Maronite Church

Maronites (, Lebanese: Marune, Syriac: ܡܪܘܢܝܐ, ) are members of one of the Lebanese or Syriac Eastern Catholic Churches, with a heritage reaching back to Maron, the Syriac Monk in the early 5th century. The first Maronite Patriarch, John Maron, was elected in the late 7th century. Although reduced in numbers today, Maronites remain one of the principal ethno-religious groups in Lebanon and they continue to represent the absolute majority of Lebanese people when the Lebanese diaspora is included. Unique amongst Eastern Rite Catholics, the Maronites are Eastern Christians who have always remained in communion with the Bishop of Rome.
Before the conquest by Arabian Muslims reached Lebanon, both those Lebanese people who would become Muslim and the majority who would remain Christian spoke a dialect of Aramaic.< Syriac (Christian Aramaic) still remains the liturgical language of the Maronite Church.
==See also==
*Cypriot Maronite Arabic
*List of Maronites
*Maron
*Saint George: Devotions, traditions and prayers
==References==
Monasterio San Charbel Caracas Venezuela
== Further reading ==
* R. J. Mouawad, Les Maronites. Chrétiens du Liban, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, 2009, ISBN 978-2-503-53041-3
* Kamal Salibi - A House of Many Mansions - The History of Lebanon Reconsidered (University of California Press, 1990).
* Maronite Church. New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 2003.
* Riley-Smith, Johnathan - The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995)
==External links==
*Congregation of the Lebanese Maronites Missionnaries
*World Maronite Union
*CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY IN LEBANON
*Lcnj.com
*JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR
*Beith Souryoyé Morounoyé
*Maronitecensus.net
*Maronite Rite diocese based in Sydney, Australia
*Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn
*Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon
*Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
*NEW ADVENT
*Catholic Culture: News — Maronite population discussed
*The Maronite history and culture worldwide: Maronite Worldwide Knowledgebase
*el Khazen Family Prince of Maronites: Lebanese Families Keserwan Lebanon
*Ain-Ebel
*Maronite History
*The Maronite Monks of Adoration, Most Holy Trinity Monastery
*The Druzes and the Maronites under the Turkish Rule from 1840 to 1860 Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. [Reprinted by] Cornell University Library Digital Collections
*Maronitische Christliche Union Deutschlands 
 
Category:Syriac people
Category:Christianity in Lebanon
Category:Lebanese society
Category:Eastern Catholicism
Lebanon
Category:Ethnoreligious groups