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[[Image:Balamand.jpg|right|thumb|400px]]The '''Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand''' is an Orthodox [[monastery]] dedicated to the [[Virgin Mary ]] and Saint Georges[[George]]. The monastery is part of the [[Church of Antioch]] and is located about eight kilometers (five miles) south of the city of Tripoli in Lebanon.
==History==
[[Image:Monastery_of_Our_Lady_of_Balamand.jpg|thumb|right|Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand (Tripoli, Lebanon)]]The site of the monastery was formerly a monastery founded by Cistercian [[monk]]s in 1157 and was known variously as ''Belmont'', ''Bellimonte ultra Mare'', and ''Bellus-Mons''. This was the Cistercian monks’ monks' first overseas [[abbey]] which was , founded during the times of the western European Crusades into the [[Holy LandsLand]]. In the early part of the seventeenth century the monastery came under the authority of the local Orthodox Church. In recent times a theological faculty functioned within the monastery to educate new [[clergy]] until the formation, in 1971, of [[St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology (Tripoli, Lebanon)|St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology]] which later became part of the University of Balamand in Tripoli.
==Education==
The first clerical school was established at the monastery in 1832 by the [[Archimandrite]] Athanasius Kaseer of Damascus. This school , unfortunately , closed in 1840 after seven years of operation. The school re-opened in 1899 after [[Meletius II (Doumani) of Antioch|Meletius II Dumani (Doumani)]] was elected [[Patriarch]], with the [[Bishop]] of Tripoli, Gregorios Gregory IV (Haddad) , charged with its supervision. The school was closed again with the beginning of World War I. After the war it opened on a lesser scale of operation. In 1962, Patriarch Theodosius VI (Abu RjailyAbourjaily) initiated a move to improve the instruction at the school with the appointment of Bishop [[Ignatius IV (Hazim) of Antioch|Ignatus (Hazim) ]] as administrator of the school.
In 1965, Metr. [[Anthony Antony (Bashir) of New York|Anthony Antony (Bashir)]], of the [[AOCA|Antiochian Archdiocese of North America]], assumed the responsibility of upgrading the educational standard for the Church of Antioch when , at a general convention of the American Archdiocese , a decision was made to establish a theological institute on the hill of Balamand near Tripoli. The institute, [[St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology (Tripoli, Lebanon)|St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology]], was officially opened on [[October 7]] , 1971, ending the education programs that were held at the monastery.
==Treasury==
==External links==
*[http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/index.html Official Website]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balamand_Monastery Balamand Monastery]
*[http://www.balamand.edu.lb/theology/Introduction.htm#History Balamand Seminary]
[[Category:Monasteries]]
[[Category:Antiochian Monasteries|Balamand]]
[[Categoryfr: Monasteries]][[Category: Antiochian MonasteriesMonastère Notre Dame de Balamand]]