Beirut (Lebanon), 05/30/2017, Sr. Henriette-Myriam.- For the first time In the month of May, the Church of Maronite Rite, where we actually are now (since we were before in the Latin Rite): Father Georges, priest of the Mar Takla Parish and a group of parishioners invited us to live the Marian pilgrimage. Sister Bernadette of Lourdes and myself (after twenty years of presence in Lebanon), have lived these beautiful daily celebrations from family to family with the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the morning, the statue arrived in the family where we would go in the evening (the statue would stay there until the next day).
Each evening at the parish, we would go to pray the Rosary at 17:30 followed by Mass at 18:00. At 19:00, we would continue to pray the Rosary again while waiting for Father to leave and to be at the family for 19:30. The first decade was led by the lady of the house, then, taking turns we would continue altogether. We were very happy to pray the Chapelet in Arabic and to be participating in it. Once the Chapelet ended, the special chant of Oriental rites for the Blessed Virgin were prayed with much fervor and love, followed by the Marian Litanies which closed the time of prayer.To end the evening, a meal would let us see each time the richess and variety of Lebanese dishes; these gatherings have allowed us to discover great artists: musicians, painters, cooks, even gardeners, and sometimes we have returned home by 23:00. We were very happy to have known the great faith in prayer in this immense Lebanese fervor. The evening of May 31, closing day of the month, Sister Victoria joined us for the solemn Mass and procession, which lasted three hours. We thank the Lord for giving us the grace to discover and to live the richess of the beautiful Maronite Rite after so many years in Lebanon.
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