Apr 12 2010
[TBC: Here is further evidence that the “Mary” connection between Catholicism and Islam continues to grow.]
Lebanese Christians and Muslims celebrate the Annunciation together in the name of Mary [Excerpts]
Lebanese Christians and Muslims [celebrated] 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation, [as] an official national holiday sanctioned by the Government of Lebanon. All public buildings, schools, banks and university closed. The government has also encouraged private businesses to do the same.
The Feast Day of the Annunciation commemorates the moment when the Archangel Gabriel revealed to the Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus, the Saviour.
Former Polish President Lech Walesa, who has a deep devotion to Mary, was to be in Lebanon for the holiday.
On 18 February, the government made 25 March a national Christian-Muslim Day, something that has never occurred before in the history of Christian-Muslim relations. The decision was confirmed two days later during a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Prime Minister Hariri in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Dar-al-Fatwa Secretary General Sheikh Mohammed Nokkari, one of the main promoters of the joint festivity, said he hopes that such a holiday would spread to other parts of the world, adding that it was fitting that it should begin in Lebanon, which the late Pope John Paul II had described as "a message of pluralism for the East and the West."
For the Muslim clergyman, Mary is “the best woman ever, here (on earth) and in eternity” for “she's above all women”, a symbol of unity between the two faiths.
The Council of Maronite Bishops praised the government's decision, saying it "helps in bringing hearts together.”
