Our Lady of Kaftoun: Orthodox monastery of Lebanon

Marian devotion

Where is he?

The monastery of Our Lady of Kaftoun is located in Kaftoun, Koura district, northern Lebanon. The map's coordinate comes from the OpenStreetMap node 14096942995 and is rounded to four decimals. It is a point of place: it is not presented as the inner location of the church, caves or a specific icon.

Kaftoun belongs to the tradition of the Orthodox Church of Antioch. This fact sheet therefore retains the advocation and history of the place, but does not present it as a Catholic sanctuary and does not apply to it an approval of the Catholic Church that does not contain.

Documented history

The page of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch dedicated to an icon preserved in Kaftoun expressly identifies the Monastery of Our Lady of Kaftoun in Lebanon. This source also documents a double-sided piece: one side represents the Mother of God and the other the Theophany. The patriarchal description dates the iconographic set between the 12th and 13th centuries, without turning that artistic dating into a date of foundation of the monastery.

The history of the place must distinguish what can be affirmed from the building and its objects from what comes from the monastic tradition. The sources consulted confirm the public existence of the monastery and its Orthodox membership; they do not set a unique date for its first foundation. This is why the gaps are not filled with an invented chronology.

The icon of the Theophany described by the Patriarchate is made on wood and has two sides. The Marian face is interpreted within the iconography of the Mother of God, while the other one shows the baptism of Jesus Christ. The source explains its figures and colors in liturgical and biblical key. The fact sheet reproduces this fact as a history of the object and its ecclesial interpretation, not as an affirmation that the icon has miraculously appeared.

Tradition

Kaftoun is a place of prayer and of the custody of icons within the Orthodox Church of Antioch. The image of the Mother of God is venerated in the framework of the liturgy and the Eastern iconographic tradition. In this tradition, the icon is not treated as a magical object: it refers to the person represented and to the prayer of the community. The faithful ask Mary to intercede before God and consider it in relation to the mystery of Christ.

The patriarchal explanation of Theophany reads the scene from the Gospel: Christ in the Jordan, John the Baptist, the dove representing the Holy Spirit and the prophetic figures surrounding the scene. It's a theological interpretation of the icon. It should not be confused with a story of Marian apparition in Kaftoun.

Legend

There is no local Marian apparition or particular miracle subject to a formal ecclesial declaration in the sources used. The antiquity attributed to the monastery, the fame of its icons and the devotional stories that can be circulated are kept at the level of tradition as long as there is no document to qualify them otherwise.

Ecclesial State

The state indicated is other _ church: the monastery belongs to the Orthodox Church of Antioch. The patriarchal source documents its identity and the veneration of the iconographic piece, but it is not a pronunciation of the Catholic Church or the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. "Permitted Veneration" in the Orthodox sphere is not translated here as Catholic approval of apparitions or miracles.

Anecdotes and stories

A particularity of Kaftoun is that the piece described by the Patriarchate offers two images on the same support. The face of the Mother of God and the scene of Theophany cause the object to relate Marian veneration to the baptism of Jesus Christ. The reading of its colors, gestures and characters shows how a community transmits faith also through matter, wood and visual composition.

The history of the place also calls for respect for the Christian diversity of Lebanon. An Orthodox monastery can share with Catholics the confession of Mary as the Mother of God and at the same time preserve her own ecclesial authority, liturgy and memory. The tab keeps both things together without merging them.

Prayer

Holy Mary, Mother of God, intercedes before the Lord for the monks and pilgrims of Kaftoun, for the Churches of the East and for all the Christians of Lebanon. Take us to Jesus Christ, teach us to live in truth and accompany those who seek peace. Amen.

Sources

• Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, icon of the Theophany of the Monastery of Our Lady of Kaftoun (HTTP 200).
• Antioking Orthodox media center, Kaftoun icon tab (HTTP 200).
• OpenStreetMap node 14096942995, Monastery of Our Lady of Kaftoun (HTTP 200).