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"The Little Arab" by Doris C. Neger Reprinted from Sophia, Volume 31, Number 1, Jan. - Feb. 2001
Who
was she? And what is her relevance to all of us in the year 2001? Here is a
synopsis of her short life here on earth.
Mariam Baouardy was a child of Galilee, Palestine. Her family originated
in Damascus, Syria. They
were Christians of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Rite, descendants of the
Archeparchy of Antioch, the place where the followers of Jesus were first called
Christians. The Baouardy lived in the hill country of upper Galilee. Her father,
Giries (George) Baouardy, came from Horfesch, Palestine; her mother, Mariam
Shahine, came from Tarshiha, Palestine. Both villages were populated by Druse,
Sunni Muslims, and Christians’ Arabs. They were folk of very modest means.
Mariam bore her husband 12 sons; none survived their infancy to the great sorrow
of their parents.
Mariam, devoted to the Virgin Mary, prayed for a daughter. She prevailed
upon her husband to travel to Bethlehem and there to beseech the Mother of God
for a girl-child. They did so. At the Grotto of the Nativity of Jesus they
poured out their request in prayer. They then returned to Galilee and their home
in Ibillin. On January 5, 1846, the eve of the Epiphany, an infant daughter was
born. Ten days later in the local Melkite Church she received Baptism,
Confirmation and the Eucharist. She was named after the Virgin and called,
Mariam.
Two years later a baby boy was born. He was named Boulos (Paul). The tiny
family had a short time together. Both mother and father died within a few days
of each other. Giries’ last words, while looking at a picture of Saint Joseph
were: “Great Saint, here is my child. The Blessed Virgin Mary is her mother.
Please look after her, be her father.” A maternal aunt from Tarshiha took tiny
Paul into her home; Mariam was adopted by a paternal uncle in Ibillin.
Ibillin has scenery of incomparable beauty. From the rocky peak which
dominates the village, the whole of upper Galilee is viewed. The small Galilean,
Mariam, would recall these sights with great nostalgia throughout her short
life. To the north, the lofty mountain chain, the frontier of Lebanon could be
seen. On the northeast was mighty Jebel Shaykh, the Sheikh of the Mountains as
the Arabs call it, snow-capped yearlong. In the east waves of hills slope down
gently downward to Lake Galilee, also named Tiberias; on the south the opulent
Plain of Esdralon stretches outward till meeting Mount Carmel. Northwest beyond
the sand dunes sparkles the blue Mediterranean.
Mariam dwelled in the comfortable home of her uncle receiving all proper
care and attention. One incident from the time of her childhood revealed
significant insight into her forming character. It clearly indicated the
direction of her life to come. It took place in her uncle’s orchard amidst the
apricot, peach and pecan trees. She kept a small cage filled with small birds, a
gift given to her. One day she desired to give them a bath. Her child-like
well-intentioned efforts caused their death from drowning. Their death broke her
small heart. Grief-stricken she began to bury them when deep inside she heard a
clear voice, “This is how everything passes. If you will give me your heart, I
shall always remain with you.”
When Mariam was eight years old her uncle left Palestine with the entire
family and settled in Alexandria, Egypt. She was not to see her beloved Ibillin
till shortly before her death in 1878.
According to oriental custom, Mariam, then age 13, was promised in
marriage. The wedding was arranged without the bride-to-be’s consultation or
consent. This was a common custom among Middle Eastern Christians as well as
Muslims. Mariam’s reaction was one of shock and deep sadness. The night before
the wedding ceremony was sleepless. She was not prepared at all for the life of
a married woman. She prayed earnestly that night for guidance and solace. In her
heart’s depths she again heard a familiar voice, “Everything passes! If you
wish to give me your heart, I will remain with you.” Mariam knew it was her
master’s voice, the one, the only spouse she would have - Jesus. The remainder
of the night was spent in deep prayer before the icon of the Virgin Mother of
Jesus; she then heard the words, “Mariam, I am with you; follow the
inspiration I shall give you. I will help you.
Her adoptive uncle reacted with wild rage when he saw that Mariam would
not marry, but would remain a virgin. He tried outburst of rage, screams, hits
and slaps. Nothing would change her determination. He then resorted to treating
her as a hired domestic, giving her the most difficult kitchen tasks and
subjecting her to a position lower than his hired help.
Mariam sank into a deep sense of desolation and desperation. She turned
to her younger brother, Boulos. She wrote a letter to her brother inviting him
to come and see her in Alexandria. In her isolation from her uncle’s family
she turned to a Muslim domestic to have him deliver her letter to Nazareth. The
young man encouraged Mariam to reveal her personal troubles. He became outraged
at her uncle’s treatment of her and played upon the mind and feelings of the
young girl. He introduced conversion to Islam as a remedy to Mariam’s
problems. His words and actions focused young Mariam directly upon her
Christianity. Her realization of the young man’s true intentions stiffened her
will. She denied his advances and loudly proclaimed her faith in the Church of
Jesus. “Muslim, no, never! I am a daughter of the Catholic Apostolic Church,
and I hope by the grace of God to persevere until death in my religion, which is
the only true one.
Her so-called protector, furious at being rejected by this little
Christian became violent. Eyes flashing with hatred he lost control and kicked
her to the floor. He then drew his sword and slashed her throat. Thinking her
dead he dumped her bloody body in a nearby dark alley. It was 8 September 1858.
