MARONITES, in Ecclesiastical History, a sect of oriental Christians, who follow the Syrian rite, and are subject to the pope, their principal habitation being on Mount Libanus.

Mosheim informs us, that the doctrine of the Monothelites, condemned and exploded by the council of Constantinople, found a refuge amongst the Mardaites, a people who inhabited the Libanus and the Anti-Libanus, and who, about the conclusion of the seventh century, were calleci Maronites, after Maro their first bishop; a name which they still retain. None of the ancient writers give any certain account of the first person who instructed these mountaineers in the doctrine of the Monothelites. From several circumstances, however, it is probable that it was John Maro, whose name they had adopted; and that this ecclesiastic received the name of Maro from his having lived in the character of a monk in the famous convent of St Maro, upon the borders of the Orontes, before his settlement amongst the Mardaites of Libanus. From the testimony of Tyrius and other unexceptionable witnesses, as also from the most authentic records, it appears that the Maronites retained the opinions of the Monothelites until the twelfth century, when, abandoning and renouncing the doctrine of one will in Christ, they were, in the year 1182, re-admitted into the communion of the Roman Catholic church. The most learned of the modern Maronites have left no method unemployed to defend their church against this accusation; they have laboured to prove, by a variety of testimonies, that their ancestors always persevered in the Catholic faith, and in their attachment to the Roman pontiff, without adopting the doctrine of the Monophysites, or Monothelites. But all their efforts are insufficient to establish the truth of these assertions to such as have any acquaintance with the history of the church and the records of ancient times; for to all such the testimonies they produce must appear absolutely fictitious and destitute of all authority.

Faustus Nairon, a Maronite, settled at Rome, has published an apology for Maro and the rest of his nation. His tenet is, that they really took their name from the Maro who lived about the year 400, and of whom mention is made in Chrysostom, Theodoret, and the Menologium of the Greeks. He adds, that the disciples of this Maro spread themselves throughout all Syria; that they built several monasteries, and particularly one which bore the name of their leader; that all the Syrians who were not tainted with heresy took refuge amongst them; and that for this reason the heretics of those times called them Maronites.

Mosheim observes, that the subjection of the Maronites to the spiritual jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff was agreed to upon this express condition, that neither the popes nor their emissaries should pretend to change or abolish any thing which related to the ancient rites, moral precepts, oř religious opinions, of this people; so that in reality there is nothing to be found amongst the Maronites which savours of popery, if we except their attachment to the Roman pontiff, who is obliged to pay very dearly for their friendship. For, as the Maronites live in the utmost distress and poverty, under the tyrannical yoke of the Mahommedans, the bishop of Rome is under the necessity of furnishing them with subsidies to appease their oppressors; to procure a subsistence for their bishop and clergy; to provide all things requisite for the support of their churches, and the uninterrupted exercise of public worship; and in general to contribute to lessen their misery.

The Maronites have a patriarch who resides in the monastery of Cannubin, on Mount Libanus, and assumes the title of patriarch of Antioch, and the name of Peter, as if he seemed desirous of being considered as the successor of that apostle. He is elected by the clergy and the people, according to the ancient custom; but, since their reunion with the church of Rome, he is obliged to have a bull of confirmation from the pope. He observes perpetual celibacy, as well as the rest of the bishops his suffragans; but as to the other ecclesiastics, they are allowed to marry before ordination, though the monastic life is in great esteem amongst them. Their monks are of the order of St Anthony, and live in the most obscure places in the mountains, far from the commerce of the world.

As to their faith, they agree in the main with the rest of the eastern church. Their priests do not say mass singly, but together, all standing around the altar. They communicate in unleavened bread; and the laity have hitherto partaken in both kinds, though the practice of communicating in one has latterly been gaining ground. In Lent they eat nothing after sunrise; and their other fastings are very numerous.