The Virgin Mary in Lebanon – Volume II – Districts of Tripoli, Menieh, Dounnieh, Zgharta-Zawyeh (Bilingual: English – Arabic)

The Virgin Mary in Lebanon – Volume II – Districts of Tripoli, Menieh, Dounnieh, Zgharta – Zawyeh

العذراء مريم في لبنان – اقضية طرابلس المنية – الضنية – زغرتا 

by Anwar Saber

In this volume we tackle three districts as per the official divisions of 1930. Father Henry Lamens says, “Maronos was the first bishop of Tripoli. St. Peter, the Apostle, appointed him when he passed through the city and ordained twelve ministers with him.” During the times when Christians were oppressed and persecuted, these districs of Tripoli gave the Church many martyrs. Today, Tripoli is the Episcopal See of the Maronites, the Orthodox and the Catholic Melkites. It also includes a number of churches, five of which are dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Despite the relatively small number of churches in Donnieh, six of them dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The name of the region is probably a distortion of the word Al-Zonnieh, in reference to the Noussayriyyine, who were known as the people of Al-Zan and who came to the region during the time of the Crusaders.

The Christian presence in the region regressed with the invasion of the Mamluks and the clashes that took place between the Shiites and the Sunnites, as well as the slaughter of the Hmadeh clan by the Raad clan.

As for the caza of Zgharta-Al Zawyeh, at present it constitutes 54 towns and villages, most of which are of the Maronite confession. It is surrounded on its four sides by Our Lady of the Fort (Al Hosn),

Our Lady of Mezyarah, Our Lady of Zgharta and Our Lady of Hamatoura. Further, there are 41 shrines dedicated to the Virgin Mary distributed over 27 towns and villages of Zgharta-Al Zawyeh.
 

Language(s): Bilingual English – Arabic
ISBN: 9953418128
1997, Paperback, 261 pages, 19 x 30 cm

Book Condition: New
Publisher: Notre Dame University, Lebanon