What followed was a strange and beautifully moving story, told years later by
Mariam to her Mistress of Novices at Marseilles, France. “A nun dressed in
blue picked me up and stitched my throat wound. This happened in a grotto
somewhere. I found myself in heaven with the Blessed Virgin, the angels and the
saints. They treated me with great, kindness. In their company were my parents.
I saw the brilliant throne of the Most Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ in His
humanity. There was no sun, no lamp, but everything was bright with light.
Someone spoke to me. They said that I was a virgin, but that my book was not
finished. When my wound was healed I had to leave the grotto and the Lady took
me to the Church of St. Catherine served by the Franciscan Friars. I went to
confess. When I left, the Lady in Blue had disappeared.” Years later when in
ecstasy, on September 8, 1874, the feast of our Lady’s nativity, Sr. Mary
said, “On this same day in 1858, I was with my Mother (Mary) and I consecrated
my life to her. Someone had cut my throat and the next day Mother Mary took care
of me.”
Mariam never saw her uncle again. She supported herself by working as a
domestic. An Arab Christian family, the Najjar, hired her to work for them.
After two years she was directed by her confessor to the Sisters of St. Joseph.
With several postulants from Lebanon and Palestine, she stayed with the Sisters.
Soon her health declined and mystical phenomena began. It was disturbing to the
congregation. They became upset over her supernatural actions and aura and would
not permit her to enter the novitiate. Her Mistress of Novices, Mother Veronica,
took her to the Carmelite convent of Pau where both gained admission. Mariam
entered Carmel at age 21 as a lay sister. After two months she entered the
cloister to begin her novitiate. She took the name of Sister Mary of Jesus
Crucified.
Little Mariam Baouardy, now known as Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified, was
professed on 21 November 1871 as a Carmelite Religious. Prior to that action she
was subjected to severe supernatural adversities. One of the most terrible was
diabolic possession for a period of 40 days. She persevered in her simple
child-like faith in God the Son and His Holy Mother Mary. Her rewards were those
reserved for the most privileged of humans. She was fixed with the stigmata of
her crucified Savior, experienced levitations, transverberations of the heart,
knowledge of hearts, prophecies, possession by the Good Angel, and facial
radiance. Again and again she would say, “Everything passes here on earth.
What are we? Nothing but dust, nothingness, and God is so great, so beautiful,
so lovable and He is not loved.”
Sister Mariam of Jesus Crucified had an intense devotion to the Holy
Spirit, Possessor of the Truth without error or division. Through the Melkite
Patriarch Gregory II Sayour, she sent a message to Pope Pius IX that the Church,
even in seminaries, is neglecting true devotion to the Holy Spirit, the
Paraclete. Her prayer to that great Unknown was: “Holy Spirit, inspire me.
Love of God consume me. Along the true road, lead me. Mary, my good mother, look
down upon me. With Jesus, bless me. From all evil, all illusion, all danger,
preserve me.” This simple prayer has gone around the world.
Sister Mariam was instrumental in the founding of a missionary Carmel in
Mangalore, India, in 1871, and in Bethlehem of Palestine. Also she was the
inspiration for the establishment of the Congregation of the Betharram Priests
of the Sacred Heart.
On 5 January 1878, Sister Mariam entered her 33rd year of life. One day
in August she fell while working in the convent injuring herself severely.
Gangrene set in quickly and spread the infection to her respiratory tract. She
never recovered from this trauma. On 26 August 1878, she suffered a
life-threatening suffocation attack. She died soon after murmuring, “My Jesus,
mercy.” It was ten minutes past five in the morning.
Her
tomb is engraved with this inscription:
“Here in the peace of the
Lord reposes Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified, professed religious of the white
veil. A soul of singular graces, she was conspicuous for her humility, her
obedience and her charity. Jesus, the sole love of her heart called her to
Himself in the 33rd year of her age and the 12th year of her religious life at
Bethlehem, 26 August 1878.”
She is still known today as “Al Qiddisa” (The holy one) in Ibillin,
Palestine. On 13 November 1983, Pope John Paul II beatified her in solemn
ceremony at Vatican City. She is scheduled for formal canonization this year
placing her among the Saints in formal proclamation.
The “Little Arab”, a living lesson of the virtues of humility and the
love of God, His son Jesus and His Mother Mary, is a special inspiration to
those who pursue the Truth as present in the Holy Spirit of God . . . And she
was one of us, a Melkite Catholic and a Carmelite.
PS
— In his preface Reverend Amedee Brunot, SCJ, the author of the book “Mariam
The Little Arab” writes: how
can we fail to see that this child of Galilee and of the Eastern Church has a
special message for those of her face and her rite? Accordingly how could anyone
have ever maintained that the sap of sanctity no longer flows in the veins of
the Churches of the East, that this land of anchorites and cenobites, of lauras
and monasteries no longer produces flowers and fruits of grace? The Lebanese
Charbel Makhlouf and the Galilean Mariam Baouardy are the indisputable answer to
these pessimistic judgments. The divine power has always been pleased in these
biblical lands to effect at times national resurrections, at other times
individual prodigies; once more it is assuring to these peoples a subject of
noble pride and a motive of hope.
What is more astonishing than the trajectory of a saint? What a greater
message of hope could there be today in the troubled Near East than to tell the
Palestinians: here is a young girl of your race, your language and of one of
your most honored rites?”
(Doris
C. Neger, OCDS, writes from Mineola, NY)