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The Venerable Khalil (Father Jacques) HADDAD was born on 1 Feb 1875 in Ghazir, Lebanon. He was ordained on 1 Nov 1901 in Beirut, Lebanon. He died on 26 Jun 1954 in Lebanon. Father Jacques attended school in Ghazir, and then at the “College de la Sageese” in Beirut, studying Arabic, French, and Syriac.

In 1892 he went to Alexandria, Egypt to be a teacher of Arabic in the Christian Brothers’ College. Itinerant preacher form 1903 to 1914, he walks all over Lebanon proclaiming God’s word. They call him “the Apostle of Lebanon”, but he will be seen also preaching in Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Turkey.

In 1919, he buys land on the hill of Jall-Eddib, 7 miles north of Beirut. He builds a chapel there which he dedicates to Our Lady of the Sea. On a nearby rock, he raises a great Cross 30 feet high. In the 1920′s he forms the “Franciscan Sisters of the Cross of Lebanon” who help the sick and poor.

The modest work of Father Jacques aroused the people’s admiration. Soon the Lebanese Government becomes interested and begins to send to the Cross all sorts of ill and infirm; the deat, mute, blind, paralytics, the mad, incurables who are all accepted pell-mell.

From 1950 on, the Cross will be exclusively a psychiatric hosptial, one of the most modern of the Near East, where pioneer work is done in psychotherapy. The movement of charity begun at Jall Eddib spread throughout Lebanon. Father Jacques and his sister multiplied their works of social assistance.

• At Deir el-Kamar (1933) the House of the Sacred Heart is a girls’ orphanage, later transformed into an asylum for the chronically ill.
• At Antelias (1948) the Hospital of our Lady welcoms the aged and chronically ill, the paralyzed.
• At Dora (1949) St. Joseph’s Hospital has become one of the most important medical centers of the capital.
• In Beirut (1950) St. Anthony’s House for beggars and vagabonds whom the police found in the streets, and Providence House for girls who were without a family.
• At Tibnine (1969) a military hospital.
• At Kabr-Chemoun (1971) a government hospital in a region where medical service has been quite deficient.
• At Baabda (1974) a large government hospital.
• At Zghorta (1975) a hospital established during the war.
• At Beit Chebab (1977) a center for the war handicapped. Also a rest center in Bcheele, a social center at Jdabra, and a center for the mentally handicapped at Chartoun.

Parallel to their hospital mission, Father Jacques and his Sisters carried on an important work of education.

• at Jall-Eddib, the School of Saint Francis (1919)
• at Broummana (1950) the School of Saint Elie, with an orphanage of 200 girls
• at Hrajel (1950) the School of Our Lady.

Father Jacques’ body was worn out by vigils, fatigue, and travels. Suffering numberous ills, almost completely blind, stricken with leukemia, he did not stop blessing God and working…Right to the end he kept his head clear. His last hours were an uninterrupted series of prayers and invocations of the Cross and the Virgin Mary.

• The cause for his beatification was introduced in February, 1979.
• On February 24th, 1979, His Holiness Pope John Paul II signed the decreee of introduction of the cause for beatification. The first session of the apostolic process took place in Lebanon on November 28, 1979.

Source: “Father Jacques Hadddad”. 1980. Written by Father Selim Rizacallah. Arab Printing Press: Beirut, Lebanon.

“Métastase maligne lymphoglandulaire de carcinome épidermoïde différencié”

وهو نوع من السرطان الخبيث أجمَعَ الأطبّاء أنَّ المُصابين به يموتون حتماً في غضون ستة أشهر

طلباً لشِفائِها عَمَدَ ابنُ أخيها المُقيم في كندا الى تساعية صلاة للأب يعقوب، فنالَ [...]]]>

حدثَت تلك الأعجوبة مع المدعوّة مريم قطّان من مغدوشة، المُصابة بمرض

“Métastase maligne lymphoglandulaire de carcinome épidermoïde différencié”

وهو نوع من السرطان الخبيث أجمَعَ الأطبّاء أنَّ المُصابين به يموتون حتماً في غضون ستة أشهر

طلباً لشِفائِها عَمَدَ ابنُ أخيها المُقيم في كندا الى تساعية صلاة للأب يعقوب، فنالَ الشفاء المُذهل السريع المستمر بشهادة مجموعة أطبّاء إختصاصيين في لبنان وإيطاليا. هذه إفادة بعضهم

الدكتور كميل الحاج:علمنا الطبّي لا يستطيع شرح هذا الإستمرار في الحياة

الدكتور ماهر الحاج:إنَّ هذه الحادثة لا تنطبق على المقاييس التي نعرفها

الدكتور جورج أفتيموس:نحن أمامَ حادثٍ مُذهل لا يُفَسَّر مع المُعطيات الطبيّة الحاليّة

الدكتور جوزيف قطّان :إنّه شفاء لا تفسيرَ له

الدكتور أندريه عون:إنّنا أمامَ حَدَثٍ خارق العادة، لا يُفَسَّر علميّاً

البروفسور كابللي:يمكننا التأكيد على غرابة هذا الحدث الفريد، وإنّنا نعجز عن تفسير هذا الشفاء منَ المنظار الطبّي، أقلَّهُ على ضوء العلوم الحاليّة

البروفسور جان دانيال بونانني باسم اللجنة الطبيّة الأولى:يدور الموضوع حولَ شفاءٍ لا شرحَ له علميّاً وبشكلٍ قَطعي

البروفسور انطونيو غركونيتش باسم اللجنة الطبيّة الثانية:إنّه شفاء سريع كامل مستمر، لا يُفَسَّر على ضوء المعلومات الطبيّة الحاليّة

هكذا تمَّ الإقرار بأنَّ شفاء مريم قطّان يحمل طابع الأعجوبة، ونحن نصلّي لنجاح المرحلة الأخيرة وهي تقرير اللجان اللاهوتيّة

who did not hesitate to answer God’s Call to consecrate you life and follow in the footsteps of St.Francis in his poverty and humility.

Teach us and guide us towards sanctity and submission to the will of God , so that our families and our convents may [...]]]>

You Who were Raised within a believing and pious family;

who did not hesitate to answer God’s Call to consecrate you life and follow in the footsteps of St.Francis in his poverty and humility.

Teach us and guide us towards sanctity and submission to the will of God , so that our families and our convents may resemble the family of Nazareth. Amen