Staging the Extraordinary Emergence of Divine Entities in the Daily Life of a Visionary House in...

| MEDITERRANEAN REVIEW | Vol. 6, No. 1[June 2013] : 43~65

Staging the Extraordinary Emergence of Divine

Entities in the Daily Life of a Visionary

House in Beirut

Nour Farra-Haddad*1

Abstract

Catherine, a Maronite resident of Nab'a (Beirut), married and the mother of three children, claims that for the past twenty years she has “seen” and been “kidnapped” by the Virgin Mary and the saints. Hundred of Christian and Muslim devotees meet regularly in her house, which has almost been turned into a sanctuary.

At Catherine's house, the presence of the divine is built up through an interplay between the visionary, the faithful, the priests and the saints. Every Tuesday the divine manifests itself through the body of the visionary by means of ecstasies and on Good Friday each year stigmata appear on the body of Catherine, on her front, her feet, her hands and her side. The saints, as a spiritual force, overcome her and possess her body. Their interventions seem very precise and ritualized. The miracle expected - "descent of the saints", "divine messages", appearance of the stigmata - is within a spectrum of actions.

Our discussion will present the ritualized intervention of the saints by focusing on the performance itself. In other words we will approach the performance of the visionary and the actors around her as an art on the borders between the real and the imaginary. We will focus on the pace of ceremonies marked by moments of variable intensity. This rhythm gives the ritual both the aspect of a well-settled "performance" at times and that of an unexpected or even disorganized one at other times. It plays an essential role in the staging of the extraordinary emergence of divine entities in the daily life of an ordinary household.

* Anthropologist, Research (IFPO-CNRS) and teacher, Saint Joseph University (USJ-FSR),

Lebanon. e-mail:[email protected]

44 | MEDITERRANEAN REVIEW | Vol. 6, No. 1[June 2013]

Keywords: Lebanon, rituals, saints, visionary, miracles

1. Introduction

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out

My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. and on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.”

(Acts 2:17-18)1 For more than twenty years a network of "Christian visionaries”2 has

developed in Beirut and its close suburbs. These people say that they are regularly "kidnapped" by the Virgin and the saints in order to reveal "divine" messages in a state of ecstasy. These ritualized ecstasies are very well scheduled, by dates and specific times, inviting the faithful to get together in more or less homogeneous or mixed communities. These communities evolve and get organized and structured depending on the "graces" and the "miracles" taking place around the visionaries (rhythm of the ecstasies/appearances, stigmata, emergence of incense and smells, oil secretion). In Beirut’s North suburbs, we have Catherine from Nab’a, Najat from Dekwaneh, Micheline and Samia from Sin El Fil, Simon –Boutros– from New Rawda, we have also Nevrik from Fanar (Beirut’s North-East suburb), Lucie from Ashrafieh (Beirut’s East quarters), and Marcelle from Yasou’ El Malak (a locality in the North of Beirut), Patrick from Kfarchima (Beirut’s South-East suburb), Alice from Ain El Remmaneh (Beirut’s East suburb)… Some believers simply visit a single visionary while others travel from one house to another, motivated by curiosity or faith.

1 Almost all the ten priests following Beirut’s visionaries refer to the Acts of the Apostles to give

legitimacy to these phenomena. 2 We will use the word “visionary”. However, the faithful prefer other expressions such as "little

Saint", "sister” / “brother.”

| Nour Farra-Haddad | Staging the Extraordinary Emergence of Divine Entities in the

Daily Life of a Visionary House in Beirut | 45

This paper reflects some results of my fieldwork that began eight years ago in the framework of a French research program3. My research surveys five of these visionaries (Catherine, Najat, Nevrik, Lucie and Patrick) and begins to sketch a comparative analysis of them. These people have many common features, but may also present contrasting situations. In the course of my investigations and in the qualitative analysis of the data I collected4, it emerged that some of these houses encourage devotional practices shared by Muslim and Christian communities, whereas other houses are visited only by Christians and do not look for interfaith openness.

These visionaries experience ecstasies, transmitting divine messages in the voice of various saints, reproducing the ritualized intervention of the saints. Our article focuses on the performance of Catherine, the oldest of the current visionaries5. Catherine a Maronite inhabitant of Nab'a, married and the mother of three children, says that for twenty years she has “seen” and been “abducted” by the Virgin Mary and some saints. Hundreds of Christian and Muslim devotees meet regularly in her home, which has been transformed into a quasi-sanctuary. Every Tuesday in particular ecstasies take place and on Good Friday each year the mystical transport of the visionary results in the appearance of stigmata on her body, her forehead, her feet, her hands and her side. The saints take possession of Catherine’s body.

