You Who Live in the Wild
To the righteous saint Maron the hermit on his name’s day
Dr. Michel E. Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
Peace be upon you, you ascetic Cyrus of Antioch, defiant of nature.
Peace be upon you, O trustee of the pledge of allegiance, O you who carried it in the folds of your mind and soul to rugged mountains and remote regions, conveying the good news of El, the incarnate God, to those who were still worshiping the stone.
Peace be upon you, O you who transformed the pagan temple into a church, destined to be holy and apostolic.
Peace be upon you, O you whose shrine has been sought by thousands seeking health for their souls over against the health of their bodies.
How great is your faith, which gave you patience and made you choose a hard and bitter life, as a testimony to the One who was given vinegar to quench His thirst while He was bleeding on the cross.
Solid is your faith, firm is your belief, and deep is your insight, O son of the North, the wounded Antioch.
People like you are the leaven of righteousness, spreading their faith to thousands of people, as they are a role-model to follow and an example that inspires all.
It is not surprising that believers establish, in your name, a church inspired by you, inspired by your life as well as by your radiance on your society.
Your church, the Syriac Church of Antioch, has been clothed with your righteousness, as it has followed in your footsteps establishing the faith wherever her children have settled grinding rocks to build church edifices, monasteries, and institutions, in the likeness of other children of the community of the Incarnate One Who has defied oblivion.
Your asceticism and the radiancy of your faith have given birth to believers who are considered as a disgrace to modern civilization, as the creature in it is drowned in selfishness and is engulfed in life's pleasures to the point of disgust.
Come and see how greedy mankind is as it destroys the gift of the Creator and how its adepts destroy each other by inventing satanic means that beget evil demeanors.
Come and see how much humanity needs people like you today, and they are not a few, in order to heal its wounds.
Let me repeat what Saint John Chrysostom wrote to you in the letter he addressed to you while he was in exile, as he said: “We are bound to you by the bond of love and feeling. We behold your presence with us for such is that which the eyes of mutual love perceive. We had strongly wished for our messages to your godliness be more frequent, but this is not an easy matter as the route to you is arduous and those who trod it but a few as well”.
How true is this saying today: “The road is difficult and those who trod it are but a few.” As considered in a figurative sense:” Bumpy are the paths of righteousness and narrow are the straight and honorable ways of life”.
We will continue to honor you and we will praise you in our prayers, under our various names, singing to you your troparion: “You have withered bodily pleasures, in accordance with your name, Maroun, graced by God. We behold you as a chosen vessel of the Spirit. You distribute to all the gifts of healing to body and soul. We honor your gracious memory as we sing: Glory be to the One who gave you strength, glory be to the One who crowned you, glory be to the One who bestows through you healing for all.”
You the symbol of ascetic life, will remain an inspiration to the Church of Christ for many generations to come, until the end of time.