Mar Saba

On 5 December we venerate Mar Saba in the Maronite Saint’s calendar.

 

“It pleases our Synod to remind Maronites that the conversion of many Syrian and Lebanese to Christianity during the Roman era occurred at the hands of preachers motivated by apostolic zeal, and foremost among them were monks, disciples of Saint Maron of Cyrrhus, Saint John Chrysostom, and Simon Stylite.

Antiochan Syriac Maronite Church Synod Text of 2006 (In English)

 

Monks and hermits have always been an integral part of the Maronite Syriac Heritage. Mar Saba is a popular saint venerated by Maronites and with many Maronite churches named after him. Mar Saba was born to noble parents. At age 8 he abandoned his life in the world and entered into the nearby monastery of Bishop Flavian of Antioch where he studied the Scriptures. His parents asked him many times to leave and be married and he refused. By age seventeen he committed his whole life to being a monk and went to Jerusalem to learn from the example of the solitaries of that country. He loved silence and by the age of 30 decided he wanted more. He decided to spend five days a week in a remote cave in prayer and manual labour. Mar Saba later retired further into the desert towards Jericho, where he spent four years in total isolation. After Mar Saba had lived there for some time, many came to him desiring to serve God under his direction. He was at first unwilling, but eventually founded a new lavra (a lavra is a cave where hermits live). The number of his disciples increased to 150, but no priest served the community. Mar Saba received ordination in 491 AD. The reputation of his sanctity drew people from remote countries to his lavra.

It is claimed that many miracles took place through the prayers of Mar Saba including a spring of water welling up at the lavra during a time of drought. 

His Great Lavra long continued to be the most influential monastery in those parts, and produced several distinguished monks, among them St John of Damascus. It is now known as the monastery of Mar Saba and is in modern day Palestine.

 

Many Maronites have lived out the tradition of hermit including our founding father St Maroun, St James of Cyrrhestica, and of course St Charbel,

 

“These pious hermits strove and others continue to strive for union with God through solitary life, austere existence, and their spiritual and pastoral ministry to the pilgrim visitors.

Their lives of prayer, abstinence, their assumption of others' troubles, their retreat from the world into the solitude of grottos, rock-hewn shelters, caves, and hermitages did not insulate them from the concerns and sufferings of their fellow man. On the contrary, their awareness was heightened. The days and nights of these hermits were spent in prayer and chanting, meditation, penance, and physical labor to achieve a close bond with God for their own salvation and that of the world.”

You can learn more about our Maronite Monks from this wonderful article.

http://maroniteinstitute.org/MARI/JMS/october99/The_Maronite_Hermits.htm