At the same time, their interventions are accurate and follow a very precise and ritualized miraculous spectrum of acts - "descent of the saints", "divine messages", appearance of stigmata...

The description of this phenomenon will help us answer these questions: how do devotees look through the visionary at these forms of worship, which interact with them and with her; how does the community evolve; why and

3 ANR, Imasud (Suds imaginaires, imaginaires des Suds. Héritages, mémoires, représentations en

Méditerranée):http://dakirat.hypotheses.org/lanr-imasud/imasud-anr 4 This fieldwork numbers about 70 days of participant observation and 280 interviews in more

than five of the houses of the visionaries (Catherine in Nabaa, Najat in Dekwaneh, Nevrik in Fanar, Lucie in Achrafieh and Patrick in Kfarchima/Hadath).

5 The faithful around visionaries still remember Violette in Dbayeh (North of Beirut) who had ecstasies and opened her home to the believers, and this well before Catherine opened her own. Catherine mentions repeatedly attending meetings at Violette’s house and seems to even have had ecstasies in her home. Violette died at the end of the 1990s.


how do these rituals and beliefs attract all denominations of followers; and can we really talk about an open door to an interfaith dialogue inside this house?

2. Emergence of divine entities in the daily life of ordinary people

2.1 Catherine

Catherine is from B'aktouta, a small Lebanese mountain village. She was

born in 1969 and began to have visions and ecstasies in early childhood. Her family preferred discretion but all the inhabitants of the village already came to her hoping for grace. At 13 she was convinced that her vocation was to join a congregation of nuns and she was inclined toward the convent of the Sisters of Saint Theresa in Kley'at. But she quickly left the convent after hearing "voices" informing her that her vocation was in society, 'in the world'6. At the age of 20, she married a very modest man, Jalal (small trader and night watchman) inhabiting Nab'a. Following the wedding, a disease -that she hardly gets to define- made her suffer increasingly and through her successive pregnancies.

Saint Charbel miraculously healed her of that sickness that almost paralyzed her. Yet, in her life she continues to suffer from different diseases7. It was also after her wedding in 1989 that she opened her house to the faithful and invited them to share her weekly ecstasies, which continue to occur until today in her house. Most of the members of the community and visitors call her "El Ekht Catherine" (sister Catherine). This was also the case of Mathilde Riachi8 and other visionaries. Many people call her “Kattoura”as well, a friendly Arabized diminutive of Catherine. This familiarity with the visionary is also part of her posture of an ordinary woman, compared to others who call 6 Mathilde Riachi used these terms in the same context. Mathilde Riachi was the privileged

witness of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions between 1960 and 2005. And as a teenager, she believed that she had to go into holy orders but the Virgin demurred. Noun, 2011 : 35.

7 She always accepted sufferings with a smiling face, besides the fact that they reproduce the sufferings of the Christ in his passion, proving for some priests that she is not under the influence of Satan. Heyberger, 1979:69-74.

8 Noun, 2011 : 33.



her (like the Virgin Mary) "Umm El Kol", "the mother of all", placing her on a holy pedestal.

Married and the mother of three children, neither her education nor her piety, prepared her for important missions. She doesn’t have any religious knowledge and she is almost illiterate, mastering only her mother tongue –Arabic– even if at times, in certain ecstasies, she communicates messages in foreign languages that she has never known. Following the first ecstasies, she was invested with a baraka9, a grace that she would have the power to spread and pass around. Her life has become marked by a succession of miracles and acts of intercession: she heals, advises, guides... She feels invested with a mission (Risaleh), or even with a vocation (Da'oueh). She feels a responsibility falling on her shoulders and does not fear to be at the level of the mission she was designated for. She's afraid to disappoint Jesus, the Virgin Mary or the saints.

2.2 Beit Catherine, the house of Catherine

The house of Catherine is located in Nab'a, a poor district of Beirut’s

suburbs receiving, since the beginning of the twentieth century, successive waves of refugees of different denominations (Maronite, Shi'a, Armenian, Syrian, Iraqi…). The visionary's apartment has three rooms, located on the first floor of a modest building. It consists of two rooms separated by a long corridor (a sanctuary salon and a living-room/dining-room), a single bedroom and a kitchenette. The main entrance gives direct access to the sanctuary lounge where ecstasies unfold. The second room is reserved for family life and meals. In a single room of the apartment, Catherine isolates herself from time to time to receive the faithful for private consultation.

