The Lamb of God Grotto

I came back from the United States and decided not to be quiet before this wickedness.  I began a tree-planting campaign on the Mount of the Cross in November.  The people who live in Deir-El-Kamar and people who love this place informed me the price of each replacement tree would be five dollars.  Through much generosity, I was able to collect the price of 2,100 trees and we planted them on the Mount of the Cross. 

While digging during the replanting, we discovered something covered with soil right next to the chapel.  Curious to see what was there, we brought a drill and began digging.  There we found a beautiful rock.  So the rock that you see in the crèche and outside of it was covered with soil; it was hidden.

On the last day of replanting, the 17^th of November, just forty days before the Christmas evening, the machine was set out to discover the rock covered with soil until we reached the level of the yard.  It was late afternoon.  Right before I went home I asked the owner of the drill to dig a bit more at the level of the rock to see where the rock ended.

He dug about two and a half meters in the earth and smoke went up. Curious, I asked what that was.  The owner replied that it was a rock.  When he moved, more smoke went up.  I asked him to clear away all the earth from the rock.  I wondered how large this rock was.  He worked late into the night and as he cleared more dirt, God revealed a very large paving stone, the size of a room or two.  I now understood that the crèche I dreamt about was here.   I called the engineers and my friends saying, "Come and see what we have just discovered."

They hurried to the place and everybody was astonished and overjoyed. The person who dug using the drill was not Christian, and when he saw the flat rock, he looked at me and said, "You are a prophet."   This reminded me of the pagans’ reactions towards Saint Peter and Saint Paul, when they saw the work of God through the disciples.

I asked the advice of the engineer, Tony Yazbeck, and he explained to me the expensive cost and the need for iron bridges for the construction.  I prayed, "Oh Virgin, you know it is forbidden for me to use my own money or to take money from the convent or to take any loans or to use solicitation, but we have only thirty-seven days before Christmas day.  Please provide the price of the iron bridges."

Two days later, I was visiting a family in Deir-El-Kamar.  When I was leaving, I noticed a flat tire on my car.  I called a friend to help me.  While I waited for him, I stood at the property edge, which overlooks the valley.

I was worried, praying and thinking about the bridges and how costly it would be to buy them.  As I waited, I glanced at the ground and to my surprise I found myself standing on a long iron bridge with three other bridges lying next to it.  I was really terrified.  I hurried to ask the family about these bridges, and they said, "Father, these bridges have been thrown here for a while and we don't need them.  We would like to offer them to the Virgin."

A few days later, the bridges were delivered to the shrine, and on December 8, 2007, other bridges were offered from another family. The Virgin continued to send financial support and the ceiling was molded on the 21^st of December. The crib was finally ready for Christmas.

We brought a donkey, a cow and two sheep, and I placed the Blessed Sacrament in the crib.  It was the most beautiful spiritual evening spent in the Lamb of God Shrine.  More than 300 people attended on the 27^th and 28^th of December, 2007.  They hurried like shepherds, they knelt like the magi, and everyone who spent the evening with the Lord during those two nights in the Lamb of God Shrine went home glorifying and praising God for everything they heard and saw, keeping all these things in their hearts to meditate upon.

This is the story of the Lamb of God Shrine.