Thousands of Syrians are fleeing into neighboring Lebanon -- not entirely due to fear of the Assad regime. The country's minority Christian population is suffering under attacks waged by rebel troops. In the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, Christian families are finding temporary refuge, but they are still terrified.
Refugees from the conflict come daily for help to the Shrine of Tabbaleh, dedicated to the Conversion of St Paul in Damascus. The Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who run the Church, have welcomed eight families permanently and provide maintenance to 45 other families both Christians and Muslims.
Hosting a soup kitchen is a natural for a church, said the cathedral's new assistant priest, Father Gregory Trakas. "That's what the Lord told us to do," he said, "and we have to be obedient to that command."
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)
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Holy Scripture calls any violation of Divine law a sin (see. 1 Jn. 3:4). The Lord and Creator bestowed particular emotional and physical qualities upon man and woman so that they would complete each other and thus make a unity. The Holy Bible witnesses that marriage, as a constant, lifetime union between a man and a woman, was instituted by God at the very onset of human existence.
