St Maron Church and Festival 7800 Brookside Road
Independence, OH August 2, 2025
Each year, Saint Maron Church hosts a festival with great Lebanese and Syrian food and more. For more than one hundred years, Saint Maron's has been serving the Maronites of the greater Cleveland area.
We caught up with the Pastor, Father Patrick Kassab, and asked about St Maron and the Maronite Church. He said that the Maronites are the only Catholic Church named after a person. They are in full communion with Rome and are obedient to the Pope. Whereas the Liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church is Latin, the Liturgical language of the Maronite Church is Siriac, an Eastern Middle Aramaic dialect. Watch the video.
Here are some pictures from the Church at the 2025 St. Maron Festival.
Saint Maron Chapel
St Nimatullah Kassab statue
St. Charbel statue
The food was a highlight of the Festival and the reason for the long, but fast moving, lines.
We learned about Za'atar and Manoushi.
Za'atar roughly translates to 'wild oregano'. It grows wild all over Lebanon and the Levant, and people used to forage it to make the herb blend, although now it is available commercially. Tender Lebanese flatbread called manoushe is slathered with a mixture of zaatar spice and olive oil, as a delicious appetizer or breakfast on the go.
Manoushe is a popular street food in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries, often enjoyed for breakfast or as a quick snack. It is different from pita bread as it does not have a pocket. What sets manoushe apart is the za'atar paste spread on top before baking-a fragrant blend of thyme, sesame seeds, sumac, and olive oil. Watch a very short video.
Here are some pictures off the volunteers.
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