Saint John Maron
Traditionally the first Maronite patriarch, a figure hard to verify
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Bishop
- Life
- 628 – 707
- Era
- 8th century
- Feast
- 2 March
- Countries
- Syria, Lebanon
Life story
According to Maronite tradition, John Maron was born in 628 in the area of Sarmin, now in Syria, and was a monk linked to the monastery of Saint Maron. He is counted as patriarch of Antioch for the Maronite community from 685 to 707; some modern works place the moment he claimed the title around 685 or between 687 and 701. He died in 707 at Kfarhay near Batroun in Lebanon, where a shrine honours him.
His setting is the Byzantine Empire and the clashes on its Syrian frontier. The main account of his life was written only about a thousand years after his death, in the late seventeenth century, by the Maronite patriarch Estephanos Doueihi. The Maronite community accepted the Council of Chalcedon, but older sources link it in this period with Monothelitism, a position the Maronites have disputed.
As to historical certainty, the Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) holds that his existence is extremely doubtful and that if he lived he was a simple monk, adding that the first Maronite patriarch known with certainty dates from 1121. Other scholars accept that he existed but say the authorship of works under his name is disputed. The Maronite Church venerates him as a saint by long-standing tradition, not through a modern canonisation process of the Holy See; his feast, 2 March, was moved there from 9 March in 1778.
Works and witness
- By tradition, first Maronite patriarch of Antioch, about 685 to 707
- His main biography was written only about a thousand years later, in the late seventeenth century
- By tradition died in 707 at Kfarhay near Batroun
- Venerated as a saint in the Maronite Church, feast on 2 March
Saints from the same country
References
- Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent): 'Maronites'
- Maronite Voice, St. John Maron (maronitevoice.org, 25 February 2019)
- Wikipedia, John Maron (traditional dates; scholarship of F. Nau; canonisation 'pre-congregation')
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.