This catalogue is typical of an ecclesiastic library belonging to a theological institution devoted to the training of priests. It is an invaluable testimony for the study of the situation and development of the Melchite church in Syria, and bears witness to the great efforts they invested in training their clergy. The works reflect the spirit of a religious community fighting to keep its faith alive and to preserve its forms of worship, tolerated though not encouraged by the Turkish Muslim authorities, and in uneasy coexistence with its Christian brothers. The catalogue also bears witness to the vigour of the Arabic language in the Christian communities in a chronological period in which the language has generally been considered to be in decline or disuse. Arabic was used to transmit the faith, for ecclesiastical organization, and also as an instrument for literature in genres such as poetry, science, history and grammar. This intellectual rearmament of the Melchite community and its development in Arabic represent a kind of pre-Nahda, a preparatory stage for the rebirth of the language, in which a key role was played by the Christian authors of this confession.