The apartment is lined with sacred images and statues. An altar was designed in a corner of the sanctuary salon with a profusion of holy images that ooze oil. There are also jumbled rosaries of various sizes and many candles bearing the images of saints. Edgings of cotton stuck at the base of holy images on the walls collect the oozing oil. Catherine house has now been

9 By Baraka we mean spiritual impulses, visible marks of holiness, the graces and blessings sent

by God. This influx may come from a place, a saint or an object. Through Catherine, her house and worship objects from the house, the influx is transmitted to the faithful.


"open" for more than twenty years, "Baytmaftooh 'aal el Kol" (open house for all); it is in these terms that believers describe this place. Indeed, the door is almost always open, from early in the morning until late at night. The faithful go there for prayers, ecstasies, consultations, counseling, and collection of oil or incense... Catherine is here for all, she has a nice and personal word for all those who approach her.

The family home has been transformed into of the site of a popular cult, into a true sanctuary, gathering worshippers "sharing graces". This house that became a centre of pious visits (ziyarat) is extremely active: meetings, prayers and daily and weekly activities are organized. In the daily life of this ordinary house, in the daily life of this woman’s home, in the daily life of a popular suburb where you can hear loud muezzins, grocers, and traffic, appear divine entities spreading graces and messages.

3. The construction of a performance or the staging of the Rapture The presence of the divine is being built upin an interplay between the

visionary, the faithful, the priests and the saints. We can really talk about an art that is staging a territory between the real and the imaginary. Ecstasies unfold according to a precise and ritualized pattern. The saints impose themselves on the "visionary", invade her body and seize her person. The faithful speak of the "descent of the saints", who invite themselves to earth, abandoning their heavenly life for some time, or a "rapture" (Inkhitaf) by the saints. They intervene with humans, delivering messages and giving signs.

At Catherine’s house, in Nab’a, ecstasy takes place every Tuesday at 10:30 in her house and on Good Friday each year stigma appear simultaneously on her body (front and/or the feet and/or hands and/or side), and she experiences a crucifixion. Every afternoon there are prayers that are organized in her house but on Tuesday, during the prayers between 9 AM and 12:30 AM, Catherine is "captured" (Btenkhetef). The faithful then fill the entire house, scrambling over the stairwell and even the entrance of the building. Apart from the weekly ecstasies, Catherine may be "captured" on the occasion of festivals, pilgrimages... or simply during a moment of prayer.



She oscillates daily between the role of an ordinary mother and that of a living icon adored by many faithful, between being an extraordinary woman and a common inhabitant of a popular area. Facing the problems of everyday life and a working class family life, she also delivers divine messages and she is invested with a particular "grace" that she has the desire and the duty to transmit to the greatest number of the faithful. An ordinary woman that can be encountered doing her housework, a broom in the hand or trying to cook just a few minutes before an ecstasy... A woman 'icon' walking contemplative toward the altar of the sanctuary lounge of her house before the ecstasy... Catherine herself wears a black veil and her secretary Myriam a white veil. By this veil, these women are distinguished from the audience; they take on a posture that assigns them an aura of holiness. Rosary in hand, head bent in an attitude of contemplation and detachment, they pass through the crowd. As she passes, some try to touch her, embrace her or put into her hands an image, a booklet, the rosary, or whisper intently. She kneels facing the altar in a position of prayer.

Ecstasies are organized according to a perfectly orchestrated rhythm. The organizers of the ceremony ensure the proper conduct of a spectrum of acts: prayers, litanies, ecstasy with the “descent of the saints", "divine messages", the appearance of the stigmata... During the ecstasies Catherine remains kneeling in front of the altar the rosary in her hands. Ecstasies usually begin when Catherine whispers: "My dear children" (Yaawladi al-ahibba'), on behalf of the Virgin, before issuing the rest of the message with a soft, steady voice, and end with blessings given by priests or laymen officiating. During ecstasies, Myriam carefully takes note of the lesser words and gestures of Catherine. She not only transcribes the words spoken, she also notes all the facial expressions and postures of the visionary (smiles, suffering, faces...), mentioning the times of receipt of messages and the times of the different attitudes.

