This Sunday the 3^rd Sunday after the Feast of the Glorious Cross,  and the first Sunday of October we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Rosary. We also commemorate with all of you, at the invite of Besharre Association in NSW, 70 years since the death of his beatitude, Mar Antoun Boutros Arida, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.

His name is a beacon of hope in the hearts of the Lebanese people. His memory is firmly linked to Lebanon’s independence and charity endeavours for its people. When his name is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is a golden cross that was pawned to feed the hungry and the poor during one of the darkest periods in human history, and in the history of Leanon, when the entire world was at war.

He is Patriarch Antoun Arida, son of Bsharri, the town that watches over the Cedars of the Lord, perched on the shoulder of the Qannoubine Valley and filled with the fragrance of holiness emanating from the nearby hermitages.

Born and raised there, Salim ibn Abd al-Ahad, ibn Youssef, ibn Abd al-Ahad, ibn Mikhael, ibn Jirjis Arida, would go on to become one of the most renowned patriarchs of the Maronite Church. He was born on 2 August 1863 and lived to the age of 92. Throughout his long life, he devoted nearly three-quarters of it to the service of souls, the Church, and the nation: 18 years as a priest, 24 years as bishop of the Eparchy of Tripoli, and 23 years as patriarch.

In the sequence of Maronite patriarchs, he is the 72^nd patriarch of the See of Antioch of the Maronite Church. In the succession of those who have occupied the See of Peter in Antioch, he is the 135^th Patriarch since the Head of the Apostles, Saint Peter, who established the See of Antioch before the See of Rome. The Maronite Church is the only church in Antioch and the East whose patriarchs have kept the name of Peter.

On the 70th anniversary of his death, we reflect on the life of Patriarch Arida, and we see the hand of God weaving events with divine care and hope for holiness. After the beatification of Patriarch Estephan Doueihy last year, we are waiting now for the beatification of Patriarch Elias Howayek, that might happen in God willing in 2026. Will Patriarch Arida, who once pawned his cross to feed the hungry, one day join them? Let us pray the Lord.