In the Heart of the Chaos

A rose between thorns,
Why do we say that the Maronite Church is the Church of the Five Noes?

We told the people of Mesopotamia: We are Aramean, but no, unlike them, we are not heathens. We always forget that Christianity was, first, the religion of the poor and the peasants.
We told the Jews that we share with them the Old Testament, but no, unlike them, we do believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and died and rose from the dead.
We told the Byzantines that our language is Syriac, but no, unlike theirs, it was not Greek.
We told to the Latins: Although we share common grounds, but no, we do not share their Latin rites.
We told the Arabs: We speak Arabic, but no, unlike them, we are not Muslims.

The Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, In the heart of the Chaos ; A Christian resistance in the Middle East. Dar Al Farabi