Elias Hoyek was born at the village of Helta, Batrun, in December 1843. He did his primary and elementary studies in the Seminary College of St. John Maron, in Kefar-Hay near Helta. He was admitted to the seminary of Ghazir, run by Jesuit, priests, in October 1859. There he studied French, Arabic, Syriac, Latin, Greek and Philosophy.

During his years as Patriarchal Secretary and Vicar, Patriarch Hoyek had already established a record of great achievement both in the civil and religious spheres. In many ways he could be considered the Father of modern Lebanon. One of the first-class acts of Hoyek as Patriarch was to build an imposing summer residence at Diman. The land he chose for this building was a hill from which one could view the "Valley of the Saints."

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Patriarch Hoyek established a new center of pilgrimage at Harissa in 1905. He also fostered devotion to the Sacred Heart, and raised funds to establish a national monument on one of the summits of Lebanon.

Patriarch Hoyek also founded the Maronite Congregation of the Holy Family in 1895, the first congregation of women of the Eastern churches in Lebanon and Syria. Their mission was to educate young girls especially of the poorer classes according to the customs and principles of the Christian faith. These sisters established boarding and day schools, especially in the villages , where along with Christian education, they provided practical instruction. This congregation experienced a great growth in numbers and institutions. Patriarch Hoyek also established a Patriarchal Vicariate for Egypt in 1904, which later became an Eparchy in 1946. He obtained from the Holy See the division of the Eparchy of Tyr and Saida. When he led the delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Patriarch Hoyek was already 76 years old. He lived to see the early development of the new Lebanon, which he had had such a significant role in forming. He died on December 31, 1931.

In November 1866 he entered the College of Propaganda in Rome, where he studied theology. He was ordained priest in Rome in 1870 and returned to Lebanon. His father had died when he was in Rome. He spent sometime at home to take care of his mother and his young brothers. He spent two years teaching theology at the Seminary of St. John Maron. In 1872 he was appointed patriarchal secretary and moved to the patriarchal residence. Of great integrity and fearless character, he was revered and respected by all. He was consecrated Archbishop of Arqa and Patriarchal Vicar on December 14th, 1899.

He left Lebanon on May 8, 1890 for Rome for the purpose of reviving the Maronite college there, destroyed by Napoleon in 1799. This task made great demands on all his qualities of initiative, courage, perseverance and diplomacy. He met Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican on June 15th, July23rd, August 2nd, and August 10th of the year 1890. During these visits the Pope and Archbishop Hoyek elaborated plans to reactivate the Maronite College in Rome. On August 12th 1890, archbishop Hoyek left Rome for France, bearing a letter of recommendation from Pope Leo XIII, in order to collect contributions for the college. He spent nine months in France (August 24th, 1890- May 24th, 1891), where he visited the minister of Foreign Affairs, the President of the Republic, the speaker of the Parliament, the speaker of the Senate, the Minister of Defense and many Cardinals and archbishops. He traveled all over France, spending his energy day and night for the realization of his project. He acquired in Paris a church and a community center for the Maronite Community in the street " rue d’Ulm". Furthermore, he obtained from the French government subsidies for the education of eight Maronite students at the seminary of St. Surplice in Paris. He visited Poitiers, Lille, Grenoble, Limoges, Rouen, and other cities, preaching in churches, mobilizing friends, and persuading various societies and institutions to help his undertaking. Finally he returned to Rome with the necessary money. From Rome he went back to Lebanon via Austria, where he met Emperor Francois-Joseph, and Istanbul, where he met the Sultan, the Prime Minister and many prominent figures. With the Sultan and the Turkish government he succeeded in settling many problems concerning Lebanon and the Maronite community. He showed an apostolic fervour and a readiness to face the highest authorities in Europe and Turkey.

He combined diplomacy with zeal, integrity and practical sense. He landed at Beirut on May 13, 1892. He left Lebanon again on April 28, 1893, for Rome via Jerusalem and Alexandria. He met the Pope on June 8, and July 9, 1893. He spent two months searching for a suitable site for the future new Maronite college. Finally he bought the building at 18, Via Porta Pinciana, on August 17, 1893.

