This paper explores the dynamic between secularism and sectarianism by analyzing the dismantlement of a Christian worship collective based in the town of Jeita, Lebanon. In the early 2000, several residents of the Keserwan District started meeting to pray together and discuss the “letters” that one of them (a woman) claimed to receive from Virgin Mary. Throughout the decade, the group built a place of worship, published books, and gathered media attention. Meanwhile, clergy members of the Maronite and Greek Catholic sects grew worried about the practice and representation of Christianity entertained by the Jeita-based collective. Local priests tried to protect their flock against the influence of the charismatic woman communicating with Virgin Mary. Bishops built an archive documenting the collective’s meetings and the life of its members. In 2009, Maronite and Greek Catholic authorities mobilized the legal apparatuses of the state to dismantle the worship collective, claiming that its activities threaten Jeita’s peaceful life. They convinced the Ministry of Interior to seal off the collective’s worship site and ban its meetings. Members of the collective soon complained to Lebanon’s State Council that the Ministry’s involvement violated the principle of religious freedom (enshrined in the country’s constitution). The highest administrative court of the country, however, supported the Ministry’s decision to dismantle the Jeita-based collective, stating that a “group or assembly cannot practice religious acts of worship unless it is legally recognized [by the state].” “Religious freedom,” the State Council concluded, “is linked to the sectarian system, which requires each Lebanese to belong to one of the official sects.” Drawing on fieldwork conducted among members of the Jeita-based collective, clergy members, and state judges involved in adjudicating the case, I argue that the secular principle of religious freedom, in Lebanon, both presupposes and strengthens the country’s sectarian architecture. I also show how states and churches sometimes collaborate to administer the devotional life of ordinary people and maintain religion within the boundaries of governmental reason.