"Do you want to understand life? Hold a weeping infant in your arms. Dry the tears of a mother who has lost her child. Life is often hidden, but never completely disappears. Indeed, one can never forget past moments, nor the hours of childhood. One cannot forget those who have left us. Although they seem far from us, they are closer than ever, in silence, we hear their gentile voices; in their stillness , we see them in the act of moving". So wrote the young Fathi Baladi in his spiritual journey.
The only son of a Christian Melkite-Greek family, Fathi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Abboud Baladi, a bank manager, and his wife Nelly Medawar-Baladi, on September 22, 1961. He had two sisters, Gina and Nicole.
From the time he was a small child Fathi saw life as a gift given by God with a mandate for service to others. As a teenager, he wrote in his spiritual diary, "I believe in one God, whom I love: the one and only great God, in whom one must believe! To those who are no more, I think; to those whose life is no more a joy I pray; to those who suffer, starve or die, I cry for them. Children of the world, I love you. O my God, I love You! I swear You are great! I thank You, O God, for having created me, for having adorned me, and for having glorified me!"
Fathi had a sweet, calm temperament. Compassionate and helpful, he often visited the elderly and the sick with his father. He enjoyed just talking and listening to them, kindly and respectfully.
A bright student, while attending Sagesse school in Ashrafieh, his spiritual director told him, "Fathi, one day you will be a great saint!"
In April 1975 war broke out in Lebanon. From Wisdom School in Achrafieh, one of the most bombarded places in East Beirut, Fathi had to take refuge at Apostles College in Jounieh. Then after one year in the USA, he returned to subscribe at the Lebanese Academy of Architecture, ALBA, for the school year 1979-1980.
On new year's eve in 1980, Fathi was on his way to Araya, to visit a fellow student, to wish him a happy new year, and to review some classes in architecture. He did not return. His parents found him riddled with bullets, lying on the seat of his car, his arms folded in the form of a cross, his face serene, suggesting peace of soul and resignation to his tragic fate.
Originally buried at the Catholic Cemetery of Beirut, Fathi's body was transported to the Holy Savior Monastery of the Aleppian Basilian Fathers, in Sarba, Jounieh. To this day his tomb is the site of pilgrimage to many.
The cause for his beatification was opened on November 23, 1984.
The only son of a Christian Melkite-Greek family, Fathi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Abboud Baladi, a bank manager, and his wife Nelly Medawar-Baladi, on September 22, 1961. He had two sisters, Gina and Nicole.
From the time he was a small child Fathi saw life as a gift given by God with a mandate for service to others. As a teenager, he wrote in his spiritual diary, "I believe in one God, whom I love: the one and only great God, in whom one must believe! To those who are no more, I think; to those whose life is no more a joy I pray; to those who suffer, starve or die, I cry for them. Children of the world, I love you. O my God, I love You! I swear You are great! I thank You, O God, for having created me, for having adorned me, and for having glorified me!"
Fathi had a sweet, calm temperament. Compassionate and helpful, he often visited the elderly and the sick with his father. He enjoyed just talking and listening to them, kindly and respectfully.
A bright student, while attending Sagesse school in Ashrafieh, his spiritual director told him, "Fathi, one day you will be a great saint!"
In April 1975 war broke out in Lebanon. From Wisdom School in Achrafieh, one of the most bombarded places in East Beirut, Fathi had to take refuge at Apostles College in Jounieh. Then after one year in the USA, he returned to subscribe at the Lebanese Academy of Architecture, ALBA, for the school year 1979-1980.
On new year's eve in 1980, Fathi was on his way to Araya, to visit a fellow student, to wish him a happy new year, and to review some classes in architecture. He did not return. His parents found him riddled with bullets, lying on the seat of his car, his arms folded in the form of a cross, his face serene, suggesting peace of soul and resignation to his tragic fate.
Originally buried at the Catholic Cemetery of Beirut, Fathi's body was transported to the Holy Savior Monastery of the Aleppian Basilian Fathers, in Sarba, Jounieh. To this day his tomb is the site of pilgrimage to many.
The cause for his beatification was opened on November 23, 1984.