The new college was opened on January 1st, 1894, to receive twelve students from the Maronite dioceses of Besharry, Aleppo, Tripoli, Gebayl-Batrun, Ehden, Ba’albeck, Damascus, Cyprus, Beirut, Tyre and Sidon. Thus were rewarded years of gigantic efforts and sacrifices. The founding of the congregation of the Holy Family: Great as was the triumph of Monsignor Hoyek in completing the new Maronite college in Rome, his activity did not stop in reaching this goal. He was always launching new undertakings. He was not one to be satisfied with the exterior pomp of his office and with preaching & presiding ceremonies. Inspired by the examples of the apostles Peter and Paul he led a life of self denial for the building of the kingdom of Christ. Once the Maronite churches and community centers in Paris and Jerusalem, and the Maronite college in Rome, successfully completed, he engaged in a yet another major project, that of the creation of a new religious order for nuns, the Congregation of the Holy Family with the help of mother Rosali Nasr who first joined the French Congregation of the sisters of Nazareth, and then founded the Congregation of the Holy Rosary. She met Monsignor Hoyek in Lebanon in the summer of 1895 and they decided together to found a congregation of nuns for the Christian education of village girls in Mount Lebanon. The nucleus of the new congregation consisted of Mother Nasr and two other nuns, Estephany Kardush and Orsella Lahud. The new congregation was launched at Jebayl-Byblos in that same summer of 1895. In 1896 the motherhouse moved to ’Ebrine near Batrun. During his episcopate Mgr. Hoyek was animated by two main desires the solid Christian education of the young Maronites for the strengthening of the family, and the education of priests. The first ambition was embodied in the creation of the congregation of the Holy Family and the second in the revival of the Maronite college in Rome and in the support given to many clerical institutions.

Hoyek undertook a third journey to Rome to inspect the running of the Maronite College. He remained in Rome from April 1897 to January 1899. Within ten years then, Hoyek undertook three journeys from Lebanon to Rome and back in order to found and administer the Maronite College, at a time when travelling between Lebanon and Rome was an exhausting ordeal. To get the necessary support, he visited Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, Istanbul, Palestine, Egypt and other countries of the Orient and Occident. Such was his devotion and self-denial as apostle of Christ, and his Holy Church. The Episcopal and patriarchal honor spurred him to act with greater zeal rather than to rest on his laurels.

Hoyek Patriarch Patriarch Yuhanna el-Haj died on December 24th, 1898; Mgr. Hoyek left Rome for Lebanon on December 27th, and reached Bkerke in January 5th, 1899. On January 6th, he was elected Patriarch. Thus started a new era for Lebanon and the Church. In his private life as Patriarch Mgr. Hoyek practiced both the ascetically and contemplative aspects of the spiritual life. Patriarch Hoyek’s apartment in Bkerke was simple and austere, consisting of three rooms, one serving as a bedroom and office, the second as a reception room, and the third as a chapel. In this chapel he used to say Mass early in the morning and to spend many hours every day in prayer and meditation. He fasts every Saturday his whole life through, even in time of illness. His favorite books for meditation were the New Testament, the confessions of St. Augustine, the eternal Maxims and the Imitation of Christ. He strictly followed his routine of spiritual exercises, whenever and wherever he was, and he was an example to all in the way he carried out his duties as pastor, priest patriarch and national leader.

PASTORAL AND SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY OF PATRIARCH HOYEK Patriarch Hoyek was born and raised in Helta- Kefar-Hay Batrun in the vicinity of the headquarters of the first Maronite Patriarch, Saint John Maron whom Patriarch Hoyek resembled with his strong and energetic character, his ardent apostolic zeal, his intellectual power, his solid evangelical virtues and his wise leadership. His strength and sympathy were reflected in his keen gaze and leonine face. The Maronite Patriarch is the successor of the chief of the Apostle, Saint Peter, as head of the church of Antioch, including historically and canonically the entire Roman province of the Orient. To his own name, the Maronite Patriarch adds that of St. Peter, to signify that he is the successor of St. Peter, the first Apostle, founder and first Bishop of Antioch.

Thus the complete name of Patriarch Hoyek is "Elias (personal name) Boutros (St. Peter) Hoyek, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East". In fact, his zeal for the Kingdom of Christ made Patriarch Hoyek a worthy success of St. Peter. He was an active pastor, visiting his patriarchal diocese regularly, promoting its spiritual life and progress and providing for its needs, examining the situation of the priests, churches, monasteries and convents, giving encouragement and helping the sick, the orphans and the poor. He organized regular yearly spiritual exercises for every parish of the Patriarchal diocese. He encouraged such western institutes as the Jesuit order, the Brothers of the Christian schools, the Marist Brothers, the Lazarists and others to open new schools in his diocese. Among the churches that he helped build by generous financial contributions, let us mention those of the Cedars, Belaouza, Douma, Shatine, Tannurine, Mejdel ’Aqura, Ram, Batrun, Bejjeh, Kefar-Seghab, ’Aqura, Qartaba, Ehmej, Abdelly, Qenat, Bar-Halyun, Mughr-el-Ahwal, Torza, Caïfa, Hasbaya, Khartum in the Sudan and Larnaka, Famagosta and Nicosia in Cyprus.

