Fr. George Hajj, Pastor

Beloved Brothers and sisters in Christ,

With great thanksgiving to Almighty God, we present our 2019 families’ directory and year in review album, on our 79th summer festival.

This year, the office of diaconate, to which the subdiaconate belongs, will be in charge of planning and overseeing the summer and fall festivals from now on, in addition to the many services that our Subdeacons do.

We came to this decision based the biblical roots and ecclesial role of this office. Deacons are ordained as a sacramental sign to the Church and to the world of Christ, who came "to serve and not to be served."

The entire Church is called by Christ to serve, and the deacon, in virtue of his sacramental ordination and through his various ministries, is to be a servant in a servant-Church.

Indeed, the biblical origin of the role of deacons is to take care of the physical and logistical needs of the church so that the elders (presbyters / priests) can concentrate on their primary calling. This distinction is based on the pattern found in Acts 6:1–6. Seven men were chosen to handle more practical matters in order to allow the apostles the ability to continue with their work.

2018 is the 50th anniversary of the approval by Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1968 giving bishops of the United States permission to renew the permanent diaconate as an active, permanent order of ministry.

Today, we applaud Subdeacon Tom Simon and Subdeacon Donald George jr. for courageously and professionally taking charge of our festival. We pray for Subdeacon Mark Floyd, wellbeing.

The church is in need of more ordained faithful ministers.

A final note, regarding The Taste of Lebanon, festival. In 2020 our parish will concentrate and invest our efforts and human power to host the Maronite Convention, from July 8-12. Therefore, the Summer festival will be skipped for one year only. We invite everyone to be a part of the historic Maronite Convention, hosted by our parish of St. Anthony of Padua, Maronite Catholic Church.

May the Lord, guide us, always to do his will and be faithful stewards to His family.

May 15th 2019,
Feast of Our Lady of the harvest

Fr. George Hajj, pastor

Festival Chairpersons

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We are honored to welcome you to the Saint Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church hosting for the 79th year, The Taste of Lebanon Mediterranean Food Festival.

This one-day summer festival typically draws together thousands who look forward to a day filled with equal amounts of rich culture, exquisite food and great fun.
Classic Lebanese culinary delights include kibbee, falafel, stuffed grape leaves and cabbage rolls, homemade hummus, tabouli, spinach pies, manouche, shawarma and much more.
Live entertainment features our own first-class Dabkeh dancing troupe. The Grand Raffle includes $1,750 in cash prizes. The office of subdeacons have been commissioned with festival chairmanship and extend loving thanks to all participants.  Parishioners, friends, corporate sponsors and guests all come together to make the festival a joyous cultural experience!

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received”. [1 Peter 4:10]

Wishing you and your families a safe, enjoyable and spiritually meaningful summer.

Subdeacons Tom Simon and Don George