ng to the Maronite Heritage web site, "the legend
says that there was a Druze Emir in Baakline looking at the hill of Deir El
Kamar. He saw a light coming out of the hill. He gathered his soldiers and
ordered them to go in the morning and dig in the land. He said to them: 'If you
find an Islamic symbol, build a mosque. If you find a Christian symbol, build a
church." The soldiers went in the morning, dug in the land and found a
rock with a cross on it and under the cross there was the moon and Venus. That
was the sign that long time ago, there was a temple dedicated to the moon and Venus and later it became a church. Earthquakes and wars might be the reason
for its disappearance." The rock discovered by the soldiers can be found
above the old gate of the church. A Byzantine column can be found inside the
church. The inhabitants honor a miraculous icon of our Lady of the Hill placed
behind the altar. It was painted in 1867 by the Italian artist Guerra. On the
feast of Our Lady of the Hill- the first Sunday of August - thousands of
believers go in a big procession with the miraculous icon from the entrance of
Deir El Qamar to the Church.
Another
important religious site in Deir El Qamar is the Mount of the Cross where
pilgrims visit the Lamb of God Shrine (built in 2007), Father Yacoub
Church (restored and
consecrated as a church in June
24, 2008) and the Cross (built by Fr. Yacoub in 1932)
