Our Lady of Ramat church
1- Ramat
A small farm appurtenant to the monastery of St Cyprian and Justina - Kfifan, appurtenant to the Lebanese Maronite Order.
It is Located on the main road leading from the
2 - Our Lady of
In Ramat, there is a Church on the name of Virgin Mary, the historians, agreed unanimously that the church dates to the Crusaders period, and more specifically before 1130, and maybe the Patriarch Jacob had made it a Patriarchal Center when he resorted to the region to escape from persecution, and the Patriarch Jeremiah Al-Amchiti (1199-1230) made Kfifan monastery his Patriarchal Center... We do not know exactly the history of the Church, but the door is left open to the scientists’ for research and exploration and giving accurate information...
Reparation works that was recently carried out for the building (summer 2000) indicate that the church is part of a completed building; it is perhaps a monastery, because the Maronite Patriarchs reside only in the monasteries... The wood roofing covered with soil might have been burnt; and only the building vaulted with stones was safe from fire, and that is the church that was deformed and renovated as it is shown in the signs of the building from inside.
The presence of skeletons out of the church support this view, especially from the eastern side, where burial ground signs are still visible. It is a building built with vaulted stones, along with small pieces of stone in the form of cubes, rowed as mosaic, immersed in lime, in addition to ancient pottery pieces, and a huge stone that is more than 1.25 m in diameter, and it seems that it was used as a mill... it is currently put in the courtyard of the church to the west. Some pieces of polished rock tiles were also found; they were removed from their places and re-paved at the entrance of the church and the stairs leading to it.
The length of the church from outside is 12,25m and from inside 11,50m, and its width from outside is 10, 20 m and from inside 4,25m and its height from outside is 5,50m and from inside 4,50m. It has one entrance to the western side, one window to the southern side and one aperture in the crook with a diameter of 3.70 meters. The church is built with a concavely vaulted stone. Its floor is paved with rock tiles, the length of its current altar is 1.48 m, its width is 1.23 m and its height is 0.93 m, and under the floor the skeletal remains found during excavation were put, and maybe they are for Patriarchs, monks and seculars who lived in "the monastery" and its neighborhood ...
About ten meters north east of the church, there is a well, engraved in the rock, where winter rains accumulate, and it was certainly used by the population of the "monastery", and very close to the church, there are some old houses built similar to Lebanese houses style...
In view of the historical and archaeological importance of the church, bringing out the very important milestones existing in it and its surrounding, and to preserve the genuine Maronite ecclesiastical heritage, the monastery of St Cyprian and Justina - the tomb of St. Namtallah and brother Estefan Nehmeh, launched a workshop, including the church, inside and outside and its proximity, in addition to the road leading to it from the main road, and the lands surrounding the church... being also situated at a distance close to two shrine monasteries: Monastery of Kfifan, the tomb of St. Namtallah and brother Estefan and Jrebta monastery, St Rafqa tomb.
3 - Picture of Our Lady of Ramat
It has a unique beauty, rich in symbols, attractive by its bright Holiness... Whatever it's been said about it, does not meet the right topic, it’s enough that it is the picture of the Mother of God, Our Lady of Ramat.
It is very obvious that the picture of Our Lady of Ramat is not eastern but western art; then it is a picture not an icon. We do not know how it arrived to
The length of the picture that is printed on paper is 0.80 m and its width is 0.50 m and it is kept within a wood framework and protected from the front with a pane, and at the rear side, there is a plank on which it is written ‘’ Ramat’’.
The picture represents Virgin Mary standing and holding with her left hand her child Jesus and with her right hand she holds a bouquet of lily and roses, she is wearing, as her son a beautiful dress decorated with the cross, grapes and flowers. Her head is covered with a long scarf that touches the bottom of the picture; she's wearing, as her child, a crown-cross. The right hand of the Divine Child blesses, and the left one carries a bouquet of flowers such as this of the Virgin Mother, in his wrist there is a hanging rosary.
Here, we can conclude that the picture may date back to beyond the year 1213, namely the launching year of the Holy Rosary honoring with St. Abdul Ahad...
We would like finally to mention that the lilies and roses that decorate the clothes of Jesus and his mother the Virgin Mary, symbolize the divine beauty and the fragrance of divine purity that spread over the humanity with the Incarnation... the symbol of spikes and grapes are also a clear indication to the bread and wine, that are Eucharist elements, the mystery of the secrets of Christianity, God free gifts to the man... As the Virgin Mary gave us God in the Incarnation, she is still giving us divine gift under the forms of the divine bread and wine; she is the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church... Our Lady of Ramat.
Before this picture, referring to the mother of God, Popes, bishops, monks, believers and Saints prayed, there is no doubt that St. Namtallah, Saint Charbel and Brother Estefan have visited this sanctuary and prayed seeking the intercession of Virgin Mary from her son Jesus. There is no doubt also that they received their good requests; they experienced perfection and in our turn we are invited to follow them as they followed Jesus Christ to give us salvation.
Save us Jesus, through the intercession of Our Lady of Ramat, Amen.
Translated by Aline Keyrouz