One of his greatest achievements was the erection in cooperation with the apostolic Delegate, of the church, statue and center of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, in 1906-1908, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration by the Holy see of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception Mary Mother of Christ. The statue of the Blessed Virgin erected on the hill of Harissa, is one of the most striking statues in the world, erected on the top of one of the most beautiful hills. Patriarch Hoyek showed special solicitude for the seminaries for clerical education, such as Deir-al-Koraym, ’Ain- Warqa, Mar’Abda Her-Haraya, Rayfun, Qolai’at, St. John Maron, and the Roman College. The monastic foundations too received an important share of his attention. The Maronite College in Rome remained the object of his unflagging concern and he succeeded in doubling the number of its students. The building of the college, consisting of three floors and thirty rooms was completed in 1903 and it was inaugurated on February 7th, 1904.

HOYEK and the Diaspora Plans were made for the creation in Egypt of a Patriarchal Vicariate to care for the spiritual, social and material welfare of the Maronites in Egypt and for the expansion of Maronite missionary activities. Archbishop Hoyek drew up these plans when he visited Egypt in 1894-1895. But the plans were realized when he was Patriarch in 1904.

In 1902, Patriarch Hoyek delegated the Rev. Shikralla Khoury and Rev. Butros Shebly to visit the Maronites of Cyprus. They visited the Maronites of Limassol, Larnaca, Nicosia, Kurmagit, Karpacia, Gamblin, Merkin, Asomathos, Aya Marina, Mar-Romanos (Qono), Mar Antonios (Kefryat), Varucia, Mersine, Adana and Tarsus. During their visit, the Patriarchal delegates spent a considerable amount of money in helping needy Maronites and their institutions in the island. They presented the Patriarch with an exhaustive written report about the situation of the Maronites in Cyprus from the spiritual, social and material standpoints. In 1920, Patriarch Hoyek sent a delegation to visit the Maronites in the United States of America, in Argentina and in other parts of the New World. Following this visit, Patriarch Hoyek took the necessary steps to create independent dioceses for the Maronites of North and South America.

Patriarch Hoyek in Rome. The Patriarch left Bkerke for Rome on May 20th, l905, going via Jaffa in Palestine, where he blessed the foundation stone of the building of Saint Anthony’s Maronite church. In Alexandria of Egypt he exchanged visits with the Orthodox Coptic Patriarch. He reached Rome on June 9th, and resided at his beloved Maronite College. His audiences with Pope Pius X took place on June 15th and July 11th. He spent the summer with the students of the Maronite College. While in Rome Patriarch Hoyek reviewed and settled the financial situation of the Maronite College and dealt with administrative matters. In both finance and administration, he obtained relative independence for the college, strengthening its links with the Maronite hierarchy and its Maronite liturgy and traditions. A Maronite priest was appointed as rector instead of a Latin one. Another Maronite priest, Fr. Elias Shedid, was appointed as financial administrator.

Patriarch Hoyek in Paris. He left Rome on September 18th, 1905, for Paris, which he reached two days later. In Paris he exchanged visits with the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Richard, the President of the Republic, Mr. Lobe, and the prime minister Mr. Rouvier. They dealt with matters concerning Lebanon, the Maronites and the Orient.

Patriarch Hoyek in Istanbul Patriarch Hoyek left Paris for Istanbul and passed through Munich, Vienna and Budapest. He reached the Ottoman Capital on October 17th, and remained there from October 17th to November 2nd, 1905. In dealing with the Sultan and Turkish authorities he was assisted by two prominent Maronites, Selim Pasha Malhame and his brother Nagib. Selim was the minister of agriculture in the Turkish government, and was highly esteemed and favored by the Sultan and the government. The Patriarch had an audience with Sultan on October 20th, and 31st. He succeeded in obtaining from the Sultan and the Turkish authorities many improvements in the handling of Lebanese affairs and in the administration of the country. It was imperative in these days for the Patriarch and the Maronites to maintain a certain wise balance in their relations between France on one hand and those with Turkey on the other. Turkey was the ruling power in Lebanon, while France provided protection and help. Thus it was necessary while maintaining friendly relations with France not to excite Turkish suspicion, jealousy or anger. Patriarch Hoyek with his wisdom was providential for Lebanon in such circumstances.

