Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church of Dormition is the parish church of the Greek Orthodox community in Ras Beirut, an area of the city of Beirut. The church dates back to 1860. Presently, the parish counts 400 families. Its location near the American University of Beirut, the alma mater of many parishioners, gives the church its cosmopolitan character, as well as the fact that many parishioners come from different areas of Lebanon. Furthermore, its survival is ensured by the many who travelled abroad or relocated to other areas within Lebanon who always return to what they consider their mother church.

Establishing and Building the Church 1860-1929

Prior to 1860, the congregation used to pray at Saint George Cathedral situated downtown in Parliament Square, as there was no Orthodox Church in Ras…

Early Priests

Since the church was established in the late 19th century, official records are not available to document the achievements of the individual priests and reflect on…

Expansion and Acquisitions 1930-1978

Expansion 1930 In 1930, after receiving approval for assistance from the parish, the Trustees decided to enlarge the church, as the Church’ s area was…

Father Nicolas Khalaf

Father Khalaf was in charge of the congregation from 1924 to 1953. He lived with his family on the “Waqf” where he used the big…

Father John Sakkab

Father John Sakkab came to Saint Mary’s in 1954. Born on March 1, 1927, Father Sakkab comes from a Palestinian origin. He was intelligent, dynamic,…

Father Germanos El Hage

Father Germanos was ordained in 1970 and was appointed the same year to serve in St. Mary’s Orthodox Church of Dormition to assist Father John…

Further Expansion and Development 1979-1995

In order to meet the congregation’s needs some members of the parish, suggested building a second church adjacent to another concentration of Orthodox in the…

Archimandrite Iskandar Nasr

Archimandrite Iskandar Nasr was appointed to serve at Saint Mary in the summer of 1976. Before being appointed to Saint Mary, Father Nasr was the…

Father Antonios Axarlis

Father Antonios Axarlis was appointed in 1997 to serve at the Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church of Dormition until June 2016 to assist Father Germanos, first…

Father Nicholas Smayra

Father Nicholas Smayra was ordained as a priest in 2003. Late 2016 he was appointed by Metropolitan Elias to serve in St. Mary’s Orthodox Church…

Belonging

St. Mary’s Orthodox Church of Dormition is one of the eleven parishes that constitute the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Beirut. The present archbishop, His Eminence Metropolitan Elias Audi, was elected by the Holy Synod, to the See of Beirut in 1980. The See of Beirut covers the Lebanese capital area and the town of Souk El Gharb, the Metropolitan’s summer resort.

The Greek Orthodox community is the second largest Christian community in Lebanon. It traces its history back to the year 66 A.D. when Quartos, one of the seventy disciples, founded the Church of Beirut. The Archdiocese of Beirut is one of the nineteen archdioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. The current Patriarch of Antioch is His Beatitude John X.

Location, Buildings and Grounds

Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church of Dormition is located in an area of Beirut called Ras Beirut. The church estate (“Waqf”) is on a piece of land covering 7979m2. The Church covers an area of 630m2. Within the limits of the “Waqf” is the Saint Mary’s Orthodox College including a five floor building housing all classes 1-13 and a four floor building housing all preschool classes. Furthermore, within the grounds of the Church is the Church Center including a reception hall, the offices of the priests and the Parish Council, a library, a youth center, a conference hall, and a dispensary. The surface of each floor is 310m2. The estate also includes a rectangular building parallel to Bliss Street. The ground floor contains several shops that are rented out. This building was purchased from the American University of Beirut in 1973. The delimitations of the “Waqf” are Bliss Street and the American University campus from the north, from the south, Makhoul street, and from the east Omar Ben Abd El Aziz street and the American University Hospital.. To the west is the busy shopping street, Jeanne D’Arc.

The Schools of the Waqf

In the early stages, the orthodox children of the parish received religious instruction in the Russian missionary schools which later became the property of the Orthodox Benevolent Association. When the orthodox schools were leased to the Ministry of Education, orthodox priests continued the instruction in the same Orthodox Tradition.

In 1971 negotiations started with the Ministry of Education concerning the building of a more modern school. The old school buildings belonging to the waqf was demolished and over its ruins a modern building rose.