The pace of the ceremonies is marked by moments of intensity and release. The 'performance' is perfectly set but some unforeseen acts interfere in the running of the ceremony from time to time. Unexpected small events accompany the extraordinary emergence of divine entities in the everyday life of a regular household or a regular mass. It may be a miracle, a person from the audience who has a vision or a parallel ecstasy, the intervention of a


member of the family who needs his mother or his father, the announcement of news that recalls an element of messages, improvised vocals...

On Good Friday every year at Easter, the ecstasy takes a special form with the visionary "crucifixion" (El Salb). When Catherine kneels in front of the altar, the gathered crowd of the faithful have already been reciting the five mysteries of the Rosary for an hour, chained to "Our father", "Glory to the father", a "Hail Mary", and plead at a pace that accelerates and with a sound that grows. In a praying position, she stands, hands apart and raised to the sky, facing the altar of the sanctuary lounge. She is wearing black clothes (aside from her ‘leopard' slippers, which she wears in this context for comfort). She holds in her right hand a sharp metal crucifix. Songs cease abruptly. A murmur starts up; people are jostling to see well what is happening. The visionary curls up on the floor, and then falls down back, forehead, hands and feet bloody. In a rigid position and with crossed hands, she is transported to the sofa bed of the salon.

Myriam then sits on the edge of the couch, holds Catherine’s hand and caresses her forehead while taking notes at the same time. During the long hours of "crucifixion", of suffering, she delivers individual messages to the faithful who jostle and kneel in front of the couch. It is one of the "volunteers" who organizes these consultations. Believers whisper their intentions in her ears. Some cry listening to her. Catherine's body is frozen and stiff and her feet tipped up. From time to time, she laments and moans with pain. She embodies the sufferings of the Christ on the cross and also the suffering of the Virgin in front of her crucified son. A few hours later, known as "Fakk el Salb" (the end of the crucifixion - the crucifixion comes undone), Catherine's body relaxes but she continues to moan for ten minutes before sitting and receiving "congratulations" from the audience for having survived these wounds and the appreciation of people who have received personal messages.

The saints manifest themselves through the body of the visionary in ecstasies. It is through a hesitant or very low voice that the saint delivers messages. The entire body is 'invaded' and takes different postures that can evoke states of mind, suffering, or special situations. The crucifixion is of course the more explicit posture but other postures can be observed like a mother cradling or cuddling a child.

These well-organized performances are part of a ritual theatrical staging



around the character of Catherine. The scene is located in front of the altar of the sanctuary lounge with about 50 people in the room and more outside jostling on the balcony, in the hallway and stairwell of the building.

4. Saints: signs and messages The figures of holiness that occur the most are the Virgin Mary on the first

level, Saint Charbel on the second level (A Lebanese monk of the nineteenth century canonized in Rome in 1977), often guided by the directives of Jesus, and also a range of local and foreign saints as Saint Rafqa, Padre Pio, Saint Theresa... As noted by Philippe Boutry: "the apparition cannot be isolated from the Marian piety: it represents the eruption of the extraordinary in the everyday life of a cult.''10 The Christians and the Muslims in the East and in Lebanon dedicate a very particular devotion11 especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary, exceeding that to all the other saints. Daughter of Zion for the Jews, mother of Jesus, the son of God, for Christians, mother of the Prophet Issa for Muslims, whose name is 34 times in the Koran and an admirable figure venerated by the faithful of various religions12. The Blessed Virgin and Saint Charbel, holy figures shared by Christians and Muslims, are placed at the centre of the cult at Catherine’s house. Unquestionably this meets the needs of the inhabitants of this multi-faith district and the followers of different religious and social groups who visit the house.

The saints are manifested by issuing messages and also by the emergence of "miraculous" substances. The emergence of substances passes through the body of the visionary, by images, icons, holy statues... At Catherine’s house, “divine incense” appears miraculously on the ground, on the altar or in her hands, and oil also miraculously oozes from all the images and icons of the house and some ooze blood.

"Divine" substances are coveted by believers for their baraka. They are known to be miraculous and can be used in various types of rituals:

10 Boutry, 1982 : 31. 11 Goudard, 1993. 12 Dousse, 2005.


absorption, anointing or conservation as the case may be. The faithful who come to visit Catherine usually leave with small bags of cotton soaked with oil and incense. They also imbue the Baraka by touching and kissing images and statues of the holy place.

