy See to the start of the Ottoman Empire.
The book contains many pages on the glorious history of the Franciscans, which show the complete confidence of the Holy See and of the Maronites in the Franciscans who worked as delegates and representatives between the two parties, encouraging their contacts, both during the period of the Mamelukes and during the Ottoman Empire.
The book is the first in a series of volumes on the Mameluke period (1233-1516). They did everything within their power to break off any contact by the Maronites with the Holy See as they considered those who were in touch with the Holy See as traitors and as such deserving death. The Authors show how the Franciscans were able to keep everybody happy, acting as ambassadors both of the Maronites and of the Holy See, even at the risk of their own lives.
The Holy See depended on the Franciscans to solve the various problems that arose in the Maronite Church, succeeding in restoring peace between the Maronites on several occasions. The Maronites are the only Orientals who have never broken away from the Roman Church: they had a special devotion to the Holy Father, whom they have always considered the Successor of peter and the Vicar of Christ. They have always accepted the decisions of the Holy See with humble submission, to the point of stating, in the time of Leo X: “Leo has spoken, the dispute is over”. This is why various Popes have called the Maronites “the roses amidst the thorns”.
In the book, we have devoted a special chapter to the great apostle of the Maronites, the Blessed Grifone, who spent more than twenty-five years in the midst of the Maronites (1450-1475).
Another chapter is devoted to the great theologian, Gabriel Ibn-Kila’i (1450-1516), who wrote major books on Theology and Dogmatics. His works are today studied by a number of scholars and he has been the subject of many Degree theses. Unfortunately, we Franciscans hardly know him. Gabriele Ibn-Kila’i also wrote on natural sciences and astronomy and is considered the father of popular Arabic poetry. He told the history of the Maronites writing in popular poetry; his verses are a rich source of history, embracing various centuries of the Maronite and Lebanese past. His theory was that when the Maronites are united and subject to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, they are strong and nobody could defeat them but on the contrary when they are divided, they become weak and subjected to others.
This is what I can anticipate on this great poet and theologian I began to study for the preparation of the second volume in this series and the first which makes an in-depth study of the work of Gabriel Ibn-Kila’i.
Fr. Halim Noujaim ofm
"The Franciscans and the Maronites” was published on 28th November 2009, during the Franciscan Congress for the end of the eighth centenary of the Order of Friars Minor.
The book is in Arabic and is currently being translated into Italian; it is hoped that it will be printed at the end of next summer. The subject is relations between the Franciscans and the Maronites, from 1233 go 1516, i.e. from the first Franciscan envoys from the Holy See to the start of the Ottoman Empire.
The book contains many pages on the glorious history of the Franciscans, which show the complete confidence of the Holy See and of the Maronites in the Franciscans who worked as delegates and representatives between the two parties, encouraging their contacts, both during the period of the Mamelukes and during the Ottoman Empire.
The book is the first in a series of volumes on the Mameluke period (1233-1516). They did everything within their power to break off any contact by the Maronites with the Holy See as they considered those who were in touch with the Holy See as traitors and as such deserving death. The Authors show how the Franciscans were able to keep everybody happy, acting as ambassadors both of the Maronites and of the Holy See, even at the risk of their own lives.
The Holy See depended on the Franciscans to solve the various problems that arose in the Maronite Church, succeeding in restoring peace between the Maronites on several occasions. The Maronites are the only Orientals who have never broken away from the Roman Church: they had a special devotion to the Holy Father, whom they have always considered the Successor of peter and the Vicar of Christ. They have always accepted the decisions of the Holy See with humble submission, to the point of stating, in the time of Leo X: “Leo has spoken, the dispute is over”. This is why various Popes have called the Maronites “the roses amidst the thorns”.
In the book, we have devoted a special chapter to the great apostle of the Maronites, the Blessed Grifone, who spent more than twenty-five years in the midst of the Maronites (1450-1475).
Another chapter is devoted to the great theologian, Gabriel Ibn-Kila’i (1450-1516), who wrote major books on Theology and Dogmatics. His works are today studied by a number of scholars and he has been the subject of many Degree theses. Unfortunately, we Franciscans hardly know him. Gabriele Ibn-Kila’i also wrote on natural sciences and astronomy and is considered the father of popular Arabic poetry. He told the history of the Maronites writing in popular poetry; his verses are a rich source of history, embracing various centuries of the Maronite and Lebanese past. His theory was that when the Maronites are united and subject to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, they are strong and nobody could defeat them but on the contrary when they are divided, they become weak and subjected to others.
This is what I can anticipate on this great poet and theologian I began to study for the preparation of the second volume in this series and the first which makes an in-depth study of the work of Gabriel Ibn-Kila’i.
Fr. Halim Noujaim ofm