WORLD WAR I The first world war was an opportunity for the Turks to venge themselves without restraint on the Christians: A million and half of Armenians were killed by the Turks in the first years of the war, for no other reason than their Christian religion and superior education and ability in the sciences, arts, industry, commerce and other fields of the civilization; but Lebanon had its share of Turkish cruelty during the war. Turkey entered the war on October 28th, 1914 on the side of Germany; on the same date, the Constitutions of 1860-1864

guaranteeing Lebanon’s autonomy were abolished by the Turkish government, and on November 28th, 1914, the Turkish army entered Mount Lebanon, mistreated the Lebanese people and expelled them from their homes, exposing them to exceptionally severe winter weather. Houses were occupied by Turkish soldiers. Because of the Turkish blockade, a third of the Lebanese population died of famine and starvation. Very many people, were sent into exile or killed because they were suspected by the Turks, often with no justification, of relations with France and the allied nations. Jamal Pasha was appointed military governor of Lebanon. He attempted to exile Patriarch Hoyek, but failed in his attempt: On July 13th, 1915, Jamal Pasha requested the Patriarch to meet with him in Sawfar. The Patriarch was then at the residence of Dimane, one hundred and fifty kilometers away; at that time the Patriarch was seventy years old and there were no automobiles in Lebanon; thus the journey was long and exhausting; but the Patriarch complied with the desire of the military governor, in order to avoid any vindictive measures on the part of Jamal Pasha against the Lebanese people. The meeting between the Patriarch and the Pasha took place at Sawfar on July 21st, 1915. The Turkish governor criticized the Patriarch’s friendship with France. The Patriarch replied that France was the Maronites benefactor and that it was natural and fitting that they should be grateful to her and maintains consistent good and friendly relations with her. Furthermore France had been the friend of Turkey since Francois I (1494-1547). Jamal Pasha repaid the visit on July 31st, 1915. In the second half of 1915, the stocks of food and vital necessities were exhausted in Mount Lebanon and exceptionally large swarms of locusts consumed the crops. This in addition to the blockade deprived the population of every means of subsistence.

The Patriarch spent all the money that belonged to him personally and to the Patriarchal treasury helping and feeding the poor. The patriarchal residence was thronged day and night with huge crowds coming to eat and take food from the Patriarchal provisions for themselves and their families. The situation remained unaltered until the beginning of 1919. The Patriarch got some financial help from the Lebanese emigrants and the French government sent through the commander of the French army on the island of Arwad, General Trabot. A courageous priest, Father Boulos ’Aql (later made Bishop) took it upon himself to serve as a courier between the French army in Arwad and the Patriarch. His was a most perilous task in those days, because he was suspected of spying by the Turkish authorities; and the journey between the island and the coast was within the reach of Turkish guns. Jamal Pasha and Patriarch Hoyek. Jamal Pasha directed a second invitation to Patriarch Hoyek to meet him in Beirut in May 1916 and the patriarch complied with the governor’s request. The Turkish governor to the Patriarch addressed A third invitation, this time for a meeting at Behamdoun in July 1917. Further, Jamal Pasha asked the Patriarch to stay for some time in Behamdoun. The Patriarch accepted. A few days later, the Pasha requested the Patriarch to leave Behamdoun for Sawfar. The patriarch accepted once again, and stayed at Sawfar from July 25th to August 14th, 1917. The Pasha again addressed a letter to the Patriarch, requesting him to leave Sawfar and to join him at Zahle in the Beka’. It is clear that the intention of Jamal Pasha was to induce the Patriarch to move gradually from one place to another in the direction of Damascus or some other city out of Lebanon and to keep him in exile there. The Patriarch, when he received Jamal’s invitation to join him in Zahle, presented excuses on account of his health, and proposed placing himself at the disposal of the governor at the Residence of the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus in Qornet Shewan. The governor accepted and released the Patriarch after the intervention of the Vatican and the Emperor of Austria. Jamal Pasha was dismissed from his office of governor of Lebanon, Syria and the Arabian countries at the beginning of 1918.

The famine continued during 1917 and 1918, causing the death of many thousands of Lebanese. The patriarch sent priests to distribute food and money throughout the patriarchal vicariates and other regions of Lebanon, to alleviate the misery of his people.