"Divine incense" can appear suddenly on the floor or clump in the palm of the hands of Catherine as she clutches the rosary during the prayers. Popular belief says that it "falls from the sky.” Many visitors ask Catherine to hold their rosaries during prayers and ecstasies hoping for this grace. This incense is not meant to be burned; it must be absorbed by the believers as a miraculous and therapeutic cure. The 'divine oil' that oozes out of the images of the house, and the altar in particular, is used for anointing rituals. Some of the faithful proceed with rituals directly at Catherine’s house but most often they bring back small bags with cotton soaked in oil and proceed home for rituals.

The appearance of certain substances can also be interpreted as a prophetic sign, as can the cessation of their emergence. This was the case for the oozing of blood from the image of St Charbel before the bloody Israeli bombing in July 2006 and the cessation of the oil seepage that reflected the increase of sins within the community. Some priests had to pray to the saints in remission of sins in order to see the oil seeping again.

Also, numerous witnesses attest "Meyroun13 " or rose smell in the house during the ecstasies particularly. The 'smell of holiness' is such a mystical phenomenon that many accounts and books have been written on holiness. Saints can generate floral smells in their lifetime and after their deaths. The Church considers this phenomenon as a sign of holiness, a reflection of the heroic virtues of the faithful. But the Church remains cautious and it has always wondered about its origin, which is unknown. In most of the stories of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, a rose smell spreads as in Medjugorje14, in Zeintoun in Egypt or Soufanieh appearances in Damascus in Syria.

Messages can come from a single saint or several saints. A saint who is expressed through the visionary may also evoke the presence of other divine figures with him. Presences and absences of saints are all significant and

13 Meyroun: Special perfumed oil known in the East to be the mixture of three kinds of olive oil

mixed in the balm and perfume essences. Its preparation requires specific religious rituals. 14 Claverie, 2003.



meaningful. Some are therapists, others protectors; they may be threatening or reassuring. The saints are thus manifested in a multitude of particular attitudes, sometimes satisfying certain of the faithful or challenging them in their faith.

Messages allow a large range of individual and collective interpretations from the listeners among the faithful and the priests. There are two types of messages: collective messages and messages that involve individuals in particular, giving them advice or cautioning them against something. Collective messages are mostly a composite of recommendations such as: "Pray my children", "Confess", "Recite the Rosary", and reassuring and encouraging phrases like: "I'm with you", "don't be afraid", "keep confidence", and above all other directives intended to reaffirm the central role of the Church and the importance of the sacraments. These messages can also be premonitory and be replayed after a particular socio-political event. These messages take an educational, catechetical and apologetic tone.

All messages are transcribed by the “secretary”in school exercise books. These messages are often read and reread by worshippers who didn’t have the chance to attend the ecstasies or by some who want to make sure about certain symbolic details that could be significant. At Catherine’s house messages are not printed or distributed to the community (as at Nevrik’s house for example). They are simply archived in these exercise books that are freely available to all.

Miracles are also divine signs. The Gospel reveals that miraculous healings are the privileged sign of the Messianic advent15. Dozens of miracles have been identified and particularly associated with divine substances that appear at Catherine’s house (incense and oil). Sitting in the sanctuary lounge at Catherine’s house, visitors or neighbors repeat tirelessly stories of miracles that can go beyond the national territory. Several categories of miracles are reported, such as the healing of sick people or an unexpected reconciliation in a battered family, the rescue of prostitutes or drug addicts. Following the ecstasies or prayers, sometimes the priest invites a witness of a miracle to testify.

The most renowned miracle is probably the one of a young Armenian man living in Azerbaijan that never failed, during his visits to Lebanon, to visit Catherine and bring back with him miraculous incense and oil. One day on his return, he was told that his friend Mohammad was very ill and was admitted to 15 Mathieu, 10:7-8.


intensive care without great hope of recovery. He went to his bedside, made him swallow Catherine’s incense and made him an anointment of oil. The young man was miraculously healed. A Muslim woman has also been miraculously cured in Azerbaijan thanks to this oil and this incense. Catherine was then invited to Azerbaijan during the Pope's visit on May 22, 200216. The Pope then blessed her and used the same word pronounced by Saint Charbel when she was 6 years old: "I bless you and bless your journey." A picture in the house attests to this meeting but it shows only the silhouette of Catherine facing the pope.

The holiness of the visionary here seems to be built on the proliferation of supernatural experiences and signs. The oozing oil and blood, the appearance of incense "fallen from heaven", raptures and messages and finally the miracles testify to the Baraka located at Catherine’s house.

