r/Maronite

Our Lady of Faqra Church was built in 1985, designed by the architect Raoul Verney (1930-2017). It is considered an architectural masterpiece due to its unique design.

The site on which the church is built is essentially a square divided into two sections: one containing an open-air church and a small, covered chapel, and the other containing two cultivated gardens, one with wheat and the other with grapes, symbolizing the Eucharist, namely bread and wine.

The church, with its square shape and construction of natural stone and raw cement, symbolizes the traditional Lebanese church. Its altar, facing east, represents the source from which humanity's salvation comes.

The roofed church has two side entrances beneath the bell tower, leading inside. It is small, accommodating no more than fifty people. Its altar is made of cement and surmounted by an image of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, above which stands a large wooden cross. In opposite corners, to the right and left, are the baptismal font and the confessional. Above the opposite walls, to the right and left, are artistic wooden panels symbolizing the Stations of the Cross.

On the eastern side, are two joined crosses, so that the shape of the cross can be seen from any direction. Opposite them, on the western side, is a unique concrete dome in the shape of a cube, with a geometric shape at its center — an empty sphere, devoid of the usual bell, to signify a pause.

Images and text by Gaby Reaidy