Wadi Kannoubine

-"Kannoubine": word of Greek origin, which means "the community life". The Holy Valley extends over a 35 km length. It was the refuge of the Maronites who came there in the medium of VII century and lived in a patriarch unit there, monks, hermits, populate.

As one advances into the deep-cut valley of Kadisha, one is surrounded by mountains towering over the gorge, leaving only a patch of the sky visible overhead, it is all crag and mountain rock, soaring heights and plunging depths. It is a land still bearing the imprint of its Creator, and is a source of revelation and inspiration to action. If one looks down from the shoulder of one of the great mountains into the three-thousand-foot depths of the gorge below, one is overwhelmed by a sense of power, and one wants to seize some twisted tree- trunk or jutting crag so as not go falling into the vast space between plunging cliffs. One European traveller recounted how the Patriarch, like a second Moses risen from the pages of the Old Testament, guided his people from his austere retreat among the rocks. Our Lady of Kannoubine was where the Patriarch took refuge during the period of great hardship, which lasted 383 years, it was the seat of 24 Maronite Patriarchs from 1440 to 1823, they were:

John of Jaj (1440-1445), Jacob of Hadeth (1445-1468), Joseph of Hadeth (1468-1492), Symeon of Hadeth (1492-1524), Moussa AKARI of Barida (1524-1567), Michael RIZZI of Bkoufa (1567- 1581), Sarkis RIZZI of Bkoufa (1581-1596), Joseph RIZZI of Bkoufa (1596-1608), John MAKHLOUF of Ehden (1608-1633), George OMAIRA of Ehden (1633-1644), Joseph HALIB of Akoura (1644-1648), John Bawab of Safra (1648-1656), George Rizkallah of Bseb'el (1656- 1670), Stephen DOUAIHY of Ehden (1670-1704), Gabriel of Blaouza (1704-1705), Jacob AWAD of Hasroun (1705-1733), Joseph DERGHAM Khazen of Ghosta (1733-1742), Symeon AWAD of Hasroun (1743-1756), Toubia EL KHAZEN of Bekaata Kanaan (1756-1766), Joseph STEPHAN of Ghosta (1766-1793), Michael FADEL of Beirut (1793-1795), Philip GEMAYEL of Bikfaya (1795-1796), Joseph TYAN of Beirut (1796-1808), John HELOU of Ghosta (1808-1823).

All of those named above were God-fearing men, servants of their people. The valley stands witness to their holiness and the sincerity of their quest for God through austerity and frugality. People said of them, 'Their crosses are made of wood, but their hearts are made of gold.'

The suffering the people faced united them under their leaders, in turn under the authority of the Patriarch. The Mukaddam of Bsharri was the chief of this whole region and he established some semblance of peace and order. But even the times of peace were not without trouble as people constantly feared for their lives, a report made by a traveller who visited Kannoubine in 1475 , stated :

'The Maronite nation has lived under occupation enduring continuous oppression and tyranny. All over Lebanon one finds ruin, tears, and terror. Under the pretext of gathering a certain tax called the Gezia, the authorities strip the peasants of all their belongings and beat them with sticks, and torture them in order to extract from them all that they possess. Many would have perished had not their aged patriarch, Peter son of Hassan, come to their rescue. Terrified by the perils that threatened his people, the Patriarch gave away all the revenues of the Church to satisfy the rapacity of the tyrants. The door of the patriarchal monastery was sealed, and the Patriarch sometimes had to hide in caves as did Popes Urban and Sylvester.' (Marcellin de Civezza, Histoire universelle des missions franciscaines, Paris 1858, vol. 3, p. 209)

In Wadi Kannoubine, the Maronites heard the Gospel and lived by it. Theirs was a life of sacrifice inspired by the true faith and by hope, and so their lives were directed. They were an example of unity and love. In Wadi Kannoubine the Maronites had no need to be urged to pray. Wadi Kannoubine is in itself an invitation to the forgetfulness of self, to meditation, and to prayer, an invitation that the Maronites did not refuse. 'They spent their time as the first Christians did, learning from the Apostles' (Acts II:42). Some of them felt the need to live a life more fully devoted to prayer; many men and women sought God away from the haunts of men, and soon the caves in the valley became the retreats of hermits devoted to the inner life of union with the Creator.

The Maronites at that time were always under the threat of famine through failure of the crops. They were also under the threat of attack on their persons whenever they went out to their fields. But they lived without hate towards any, anxious only to fulfil their mission in this world. They were the Apostles of Jesus Christ. They laboured in patience and in hope. They looked on their enemies as people for whom Jesus had died, people to whom they must convey the message of the Gospel. They made such progress in virtue that in 1515 Pope Leo could write them a letter of encouragement in which he said: 'You have acted without allowing the persecutions and the hardship inflicted on you by the infidels, enemies of Our Saviour, and from the heretics and schismatic, to turn you away from the faith of Christ.'

Even though the Maronites endured famine and deprivation, and were pursued by enemies, they did not bow. They did not accept to be downtrodden. Wadi Kannoubine was indeed their last stronghold,  if it was lost, all would be lost. Now the Maronite people reacted with vigour and initiative. These men and women devoted to prayer, and particularly to the life of the hermitage, increased in number. Schools were opened and the pupils flowed in. Religious orders were founded.

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Quoted from (http://www.kfs10.com.br/loubnan/leb1.htm#North).