---

At a time when many churches are merging or closing, St. Ann's Maronite Catholic parish in Troy is writing a new chapter in its 105-year-old history.

Clergy and parishioners at St. Ann's have spent almost a decade -- and about $700,000 -- repairing both the roof of their current church and a vacant Methodist church in Watervliet. They aim to move the parish to the larger Watervliet church within a year.

St. Ann's pastor, Rev. George Bouchaaya, MLM, already lives in the Watervliet rectory, which sparkles with new appliances and furniture.

Amid the dust in the 70-percent-restored church, pews have been resanded, a brass pipe organ has been restored and old stained glass windows have been etched with images of St. Ann. A new elevator waits to glide parishioners from the first-floor parish hall to the second-floor sanctuary.

All this, and the community still boasts financial health: The projects were supported by parishioner and community donations.

Historic site
A grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation helped restore the Methodist church's historical facade and stained glass windows. Rev. Elie Kairouz, former pastor, helped get the church recognized as a state and national historic site.

Built in 1850, the church was abandoned in the 1960s. One St. Ann's parishioner compared exploring the frozen-in-time interior to an episode of "The Twilight Zone" television show: Even the old hymnals remained.

The parish's 45 families are doing much of the labor to restore the church themselves, although they're seeking an electrician and a plumber. The final step will be reinforcing the support beams on the ceiling of the first floor in the church.

The new building will hold 25 to 30 percent more people, said Henry Nahal, a member of the building committee. The Troy church holds 125 to 140 people.

Maronite Catholics
Eastern Catholic churches originate from Eastern Europe, Asia or Africa. They follow distinctive liturgical and legal systems, but are equal to the Latin tradition. The Maronite church traces its roots to the Eparchy of St. Maron in Brooklyn and the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon in Los Angeles, based in St. Louis.

Members of Maronite churches are identified by their Lebanese origin; St. Ann's welcomes all nationalities, as well as practitioners of all types of Catholicism. St. Maron was a priest and hermit who died in 410. His followers included hundreds of martyrs.

Most of the Divine Service of the Holy Mysteries -- the name for the Maronite Catholic Mass -- is celebrated in English, with some responses in Aramaic, Jesus' language. The word for "father" in Arabic is "abouna."

St. Ann's community credits the current construction project's success to the dedication of Abouna Elie Kairouz, who left two months ago to study canon law. He will take over a larger Maronite parish in Buffalo.

Father Kairouz often worked on the construction site in full vestments on his hands and knees. He can celebrate Roman Catholic Mass and served as a chaplain at St. Mary's Hospital in Troy.

"He didn't sleep," remarked Evelyn Hakim, a volunteer parish secretary. "I mean, that man was amazing."

Other parishioners agree he brought the community together: "His caring and kindness is something that has impacted me above and beyond any priest I've ever known," said Sally Deeb, another volunteer.

Trust in God
She reasons God will continue to take care of the parish. "My God is bigger than all of us. God sees the bigger picture, and I'll just continue to trust in Him."

In fact, Ms. Deeb had converted to born-again Christianity for a time, but now calls herself a "born-again Catholic. When I walked back into St. Ann's, I remember just standing there and feeling, 'This is where God wants me.'"

Mrs. Hakim is already impressed by the ambition of Father Bouchaaya, St. Ann's new pastor: "We miss our former pastor, but we're gonna love him."

English is Father Bouchaaya's third language, after Arabic and French. He came to the U.S. in November and served in Virginia and Pennsylvania before coming to New York. He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries in 2004.

Abouna Bouchaaya visits parishioners in their homes and in hospitals and invites them to breakfast in the rectory after daily liturgies. He wants to start a monthly parish dinner and refers to the congregation as a family.

Father Bouchaaya applauded his predecessor: "All that we have is because of him and the parishioners."

He added: "Always we are counting on God to give us more and more. We are a small parish, but we are a flourishing parish."

(07/29/10) [[In-content Ad]]

---