In Memoriam: Fr. Abdo Badwi, O.L.M.
Ephrem Aboud
Ishac
Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Yale
University
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James E. Walters
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
2023
Volume 26.1
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https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/hv26n1obbadwi
Ephrem Aboud Ishac
In Memoriam: Fr. Abdo Badwi, O.L.M.
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol26/HV26N1OBBadwi.pdf
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, 2023
vol 26
issue 1
pp 1-2
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is an electronic journal
dedicated to the study of the Syriac tradition, published semi-annually (in
January and July) by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. Published since 1998,
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In
Memoriam: Fr. Abdo Badwi, O.L.M. † (8 December 1948 – 28 October 2022)
The community of Syriac scholars will always remember the late
Maronite monk: Fr. Abdo Badwi, who passed away peacefully on 28th October 2022. He was especially well-known for
founding the new Syriac school of Sacred Art at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik
– Lebanon. His Syriac icons, which he painted for several churches worldwide, showed
his unique dedication to the whole Syriac tradition, crossing ecumenically church
denominations, by concentrating on the Syriac Art he revived after studying most of
the miniatures in Syriac manuscripts and archeological sites.
He was born in the Maronite village of Mazra͑et Yeshu͑, Lebanon, on
8th December 1948 (on the Catholic Feast of
Immaculate Conception, which is also the Commemoration of the Virgin Mary’s parents
in the Syriac Calendar), where he had shown since his early childhood a
distinguished talent for learning languages, especially Syriac. In 1963, he joined
the Lebanese Maronite Order (Ordo Libanensis Maronitarum:
O.L.M.) and was ordained as a priest in 1975. He studied in Rome, receiving a
Diploma from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1979. He began teaching in 1980 on
Iconography and Christian Sacred Art at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK),
where in 1986, he became the dean for the Faculty of Fine Arts. In 1994 he founded
the Department of the Sacred Art, and in 2010 he was appointed as the director of
the Institute of Liturgy.
In addition to his dedicated paintings which covered the whole
Syriac liturgical year and many other themes, he published in Kaslik several books
and articles, such as: “Le syriaque pour tout le monde” (1984), “L'iconographie de
l'année liturgique de l'église Syro-Maronite” (2006), and “Iconographie et peinture
dans l'Église maronite” (2013).
He was remarkably active in attending the Syriac international
conferences, especially: Symposium Syriacum, North American Syriac Symposium, The
Canadian Society for Syriac Studies Symposium, and the World Syriac Conferences at
St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI) in Kottayam – Kerala, where he
taught and supported its program for years.
Those who have known him will keep the good memory of his
extraordinary enthusiasm for Syriac art heritage and Eastern Christian legacy in the
world, where he travelled personally to visit and study. He built friendly
relationships with many of the Syriacists in the West and with most of the Syriac
heritage scholars worldwide.
Abdo Badwi’s name will be remembered for many generations to come,
especially while visiting the churches and seeing the icons he painted: ܕܘܟ̣ܪܢܐ ܛܒܐ
ܠܐܒܘܢ ܥܒܕܐ ܒܕܘܝ !
8th December 2022 (on
Fr. Abdo Badwi’s 40th day memorial)