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Mar Georgios Monastery - Der el Harf (Mount-Lebanon)
 Orthodox Church on the left - Melkite Catholic Church on the right | Saint Georges Monastery - Der el Harf Located on a Hill about 1050 m. of altitude, and 33 Km from Beirut. The monastery was first built in the fifth century on the ruins of an ancient Roman Temple. It was destroyed by Sultan Bybros in the thirteenth century. However, in 1326 a pious shepherd named Wehbe bin Muhsin the Lukhmite from Ruha (Jabal El-Druze) was running away from his father who wanted him to marry his niece (and the Orthodox Church does not allow this).Wehbe slept in the ruins of the monastery and in his dream he saw St Georges who ordered him to stay in this place and revive the monastic life. Wehbe obeyed St. George and he became a spiritual father to many and was given the gift of healing. One day, his brother came seeking to be healed from his sickness. Wehbe recognized his brother who was very astonished, to the point that he decided to stay at the monastery and be a monk. Another monk, Youssef, joined them from Beirut. Later on, St. George appeared to some inhabitants of that this region and healed a lot of people. So the monastery became a place of pilgrimage. In 1904 there were four monks and three beginners in the monastery. It seems that later on, the monastic life stopped in the monastery and from 1922 to 1927, the monastery was transformed to a school. In 1957, monastic life was re-established with much fervor. The monastery was left vacant four years (1983-1987) during the war in Lebanon, but the monks returned and added more sections to the monastery. In the monastery there are many manuscripts, especially one of the Ladder of Divine Ascent written in 1769. The Iconostasis of the Church goes back to the late eighteen century. So far, the monastery has written dozens of books and completed numerous translations of Spiritual writing and Church Fathers |
Michel Barakat ©
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