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{{Short description|Syriac Maronite bishop and saint}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Maron]], a 4th-century monk}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Mar (title)|Mar]]
|name= John Maron
|birth_date= 628
|death_date= 707
|feast_day= March 2
|venerated_in={{ubl|[[Catholic Church]] (especially [[Maronite Church]])}}
|image= StJohnMaron.jpg
|imagesize=
|caption= 
|birth_place= [[Sirmaniyah]] or [[Sarmin]], [[Byzantine Empire]]
(Modern-day [[Syria]])
|death_place= Kfarhy, near [[Batroun]]
|titles= [[List of Maronite Patriarchs|Maronite Patriarch of Antioch]]
|beatified_date= 
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by= 
|canonized_date= [[Pre-congregation]]
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by= 
|attributes= 
|patronage= 
|major_shrine= 
|suppressed_date=
|issues= 
}}
{{Maronites}}

'''John Maron''' ({{langx|ar|يوحنا مارون}}, ''Youhana Maroun''; {{langx|la|Ioannes Maronus}}; {{langx|syc|ܝܘܚܢܢ ܡܪܘܢ|label=[[Syriac language|Syriac]]}}; 628, [[Sirmaniyah]] or [[Sarmin]], [[Byzantine Empire]] – 707, Kfarhy), was a [[Syriac people|Syriac]] [[monk]]. and the first [[Maronite]] [[List of Maronite Patriarchs|Patriarch]]. He is revered as a [[saint]] by the [[Catholic Church]], especially the [[Maronite Church]], and is commemorated on March 2. He died and was buried in Kfarhy near [[Batroun]], in Lebanon, where a shrine is dedicated to him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gibbon |first1=Edward |title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |date=1898 |publisher=Methuen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iu66AAAAIAAJ&dq=John+Maron+685&pg=PA156 |language=en}}</ref>

Jérôme Labourt, writing in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' says that John Maron's "very existence is extremely doubtful{{nbsp}}... if he existed at all, it was as a simple monk".<ref name=Labourt>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09683c.htm Labourt, Jérôme. "Maronites." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 9 September 2021{{PD-notice}}</ref> French theologian [[Eusèbe Renaudot]] similarly held doubts regarding John Maron's existence.<ref name=Labourt/> Other scholarship has assessed John Maron as having existed and served as Maronite Patriarch when invasions by [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Justinian II]] were repulsed and the Maronite people gained a greater degree of political independence.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maronite-church#ref273715|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|title=Maronite church|access-date=2 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Azize|first=Joseph|date=13 May 2024|title=On the Foundation Period of the Maronite Tradition|journal=Religions|volume=15|issue=596|page=596 |publisher=MDPI|doi=10.3390/rel15050596|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Early life==
{{Main|7th century in Lebanon}}
According to tradition, John was born in Antioch, and entered the convent of Saint [[Maron]], adopting the monastic name ''Yohanon Moroun''. Eventually, either in 685<ref name="Gervers">[https://books.google.com/books?id=te2Jg-RTi4YC&dq=John+Maron&pg=PA416 El-Hāyek, Elias. "Struggle for Survival: The Maronites of the Middle Ages", ''Conversion and Continuity'', (Michael Gervers and Ramzi Jibran Bikhazi, eds.), Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1990] {{ISBN|9780888448095}}</ref> or between 687–701<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Iskandar |first=Amine Jules |date=2024-04-23 |title=Patriarch Saint John Maron |url=https://syriacpress.com/blog/2024/04/23/patriarch-saint-john-maron/ |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=Syriac Press |language=en-US}}</ref> he declared himself as [[Patriarch of Antioch]] for the [[Maronite]] community, which held to the teachings of the [[Council of Chalcedon]] but rejected later councils, maintaining [[Monothelitism]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE OF MICHAEL THE GREAT {{!}} The American Foundation for Syriac Studies |url=https://syriacstudies.com/2014/04/30/the-syriac-chronicle-of-michael-the-great/ |access-date=2025-07-02 |language=en-US |quote=The Maronites have maintained their traditional structure, ordaining their patriarch and bishops from among the monastic community. Unlike Maximus, they confess a single will in Christ and proclaim “He who was crucified for us,” while nonetheless accepting the definitions of the Council of Chalcedon.}}</ref> This brought him into conflict with both the Byzantine empire and the Syriac [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysites]] to the east.<ref name=":0" /> John is thought to have died in 707.{{sfn|Moosa|2005|page=172}}

==Works==
While true authorship is contested, the [[Maronite Church]] holds that John Maron composed three works in [[Syriac language|Syriac]]: one about general spirituality and faith, the other against [[Miaphysitism|Jacobites]], and another against [[Nestorians]].{{cn|date=July 2025}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Saints}}
*[[List of Maronite Patriarchs]]
*[[Maronites]]
*[[Maron]]
*[[Patriarch of Antioch]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Michael Breydy: Johannes Maron. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 3, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, {{ISBN|3-88309-035-2}}, Sp. 480–482.
* Siméon Vailhé, «Origines religieuses des Maronites», Échos d'Orient, t. IV, 1900–1901, n° 2, p.&nbsp;96-102, et n° 3, p.&nbsp;154-162.
* Michel Breydy, Jean Maron. Expose de la foi et autres opuscules. Syr. 209. CSCO (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium), Bd. 407, Peeters, Louvain 1988
* Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Honorius I". Encyclopædia Britannica, 8 Oct. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Honorius-I. Accessed 21 August 2021.
* Moosa, Matti. “The Relation of the Maronites of Lebanon to the Mardaites and Al-Jarājima.” ''Speculum'', vol. 44, no. 4, 1969, pp.&nbsp;597–608. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/2850386. Accessed 21 Aug. 2021.
* {{cite book |last1=Moosa |first1=Matti |title=The Maronites in History |date=2005 |publisher=Gorgias Press |location=New York |isbn=1-59333-182-7 |language=en}}
* LILIE, RALPH-JOHANNES. “Reality and Invention: Reflections on Byzantine Historiography.” ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', vol. 68, 2014, pp.&nbsp;157–210. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/24643758. Accessed 21 Aug. 2021.
* Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Maronite church". Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Dec. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maronite-church. Accessed 21 August 2021.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061013185319/http://catholic-forum.com/saints/saintjgc.htm John Maron] at [http://www.catholic-forum.com Catholic-Forum]
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100731071541/http://www.bkerkelb.org/english/index.php Official Website of the Maronite Patriarchate]}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=Theophanes of Antioch}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Maronite Patriarchs|Maronite Patriarchs of Antioch]]|685 - 707}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Patriarch Cyrrus|Cyrrus]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Maronite Church}}
{{Syriac Christianity}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maron, John}}
[[Category:628 births]]
[[Category:707 deaths]]
[[Category:Religious writers]]
[[Category:Syrian archbishops]]
[[Category:Syrian Christian saints]]
[[Category:Maronite saints]]
[[Category:8th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:Maronite Patriarchs of Antioch]]
[[Category:8th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:7th-century Maronite Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:7th-century writers]]
[[Category:7th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:7th-century Syrian bishops]]
[[Category:8th-century Maronite Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:7th-century Syrian people]]
[[Category:8th-century Syrian people]]
[[Category:7th-century Lebanese people]]
[[Category:8th-century Lebanese people]]
[[Category:Syriac writers]]