OLL - Our Lady Of Lebanon Cathedral

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Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral

Honoring Monsignor Ignace Sadek
30th Anniversary and Tribute

A heartwarming celebration that saw the sad and sweet, the nostalgic, the standing ovations, the humorous and the inspiring!...

I love Monsignor Sadek!...
an article by Nabil, the Publisher of the Lebanese Cultural News Journal

A Note from the Publisher:

"Yes... indeed, I love Monsignor Sadek"... This heartfelt emotion of mine mirrors the love that everyone has for Monsignor Sadek.

I really do not need to sing Monsignor Sadek's praise... Monsignor Sadek's congeniality, sense of humor and long track record of Divine service speak volumes of that exceptional Holy Man of God... Our beloved Bishop Gregory rightly spoke of him as an "exceptional gift"...

Monsignor Sadek is truly and exceptional gift to all of us...

How can you not love someone who always welcomes you with such love, warmth, affection and genuine desire to see you? How can you not love someone who always finds something about what you do for the Lebanese Community that he sincerely appreciates... and makes a conscious effort to make you feel wonderful... every time you see him or talk to him on the phone? How can you not love someone who is a solid Lebanese and a true connection to our Lebanese traditions and childhood in Lebanon... while being, at the same time, the true life of the party?...

Let me tell you something... you really must hear the Zajal of Monsignor Sadek so you can understand!....

I consider Monsignor Sadek a member of my family... just like everyone who knows him considers him as such!...

In his speech tonight, our beloved Abouna Jean Younes reminded us all that he considers him like a grandfather. Dakhil Abouna Jean ana!...

As I said in one my previous articles (^{Ref
1}), Monsignor Sadek is a living legend at Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Brooklyn. He is highly loved and revered by everyone. He displays utter modesty, love for life, and humor "à la Libanaise".

I was taking communion from Monsignor Sadek this evening at the end of the 6:00pm mass right before the banquet. My friend, Monsignor Sadek, saw me coming down the communion aisle and his eyes lit up with joy as he gave me a heartwarming smile. In his own warm and humorous way, he was giving me the Host (قربان), and instead of one wafer, he took three wafers and dipped them in the wine... and following "the body and blood of Christ" consecration, he said to me "نَبيل، إِنْتَ بْيِطلَعْلَك تْلاتِة"-- "Nabil, you get three"!...

Of course, I am fully aware that, in our Catholic faith, the consecration of 3 wafers is exactly the same as the consecration of one as far as the Holy Communion is concerned... but what truly mattered here was his "endearing and lighthearted" gesture to make me feel special... For a moment, my emotions swung between my sense of piety at communion time and the desire to chuckle at this charming yet funny gesture... then a feeling of warmth descended upon me... as I felt the hand of God touch my heart...

"دَخيل رَبَّك ما أَطْيَبَك", I thought!... This was Monsignor Sadek's sincere (and humorous) way of making me feel special to him... I should note that you perhaps have to had been raised in Lebanon for you to fully appreciate this "good-natured and lighthearted" gesture... I have a theory that, as Lebanese, we all stop aging at the age of 17... So, Monsignor Sadek is now 17 year old guy with 60 years of experience...

The Monday after, I spoke to my friend, and everyone's friend, Myrna (who really really wanted to be with us but, regretfully, had to cancel the last minute because of her work), and she confirmed to me that Monsignor Sadek did that to her a few times to her... "He gave me two or three... He said because I needed them" continues Myrna... I KNEW it!... that GREAT Holy man's mission in life is obviously to disseminate good energy, divine inspiration and... lighthearted wackiness...

Another lighthearted tidbit of the Mass, is that Caroline Ziade, our beautiful and humble Chargé d'affaires at the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN was standing two pews in front of me... By the way, pictures do NOT give due credit to Caroline's natural Lebanese beauty, charm and good energy!...

After communion, Caroline made an innocent mistake and she ended up one pew in front of mine. As I was returning to my pew right behind her, she spontaneously and courteously asked me if she was in my spot and, without waiting for my response, moved over to allow me to stand next to her. On the other hand, and without thinking, I found myself standing and praying right next to Caroline, until I realized that it was not my pew either.

As I stood next to Caroline, I was still smiling and borderline chuckling at Monsignor Sadek's "إِنْتَ بْيِطلَعْلَك تْلاتِة". Caroline somewhat noticed me and, instead of my trying to explain in the middle of Mass, we simply exchanged courteous greetings ending with my saying "صلاة مقبولة" and "الله يْرِدّْ عَنْ لِبْنان".

It is worth noting that the good Cathedral had a "Reserved" front pew for the Guests of Honor such as Caroline, but Caroline, in a gesture of genuine humility, opted to sit down in a regular pew with the other parishioners. I saw one or more ushers from the Cathedral "invite" her to move to the first pew, but Caroline, with her charming and calm demeanor, politely turned them down.

A course in Miracles
A little known fact about Monsignor Sadek, is that on the morning of September 11, 2001, as the two towers of the World Trade Center were crumbling under the forces of brutal hatred and sheer criminal ignorance, he stood gracefully by the waterfront with his hands up and the air... giving the last rites (الحَلِّة), in the name of Jesus Christ, to thousands of dying people he doesn't even know and who never had a chance before their untimely death... people from all religions... and all walks of life... people who were saved in the last seconds of their life because ONE Holy Man, by the power bestowed upon him by Jesus Christ, took the necessary action at the right time... Such course in Miracles could only come as a Gift from God, manifested through the very few of us who selflessly project unto others the genuine essence of God's true image.

The Preparation for the 30th Anniversary
An event of this magnitude does not happen without the selfless and dedicated help of so many of the good volunteers who made it happen including Joe Shaia, Tony Dekki, Joe ElHilow, Patti Boustany-Jost, Mary Asmar Smith, Therese Abi Habib, Lorraine Shaia, John Shaia, Joseph Shaia, Lauren Shaia, Ilyana Shaia, Magda Dekki, Mae Safee and that adorable little munchkin Claire Habib.

The Mass & the Banquet
The friendly George Jalinos was the Master of Ceremony, and the banquet displayed a mixture of heartfelt emotions, nostalgia, humor, laughter, fun and a sense of Lebanese community something www.lcnj.com promotes first and foremost.

Following the Lebanese National Anthem, the delightful Lauren Shaia, Joe Shaia's beautiful daughter, sang the Star-Spangled Banner with such professional and endearing competence and comfortably hit that high note of the "Free" without a hitch....

Pictures of the Mass and the Banquet
Click here

Heartwarming Moments from this Wonderful Tribute in Video
Brief videos from the Mass and the Banquet are here to give a sense of the spirituality and joy shared by everyone who attended the Mass and/or the banquet. They are not meant to be a lengthy video documentary of this beautiful event. In any case, video documentaries tend to be detailed... long... unique... and boring... and very few tend to look at them... So enjoy!...

IMPORTANT - If your browser does not allow the videos to play, you can "Right-Click" on each video, "Save Target as...", and download it directly to your hard drive. This way you can use your Video or Mpeg player to view the videos...

Video1 Video2 Video3 Video4 Video5 Video6 Video7 Video8 Video9

For more pictures Click here
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