"Do you want to understand life? Hold a weeping infant in your arms. Dry the tears of a mother who has lost her child. Life is often hidden, but never completely disappears. Indeed, one can never forget past moments, nor the hours of childhood. One cannot forget those who have left us. Although they seem far from us, they are closer than ever, in silence, we hear their gentile voices; in their stillness , we see them in the act of moving". So wrote the young Fathi Baladi in his spiritual journey.
The only son of a Christian Melkite-Greek family, Fathi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Abboud Baladi, a bank manager, and his wife Nelly Medawar-Baladi, on September 22, 1961. He had two sisters, Gina and Nicole.
From the time he was a small child Fathi saw life as a gift given by God with a mandate for service to others. As a teenager, he wrote in his spiritual diary, "I believe in one God, whom I love: the one and only great God, in whom one must believe! To those who are no more, I think; to those whose life is no more a joy I pray; to those who suffer, starve or die, I cry for them. Children of the world, I love you. O my God, I love You! I swear You are great! I thank You, O God, for having created me, for having adorned me, and for having glorified me!"
Fathi had a sweet, calm temperament. Compassionate and helpful, he often visited the elderly and the sick with his father. He enjoyed just talking and listening to them, kindly and respectfully.
A bright student, while attending Sagesse school in Ashrafieh, his spiritual director told him, "Fathi, one day you will be a great saint!"
In April 1975 war broke out in Lebanon. From Wisdom School in Achrafieh, one of the most bombarded places in East Beirut, Fathi had to take refuge at Apostles College in Jounieh. Then after one year in the USA, he returned to subscribe at the Lebanese Academy of Architecture, ALBA, for the school year 1979-1980.
On new year's eve in 1980, Fathi was on his way to Araya, to visit a fellow student, to wish him a happy new year, and to review some classes in architecture. He did not return. His parents found him riddled with bullets, lying on the seat of his car, his arms folded in the form of a cross, his face serene, suggesting peace of soul and resignation to his tragic fate.
Originally buried at the Catholic Cemetery of Beirut, Fathi's body was transported to the Holy Savior Monastery of the Aleppian Basilian Fathers, in Sarba, Jounieh. To this day his tomb is the site of pilgrimage to many.
The cause for his beatification was opened on November 23, 1984.
The only son of a Christian Melkite-Greek family, Fathi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Abboud Baladi, a bank manager, and his wife Nelly Medawar-Baladi, on September 22, 1961. He had two sisters, Gina and Nicole.
From the time he was a small child Fathi saw life as a gift given by God with a mandate for service to others. As a teenager, he wrote in his spiritual diary, "I believe in one God, whom I love: the one and only great God, in whom one must believe! To those who are no more, I think; to those whose life is no more a joy I pray; to those who suffer, starve or die, I cry for them. Children of the world, I love you. O my God, I love You! I swear You are great! I thank You, O God, for having created me, for having adorned me, and for having glorified me!"
Fathi had a sweet, calm temperament. Compassionate and helpful, he often visited the elderly and the sick with his father. He enjoyed just talking and listening to them, kindly and respectfully.
A bright student, while attending Sagesse school in Ashrafieh, his spiritual director told him, "Fathi, one day you will be a great saint!"
In April 1975 war broke out in Lebanon. From Wisdom School in Achrafieh, one of the most bombarded places in East Beirut, Fathi had to take refuge at Apostles College in Jounieh. Then after one year in the USA, he returned to subscribe at the Lebanese Academy of Architecture, ALBA, for the school year 1979-1980.
On new year's eve in 1980, Fathi was on his way to Araya, to visit a fellow student, to wish him a happy new year, and to review some classes in architecture. He did not return. His parents found him riddled with bullets, lying on the seat of his car, his arms folded in the form of a cross, his face serene, suggesting peace of soul and resignation to his tragic fate.
Originally buried at the Catholic Cemetery of Beirut, Fathi's body was transported to the Holy Savior Monastery of the Aleppian Basilian Fathers, in Sarba, Jounieh. To this day his tomb is the site of pilgrimage to many.
The cause for his beatification was opened on November 23, 1984.
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