In the history of the gradual establishment of female Maronite monasteries, in response to the Tridentine reform of traditional Maronite monasticism, the convent of Mar Youhanna Hrache plays a leading role. Indeed, within the context of the significant development of double and traditional Maronite monasteries in the 17th and 18th centuries, this traditional convent, founded in 1643 by Bishop (and future Patriarch) Youssef Halib el Aqouri (†1648), was the first Maronite monastery of this period to be conceived primarily as a female monastery, mainly accommodating women. Furthermore, under the leadership of Bishop Abdallah Qaraali (†1742), who was one of the founders of the first Maronite male religious order (in 1695), his nuns were the first to be endowed with a Rule and written set of Constitutions.