Funeral Oration of His Beatitude Patriarch John X…

Funeral Oration of His Beatitude Patriarch John X for the late Rashad Yaqoub

December 5, 2020

Beloved ones,

On the threshold of the Nativity of the Lord in the cave, we bid farewell today to Rashad Yaqoub, who deployed efforts and worked as hard as he could to make his heart a cave to the Lord of Glory.

Today, we bid him farewell with earthly sadness and heavenly hope, asking the Lord of Mercy and Compassion to garb him with His holy light and to anoint your hearts, O beloved children of Kousba and all those present, with abundant divine consolation.

In the late eighties of the last century, I met Brother Rashad since I became dean of the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand. At the time, the Balamand family needed someone to offer his service while the country was chattered by the war. I remember him today, recalling those beautiful days that brought us together with a brother who loved the Church and Balamand from the heart. As I remember him, I recall his love and dedication to the Institute of Theology in Balamand. I remember him as a brother, a friend, and an ever helping hand.

As I remember him today, in my mind stands the image of a person who was inflamed with zeal for the faith. I remember him, recalling his adherence to the Orthodox Youth Movement, a melting pot where everyone fuses into one heart that contemplates the light of Christ and the greatness of His gifts. Today, he is remembered in Balamand and in the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology. The professors, students, alumni, and workers, all recall him. We all remember him as a brother, a father, and a friend full of love and giving from the heart.

Rashad Yaqoub loved the Orthodox Church and translated his love into a true Church affiliation. He also embodied it through a passionate love for Balamand and the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology. On the day of Saint John of Damascus, that is, on the 4th of December, the Divine Providence willed that his soul may be transported into the heavenly dwellings, accompanied by the intercession of his beloved Saint John of Damascus, whose institute he served devotedly.

Today we all pray that the Child of the cave, the "God of Peace and Father of Mercy," cover him with divine mercies. I offer my deepest condolences to the respected family, and to all of you, brothers, asking for his soul "the mercies of God and the heavenly kingdom of Christ, who does not die, our King and God."

May his memory be eternal.