Liturgical Schedule
Saturdays: 5:30 pm
Sundays: 9:15 am, 11:00 am, and 12:30 pm
Daily Divine Liturgy
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday: 10:00 am
First Sunday of the Month – North County
Church of the Nativity
6309 El Apajo Road, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
@5:00 pm
Holy Days of Obligation: 7:30 pm
Confessions by appointment
Daily Bible Reading
Fifth Sunday after the Holy Cross
Sunday, October 18
Maronite Calendar
Song of Songs 5,2-8
I slept, but my heart was awake. Listen! my beloved is knocking. ‘Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.’
I had put off my garment; how could I put it on again? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?
My beloved thrust his hand into the opening, and my inmost being yearned for him. ……
October – The Month of the Holy Rosary
The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. According to an account by fifteenth-century Dominican, Alan de la Roch, Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1206 after he had been praying and doing severe penances because of his lack of success in combating the Albigensian heresy. Mary praised him for his valiant fight against the heretics and then gave him the Rosary as a mighty weapon, explained its uses and efficacy, and told him to preach it to others.
“Since the prayers of the Rosary come from such excellent sources — from Our Lord Himself, from inspired Scripture, and from the Church — it is not surprising that the Rosary is so dear to our Blessed Mother and so powerful with heaven.”
— Mary in our Life by Fr. William G. Most
The Rosary is a Scripture-based prayer. It begins with the Apostles’ Creed, which summarizes the great mysteries of the Catholic faith. The Our Father, which introduces each mystery, is from the Gospels.
ST. CHARBEL DEVOTIONS
Thursday, October 22
At 7:30 PM
Join us for Liturgy and Evening Prayers
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Prayer of Saint Sharbel
Oh Lord, who has bestowed on Saint Sharbel the grace of faith, I plead to you to grant me through his intercession that divine grace to live according to your commandments.
Oh, Saint Sharbel pray for me
Prayer to implore favor through the intercession of
Saint John Paul II
Feast day – October 22
O Blessed Trinity, we thank You for having graced the Church with Saint John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of Your Fatherly care, the glory of the Cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Spirit of love, to shine through him. Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with You. Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore, Amen.
Beatification of Patriarch Elias Hoyek
Lebanese ‘founding father’
The miracle recognized for the beatification of Patriarch Elias Hoyek dates back to 1965 and concerns the healing of Nayef Abou Assi, a Druze officer in the Lebanese army who suffered from chronic bilateral spondylolysis. According to reports, he awoke completely healed after dreaming of the patriarch.
Born in Helta, Lebanon, on Dec. 4, 1843, Hoyek entered the seminary at 16 and later traveled to Rome to study theology, where he was ordained a priest in 1870. Returning to Lebanon, he co-founded the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family with Mother Rosalie Nasr, the first female apostolic religious institute in the Maronite Church.
Elected Maronite Patriarch of Antioch in 1899, Hoyek dedicated three decades to clerical formation and catechesis while becoming a leading voice for Lebanese independence from the Ottoman Empire. During World War I, he opened monasteries and convents to the hungry and displaced regardless of religion. Ottoman authorities sentenced him to deportation, but the intervention of the Pope and Austro-Hungarian diplomacy prevented this from occuring.
Hoyek also played a key role in negotiations that led to the establishment of the state of Lebanon in 1920. He died in Bkerké in 1931, remembered as a man of dialogue, pastoral charity and evangelical poverty, widely revered a Lebanese ‘founding father’.
References:
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-05/pope-beatification-spanish-civil-war-martyrs-elias-hoyek-lebanon.html
To everyone who helped with the 61st National Apostolate of Maronites Convention with heartfelt gratitude we thank each and every of you for your generous contributions!
The convention was a tremendous success because of the dedication, service, and teamwork of all our volunteers. Words can hardly express how deeply we appreciate the time, energy, and love you shared to help bring this special gathering to life.
