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We are currently active in the following churches:
Saint Ephrem Maronite Church, El Cajon, California
Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church, Millbrae, California
Saint Joseph Maronite Catholic Church, Phoenix, Arizona
Saint John Maron Church, Anaheim, California
Saint Sharbel Maronite Mission, Newton square, Pennsylvania
Our Lady of Lebanon, Los Angeles, California
Saint George, San Antonio, Texas
If you would like to start a Maronite Outreach chapter in your church please contact us at info@maroniteoutreach.org and we will send you the information you need to get started
Contact info:
St. Ephrem Maronite Church, El Cajon, California
SAINT EPHREM CHURCH
750 Medford Street
El Cajon, CA 92020
frmouannes@stephrem.org
http://www.stephrem.org/index.htm
Father Nabil Mouannes, Ph.D
The story of the thriving parish that has made history in the Maronite Catholic church, started several decades ago. In the mid-1970s, Maronite Archbishop Francis Zayek requested the establishment of Saint Ephrem Mission, named after the fourth century Syrian hermit and Doctor of the Church, famous for his theological writings and hymns. At the same time, several local Maronite families were seeking a priest who could provide the Maronite liturgy. The archbishop referred them to Father Dennis Krouse. This eventually developed to monthly Maronite liturgies being held at USD's Founder's Chapel, and celebrated by Father Krouse or Father Antoine Bakh of Anaheim. Later on, Masses were held at Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Church and by 1990 Fathers Krouse and Bakh were providing a weekly Sunday Liturgy for the Maronite community.
In 1992 Father Mouannes arrived as Saint Ephrem Mission's first permanent pastor. He had originally hoped to do missionary work in a primitive, unchurched area and start a church from scratch. The Mission moved its Masses to St. Augustine's Chapel in the mid-1990s, where it stayed until Saint Ephrem bought its present facility in El Cajon from a Lutheran church in 1999. Upon father Mouannes' arrival in San Diego in 1992, the Mission had 20 active families. Saint Ephrem's now numbers about 300 registered families with approximately 200 families regularly attending its Sunday Arabic Liturgy, although up to 1,000 show up for major observances such as Christmas and Holy Week. He estimates that, in the San Diego area, there are as many as 5,000 Lebanese families half of whom are probably Maronites, some of whom attend other churches.
In 1999 the eparchy elevated the status of Saint Ephrem Mission to that of a parish and Bishop John Chedid consecrated it. As further evidence of Father Mouannes' missionary zeal, in the early 1990s he started Saint Joseph's Maronite parish in Phoenix, which now has its own pastor. Subsequently he took over as pastor at Saint Sharbel Mission in Las Vegas, which has 100 families and recently started a Maronite mission in Denver, which now has 70 families and will be called Saint Rafqa.
In autumn 2000 the parish opened Saint Ephrem Academy first Maronite catholic school in the United States and Canada. Saint Ephrem's also sponsors an Arabic language course for children at the parish on Saturday mornings, which is going on its 12th year and achieving great results.
In February 2001 the Maronite patriarch visited Saint Ephrem's for the first time and blessed the ground where a shrine dedicated to the virgin Mary was subsequently built.
Beyond building the shrine, Saint Ephrem's plans to build a parish hall, develop a graded children's playground and is contemplating replacement of the existing church building with one that conforms more closely to traditional Maronite architecture.
The prevailing spirit at Saint Ephrem's is evident in Father Mouannes' assessment of the parish's progress: From the beginning, when I arrived here, and until now, everything that is happening with us [Saint Ephrem's] is because of her [Mary] ; I have to say it. I was praying, asking her to help us and give us exactly what we need, and she sent me the right person at the right time, always. "Everything that Saint Ephrem has achieved", he said, "has been "only by prayer."
Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church
600 El Camino Real
Millbrae, CA 94030
abouna@sbcglobal.net
http://www.olol-sf.org
Fr. Toufic Nasr, Pastor, 650-589-9653
Saint Joseph Maronite Catholic Church
5406 EAST VIRGINIA AVE.
PHOENIX, AZ 92805
sjmc@exo.com
http://www.jstjosephmaronitecatholicchurch.org
Fr. Ghassan Matter, M.L.M., 602-667-3280
Saint Joseph Maronite Catholic Church is the home of more than 150 families who live in the heart of the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix, Arizona. The dream of building a Maronite community in Arizona began to see light in the year 1989. Two years later the Mission of Saint Maron was established with a small group of people who gathered once a month to celebrate mass. After that a succession of visiting priests, starting with Father Nabil Mouannes, helped the mission grow.
Saint Maron Mission was later named Saint Joseph Mission. The mission got a permission to apply for tax exemption in 1992. Through the generosity of a blessed anonymous donor, a church with a rectory was purchased on December 1998, with the first mass on Christmas day. On August 8, 1999 Bishop Chedid named Fr. Ghassan Matar M.L.M. resident administrator for Saint Joseph Maronite Catholic Church.
Saint John Maron Church
1546 EAST LA PALMA AVENUE
ANAHEIM, CA 92805
sjmc@exo.com
http://www.johnmaron.org
Fr. Antoine Bakh, Pastor, 714-520-5303
Subdeacon Al Harb: 714-871-4002, Deacon Ed Corey: 714-529-6098
Saint John Maron Parish started as a mission in 1981 by a handful of Maronite families who wanted to hold on to their faith and heritage. They initially had mass on Saturday evenings at a Roman Catholic Church in Fullerton, near Anaheim. The normal attendance was about 25 persons.
In 1988, the mission was named in the honor of the first Maronite Patriarch who is Saint John Maron. In October of 1989, the present pastor, Father Antoine Bakh was appointed administrator of the mission. In 1995, the community had grown and become organized which allowed the purchase of the present church in Anaheim. From that point onwards, the family had a home.
St. Sharbel Maronite Mission
Fr. Paul Moorrad
3679 Providence Road
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(215) 723-8444
Our Lady of Lebanon
333 S San Vincente
Los Angeles, California 90048
Phone: (310) 247-8322
Saint George
Fr. Fadi Helwanji, Fr. John Nahal
6070 Babcock Rd
San Antonio, Texas 78240
Phone: 210-690-9569
http://www.stgeorgesa.org
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