The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1871-05-28
A Messenger from the Holy Land.

REQ AOOOl OF the ADCicuS Oius.s Va 80
thony of the Desert, and Vicar.Generai
and chorepiscopus of the Archbishop OF
Aleppo (Of the Maronite Catholic rite). IL
now in the city of Boston, on mission
that will appeal to the great Catholic heart
of our community. The Very Rev. Abbot
Maronites, q people who inhabit the slopes
and valleys Of Mount Lebanon, between
Tripolis (Tarablus, Tyre, and the Lake of
Gennesareth-names eternalised by the
mouth of the Saviour.
Having this holy man in our midst-a
Confessor of the Faith, even to blood-for
he bears upon his head marks of the per-
secutiOn in which his two brothers died
" for the faith that was in them"-it is in
teresting to know that the people which he
represents have earned the most honorable
appellatiOn, given them by the celebrated
historian, Able Rorhbacher, of "the model
Catholics of the East." When we look
upon the position and numbers of the
Maronite peOple-when we consider that
they are, and have been for centuries, tri-
bntary to the Ottoman Empire-.-when we
Gee that they are surrounded by hostile
and warlike tribes, who look upon their
religion as falsehood and id"latry-when
dergone for Religions sake during TIE CEN
turtles of their history-what admiration
must we afford to the undespairiDg tepa-
city with which they have chung to their
holy faith!
The history of the Maronites is chequer-
during the war of the Emperor COnstan-
tine Pogonatus against the Mussulmaus, A.
D. 67s. The little Catholic nation was
composed of warlike men, for the constant
incursiOns of the Druses. and other neigh
boring tribes, rendered the sword neces-
sity. The Druses, their most bitter enc
mics, are tribe inhabiting that part Of
Syria lying Immediately southwark of the
Maronites. They are not Mussulmen, but
have derived their name and their religion
from Dursi, an offshoot from the Moslem
stock, who preached his doctrine in AID.
1919. The Maronites, take their name from
St. Marc, Syrian abbot, who lived in the
time of st. John Chrysostom aud after
wards they had bishop given them, John
Marc, a man of great learning and piety,
who had already proved his zeal by his
writings against NestOrius and Eutyches.
The new bishop showed as much skill in
the management of secular business as in
ecclesiastical government. and enkindled
in the hearts of the Maronite people fear
less zeal aud dauntless spirit, which made
them for a time the scourge of the Sara
Gems in Syria.
The Maronites pay an annual tribute to
the Ottoman Empire, and number, accord
ing to the Notisia statistica dele Missioni
Cattoliche (Rome, 1s43), about 5O0,OOO.
They retain the old Syrian language in
their religious service, but their conversa-
tional tongue is Arabic. In 184l nation
al war broke out between the Maronites
and the Druses, which resulted calamitous-
ly for the Maronites. In 1860 the war was
recommended, and the Druses, aided by
the Mahometan population, and even by
the Turkish soldiers. soon OverpOwered the
Maronites, and sought to exterminate every
Christian thing in Syria. About lGO towns
and villages were burned, nearly the en-
80 los1 ofn fhon
men slaughtered, 25, QUO Catholic women
sold to the Turkish harems, and the rest of
the population made beggars. The mas
sacre of Sidon and other places was of I'M
PARALLEL cruelty, and thousands of our
readers must remember the accounts OF the
sacking and massacre of the entire Chris
tian quarter of Damascus, which occurred
on July 10Th, 1860.
Ali these things have occurred very far
away, it is true but not far enough, thank
God, to destroy, OF even to weaken the
fraternity of our Catholic Church. The
destruction of Maronite chapel, or the
sackiDg of o MarOnite convent, gives as
much pain to an American or Irish Catho-
lie as ii the occ urrence were beside them.
The widows and orphans of the Maronite
Catholics murdered by the Turks and
Druses are as near to the Catholic COM
munity as are those of their own race and
color.
| In their terrible. extremity, the Maronite
| people turned their eyes to the Holy Faith
er, beseeching succor and the Pontif gave
| all that his straitened means would allow
to alleviate their suffering. Among the eff
forts to assist the Maronites was the estab-
l,shment of college Of their nation at
Rome, the ground for which was given by
the Holy Father. To solicit aid for the
building Of this college, in which the
| priests of the Maronite people shall be ed
ucated, and also for the widows and Or
phaps, and ruined churches of his country,
the Very Rev. Abbot Chaldany has come
to appeal to the Catholics of the West
He has come to America with the highest
recommendations from tho Catholic au-
thorities of Rome-that of Cardinal Bar
nabo, especially. He has also the cordial
welcome of our Archbishops and Bishops OF
this country. He is at present the guest OF
the jesuit Fathers, at Boston college,
| Pilot.
| A GREAT PARIS PRINTER AND HIS MEN