Islamic-Christian Celebration, March 25th, National Day of “The Annunciation” – Together Around Our Lady Mary

March 25th 2015, the Nourieh Chapel, Garden of Forgiveness, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon

To celebrate the occasion of “The Annunciation”, a gathering took place in the Garden of Forgiveness, Hadiqat as-Samah, outside of the Nourieh Chapel. Introduced by Me. Ghada Aoun and Mrs. Alexandra Asseily; Prayers to Mary, from the Bible and The Qur’an, were recited by Reverent Nabil Chehadeh, Me. Hussein Jaber and Me. Ramez Salemeh.

Mrs. Mona Mattar and Mr. Joseph Abi Ghanem shared inspiring personal journeys of Forgiveness and Najwa Namour and Rami Barhouche spoke of their new understandings, as a result of participating in The Healing the Wounds of History workshop program. The ‘Little Angels’ from Al-Mabbarat Choir, and Mrs. Fadia Abi Ghanem and Ms. Nisrine Hmaidan, sang spiritual songs which touched and lifted hearts and minds.

Finally, an Olive tree was planted to commemorate the Islamic-Christian Celebration. Many people hung copper tags on the olive tree branches, with messages of forgiveness.