Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

The Our Lady who was waiting, on the hill of Maghdouché

Maghdouché (Honeymoon)

On the hill of Maghdouché in southern Lebanon, Our Lady of Mantara is venerated. The name itself, "Mantara," evokes the idea of waiting and vigilance, and around that sense has grown a bewildering tradition that has made the place a point of Marian pilgrimage much loved by the Christians of the country.

The local tradition presents the Grotto of the sanctuary as the place where Mary waited for Jesus during his passage through the region. It is a deeply human and moving image: the Mother who awaits, patient, as her Son walks the ways preaching the Kingdom. That memory of waiting has given the site its name and character, and has moved generations of faithful to climb up to the hill to pray.

It must be said with the honesty that the true faith deserves. With available sources, the name and existence of Our Lady of Mantara's sanctuary can be given for certain, as well as its Marian relevance. But the concrete episode of the cave where the Virgin would have waited for Jesus belongs to the pious tradition: there is no independent historical document that verifies it literally, nor a reliable date of origin, construction or consecration of the sanctuary in the material consulted.

This is why it is appropriate to present this story as what it is: a beautiful devout tradition, not a documented fact. Nor does it contain in the sources provided a specific link of Mantara with the Rosary, although, as in every living Marian sanctuary, it is reasonable to assume that it is praying there. What lasts, beyond what files can or cannot confirm, is the strength of an image: that of a Mother who waits, and teaches to wait.