Archbishop Mgr. Abdel Sater from Antonine University: “Lebanese people need peace above all else.”

Father Saghbiny: “To elect a president for a rejuvenated Lebanon.”

Antonine University (UA) inaugurated the Christmas Novena with a prayer led by the respected Archbishop of the Diocese of Beirut, Mgr. Boulos Abdel Sater, at Our Lady of the Seeds Monastery, Hadat–Baabda Campus. In attendance were Fr. Abbot Joseph Bou Raad, Superior General of the Antonine Maronite Order (OAM); Fr. Michel Saghbiny, UA’s Rector; a congregation of monks; Mother Nazeera Khoury, Mother General of the Antonine Nuns; along with MP Elias Bou Saab, Deputy Parliament Speaker; MPs Alain Aoun and Ibrahim Kanaan; former ministers Damianos Kattar and Raymond Arayji; General Joseph Aoun, Army Commander; Brigadier General Antoine Kahwaji, Army Intelligence Director; Major General Tony Saliba, Director General of State Security; Brigadier General Elie Deek representing Brigadier Elias Al-Baysari, Acting Director General of General Security; Mr. George Aoun, Mayor of Hadat; and Mr. Antoine El Helou, Mayor of Baabda–Louaize¬; in addition to various political, military, judicial, security, social, and media figures, as well as members of the administrative and academic bodies of the University and its Board of Trustees.

After the Holy Gospel, Archbishop Mgr. Abdel Sater delivered a sermon highlighting Lebanon’s historical unity and coexistence despite religious and cultural diversity. It served as a message and testimony to the greatness of humanity, religion, and the convergence of cultures. However, he acknowledged the current transformation into territories marked by sectarianism and party affiliations. He pointed out the people’s shift towards factions, engaging in offensive behavior towards each other, clinging to religious and political extremism, and isolating themselves without bridges between them, under the authority of rulers who are solely concerned with increasing their wealth, power, and domination.

Mgr. Abdel Sater continued by saying: “Our rulers in Lebanon raise tensions, openly incite against others, and secretly engage in deals and profits with them. They sometimes reinforce divisions and other times seek domination.” He emphasized that “a divided house would fall, reiterating the essential need for peace rooted in unity and shared responsibility. Hence, the imperative of electing a president for the republic, as the state cannot function without its head, a fundamental component. Let everyone remember that if the structure collapses due to its cracks, it will crumble on everyone’s heads, and there will be no survivors.”

At the end of the Novena, led by the UA Choir under the direction of Fr. Toufic Maatouk, the Rector, in his speech, prayed for Lebanon, saying: “For the second consecutive time, the nation is celebrating as an orphan without a leader. It is imperative that we promptly elect a leader for the common good and the prospect of a rejuvenated Lebanon. We pray, hoping that those in charge of the nation will not drag us into the whirlpool of prolonged uncertainty. Additionally, we pray that they will not deprive us, we who are neighbors of the palace and the president, of the honor of his presence in this glorious occasion.”

Fr. Saghbiny continued: “Tonight, our prayers extend to the journalists, the ‘soldiers of truth,’ remembering especially those who sacrificed their lives to bring us unfiltered truth. May God have mercy on those who gave their lives in pursuit of truth and protect those who remain with His care and in the shadow of His strength.” He also prayed for Palestine in general and Gaza in particular, saying: “The child in the manger and His mother Mary, two faces weeping. Today, we are not praying ‘for children without schools,’ but for schools and holidays without children. The children have gone beyond return, perished because many consciences died before them.” The Rector concluded his speech by imploring the Lord to scatter the cloud of dead consciences from our societies and grant us men and women who are enlightened by the truth that “liberates.” He emphasized that we pray not only for the war to stop or the conflict to end, but we pray here tonight and always for God of peace to grant every newborn the ability to thrive freely in their own land, whether it is called Palestine, Lebanon, or any country suffering from conflict and war.

A cocktail reception followed the Novena with the aim of allowing invitees to spend this uplifting time together and savor the wonderfully wholesome exchange of words.