In the midst of his continuous work, at the human, social and educational levels, Abouna Yaacoub had the dream of raising a giant Cross on one of the hills of Lebanon, after having seen, apprehended and lived the disasters and tragedies that had affected Lebanon during the WWI, when thousands died of hunger, hung or exiled without a Cross being raised on their tombs. 

As he was looking for the place, he was attracted by a hill in Jall-Eddib, where there was a small three-room convent. The name of this mound was “Arid Silwane”, and some called it “the Hill of the Djinns”. So, he bought that hill on August, 25, 1919… Abouna Yaacoub begins by excavating the road from Jall-Eddib to the top of the mountain, and then he prepares the ground to make it suitable for construction. In 1921, the first stone was blessed.

The edifice grew, the church was first built to be dedicated by Abouna in the name of Our Lady of the Sea and it was inaugurated on May 3, 1923. This site become an assembly place for the Tertiaries, and for the prayer for the souls of those who died during the war and for the emigrants. The completion of the project is crowned by the elevation of the Grand Cross of iron with the Crucifix, reaching 10 meters in height, on the west side of the church. So with the lifting of the Cross, Abouna Yaacoub sees his dream come true on this earth.

In the heart of the church-shrine we find the statue of Our Lady of the Sea which symbolizes the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus and at her feet a ship embarked by travelers and emigrants. Abouna Yaacoub wanted to put those travelers under her protection so that she could bring them back to their homeland safely. He also mentioned this intention in many prayers and songs he composed. Until today, the Sisters put all the Lebanese people spread in the four corners of the world under her protection, and continue to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Sea on May 3 of every year. 

The church also includes an oil painting for the mediator of the shrine, Our Lady of the Sea, faced by another oil painting specifically drawn for the occasion of beatification of Abouna Yaacoub in 2008, illustrating the mission and objectives of the Congregation of the Lebanese Franciscan Sisters of the Cross: taking care of priests, paying particular attention to the mentally and psychologically ill, to old people, to the marginalized, the blind, orphans and destitute children. To the right of the altar, we find a relic of the bones of Blessed Abouna Yaacoub.

Inside the shrine, to the right of the entrance, we find the tomb of Blessed Abouna Yaacoub, occupying a place imbued with fervor, and which silence is pierced by soft music calling the visitor to meditation and prayer.

As for the second floor transformed, on the occasion of his beatification, into a precious museum for Blessed Abouna Yaacoub, it includes his own library, bedroom, special accessories and tools he used with his own hands, his liturgical clothes, holy pots and his rosary which never left his hand as his fingers wore away its wooden Cross, the wooden coffin which included his remains in 1954, the water containers in which the doctors washed the bones of the Blessed, and the utensils used on the day his body was put under examination.

When exiting the shrine, the visitor makes a stop in front of a bronze statue for Blessed Abouna Yaacoub, an exposition for souvenirs, prints and publications. If he wishes to light candles and announce intentions, there is a place specially reserved for this purpose.

The visitor walks around the enclosure of the Convent of the Cross, with its spacious squares, and visits the Cross overlooking the mountain and the coast. As he can visit the Calvary Church built by the Blessed and which shelters his remains for many years. 

Thousands of Lebanese, residents and expatriates, visit the shrine either to ask for the intercession of Abouna Yacoub, either to pray at the Cross and in front of Our Lady of the Sea, or to seek blessing from the holy place.