Ordination of Fr. Alex –Easton P.A.

We attended the Ordination of Father Alexander Abraham Joseph on Saturday May 25 at Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Easton, Pennsylvania. It was a beautiful Liturgy and Rite of Ordination celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Gregory Mansour and concelebrated by Chorbishop Seely Beggiani and several other priests from Maronite and Roman Catholic Churches.

Below is an excerpt taken from the Rite of Ordination of the Priest while the Bishop imposes his left hand on the Mysteries (the Body of Christ & the Chalice) and his right hand on the candidate’s head, as he prays:

“Mighty and wondrous God, whose greatness and gifts are countless, you know everything before it comes to be. In your grace, call your servant Alex, who is raised from the Order of Deacons to the heavenly Order of Priests. May he always perform good deeds, serve at your altar without stain, and keep your divine word, so that your holy name may be glorified in him both in heaven and on earth, and in the holy Church. He has betrothed himself to her, and in her name is perfected as a priest. Make him worthy to go out to meet you, rejoicing at your glorious second coming, and to receive the reward of your chaste priests. With him, we raise glory to you, now and forever. Amen.”

Recent Events - May 19

Ramsho & Supper- Dartmouth

At this month’s Ramsho and Supper evening on Sunday May 19, we offered our evening prayer and sang Ya Oum Allah (Mother of God) to honor Mary in this month of May and to ask for her powerful prayers and compassion on our dead, and all sinners. Mary, Mother of the Light pray for us.

Our next Ramsho & Supper is Sunday June 9 at 5:00PM. Please RSVP by June 7.

Holy Communion-Brockton

We attended the First Holy Communion Liturgy at St. Theresa’s Church, Brockton on Sunday May 19, where 13 children received the Holy Mysteries. 

MYA Brockton Retreat - Pentecost

Sister Therese Maria teaching on the Holy Spirit and Pentecost at the MYA Retreat on Saturday May 11 at St. Theresa’s Church Brockton, M.A. 

Below is our community’s nine day novena to the Holy Spirit. This prayer is taken from the Pentecost Ramsho Hoosoyo. We pray this the day after the Ascension until Pentecost in preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Novena to the Holy Spirit

And now we beg you, O Holy Spirit,

Spirit of strength, knowledge and fear,

Spirit of wisdom, understanding, compassion and true love:

Sanctify us, body and soul, and we shall be resplendent and spotless sheep.

Heal us of our egotism and enkindle in us the fire of your love;

implant in our spirits the true faith of the apostles;

place within our hearts that good hope and strong consolation

which will raise us above the vanities of this world.

Do not allow us to live with anything that might alienate us from

You and the holiness of your love:

enmity, envy and hatred.

Pour out upon us your gifts, the bearers of life, 

as you did upon the apostles.

Wherever we may be, we shall confidently bear witness by our lives:

in our leisure and our work, in our thoughts and words, 

and by the whole demeanor of our lives through the day and night.

Give us your true life in this world,

And in the world to come we shall glorify you by our deeds,

And praise you with the Father and the Son, 

the life-giving Trinity, forever. Amen.

Youth Events

Holy Communion- Fall River

We attended the First Holy Communion Liturgy on May 5 at Saint Anthony of the Desert parish in Fall River. We are with Leah Dunn and her father Sub deacon Brian Dunn.

We visited the Holy Communion class in March and taught them about the importance of the Sacraments/Mysteries of Penance and the Eucharist. “God is a good God. Yes He is!” was a song we taught them with hand actions in our visit with the children. They happily surprised us when they performed it after receiving their Holy Communion at the conclusion of the Liturgy.

MYO Brockton visit Convent- Dartmouth

On Sunday May 5, the MYO from St. Theresa’s parish in Brockton came to our convent for an afternoon retreat. We had a fruitful and fun time together learning more about the gift of our Catholic faith. We began the session with a get to know you ice-breaker and snacks.

Through visual media we discussed a number of questions: Such as what does it mean to be Catholic? Why are we Maronite Catholic? What is faith? How do we grow faith? Also, we reflected on the central beliefs we profess in the Creed.  For the Feast of Our Lady of Lebanon, in honor of the Mother of God, we processed to our grotto and prayed a rosary for the intention of the sick, our loved ones and for peace.  We concluded the evening with Ramsho & supper.

House Visit with Mary - Boston

We were invited to the home of Agop and Sylvie Nadjarian to welcome the statue of Mary and pray the rosary on Tuesday,May 7. There were 30 ladies and children present as we led the Rosary and sang hymns of devotion to the Mother of God.

After the Rosary prayers, we took the opportunity to share about our mission as Maronite Servants of Christ the Light. A number of the women offered donations in support of our mission and asked for prayers for their loved ones.

It was a blessed evening as we came together as children of Mary to honor and love her as our Mother.