The person:
He was of average height, and had a large forehead, a long beard, a solid constitution, an aquiline nose and well-defined eyebrows.
Humility:
He refused the Roman honors and tried to refuse the Episcopate and Patriarchate. He used to receive the poor and peasants the same as he would receive great leaders.
Piety:
He was a man of prayer. He liked to seclude himself in caves or in hidden places for prayer and meditation. In Qannubine, he had made an opening in his room so he could look freely at the Blessed Sacrament and the Icon of Mary in the church.
Austerity:
He was very enduring and austere in his lifetime. According to his contemporary and biographer, Bishop Semaan Awad, later Patriarch from 1742 to 1756,"He never ate meat during his life, except when ordered by his medical advisor or his spiritual director and only for health reasons."
Science:
He possessed all the qualities of a true scientist in history and liturgy. Everything he advanced was based on proof and documents. In Rome, he undertook a thorough investigation related to documents concerning the Maronites at the Vatican Library and Archives, at the Maronite College, and in many other places.
In Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, he visited almost all the Maronite churches, monasteries and houses, gathering very ancient and precious documents and manuscripts. Many events related by Duwayhi have been verified by later discoveries. Nationalism:
His love for his Church and country was always the guideline of his life. He visited almost all the parishes, reviewing and correcting the books he could find, and properly organizing their administration, or even paying their debts. Thanks to him, the Maronite Church was furnished with all the liturgical books needed for prayers, consecrations and benedictions. He has been rightly named, "The Father of the Maronite Church." As for his patriotism, his books on history, many of his writings, and his entire life of trials and sufferings reveal an authentic national sentiment. To him, we owe the knowledge of many obscure points of our history.
The Giant:
He was a giant, a genius, so gifted a person that the world would not see the likes of him for centuries. His biographer, Semaan Awad said, "He was like an eagle flying above all the birds and was among his peers like the sun among the stars." They talked about his miracles, but without doubt, the greatest miracle he ever performed was certainly his various and immense writings. Only a person inspired, encouraged and pushed from above can produce the giant-like and encyclopedic treasure he left for posterity to admire.