Zgharta Zawie Online Magazine

Who's Who Caza - Zgharta

Zgharta - Zawie Online Magazine

Gibrael Al-Sahyouni

(Sionita in latin) 1577 – 1648

Born in Ehden in 1577, he was sent by Patriarch Sarkis Al- Rizzi to the Maronite school in Rome at the age of seven. There he learnt the following languages: Latin, Italian, Arabic, Turkish, Syriac, Greek and Hebrew. He went then to Paris and learnt the French and in 1620 he got a Ph.D. degree. He became a priest in the year 1622.

Gibrael had a career in the university of Rome then in Venice teaching oriental languages for 20 years (1594 – 1614). King Louis XIII of France asked Pope Paul V to send Gibrael to the Royal Academy now known as College de France in Paris in order to teach oriental languages. He came to Paris in 1614 after spending 30 years in Italy. He was nominated the official translator of the King of France.

He then translated the Bible into seven languages and published it in five volumes of 4200 pages (known as polyglotte). Through the years he wrote many books among them one of the firsts in Arabic grammar.

The Maronite College of Rome.

It was during the reign of the Maanis that the Maronite College in Rome was established. On July 5th, 1584, Pope Gregory inaugurated the Maronite College in Rome, satisfying the aspirations of the community and opening to its students the way to success. In his bull the Pope declared:

'We hope that the students of this college during the days ahead, after being formed in piety and the true religion, which are of the tree of Sion and of the teaching of the Roman Church, head of all the Churches, will return home to the cedars of Lebanon to serve their community, renewing in their country faith in God. This is why, with full knowledge of the facts and by virtue of our apostolic authority, we establish the Maronite College, where the students of this community may learn good behaviour, devotion, the true doctrine, and all the virtues which every Christian must have.'

With the arrival of the first students in Rome, the dreams of the Pope became a reality, and the whole Maronite community began to emerge from the shadows. More than that, the Maronite community now had means of access to Europe and to the world beyond, and was able to play its role as an intermediary between East and West and cement Latin-Lebanese relations.

One of the earliest graduates to remain in Europe was Gabriel Sionite, who taught Syriac and Arabic in Rome, occupied the chair of Semitic languages in what is now the College de France on Paris, served as an interpreter to King Louis XIII, worked on the compilation of the Paris polyglot Bible which was the first to include Syriac and Arabic in its columns. The Career of of Gabriel was exactly paralleled by Ibrahim al-Haqili (Echellensis) who also worked with him on the Bible. Others include Mirhej Ben Namroun, who was also a professor and an interpreter.

Another outstanding Maronite figure was Joseph Assemani, who as director of the Vatican Library made it a world leading depository. His research covering Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, and Ethiopic, were embodied in his massive Bibliotheca Orientalis which remains a mine of information to this day. As the historiographer of the king of Naples and of Italy, he produced a four volume work which won him citizenship of that country. The Pope sent Assemani as his delegate in 1736 to the synod held at Dier al Louaizeh and the resolutions reached sealed the union between the Maronite Church and Rome.

Perhaps the most famous graduate was Patriarch Douaihy who was able to compile, among many other works, the earliest major history of jis church and community, making him the father of Maronite history. Furthermore he 'visited every diocese to choose holy and educated priests. He examined the liturgical books, corrected the errors introduced into them by the copyists, read and adapted the works of historians, both eastern and western, and wrote books some of which are still unpublished.' (Patriarch Jacob Awad)

The Patriarchs now found themselves in a position to encourage the education of their people. As the famous Lebanese Synod said:
'In the name of Jesus Christ we urge you all, the ordinaries of the dioceses, of the towns, villages and hamlets, and of the convents, to work together to encourage this undertaking, which will bear much fruit. The chiefs of the people must find teachers wherever they can, and take the names of all the children able to learn, and order the parents to bring their children to school even against their will. If they are orphans or if they are poor, let the church or the monastery feed them, and if it cannot, let it contribute one half of the cost and the parents the other.' (The Lebanese Synod, 529)

Now western religious communities began to settle in Lebanon. The Capuchins were the first in 1626, followed in 1635 by the Carmelites and in 1656 by the Jesuits. The process went steadily ahead.

These religious orders came in order to serve the Lebanese. They opened schools in which the youth of the country were formed, schools whose academic level was on a par with those of Europe itself.

Schools were opened one after the other, until there was one adjoining every Maronite Church. Some, such as those of Ain Warka, Mar Abda, and Haouka, flourished and gained a reputation for themselves. Once the Lebanese, at that time mostly Maronites, had acquired a good education, they were at the forefront of Arab intellectual progress, and played a leading role in the cultural Renaissance of the Middle East.

First Maronite Order was established in 1694, when 'Gabriel Hawa, Abdallah Qara’li, and Youssef Bin Albeten, approached Patriarch Douaihy to request his permission to establish a religious community that follows a religious rule and constitutions under the authority of superiors who would be under a superior general. The members would take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, under the patronage of St Anthony, the father of hermits. The Patriarch looked favorably on their demand, thanked them, and blessed their enterprise.' (Debs, 253)