By the edge of Kaftoun you turn right towards the Walnut River (Nahr el Jaouz) valley; on your right a vast expanse of olive groves and on your left the el Majdel Mountain dressed in its majestic green cover of scrub oak. As you approach a small pine forest perched above the river valley, turn left down the steep and winding road descending towards the river. On a spring morning you can observe the dawn mist lifting itself from the river as the sun's rays stream down gloriously from behind the majestic Lebanon mountain peaks. As the cool mist rises from the river you are engulfed by the aromatic fragrances it caries with it from the flowering orange trees in the valley below. The gushing waters of the el Jaouz River break over the large boulders in the valley on their final journey to the Mediterranean. They cry, as if lamenting their inevitable fate, their cries and moans amplified by the echo of the river valley. As you are mesmerized by the sights, smells and sounds of the river you become totally unaware of your purpose, savoring every moment, oblivious of what lies ahead. But then, suddenly, there it is! The Greek Orthodox Theotokos Monastery, nestled by the river's edge, a jewel of spirituality! Adorned and perfectly set within the red limestone cliff above, protected from prying eyes and sheltered from the elements. What a sight! What a find! You rush towards it with adoration and disbelief. Your sanctity restored!

Every day more lives are lost in the country some call Israel and some call Palestine. Israeli gunfire kills Palestinians everyday, many of whom are small children or young teenagers who still have their lives ahead of them. The Israeli's suffer similar casualties on a daily basis due to Palestinian attacks. Many innocent lives on both sides are continually at stake.

Helene, a daughter to Mansour Chahine Chahine and Christine Karam, was born the year 1894 in Kaftoun during the period of the harsh Ottoman rule of Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909). This was a period generally characterized by a laissez-faire policy of corruption. Lebanese Christians were mainly restricted to the mountains by the mutasarrifiyah arrangement. They were unable to make a living, and thus many of them were forced to emigrate to Egypt and the Americas in search of a better life.

Reprinted courtesy of Revd Fr Gregory Hallam
St. Aidan's Orthodox Church,
Antiochian Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland

The little voice in my heart saying "Go to Syria and Lebanon" had been my companion for some time, but it was the visit of His Grace, Bishop John to our parish in January that finally prompted me to go. At last I was to visit the Mother Church, the people, (if not the place!) of whom St. Luke spoke in Acts 11:26 when referring to us as "Christians."