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

Fourth Sunday after the Holy Cross

Sunday, October 11

Maronite Calendar

Book of Genesis 41,38-44

Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find anyone else like this one in whom is the spirit of God?’
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.’ …..

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. 

MYO West Regional Retreat 2026-2027

Back to the Garden

October 16-18, 2026

Location:

Big Bear Lake Christian Camp

Big Bear Lake, CA

 

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

MEMORIAL OF THE UNBORN

At St. Ephrem Church

“In God’s Hand is the Life of Every Living Thing and the Breath of All Mankind.”
(Job 12:10)

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

Contact Us

St Ephrem Maronite Catholic Church

750 Medford St, El Cajon, CA 92020

(619) 337-1350

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