Maronites celebrate dedication of St. Sharbel Church

“Good evening and welcome home,” said Father Alex Harb to a jubilant congregation attending the dedication of St. Sharbel Church in Baton Rouge, the first Maronite Catholic Church in Louisiana.

The event took place on Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The church became a reality after 17 years of searching, according to Father Alex Harb and Elias Khalaf, who are among those who played a vital role in establishing the church.
“The first step was to acquire a property, which we did about 10 years ago. But unfortunately due to the 2016 floods we were unable to build a church on that property,” said Khalaf, who is currently music and choir director, and who had served as the chairman of the St. Sharbel Maronite Catholic Mission’s organizational committee.

One of the most recent parishioners of St. Sharbel Church stumbled across the property the building is located on at 18768 Jefferson Hwy., Baton Rouge.

“We visited the site and we immediately fell in love with what now became our new church home. This only took place earlier this year and events took place very quickly to make an offer, secure the funds to purchase it, etc., until we closed on the property in early June,” said Khalaf.

He pointed out the purchased building was in the middle of a renovation following the 2016 floods, but it was incomplete. The bathrooms, kitchen and some offices had unfinished walls, floors and paint and were not functional. 


Volunteers descended upon the building to refurbish it.

The new church has two main halls, one used as the church sanctuary, and the other as an activity hall. It also includes rooms that can be used for classrooms, a parish office, storage or priest vestment room.

“We had to acquire an altar, a tabernacle, a lectern, clergy and altar server chairs, a baptismal font, and many other sacred objects donated to us by local Roman Catholic churches, to whom we owe much gratitude,” said Khalaf.

He proudly stated, “There are many Maronites and other Eastern Christians, like Melkites and Greek Orthodox, to whom this church can and will cater.

“Many second and third generation Lebanese Americans came from Maronite families the migrated to the United States from Lebanon and Syria in the late 1800s into the first half of the 20th century. They now have a chance to reconnect with their ancestral church.” 

Khalaf added immigrants who left Lebanon after the civil war started there in 1975 and settled in Louisiana, people from other states and students at LSU or neighboring universities, will find the church a place to worship in the Maronite rite, reminiscent of what they did in Lebanon, easing the cultural shock.  

While more renovations are underway, people attending the opening liturgy were impressed with the work already completed, said Khalaf.


“My observation of people seeing the church for the first time was the ‘Wow’ factor. Everyone entering the new building immediately expressed amazement at how this place would be so perfect for our needs. Everyone realized the potential of making this building our dream future church and immediately started making suggestions for improvement.”

Khalaf said the church is grateful for the lenders who donated or lent the money to purchase the property at such a short notice.

The liturgy welcoming people “home” began with a rite of exorcism to free the building of evil spirits and to devote it entirely to God.

Celebrant Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun said in his homily, “This is a living miracle that we are celebrating here tonight as we celebrate this first divine liturgy in this building. The divine liturgy is a copy and a reflection of what goes in the divinity in heaven; what you and I are doing now is what the angels, Mary among the top of them, are doing today as we celebrate her assumption.”

Corbishop Maroun referred to the first reading of the Mass from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans in which he admonished the community to let their love be sincere, hold on to what is good, not grow slack in zeal and be fervent in prayer and serve the Lord.

“Especially in your community of Sharbel here in Louisiana you are called to joy --- J stands for Jesus, O stands for others and Y stands for you. Jesus comes first and then the community, the bond of everyone, and then (you). Therefore, we are called to this great unity that you and I must have in this parish, this community in the city. Otherwise, we will all collapse, because united we stand.”

The corbishop said he witnessed enthusiasm and support from all sides, even non-parishioners and businesses, to help the community succeed.


“What you’ve done with this building over the last few weeks is amazing. People coming and spending their time, energy and talents and their hard work right here in order to make it a visible place for you to worship, enjoy and work together,” Chorbishop Maroun said.

At the conclusion of Mass, Father Harb said it is for the love of God, their children, each other and those whom God is calling to his kingdom from across Baton Rouge and Louisiana that the church is making this sacrifice.

“But (hopefully) that is does not forever feel like a sacrifice. Jesus says, ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy and my burden is light,’ ” said Father Harb.

He noted that the yoke is easy and the burden is light not because there’s not a lot of work to do, but because they do it with joy and peace because they are with the one they love and who loves them.

Father Harb added, “It is my joy to serve each one of you and my joy to serve Christ and I try to do each thing that I do for God, for others.”

Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator