Rai in Educational Tour in Jbeil: School is Not Just a Place for Knowledge but for Building the Human Being and Consolidating His Presence on His Land

In the context of his paternal and pastoral presence in the Jbeil region, and his continued interest in educational institutions that play a fundamental role in anchoring families in their towns and villages and preserving the Christian and human presence in the mountains, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai conducted an educational tour accompanied by Bishop Joseph Nafa, Patriarchal Vicar Father Tony Al-Agha, Private Secretary Father Camille Mekhayel, along with several administrators from the Patriarchate headquarters. The tour included several schools, starting with a stop at Our Lady of the Rosary School in Abdeen, followed by a second stop at Saint Daniel School of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries of the Holy Family.

The tour carried a dimension beyond a protocol visit, affirming the status of the school in the Church's mission, not only as an educational institution but as a space for forming the human being, building his personality, instilling values, and connecting him to his land and community. It also served as an opportunity to listen to the challenges facing schools in mountainous areas, especially in light of difficult economic and social conditions, declining student numbers, rising operational costs, and the inability of many families to bear the cost of education.

Patriarch Rai began his tour with a visit to Our Lady of the Rosary School in Abdeen, where he was welcomed by Superior Mother Bernardine Hatoune, School Principal Sister Ludgar Rahme, Sister Eliane Ghosh, Father Eli Al-Alam, and the school students who greeted the Patriarch singing "In your reception, O King of Glory," requesting his paternal blessing, which the Patriarch carefully bestowed upon them individually. Then came the meeting with the educational family and students inside the school church.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mother Hatoune delivered a brief speech welcoming the Patriarch, expressing the joy of the educational family with his visit, saying: "Our Lord, our Shepherd, we welcome you from the heart, especially from the educational family, and we say welcome among us," wishing "that the Lord accompanies Patriarch Rai in his mission and that he remains 'a river of giving for the Lebanese Church.'"

Rai: The School Builds Personality and Prepares the Human Being for His Future

In his speech, Patriarch Rai expressed his joy at being present at Our Lady of the Rosary School in Abdeen, pausing at its journey which started about ten years ago by the Sisters of the Rosary who founded it and managed its administration and care, considering that it "forms an extension of the mission of this ancient religious order and its distinctive relationship with the Church and the Holy See."

He directed a special greeting to the Sisters of the Rosary, thanking them for their educational and humanitarian efforts and what they provided in establishing the school, maintaining its mission, and continuing its journey.

He also thanked the administration, teachers, educators, and all workers there. Rai addressed the students specifically, emphasizing "that the school is not merely a place to receive knowledge, subjects, and books, but it is the place where the human personality is built and his future is prepared. According to His Beatitude, the educational process does not limit itself to acquiring knowledge, but includes values, ethics, love, and a sense of responsibility."

He pointed out "that every day the student spends in school, every subject he learns, and every experience he gains contributes to shaping his future and building his personality, urging students to benefit from their study years even if they sometimes carry fatigue and difficulties, because this stage forms the basis for what the human being will become in his upcoming life."

The Educational Family is One Family

Patriarch Rai stressed "that the success of the school relies on partnership between its various components, from administration, sisters, teaching staff, students, and workers," considering that "they all form one educational family, each individual having his role and responsibility in building the school's mission."

He paused at the spirituality of the Sisters of the Rosary based on love and service to humanity, especially the poor and needy, calling for "this spirituality to transform into a daily culture lived by students in their relationships with each other and in their openness to their community."

He affirmed "that the true school does not suffice with building knowledge, but builds the human being and personality, expressing hope that the student leaves the school carrying honesty, goodness, and love in his heart, capable of serving his community and country and transforming what he learned into behavior and responsibility in his life and future."

Rai concluded by renewing his thanks to the Sisters of the Rosary and everyone who contributed to founding the school and continuing its mission, wishing the students success and prosperity, and that their school years be a good foundation for a bright future.

After a short break at the school administration, Patriarch Rai and the accompanying delegation moved to the second stop of the tour at Saint Daniel School of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries of the Holy Family, where he was welcomed, amidst hymns and flower scattering, by School Principal Sister Madonna Al-Qawi, the sisters, and members of the teaching and administrative staff.

