Blessed Brother Estephan Nehme's Daily Activities

From Estephan the Monk

Brother Estephan used to wake up very early in the morning for the holy mass, after receiving the holy Eucharist he used to have a time of meditation, then a morning prayer with the believers. After that, he used to prepare the necessary tools for the work in the fields with the laborers.

Monastery of Our Lady of Succor (Al Maonat) Jbeil, where brother
Estephan used to be the chief of the field

They used to walk the oxen by couples on the way to the land for cultivation, Estephan followed them to the work place with the chaplet in hand praying the rosary. Once on site, he used to put his rosary on a large rock, spread the seed over the land for them to begin their work, and went back to his chaplet to continue his prayer, while watching carefully all the laborers on the field. At noon he sits with the workers to have lunch, then afterwards he spreads again the seed over another portion of land for them to continue their work, while he goes back again to prayer till the end of the day.

After the end of the day in the field, the workers gather all the tools and walk the oxen back, while Estephan follows them praying his rosary. When they reach the monastery the workers take the oxen to feed them while Estephan goes to the church, which he never leaves before supper time, after supper he goes again to the church and stays late in the night. This was his daily life all year long when he was in charge of the lands and fields of the monastery.

According to a witness: “He was always ready early in the morning sometimes before dawn, preparing the oxen and waiting for the workers to show up, while praying his rosary. We used to begin our day with him by the prayer of the Angelus with Estephan on his knees. While we worked on the soil, He often carried stones and built walls, reaped the wheat and collected it, and carried alone a large and full bag to the mill, while we sat down under the oak tree eating the fresh fruits that he has collected for us. When the noon bell rings he used to stop his work, kneel down wherever he was standing, even on rocks, and recite the Angelus. At the end of the day we used to pray the Angelus again, in the same way that we have started our day”.

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