Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi patronized on Saturday the launching ceremony of the book entitled, “Le Patriarche Estéphan Douaihy et le Patrimoine Oriental de l’Antiochéité à la Libanité,” written by Professor Tanios Njeim and preface by the President of the Maronite League, Ambassador Khalil Karam.

Marking preparations underway for the celebration of the beatification of the Honorable Patriarch Estéphan Douaihy , a ceremony was held in Bkerke today at the invitation of the head and members of the Maronite League Executive Council.

In his delivered word on the occasion, Patriarch al-Rahi welcomed the attendees partaking in this special gathering, witnessing Professor Tanios Njeim’s book launching and signing of his work that sheds light on the lifetime of the late Honorable Patriarch Douaihy whose beautification will be celebrated next August 2 in Bkerke.

Rahi considered that Njeim’s valuable work “comes in its desired circumstance to constitute the best scientific reference on the personality of the Honorable Patriarch Estéphan Douaihy , his holiness, and great legacy...”

He added: “This book, with its 271 pages according to the French version, presents to us in three large sections the personality of the late Patriarch, his virtues and characteristics, his pastoral activities, and his intellectual output.”

Al-Rahi went on to indicate that the works of the late great Patriarch are divided into four:

1. Historical works

2. Liturgical works

3 Various works, including philosophical, linguistic, economic, and translated works

4. Correspondences, church dedications, judicial rulings, and miscellaneous letters.

“Therefore, Patriarch Estéphan Douaihy is unanimously considered the greatest patriarch in the Maronite Church, after the first Patriarch, Saint John Maroun...He is considered the most trusted authority among those who wrote in the Ottoman era. He is the father of the contemporary history of Lebanon and the history of the Maronite Church in the previous era and one of the greatest pioneers of the intellectual renaissance in the East,” al-Rahi went on, reiterating the huge significance and great value of the spiritual legacy left behind by Patriarch Douaihy .