5. The actors around the visionary and their modes of engagement

5.1 The family of Catherine: distant and present Catherine knows that her vocation is first and foremost to be a mother and

a housewife. Her character is built on the divine grace but also on her ordinary parental status. During interviews, she tells us about her love for Jalal and especially how she could have never have fulfilled her 'mission' without him. It is the Christian mother of Jalal who baptized him and raised him alone. He has never known his Muslim father, who abandoned them. Jalal has several jobs to meet his family's requirements. A night watchman, he also runs during the day a small shop of cotton and linen articles on the ground floor of the same building where he lives with his family. He is often helped by Catherine or by "volunteers" for sales issues. He believes in the vocation of Catherine and supports her even if he witnesses almost no ecstasies. He reacts without hesitation to virulent attacks by some religious people or “orthodox” faithful 16 It was the 96th visit by John-Paul II to a Muslim-majority country, in this case a country that

hosts one of the smallest Catholic communities, with around 150 followers.



and he is always present at the meals shared by the family in the living room. His children, Elie, Sarah and Charbel live within this united family and are

perfectly used to the rhythm of the house, ecstasies and its visitors. Since their birth, the house has welcomed visitors continuously. For them, nothing is more natural than to be forced to leave their bedroom in pajamas to allow Catherine to talk privately with someone. They attend from time to time ecstasies and prayers and have always lived normally in the house. Sarah (born in 1991) is married and has established her own home since September 2011, allowing Catherine to become a grandmother in June 2011. Elie, the younger, born in 1993, is today an apprentice hairdresser. He goes out to the salon all day and returns in the evening. Charbel, the youngest, born in 1997, is still at school. Although all of them are independent, Catherine always watches closely after their welfare.

Catherine, the visionary, is at the centre of the phenomena of ecstasies but within the family of the Fehmi she plays the secondary role of a woman, submitted to the authority of her husband at home.

5.2 The faithful: a human mosaic, reflection of the Lebanese society

The faithful come to pray along with Catherine and consult her, hoping to

share her graces and receive personal messages from saints and valuable advice. Her reputation passes mainly through the oral account of these ecstasies, circulating among the believers, and the proliferation of miracles in connection with her, which allows the development of a community around her.

An "Interfaith worship place" has been created around Catherine. This sanctuary house located in a neighborhood where different religious communities mix, is regularly visited by devotees from different social backgrounds, of different geographical origins and religions (Muslim and Christian), qualifying the house as "Baytmaftouh 'aala el kol" (a house open to all). The very elegant high-class society lady of Ashrafiyeh collects incense and oil from the altar next to an Iraqi refugee who took off her shoes in the lobby lounge and an Ethiopian who left her Rosary on the altar. A man in suit and tie enters the house at the same time as a policeman in a military uniform. The policeman collects and embraces several holy images. The man in the suit asks to speak to Catherine, who is occupied with her daughter. Myriam helps him wait by


giving him a bag of cotton soaked in oil. Visitors can have different patterns or statuses but are all looking for the

Baraka, graces and miracles. All visitors without distinction can receive graces. Many miracles have affected Muslims and are proudly included in the accounts of miracles in connection with Catherine. At Catherine’s house, no reliable statistics can be advanced concerning the number that know this house and the profile of the visitors, but we can count daily dozens of visitors and hundreds in ecstasies.

The faithful, entering this house, without necessarily knocking at the door, are always warmly welcomed by the members of the community and by Catherine herself. She embraces almost systematically all women coming to consult her and can hug suffering men. She always has a personal thought for those that she knows; she is affectionate and compassionate with all visitors. She tries as much as she can to give advice and promise prayers for all. She always welcomes the faithful even till the end of the night. Even with her fragile health she can speak with people in need from the early morning until midnight.

5.3 Volunteers: a framework and a secular committed support

Over the years, a network of 'volunteers', a group of close 'friends’ serving

the mission of the visionaries has been created around each of the visionaries. There is always a secretary who records received messages and people who come regularly to assist and support the visionary; they are often in charge of guiding the faithful (they retransmit messages, provide incense or holy oil, and tell miracles...). These people are all volunteers and offer their expertise, their means and their time to serve the mission of the visionaries.

The volunteers around Catherine number a dozen people who have well-defined tasks; most of them have been here now for several years, or even a decade. These volunteers come daily to assist Catherine in the kitchen and household tasks and Jalal in his shop duties. They help welcoming visitors (distribution of prayers, images, incense and oil), praying with them and organizing the ceremonies. Myriam, the Secretary takes notes of all the messages and she is responsible for forwarding them to the interested parties,



reading them and commenting on them again and again to visitors without being bored. Abdallah, the Nab’a merchant, is very dedicated to the community; he is the "handyman" of the house and he is responsible for the altar and the audio-visual equipment. Scarlett, the high-class lady of Hazmieh district can even end up cooking in front of the oven and regularly supplies the house with goods. Sari, the Ethiopian, takes care of the household and Georges, the “strong man” of the house, ensures the security of the house and controls visitors. Pascale and Amale help as they can with the welcoming of the pilgrims, the housework, the cooking...

