From the Mind of Abouna

The Soul of Lebanon:

As some of you may already know, I am of mixed heritage. On my mother’s side of the family, I am Italian and Native American. On my father’s side I am a mixture of German, French and Lebanese. I guess one could say that I am either the League of Nations or I am scrambled egg.


Any, many years ago, when I was 16 years old, I was blessed to be able to take a trip to the Middle East (Israel, Bethlehem, and Lebanon). This was back at the time that Lebanon was still predominately a Christian country. They had a large number of Orthodox Catholics as well as Eastern Rite Roman Catholics (Uniate) that included Maronites and Melkites. It was also a time when the relationship between Lebanon and Israel were very good.


Any way, while I was in Lebanon, I had the opportunity to visit some interesting places (at least they were interesting to me) such as the Balamand Seminary and a city called Baalbek.


Now for those of you who may not know, and that is probably most, Baalbek is actually two cities right next to each other, or you can call it the modern city of Baalbek and the ancient city of Baalbek which dates back to the ancient days of Rome. The ancient city still has the ancient ruins and amphitheaters. I don’t know about today, but back in the day that I visited there, they used to hold what they called: “The Baalbek International Music Festival”, held in the amphitheaters of the ancient city, where singers, dancers, musicians from all over the Middle East would come to perform. It just so happened that at the time I was there, the music festival was taking place and my cousins insisted that I go. These festivals are held at night and the whole area is lit up with colored spotlights all around.


When I attended, I saw one of the most beautiful woman singers. Her name was Fairouz. She not only had a physical beauty that was out of this world (like a Phoenician goddess) but when she sang, it was like listening to the very soul of Lebanon. From that moment on, I fell in love with her and I decided right then and there that she was my favorite Middle Eastern singer. When I returned home, I would have my cousins in Lebanon send me her latest records every year, but with the onset of the civil war that took place there, I lost contact with them and was unable to get any more of Fairouz’s records.


Fairouz was born a Moslem, but in 1955 she had married and converted to Orthodox Catholic. She continues to be the most popular female singer throughout the Middle East.


I consider myself to be blessed and lucky that I came across the following video on the internet and I have posted it in the hopes that you will find her voice as captivating as I have.