We offer a special and sincere thank-you to our Convention Planning Committee. For nearly two years, committee members met regularly, planned thoughtfully, and devoted countless hours to ensuring that every detail was carefully considered. Your commitment, teamwork, and love for the Maronite community made an extraordinary difference, and we are profoundly grateful for your leadership and perseverance.
To our remarkable convention volunteers, we extend a heartfelt and resounding thank-you. Whether you helped with advertising and promotions, entertainment, food preparation, liturgy, logistics, planning activities, setup & cleanup, transportation, or any other part of the event, your service mattered. Because of your generosity, care, and dedication, we were able to share a truly meaningful and memorable convention.
We are also deeply grateful to all who contributed to the commemorative book through advertisements and support. Your participation helped make the publication a meaningful reflection of our community and our shared celebration. We also thank the Ad Book Committee for their phenomenal work in creating a beautiful keepsake that is truly a work of art.
To our generous donors and sponsors, including those who donated to the auction and those who provided displays and exhibits, thank you for your kindness and support. Each contribution, large or small, played an essential role in the success of the convention. Your generosity helped strengthen the spirit of the event and made a lasting impact on our community.
Finally, to everyone who attended and celebrated with us, thank you for being part of this joyful occasion. Your smiles, laughter, enthusiasm, and fellowship brought the convention to life. The happiness and spirit you shared were the greatest rewards of all, and those moments will be remembered and cherished for years to come. With grateful hearts, we thank you for helping make the 61st National Apostolate of Maronites Convention such a wonderful success.
Eucharistic Adoration
Friday, October 02
12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Join us Friday, Oct. 2nd For Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
If you wish to sign up to be on the list of scheduled Eucharistic Adorers,
please contact the coordinator,
Jihad Sleiman
sleimanjf@gmail.com
(619) 915-9249
"Could you not watch one hour with Me?"
Jesus waits for us in the Blessed Sacrament. He waits for our little Acts of faith, adoration, love, thanksgiving, repentance, reparation and charity that we can offer Him as we contemplate -- His Divine Majesty -- in the Blessed Sacrament.
Join St. Ephrem’s Maronite Youth Organization
Come be part of a group where you can grow in faith, build friendships, and have fun through activities, retreats, and service.
Ages 12 – 18 – All are welcome!
Support Evangilization in the Middle East
“Let your light shine before others.” Said our Lord.
Tele Lumiere and Noursat, like many other institutions in Lebanon and the Middle East, is suffering tremendously and in danger of shutting down if it is not supported.
Very few parishes in the USA, of all Middle Eastern traditions, are supporting it. True there are millions living in poverty in the Middle East and we need to help them, but there are more millions living in darkness and need the message of hope and salvation. It is our responsibility to evangelize them.
We urge you in Christ’s name to help support Noursat. Here are few brotherly suggestions:
Talk about Noursat’s role of evangelization in the Middle East.
Announce this weekend the two-days Telethon. Share on your social media the attached video and flier about the Telethon.
Include in your weekly/monthly bulletin the attached flier about supporting Noursat.
God entrusted Noursat into our hands, let us unite our hands and hearts to keep it shinning.
With prayers and thanksgiving.
Chorbishop sharbel Maroun
President of Noursat, USA
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
First Friday of EACH Month 12:00 PM
FOLLOWED BY BENEDICTION 6:00 PM
Daily Bible Reading
from the vatican
“Reading of the Day, Gospel of the Day, Words of the Holy Father”
REPORTING CHILD/VULNERABLE ADULT SEXUAL ABUSE in the eparchy
APOSTOLIC LETTER
ISSUED MOTU PROPRIO
BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF
FRANCIS
ON THE PROTECTION OF MINORS AND VULNERABLE PERSONS
OUR PRIEST
Reverend Toufic Nasr – Pastor
DEACONS
George Geagea and Georges Ghosn
VISITING PRIEST
Reverend Canon Thomas Thompson
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