This is one of the most ancient monasteries of the Maronite Church, as is shown by its arches and its basements. According to some writing in the chroni¬de of the Monastery of Saints Cyprian and Justina (Qibriyanus wa Yustina) at Kfifan, the Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouq, in the Jbayl district of Mount Lebanon, was built by the “Marada” in the year 850. Around 1121 it was occupied for a certain time by the Hamadeh clan and the monks were obliged to move to the Monastery of Our Lady of Ilige, one of the earliest seats of the Maronite patriar¬chate and the residence of the first seventeen patriarchs for 320 years before the transfer of the seat to the Valley of Qannubin. The historic old church of the Monastery of Our Lady of Ilige was built in 1121, being completed in 1277 and ren¬ovated in 1746. It was restored during the seventies of the twentieth century by the General Directorate of Antiquities.

 In 1766, during the time of Father General Clement (Iqlimus) al-Mazraani (1757-1766), Prince (Amir) Yusuf Shehab offered the Order the Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouq together with several others in the region of Jbayl and Batroun, through the intermediary of Sheikh Saad Khoury and Sheikh Simon (Simaan) Bitar and by virtue of a deed which says in effect : " We inform you that we have left our monasteries to our dear Lebanese Monks, Father General Clement al-Mazraani and his Assistants of the time, as from the end of the month of April 1766 (1179 Hegira) : first the monastery of Mayfouq and its properties, in particular the orchards planted with mulberries and other pieces of land... and then Ilige ".

 Once they had taken possession of the monastery, the monks made strenuous efforts to rebuild it and to safeguard the attached property.

 On July 2, 1780, the monastery was the scene of an important and historic event, namely the holding of a Regional Synod of the Maronite Church under the presidence of the Apostolic Delegate, Father Peter (Pierre) de Morena, and of the Maronite Patriarchal Vicar, Bishop Michael (Mikhayel) al-Khazen, and with the attendance of the Maronite bishops and the Superior Generals of the three Maronite Lebanese Orders.

 At the General Chapter of November 16, 1847, it was decided to detach some of the property of the monastery and use it to build the Monastery of Saint Artemius (Mar Shallita) at al-Quttara. In 1850, Saint Sharbel (Yusuf Makhlouf) passed one year of his noviciate there before going to the Monastery of Saint Maroun at Annaya.

 The monastery played an important role in the religious formation of the monks. Between 1778 and 1873 two hundred and eighty-seven novices passed there, and between 1780 and 1898 three hundred and seventeen monks pro¬nounced their vows. Between 1789 and 1921, twenty-seven priests were ordained within its walls, and it further accommodated student monks of the complemen¬tary and secondary levels between 1948 and 1950.

 In 1922, the Order founded a school in the monastery, which soon became a college with secondary classes. During the two World Wars the Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouq sheltered a large number of refugees and famine victims come from all parts of the country.

 In1968, a Religious Chapter was held in the monastery at the end of which those attending pronounced themselves firmly against the appropriation of Lebanese land by foreigners.

 The Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouq conserves the icon of Our Lady of Ilige, restored between 1982 and 1987, which is a veritable iconographie summary of Maronite history. In fact it consists of a whole series of superimposed images, the most ancient of which goes back to the tenth century. This icon bears witness to the history of the Valley of Ilige over the centuries and represents a remarkable Maronite Christian heritage.

 In cooperation with the General Directorate of Social Affairs (ex-Social Development Office), the Order is accepting in the College of Our Lady of Mayfouq pupils needing special attention because of a deplorable social and family condition.