In the same year, the Ministry of Education agreed to evacuate the premises if a co-educational secondary school would be established in place of the old schools. Thus, the Saint Mary’s Orthodox College was founded following the acquisition of a teaching license in the name of the Orthodox Archbishopric in Beirut. The school had a capacity of 715 students at that time, forming an inseparable asset of the Orthodox Waqf. St. Mary’s Orthodox College has today approximately 1400 students.

Soon after the construction of the Church, two primary schools were established in its vicinity.

At the west side of the Church, a school for boys, St. George’s School, was established and on the east side a school for girls, Our Lady Virgin Mary School, was established.

Other free-tuition schools were established in Beirut within the periphery of convents or churches. These schools were built by Russia to demonstrate its concern about the Orthodox community and to teach the community’s children the tenets of their faith and their social rights.

Another aim was to discourage conversion to other faiths which often was encouraged by business relations with the West. In 1880, Russia handed over the management of these schools to the Imperial Palestinian Association which was founded in Russia. The Association took its name from the fact that it started its activities in Palestine. It later extended the establishment of its schools toward the north of Syria and Lebanon. However, the number of these schools was small in comparison to the number of Greek Orthodox in Lebanon at the end of the 19th century. According to Prof. Elias Jahchan, the number of the Orthodox community in 1889 was 27.93% of the total population of Beirut which represented the largest Christian community at a time when the whole Christian community represented 65.65% of all residents.

The Palestinian Association hired most of its schools’ teachers from Russia. They would teach Russian and other languages. The school’s management remained under the custody of the Palestinian Association until the early years of the First World War. Management was then handed over to the Orthodox Benevolent Association. In the early years of Lebanon’s Independence (1948) the two Orthodox schools beside the church were leased to the Ministry of Education as public schools. Archbishop Eliya Salibi deemed it appropriate to lease these two schools temporarily to the Lebanese State in view of the fact that the Orthodox Benevolent Association lacked the required teaching standards. Following the Ministry of Education’s acquisition of the school for girls, its building was expanded in order to accommodate an increasing number of girl students.

In 1971 negotiations started with the Ministry of Education concerning the building of a more modern school to be leased for a higher rent to the Ministry. The Trustees asked Dar al-Handassah to design the building plans and specifications and to supervise construction works. The contract was awarded to architect Elie Chweiry who with the Trustees met Archbishop Eliya Salibi and his assistant Bishop Gofrail Salibi who gave their blessings to start construction.

408763_197897330300737_218820034_n The old school building was demolished and over its ruins a modern building rose. The building had a subground, a ground floor and two higher floors. Construction works were completed the following year (1972). In the meantime, the Trustees studied the possibility of recuperating the “Waqf” schools in order to teach parish children and to provide opportunities for needy parents to enroll their children in the schools. They discussed the matter with the Ministry’s officials but received no favorable response. They subsequently referred the matter to the then Minister of Education, Dr. Najib Abu Haidar. The latter agreed to vacate the premises if a co educational secondary school would be established in place of the old schools. Thus, the Saint Mary’s Orthodox College was founded following the acquisition of a teaching license in the name of the Orthodox Archbishopric in Beirut. The school had a capacity of 715 students of both sexes, forming an inseparable asset of the Orthodox Waqf.

Given that the Secondary School was adjacent to the American University of Beirut (AUB), it was natural that it adopted English as the language of instruction. The school opened its doors for everybody without exception. Thus, it formed a unique example of Christian-Muslim coexistence in an intellectual, cultural and social openness rarely emulated in Lebanon. The Trustees then signed a ten-year management contract with educator Professor Kamel Deeb who ran the school till 1983 when the Trustees decided to terminate the exploitation contract and manage the Secondary School for the Waqf account.

373939_197900173633786_236099177_n The school was headed by the following headmasters: Dr. Layla Nimah (1983-1990), Mr. Ramzi Ataya (1990-1993) and Father Georges Dimas (1993 till present). The headmasters introduced various publications, new educational and recreational programs, modernized the curricula and the methods of teaching. They established a library and laboratories.

During this time, the Trustees added new floors to the school building beside constructing a new four floor building on the northern side of the church. The new building houses all preschool classes.

The “History of the Church” is based on the book “The church and the Orthodox Community in Ras Beirut” by Michel Gebran Rbeiz,