Birmingham, Alabama

Feast of St. Maron 

The Feast of St. Maron was celebrated on 9 February 2019, at St. Elias Church in Birmingham, with a banquet following the 5:00 p.m. Liturgy. The church hall was beautifully decorated by members of the Ladies’ Altar Society. A catered steak dinner was served by the MYO and the 8th graders of the Jr. MYO. The Master of Ceremonies was Danny Bostany, and the guest speaker was Mayor Frank Brocato, whose childhood home was on the same street as the church. He recognized many familiar faces and was glad to be back in the neighborhood.

Following the dinner, the MYA presented a Silhouette on the Life of St. Maron to remind us of the reason for our celebration. The Silhouette was written by Fr. Rami Razzouk, Parochial Vicar.

The following awards were presented by Chorbishop Richard Saad: the Faith of the Mountain Award to Katrine Aboujaoude; the Silver Massabki Medal to Rana Atieh; and Parishioner of the Year Award to David and Judy Elkourie. A great time was had by all!

Bishop Zaidan Visits St. Elias 

Bishop Elias Zaidan made a Pastoral Visit to St. Elias in Birmingham, Alabama, on the weekend of 2-3 March 2019. He was accompanied by Fr. Milad Yaghi, MLM, Pastor of Our Lady of the Cedars in Houston, Texas, and Beth Schantzen from the Steir Group.

They were able to see the parish in action during a cooking session for our upcoming 21stAnnual Lebanese Food and Cultural Festival in April. The Bishop met and had lunch with the Ladies’ Altar Society. He celebrated all three parish Liturgies. He had breakfast with the youth and had a chance to meet with several individuals to introduce the upcoming Capital Campaign for the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon.

During the 10:30 a.m. Liturgy on Sunday, 3 March, he installed two new Annual Members of the Order of St. Sharbel, Danny and Pal Bostany.  He also blessed a new statue of St. Sharbel, dedicated to the memory of Deacon Samuel Wehby.