Lebanese Maronite Order
The Lebanese Maronite Order, is a monastic order among the Levant-based, Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church. The order was founded in 1694 in the Monastery of Mart Moura, Ehden, Lebanon, by three Maronite young men from Aleppo, Syria, under the patronage of Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy.
Its name Baladites comes from the Arabic baladiyah, country monks. Its patron is Saint Anthony the Great. It has split into 2 more congregations.
The second order is the Aleppians, monks of Aleppo, a city in present Syria. This order resulted from a split with the Baladites. Pope Clement XIV sanctioned this separation in 1770.
The third Lebanese monastic order is that of Saint Isaiah, known as the Lebanese Antonin Order founded on August 15, 1700, by the Patriarch Gabriel Al Blouzani from Blaouza.
The monks and nuns of the Order use the post-nominal initials of O.L.M., from the French version of the name, Ordre Libanais Maronite.
