This picture is of a relic of Blessed Abouna Yaacoub that is in the first church dedicated to this saintly man. The church is on the mountain of the cross in Deir El Kamar, Lebanon, and was dedicated in June of 2009 when Abouna Yaacoub was beatified. I was fortunate to have attended the first Mass in this beautiful church when I visited Lebanon. Each time I attend Mass my prayer at the consecration is "Heavenly Father, I ask You to wash Karim clean with the blood and water that flowed from the side of Your son, Jesus. And I ask in the name of Your son, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and through the intercession of Mary, His Most Holy Mother, Abouna Yaacoub, St. Charbel, Padre Pio and Pope John Paul II, that in Your great love and mercy for him, You would hear my prayer and heal him of his disease." I call upon the saints of Lebanon, particularly Yaacoub, whose very life was dedicated to loving and ministering to the handicapped and the sick, even right there on the mountain of the cross. I know for certain in my heart that if he were living today, he would serve God by ministering to little Karim.
I will make one last visit to Lebanon this summer to be with Karim and to see my other sweet Lebanese brothers and sisters. I hope to spend one entire night with Karim in Abouna Yaacoub's church. There I will offer a night of prayer and petition, seeking answers from God and from Abouna Yaacoub himself. Perhaps I will find peace and be able to let go of this great hope of mine. Perhaps God will give me the strength to rest in His will as is. But, I have not entirely found this peace yet; thus, the need to return one last time to Lebanon, my second home, among the Maronite people, my beloved second family.
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