From the reception area, where child Jess Naime presented him with a bouquet of flowers, everyone moved to the school church, where prayers of thanksgiving were raised for the Blessed Patriarch Elias Hoayek, founder of the Congregation of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries of the Holy Family, in a station that recalled the role intended by the founder for the order in serving humanity, family, and education, especially in Lebanese regions and villages.

After prayer, Patriarch Rai and the attendees moved to the school salon, where a welcome and thanksgiving speech was delivered, through which the sisters expressed their joy at the paternal visit, while simultaneously sharing the concerns accompanying the continuation of their educational mission in the mountains.

A Cry from Mountain Schools: We Want to Stay

In the speech delivered by Sister Qazi, the stations and memories linking Patriarch Rai with the Congregation of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries of the Holy Family were recalled, especially in Mar Youssef, expressing the sisters' appreciation for His Beatitude's love for the congregation and its mission.

However, the speech quickly transitioned from welcome to presenting the reality of schools in the mountains. Sister Qazi expressed the pain of the sisters serving in mountainous areas, confirming that their presence there is not transient or limited to managing an institution, but is part of their vocation and the mission of their founder, Blessed Patriarch Elias Hoayek.

She indicated that a number of mountain schools now face a real crisis threatening their continuity, at a time when educational bodies themselves suffer from difficult conditions, including female teachers who have spent thirty years in service to education, offering long years of their lives for the sake of the school and its children.

Sister Qazi presented the reality of Saint Daniel School, noting that it was one of the pioneering schools in the region, with a student count reaching around eighty pupils, and in some years approaching one hundred and ten students, but "continuity has today become a major challenge in light of economic and social conditions burdening families."

She explained "that the school worked in recent years to provide assistance to needy families and encourage parents to enroll their children, based on the conviction that the survival of the school is inseparable from the survival of the family on its land, and that the presence of the sisters in this area is a ecclesiastical, social, and educational presence that must be preserved."

She also praised the activities and initiatives undertaken by the clergy, sisters, youth, and residents of the area, and the efforts made to preserve educational, spiritual, and social upbringing, confirming that the region still holds human potential and a genuine will to continue despite all circumstances.

Sister Qazi's speech carried a direct appeal to Patriarch Rai to help the school continue, saying "the sisters want to stay in the mountains alongside the youth, families, clergy, and residents of the area, and not reach a stage where economic reality forces the closure of the school or departure from the region."

She confirmed that "this school is not just a building, but a message and planting in this land," and that preserving it means preserving an educational, ecclesiastical, and human presence in a region that needs today more than ever institutions that help its people endure.

She paused at the accumulated financial difficulties facing educational institutions for years, in light of increasing dues and burdens on one hand, and the declining ability of parents to pay fees on the other, placing small schools, especially those in mountainous areas, before existential challenges.

She concluded by affirming "that the sisters, despite all difficulties, cling to their mission and their presence in the region, because this presence is not merely educational work, but a presence of the Church and service to humanity," confirming their will to maintain this presence and continue the mission with all their strength.

The two stops of Patriarch Rai at Our Lady of the Rosary and Saint Daniel schools carried one message expressed by the visit in different dimensions: that the school in villages and mountains is not merely an educational institution, but a pillar of people's survival on their land and the continuation of life in their local communities.

Between Rai's word to the students of Our Lady of the Rosary, where he emphasized building the human being with values, knowledge, and responsibility, and the cry of the Missionaries of the Holy Family at Saint Daniel School to preserve the school and educational presence in the mountains, education emerged as an ecclesiastical and national mission connected to the future of both the human being and the land.

If the school prepares the student for his future, as Patriarch Rai affirmed, then "the survival of the school itself in villages constitutes in turn a guarantee for the future of these villages, because extinguishing the light of a school in a mountainous area does not mean losing classrooms and seats alone, but losing a space for life, upbringing, and presence."

The educational tour turned into a renewed affirmation that supporting peripheral schools and preserving them is, in essence, an investment in the human being, anchoring for the family, protection of presence, and clinging to the land and the future.