Harissa: Shrine of the Orient
During the installation and the inauguration of the Shrine of the Lady of Lebanon, no one thought that Harissa, such a small village, can become the christian pole of countries of the Orient. However, this is not strange, since the Christ came from Bethlehem, miracles flowed from the grotto of Lourdes, and the queen of the sky rose above Harissa like the Cedars of Lebanon.

Initially, both the Maronite Patriarch and the apostolic delegate merely intended to install a monument. Nevertheless, the love of the Lebanese in general and of the Christians in particular rendered this shrine a sacred pilgrimage place and an international shrine.

Since the sanctuary of the Virgin was built in Harissa and her statue was erected on top of it, successions of delegations started marching towards the sacred mountain and believers thronged from Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, European and American countries, and others. They came to join their voices to the echoes of generations that beatify the Virgin. Some of them even shed tears of penitence at the feet and returned to Jesus Christ, source of the sacred water.

more