O qadeeshto Mariam

On our way to Baalbek we stopped in Ehden, "the bride of summer", a village populated only in spring and summer.
You can see the Virgin, our Lady Mariam, who overlooks the Qadisha Valley from quite a distance, as she's on the highest point of land, some 1500 m. above sea level, on the southwestern slope of Mount Makmal.
you can walk up these stairs to see her
or take these much older steps
You may have traveled to Ehden by winding up this road in your car
Tripoli and the Mediterranean Sea are beyond the clouds
Yellow splashes of sweet smelling Scottish broom dab the countryside with colour and scent.
The Virgin in Ehden is called Saydet el Hosn, our Lady of the Fortress (roughly) there is a small old chapel underneath the large newer church, on the hillside
across the valley you can see the tower that the Israelis bombed in 2006. It still lies in ruin.

At your feet, flowers. At night, hundreds of bats swoop and dive in an aerial cliffside ballet with moths fluttering to escape their mouths


Ava Maria in Syriac

Shlom lekh bthoolto Mariam.
Maliath taibootho
moran a'amekh
mbarakhto at bneshey
wambarakhoo feero dabkharsekh yeshue
O qadeeshto Mariam
yoldath aloho
saloy hlofain hatoyeh
hosho wabsho'ath mawtan.
Amin.