Youkhanna Bishop

Yacoub El-Murr (1715-1766) was a Lebanese Maronite priest, philosopher and monk. He lived in Lebanon during the Ottoman period and moved between Khnachar, Aleppo and Acre.

Life
He was born in 1715 to a family from Baalbek. He entered the Basilian Order and became a monk and then a priest. He died in Acre in 1766 after writing many works.

He took his vows as a novice at the St. John Monastery in Khnachar on June 17, 1731, and was known as Yacoub El-Murr. He made his solemn profession on June 22, 1733. He served in Aleppo for four years (1753-1756) before returning to the Maronite monastery in Khnachar.

He became a superior (1753-1757). In 1765, he traveled with the patriarch to Acre.

Works
In 1754, El-Murr wrote a book on logic, which he later shortened in 1766 and called Isagoge. It was adopted as a textbook by the Synod of Ain Trabel in 1811. Many copies exist in Eastern libraries.

He wrote many works in various fields, some of which were published:

* Theology
+ "The Candlestick of Lights" (382-383-384-385-386) 1751, printed in 1888.
+ "The Branch with Fruits" (289-290-291-292-293), printed in Aleppo in 1753. It is an excerpt from the previous work and contains a preface, 19 chapters and a conclusion, as well as an appendix containing devotional considerations, which were published in the book "Devotional Prayers".
+ A letter on encouraging virtues and forbidding vices.
+ A short treatise on intellectual prayer.
+ A letter on unity that should prevail among all members of the Order.
* Polemics
+ "The Five Truths" (844-845-846-847).
+ "A Thorn in the Side of Thought" (848-849-850), a polemical work where he proves the torments of hell, the punishments of purgatory and the happiness of heaven. He completed it on February 5, 1759, in Acre at the request of a Catholic.
+ "The Eraser for the Page of Ibn al-Nahw".
+ A polemical dialogue.
+ "Proof of the Descent of the Holy Spirit" (851).
* Sermons
+ Sermons on Sunday Gospels and feasts of the year.
+ Collection on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (512-513-514-515-516, partially 518)
* Philosophy
+ "Explanations in the Explanation of Logical Principles" (745-746-747).
+ "The Book of Wisdom" in Logical Principles.
+ Isagoge (748-749-750-751-752-753-754-755).
+ "The Ascended Perfection in the Science of Logic" (Book on Completing the Great Science of Logic) (742-743-744).

Translations
* Spiritual Meditations by Father Fromage.
* The Book of Worship to the Heart of Jesus by St. Stephen of Cyprus, prepared by Makarios Jbour and Ghada Kamal Khoury.

Death
He died in Acre in 1766 while serving as a superior. He was replaced by Father Eironeimos Karamah from Homs, who had come with him from Aleppo after staying there for two and a half years, accompanied by Father Ilarion.