Bekaa Kafra

Bekaa Kafra (Arabic:بقاع كفرا) is a Lebanese village located in the Bsharri District in Northern Lebanon. Bekaa Kafra is located in front of the village of Bsharri across the Kadisha valley. It is the birth town of Saint Charbel. Bekaa Kafra has an altitude ranging from 1500 m to 1800 m at its highest point, making it and officially the highest village in Lebanon and middle east . Bekaa kafra is the home village of only about 360 people.

Etymology

The name Bekaa Kafra comes from the Syriac and means "Flat spot and the village that has a municipal council".

Climate

Bekaa Kafra has a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. It is cold in winter for two reasons: Its location in Northern Lebanon, and its high altitude. Temperatures in winter average around 0 °C and can reach -10 °C to -20 °C. Temperatures in summer average around 21 °C, but they may reach 28 °C to 30 °C in July and August, but can also drop to as low as 6 °C at night. Snow in winter can accumulate up to 3 meters and occasionally more.

Kafra

Kafra (Arabic: كفرة‎) was a Palestinian Arab village located 10.5 kilometres north of Baysan. Built along both sides of the Wadi Kafra, the village had been known by this name since at least the time of the Crusades. The population of the village in 1922 was 273, rising to an estimated 499 in 1948. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Palestine War on May 16, 1948.

References

Bibliography

Charbel Makhluf

Saint Charbel Makhluf, O.L.M. (or Sharbel Maklouf), (Arabic: مار شربل‎, May 8, 1828 – December 24, 1898) was a Maronite monk and priest from Lebanon. During his life he obtained a wide reputation for holiness and he has been canonized by the Catholic Church.

Life

Orphan and shepherd

Youssef Antoun Makhluf was born on May 8, 1828, one of five children born to Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta Chidiac. They lived in the village of Bekaa Kafra, possibly the highest in the Lebanese mountains. His father, a mule driver, died in August 1831, returning from corvée for the Turkish army, leaving his wife a widow to care for their children. Later she remarried a man who went on to seek Holy Orders and became the parish priest of the village.

The young Youssef was raised in a pious home and quickly became drawn to the lives of the saints and to the hermit life, as was practiced by two of his uncles. As a young boy, he was responsible for caring for the family's small flock. He would take the flock to a grotto nearby, where he had installed an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He would spend the day in prayer.