The following is taken from The Word / Al-Kalemat vol. 1, issue 8 (October 1957), pp. 204 and 212, accessed through the The Hoda Z. Nassour and Herbert R. Nassour Jr., MD, Archive of Lebanese Diaspora, here.
The Orthodox Youth Movement in Syria and Lebanon
by Father Ilyas Kurban, St. George's of Boston
The Orthodox Youth movement in the Middle East is one of the most important features of the life of the Antiochian Church. This Church has suffered very much since the Arabic conquest and even before that day. The Antiochian Church had, and still has, to fight on various fronts. The Church has to fight her enemies from within and from without, the internal enemies as well as the external ones.
The fact that the Moslems conquered all the Middle East caused the Church to lose approximately all its followers. From that moment, it ceased to be a dynamic and active power in propagating the faith; its contribution to the whole body of the Church in dogma and Theology in general, and to the defense of the principles of Christianity and Orthodoxy against heresies greatly decreased. For a long time, life in the Church was stagnant, ineffective, and non-constructive due to these historical factors.
From the seventeenth century on, the Orthodox Church had to face two other intruding powers, this time from the West. Roman Catholicism and Protestantism prepared a common attack to put an end to the remnant of an ancient and glorious Church. The competition between the two outside parties gave the Orthodox Church a rest and the opportunity to survive in spite of the fact that a great part of the Orthodox Christians were converted to Catholicism; the success of the Protestant group was limited to an individual basis.
From then on, there have been quite a few attempts to revive the Orthodox faith. The contribution of the Greeks at that time was meager because Greece was under Turkish pressure. The Russian Orthodox Imperial Society built quite a few schools all over the country to relieve the Orthodox from the influence of the educational system of both the invading parties, but this effort came to an end by the success of the Communist revolution in Russia. Few attempts were made on a local basis, but these were not vital and decisive steps to revive the Orthodox Church.
March 16, 1942 is a great day in the history of the Church in Syria and Lebanon. On that day, a handful of students at St. Joseph's Jesuit University in Beirut came together and decided to form a movement aiming at the revival of the Orthodox Church, and to enable it to continue its universal message of salvation. The Church, which suffered so long, is really the militant Church on earth, the Holy Spirit is within it and will be forever.
The younger people realized from the very beginning and comprehended the real substance of the message of the Church. The Church does not need political and social influence or any other temporal recognition. What we need is a complete and profound reformation. The whole crisis is a spiritual one, and the retrogration does not belong to the essence of the Church and Her teaching, but to us, to the clergy and laity, and to other historical factors. The present crisis is a universal one, and it is a separation of man and civilization from God. Consequently, we have what we call modern materialism and its various aspects in philosophy, arts, ethics, and in social life.
The present civilization is a deformed one because of its separation from God, and it is the task of the young Orthodox generation to make possible the return to God through the Church. No renewal or progress is possible except through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life. There is no meaning to the whole history if Jesus is not in the middle of this history. History is a movement of regeneration and perfection in Christ. It is a process of divinization and it is not a vertical movement, but rather an horizontal one. The aim is God and not an unknown vacuum. Our problem is that man is again trying to make out of himself God, without the help of God. The Orthodox Youth movement, understanding these facts, is trying to re-Christianize all the Orthodox people in order that they may be able to comprehend the essence of Christianity, to comprehend man and the world through Jesus. In order to attain this purpose, the first aim of the youth is to pray and to participate in the Holy Sacraments. This spiritual comprehension and knowledge of God may become a reality as a result of common prayer and a continuous meditation and contemplation in the absolute existence of God. Love of the children of God may then become a fact and a reality.
The principles of the Orthodox Youth movement are:
1. The movement is a spiritual one calling all the members of the Church, especially the young generation, to a spiritual, ethical, cultural and social movement.
2. The movement believes that the spiritual and ethical movement depends, first, in participating in the religious services and in learning the teachings of the Church and the strengthening of the Christian faith, not only among the young people, but among Orthodox people in general.
3. The movement endeavors to develop an Orthodox culture, based upon the spirit of the Church.
4. All social activities must be based upon the Christian principles.
5. The movement disapproves of denominational fanaticism, but it gives much consideration to the clinging to Orthodox principles as a necessary condition in improving religious life and of creating fraternal bonds with all the Christian Churches.
6. The movement contributes to the whole ecumenical Christian movement, and it is a part of the whole Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The movement has five thousand followers of both sexes all over Syria and Lebanon. The focus of activity is centered in Beirut, Tripoli and Latakia. The movement is divided into centers and branches. An intensive program of study is required of every group. The program is set up by a religious education committee. Many social and other activities are involved. Every center is directed by various committees, headed by the President of the Center. A general council and a general secretary direct the whole administration of the movement.
The contribution of the movement to the Church is great. It has inspired quite a few members to join the holy priesthood. A convent for young women is now a reality. Pamphlets and books for Sunday School use are available in large quantities. Schools of all kinds were built and are directed by the members of the movement. A monthly review is issued on a very high level; theological and educational subjects are treated besides many other subjects. A revival of Church music is seen. Choirs are formed everywhere, in every city and in every village. A new Orthodox culture has been formed.
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