These close members of Catherine’s community are part of the house and visitors do not fail to notice it. They are the ones who assist Catherine to distribute oil, incense, holy images, and they are the ones conveying the messages of ecstasies and miracles. It is also they who support Catherine in her daily life, share her meals and discuss things with her while drinking hot chocolate (which replaces the coffee that Catherine cannot drink). They share the vocation of Catherine but also love her as their friend. They furnish the House-Sanctuary but also the family home.

6. The contrasting positions of the church: between recognition and rejection These cases of “visions” raise tensions and debates within the Church or

the believers. Churches keep their distance from these visionaries. We cannot speak of a total rejection but a kind of graded recognition. At first, there is in general a strong hesitation and then a desire to supervise more closely the massive influx of the faithful to the places of these ecstasies and appearances. The faithful and the clergy can be very virulent against these phenomena and make accusations of quackery, while others on the contrary have no doubts about the divine intervention.

Catherine was much persecuted for many years; she was accused of everything; charlatanism and even sinning with a priest of Tula (North Lebanon). Some priests condemn her and others visit her regularly and support her. The Church has apparently conducted an investigation, but


without ever reaching public conclusions, as has been explained to us by Catherine and Myriam. The Catholic Church didn’t take any clear decision regarding the phenomena observed at Catherine’s house. She was not really the subject of canonical investigations. This can be interpreted as a positive sign that will keep the door open to a positive judgment, or as a negative sign, considering that silence on these phenomena could lead to them being overlooked. In any case the absence of judgment allows the cult to carry on17.

In general, the Maronite Church assigns to each visionary a spiritual guide, to track his/her progress and ensure his/her submission to the Church. Spiritual guides are involved differently depending on the case and are very careful over their relationship with the visionaries. Father Bassam Kiwan who follows Catherine rarely visits her and interferes very little in celebrations and activities that take place in her house. He stated, however, that he keeps at the same time a very watchful eye on what is happening in this house. He particularly emphasizes the prohibition on Catherine appearing in the media.

The practice of confession and direction of conscience by a priest are usually essential in the life of a mystical woman and the choice of the spiritual guide is very delicate18. Father Bassam is for Catherine her official connection with the Maronite Church but he is not for her an intimate spiritual confessor.

On the other hand, priests, monks, deacons and nuns visit Catherine personally and sometimes even preach or officiate in her living room. These clerics represent different spheres. Some of them are clearly influenced by the charismatic renewal19 and constantly refer to the Holy Spirit and the devil. They practice the sealing of the hands and even sometime improvise exorcisms. Others, generally older, are married priests, little educated and constantly encouraging the faithful to refer to the teachings of the Church. Both these trends, charismatic and traditionalist, complement each other by contributing each in its own way to the recognition of the phenomenon20.

For Catherine, as for all of the visionaries, it is very important to stay in

17 Boutry, 1982: 406-407 18 Heyberger, 2001 : 69. 19 Born in the United States in 1967, the Charismatic Catholic renewal movement was introduced

in Lebanon in the 1970s. 20 Aubin-Boltanski, Farra-Haddad : 2012/2013.



the good books of the Church and remain subject to its authority. She knows very well that certain rules must not be violated in any case, such as for example receiving financial donations. Catherine and the members of her community repeat systematically to visitors that financial donations are rejected. The association with quackery is easily founded on financial issues and they know that. However, some of the faithful openly supply the house with foodstuffs or offerings of worship objects (images, statues, rosaries...).

Messages must perfectly match the teachings of the Church and no deviation is allowed. Prayers and songs that accompany the ecstasy must conform to their original version. Any changes in the recitals are perceived as a transgression. Catherine and her secretary must ensure compliance with these standards and even ask the clergy present to confirm publicly that the prayers, hymns and recited praises comply with those promoted by the Church. Every Tuesdays and Thursday evening, lay people organize sessions of prayer and exegesis of the Bible. They are designed to encourage the believers to be close to the Holy Scriptures and remind them of the sacraments of the Church.