THE TRIUMPH In the afternoon of September 29th, 1918, a terrific earthquake that caused extensive damage and claimed many victims shook Lebanon. At the same time the British army entered Damascus and the Turkish and German forces fled from Lebanon and Syria. Thus ended four hundred and two years of Turkish cruel oppression in Lebanon, and the triumph of the allies marked the dawn of a new era for Lebanon and the whole of mankind. A temporary governing body was appointed for Lebanon by the allied British and French occupation Forces, the advice of the Patriarch being always respected.

The Patriarch at the Peace Congress in Versailles (1919): The Lebanese people delegated patriarch Hoyek to express Lebanese aspirations and defend Lebanon’s interests before the Peace Congress in Versailles, and before the French government. The main danger to Lebanon came from King Faisal son of the Hashmit Sherif of Mecca, who was attempting to create an Arab kingdom including in one state: Lebanon, Syria, Irak, Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula. The Lebanese people saw its independence threatened and opposed the project of Faisal in so far as Lebanon was concerned. Lebanon was now free from the Muslim Ottoman Empire and had no desire to become part of another Muslim Empire, an Arab one. Arab and Ottoman empires were in practice forms of one and the same thing, the Muslim Empire ruled by harsh, rigid and discriminatory Islamic laws. In the face of this threat the Administrative Council of Lebanon representing all Lebanese communities formulated Lebanese aspirations as follows: The extension of the frontiers of Lebanon to include the cities of Beirut, Tyre, Sidon, Tripoli and the districts of ’Akkar, Beqa’, and Southern Lebanon. These cities and districts were natural parts of Lebanon and had been unjustly separated from it by Turkey. The recognition of Lebanon’s full independence and of its natural rights to exercising self determination and choosing a suitable form of government. The institution of a Parliament to represent the different communities. The assistance of France in consolidating Lebanon’s independence. Patriarch Hoyek was delegated by the representatives of the Lebanese communities to obtain from France and the Peace Congress of Versailles the recognition of Lebanon’s independence from Faisal’s Arab Kingdom and from any other Arab state, and their assistance in achieving Lebanon’s independence according to the four principles stated.

Patriarch Hoyek left Lebanon for France and met President Clemenceau on October 5th, 1919; on October 27th he presented the assembly of Peace Congress with a memorandum in fifteen pages demonstrating the right of Lebanon to independence and its ability to exercise national sovereignty. The claims of the Patriarch were recognized and approved by Clemenceau in an official document issued and delivered to the Patriarch on November 10th,1919.

LEBANON INDEPENDENT Finally the efforts of Patriarch Hoyek were crowned with success when General Gouraud, in the name of France, proclaimed on September 1st, 1920, an independent Lebanon including the entire territory bounded by Ras-al-Naqurah in the South, by Nahr-el-Kabir in the North, by the summits of Anti-Lebanon in the East and by the Mediterranean in the West.

In brief, Patriarch Hoyek, a man of strong and courageous personality, deep spirituality and original mind, exerted a real personal influence on the events of his time. Unlike some prelates, he was not a passive observer of events but sought to influence their course. Patriarch Hoyek was well aware of the cynicism engendered among the faithful by religious leaders who repeat pious platitudes and expressions of personal grief before tragic events and remain helpless and inactive. He dealt vigorously with the problems of his people in times of disaster, instead of wringing his hands, referring to the example of Christ who cured the sick and did not merely express pity. When sections of the Maronite community were torn by dissension, he was always able to reconcile protagonists. When Lebanon was in danger of being absorbed by King Faisal and the united Arab kingdom, Patriarch Hoyek obtained unanimity first among the Maronites themselves and then between the Maronites and the other Lebanese communities. Strengthened by this united stand, he persuaded France and other nations at the Peace Congress of Versailles to favor the Lebanese cause. With the military defeat of Faisal by Gouraud at Maysalun near Damascus, the independence of Lebanon was materialized. With Fakhr-ad-Din II the Great, Bashir II the Great and Yousif Bek Karam, Patriarch Hoyek must be considered one of the four founders of independent Lebanon. He left this world on December 24th, 1931, not possessing any money, but owing the Rev. Boulos To’me the sum of three pounds. His house in his native town Helta Batrun, is compared by visitors to the Grotto of Bethlehem, on account of its poverty.

Source: http://www.maronitechurch.org.uk/