July 3, 2009 |
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Maronites have permanent homeSts. Peter and Paul Maronite Church is the first permanent home for the Maronite community in this area.  Courtesy Photo | DR. DANY SAYAD TAMPA | Bishop Gregory J. Mansour knocked on a door to the future March 30 and in doing so ended a nomadic past for the Tampa Bay area Maronite community. Bishop Mansour, leader of the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, N.Y., was in Tampa to consecrate Sts. Peter and Paul Maronite Church, the first permanent home for the Maronites from this area. The Maronite Church is an Eastern rite of Catholicism with Lebanese roots that is in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The three knocks, performed as part of the Maronite consecration rite, must have sounded like celebration tolling for those gathered at the church that Sunday, for it signaled the end of eight years of waiting and planning. For the first time, the Maronite people in the Tampa Bay area had a church of their own. No more rental negotiations or remodeling efforts that would be left behind for others. No more angst over squeezing spiritual or social celebrations into an already full host-parish calendar. No more celebrating Sunday liturgy every other week. This was, in every sense of the word, home. The local Maronite church began in 2000 when Maronite Bishop Stephen H. Doueihi established “The Maronite Community of Tampa.” Back then, the pastor of Orlando’s St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church, Father George Zina, would travel to St. Mary Parish in Tampa every other Saturday to celebrate liturgy in the Maronite rite. Three years later, Bishop Doueihi made Father Paul Damien administrator for the community — a move that allowed for weekly liturgies at St. Mary. Recognizing that the community needed a place of its own, Bishop Robert N. Lynch invited the Maronites to move into the old Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Land O’ Lakes. The location, close to the Suncoast Parkway and I-75, made traveling easier for Maronite Catholics living in Pasco, Citrus and Hernando, and the church community prospered. It was awarded mission status Jan. 16, 2005, when Bishop Mansour dedicated it to the patronage of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Land O’ Lakes church was never intended to be a permanent solution. The idea was to find a place where the community could build a parishioner base and plan for permanent worship space. On Easter 2006 at the midnight Liturgy of the Resurrection, the vicar general of the eparchy, Chorbishop Michael G. Thomas, announced that Bishop Mansour had approved the purchase of a former Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall at 6201 Sheldon Road, Tampa. Three months later, the bishop assigned Father Jorge Perales, on loan to the Maronite community from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, as administrator of Sts. Peter and Paul. The people were eager to move forward. Shortly after Father Perales arrived, renovations on the Shelton Road building began. The priest said the people were very generous with their time and other contributions, and the former Jehovah’s Witness hall began taking on the characteristics of a Maronite church: Two side rooms were combined to make a large area that could be used for catechism classes and as a hall for gatherings, a baptistry was added and a large cross was placed over the front entrance. The first official church celebration was a baptism May 12, 2007. The first liturgy in the new church took place the following day, Mother’s Day. The work continued. Almost 300 people came to see Bishop Mansour dedicate the building to the worship and glory of God. “He did the whole dedication in the Maronite rite,” Father Perales said. The consecration started when the bishop knocked at the doors three times and anointed the entrance with the holy myron, or chrism. On the third knock, he entered the building and was welcomed with a hymn “Toe Bashlom” (“Come in peace, O Good Shepherd”). The community sang songs in Syriac and Arabic, and the epistle and Gospel were read in both Arabic and English. After his homily, the bishop consecrated the interior of the church with holy water, chrism, incense and song. Father Perales encircled the entire inside with red ribbon — a symbol of its consecrated status. As part of his consecration of the altar, Bishop Mansour placed a relic of St. Nemtallah Al Hardini inside the altar’s center and sealed it. Father Zina from Orlando, the priest who first celebrated the liturgy with the community all those years ago, was one of 18 priests attending. Other guest clergy brought an image of Catholic unity with their presence, because they included Byzantine, Syrian Orthodox and Roman Catholic priests, including diocesan vicar general Father Robert Morris, the former pastor of St. Mary Parish who assisted the Maronite community years before. Bishop Lynch was unable to attend, but sent greetings and best wishes. Father Perales said the Maronite people in the area have long been grateful to St. Petersburg’s bishop for his welcoming and help. Next up for the Maronite people of Tampa Bay? How about a little time just remembering the journey and savoring their accomplishment. “The church is very nice,” Father Perales said. “It’s all finished.”
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