Her spiritual guide prohibits any media exposure, and the oral tradition remains the only means implemented to uphold the reputation of Catherine and disseminate messages that she receives. Following ecstasies, visitors remember and spread messages that are replayed endlessly to those who ask. During the ecstasies, very often the faithful jostle, waving their mobile phones to record messages and transmit them to believers in Lebanon or abroad.

In her relationship with representatives of the Church with various profiles and different statuses, Catherine skillfully alternates between two postures: the emotional mystic with some and a parishioner attentive to the teachings of the Scriptures and the directives of the Church with the others. This alternation is involved in the construction of her character and her holy gestures, which closely combine the ordinary and extraordinary21.

21 Ibid


7. Conclusion Considering that this paper is mainly a monographic description, we invite

readers to develop their own reflections around this phenomenon: around Catherine, her house, the community, her identity and how she evolves.

Catherine is the central character in the staging of ritualized kidnappings and the issue of divine messages. She daily juggles her family life with her vocation, and her role of wife and mother with her role of "little saint". The stage on which she appears is her half-sacred, half-profane house; a private space that becomes public.

The ambivalent particularity of the saints is to be human beings and at the same time living a sacred experience that differentiates them from others. In this classic model, this phenomenon is multi-dimensional, taking place between the ordinary and the extraordinary. All actors around the visionary follow this dichotomous perspective that builds her character and her gesture. These different roles are complementary and dependent. Catherine is a resident of Nab'a, a neighbor, a homemaker, a submitted housewife and a cook, a mother and a friend, but also an “icon”, an ecstatic that the saints have chosen to convey their messages. Catherine, in all of these roles, is also a woman of dialogue, trying to unify the Lebanese against the danger of fanaticism in Lebanese society, as in Nab’a district.Vauchez22, inspired by Weber and his theory around the charismatic power of certain persons, demonstrates how a visionary can use a supernatural power. The charismatic visionaries have a power over their community that they can use for the good or the bad. The Church is aware that this power can be misused and that’s why it follows these people closely. Believers looking for miracles and relief do all what Catherine asks them to. When Catherine talks about her vocation she is really modest and submitted to the Church’s will, but from another angle she uses her power to orient people toward certain practices and rituals and she knows very well that she is the pillar of all this scenography.

The "descent of the saints" and the signs they send are accessible through Catherine to all Lebanese, regardless of their religious or social affiliation, and this is achieved by opening her house and her arms to the faithful. This 22 André Vauchez: 1999



phenomenon has allowed the creation of an interfaith area where Lebanese of all sides intermingle in respect of the 'other'. It is a space where Catherine plays the role of a loving mystical prophetess placing the Blessed Virgin, "source of dialogue", in the centre of worship, assisted by saint Charbel, who became a national symbol in Lebanon. The messages delivered, the pastoral care of the house and the testimony preach for a “living together”, apart from socio-political tensions, that is favorable to the construction of a common Lebanese identity. Catherine and the community around her testify strongly about the interfaith aspect of the house and how the Virgin Mary and the saints do miracles and respond to all, Christians and Muslims, without any distinction. Catherine is aware about all the tensions existing in her quarter as well as in the whole country and about fanaticism rising. She wants to appear and be considered as a person uniting the Lebanese and helping them progress toward peace.

Two aspects of this phenomenon can support the ideas of Turner23: the development of a community around these rituals and this person and the very tiny boundary that exists between the sacred and the profane in this house.

Our work in the field on this phenomenon, relegated to the status of "popular religiosity" in Lebanon, is still at its beginning and many questions and considerations can open a way to a more precise analysis. Different axes of considerations in the article can be developed. For more than twenty years the saints have appeared through Catherine. Although the scenography and the conduct of acts of ecstasy follow a ritualized and regulated pattern, they have evolved and adapted to socio-political situations and the requirements of the Church too. A multivariate analysis will allow us to better understand the dynamics around which the community of Catherine’s house revolves. Vertical networks that link the saints to the members of the community and the horizontal dynamics that bring together the members of the community are related together by the character of Catherine. Exploring these links would help us to better understand the organization of the community and its motivations as well as the different postures of the visionary.

The future will also tell if this community is moving towards "perdition" and will be subject to a 'negative decision' or if, on the contrary, these

23 Victor Turner : 1979/ 1997


phenomena have a chance to get an official 'approval', a recognition from the Church.



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Date for submitting article: 2013.04.17 Date for final review: 2013.05.14

Date for confirming publication: 2013.05.16

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