A Holy Family

From Estephan's Young Days.

Blessed brother Estephan Nehme was born on the 7th of March 1889 in Lehfed, and his parents named him Youssef. He was baptized on the 15th of March 1889. His parents are: Estephan Bou Haykal Nehme and Christina Nehme. His brothers are: Nehmetallah, Sarkis and Haykal, his sisters: Toufiqa and Christina. He was the youngest of the family.

The Village of Lehfed

His father Estephan knew very well that the human family on earth was a picture of the divine family in heaven, and he also knew that family is the carrier of God's love and word through times. So every family is a holy one since it is a picture of the Holy Trinity. That's why he used to gather all his family every evening to pray the rosary.

His mother Christina used to teach her children catechesis and good ethics. She also knew that family is the foundation of God's plan for salvation, and if families were destroyed, the foundations of God's plan would be shaken. All evil forces aim to destroy the family because family is the image of God. In fact the book of Genesis teaches us that "God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them" father and mother, God blessed them. And since the beginning of times, evil has been working to destroy the family, the foundation of God's plan.

On the other hand, the priest of the parish in the village of Lehfed was never tired of inciting believers to preserve their families and to protect them from evil by having God's presence in them, and he taught them saying: protect your families by prayer, dialogue, understanding, forgiveness, honesty, faithfulness and the most important thing: listen carefully to each other with your ears, your eyes, your hearts, your mouths and even with the palms of your hands! Keep the world's noise away from your homes because it is like a violent storm and a strong wave which can destroy and disperse once it strikes. Preserve the warmth of your families because all the warmth of the world cannot replace it if it's lost.