, abbreviation = BS , nickname = Salvatorian Fathers , formation = , founder = Archbishop Euthymios Michael Saifi , founding_location =

Saida, Lebanon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, type = Monastic order of

pontifical right In Catholicism "of pontifical right" is the term given to ecclesiastical institutions (religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See, or approved by it with the formal decree known by the Latin nam ...

for men , headquarters =

, membership = 94 members (includes 74 priests) as of 2020 , leader_title =

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

, leader_name = Antoine Dib, BS , affiliation = Greek-Melkite Catholic Church The Basilian Order of the Most Holy Saviour () abbreviated BS,also known as the Basilian Salvatorian Order, is an

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

monastic order of Pontifical Right for men of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church. The name derives from its

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute. It would normally be where the residence and offices of the religious superior In a hierarchy or tree structure of any kind, a superior is an individual or position at ...

, the Holy Saviour Monastery, at

Joun Joun (also Joon, Djoun in Phoenician, ar, جون) is a Lebanese village sitting on seven hills in the Chouf ( ar, قضاء الشوف) district of Mount Lebanon at a distance of 13 kilometers from the city of Sidon in Lebanon. Joun means "the c ...

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf, in ''Jabal ash-Shouf''; french: La Montagne du Chouf) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east ...

near

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

History

The order was founded in 1683 by

Euthymios Saifi Euthymios Michael Saifi (or ''Aftimios Sayfi'', 1643–1723) was the Melkite Catholic bishop of Tyre and Sidon during the early 18th century. A leading proponent of re-establishing communion between the Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Ca ...

, bishop of

Saida Saida may refer to: Places * Saïda, Algeria, a city in Algeria * Saïda Province, a province of Algeria * Saida, Lebanon, the Arabic name for Sidon, a city in Lebanon * Saida, a village in Helan, Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab province, Pakistan * Sai ...

, with the aim of supporting pastoral and missionary activities by well-educated Melkite clergy, choosing for them the

rule of Saint Basil Basilian monks are Roman Catholic monks who follow the rule of Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea (330–379). The term 'Basilian' is typically used only in the Catholic Church to distinguish Greek Catholic monks from other forms of monastic li ...

. Saifi started to gather some monks in his episcopal residence, but it soon became too small for the community. In 1685 a miracle was reported during a pastoral visit of Euthymios Saifi to the village of Joun and thus some monks were sent to live in a farm near Joun. In 1710 Saifi succeeded in buying the farm and in 1711 the first building of the Holy Saviour monastery was erected. The order was cited by

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758.Antipope ...

in 1743 in the

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

'' Demandatam'', and on 20 April 1751 the Pope sent them a letter urging them to fully follow the

Byzantine rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

rejecting the Latinizations introduced by

Cyril Tanas Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas, also known as Cyril VI of Antioch (born in 1680, Damascus – died on January 10, 1760), became the first Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church followi ...

against the wishes of Rome. Their specific rules (''constitutions'') were formally drafted and approved only in 1934. The Basilian Salvatorian Order soon became one of the two main religious orders of the Melkite Catholic Church. The other order was the Basilian Chouerite Order. According to their tradition, the Basilian Salvatorian Order had a more missionary aim, while the Basilian Chouerite Order was more contemplative. The Basilian Salvatorian Order recruited in the areas of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and South

, while the Basilian Chouerite Order recruited in the areas of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

, North Lebanon and

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

. Attempts to unite these two orders in the 18th century failed: the opposition between them and between the different communities from which they recruit members is an important aspect to understand in the early history of the Melkite Catholic Church. Up to the first half of the 19th century, these two religious orders ran a large number of parishes and provided most of the bishops of the Church. With the increasing importance of the

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

diocesan priest In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogr ...

s since the patriarchate of Maximos III Mazloum, the religious orders lost some of their importance. The 19th century saw moments of difficulty in the life of the Basilian Salvatorian Order: the main problems were the lack of respect for the

vow A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedd ...

of poverty by some monks and the antagonism between the

Damascene Damascene may refer to: * Topics directly associated with the city of Damascus in Syria: ** A native or inhabitant of Damascus ** Damascus Arabic, the local dialect of Damascus ** Damascus steel, developed for swordmaking ** "Damascene moment", the ...

wing and the Lebanese wing. Reforms in the early years of the 20th century solved the issues.

Statistics

As of 31 December 2020, the Basilian Salvatorian Order had 27 monasteries and 94 monks, of which 74 are priests.http://www.gcatholic.org/orders/041.htm In 2012, it had 11 houses and 92 members (including 87 priests). In the United States it maintains a center in

Methuen, Massachusetts Methuen () is a 23 square mile (60 km2) city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Middlesex County and just south of ...

. The Order serves the Church in four main areas: pastoral service in parishes, social service,

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

activity and dialog among different religious communities in Lebanon.

Superiors general

Prelates from the order

The Basilian Salvatorian Order has given more than sixty bishops and eight

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

s to the Melkite Church:

Cyril VI Tanas Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas, also known as Cyril VI of Antioch (born in 1680, Damascus – died on January 10, 1760), became the first Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church followi ...

Athanasius IV Jawhar Athanasius IV Ignace Michael Jawhar (or ''Jahouar'' or ''Jauhar'' or ''Giohar'', 1733–1794) was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1788 to 1794. He previously claimed to be patriarch from 1759 to 1764 and from 1765 to 1768. L ...

, Cyril VII Siaj,

Agapius II Matar Agapius II Matar, (sometime also known as ''Agapios III'', 1736–1812) was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1796 to 1812. Life Agapius Matar was born in 1736 in Damascus. He entered young in the Basilian Salvatorian Order. ...

Athanasius V Matar Athanasius V Gabriel Matar was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church for a few months in 1813. Life Gabriel Matar was born in Damascus. He was the brother of patriarch Agapius II Matar and, as his brother, he too entered in the relig ...

Macarius IV Tawil Macarius IV Tawil (or ''Taouil'') was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1813 to 1815. Life Macarius Tawil was born in Damascus. He entered in the religious order of the Basilian Salvatorians of which he was Superior from 180 ...

Clement Bahouth Clement Michael Bahouth (or ''Clement Bahous'', 1799–1882), was patriarch of the Melkite Catholic Church from 1856 until his resignation in 1864. Life Michael Bahouth was born in 1799 near Acre. In 1816 he entered in the Holy Saviour monaster ...

, and

Gregory II Youssef Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, also known as Gregory II Hanna Youssef-Sayour (October 17, 1823 – July 13, 1897), was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1864 to 1897. Gregory expanded and modernized the church and its institu ...

; Patriarch emeritus

Gregory III Laham Gregory III Laham, Basilian Salvatorian Order, B.S. ( ar, غريغوريوس الثالث لحام; la, Gregorius III Lahamus; born Lutfy Laham, December 15, 1933, in Darayya, Syria), Emeritus Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, Patriarch ...

is also a member of this Order.

References

External links

GigaCatholic
{{Authority control Melkite Greek Catholic Church

History

Statistics

Superiors general

Prelates from the order

See also

Maronite orders

Melkite orders

References

External links