Massimo Sayegh was born on April 10, 1878 in Aleppo. He was ordained a priest on September 17, 1905. On August 30, 1919 he was appointed archbishop of Tyre, Lebanon and consecrated bishop by patriarch Demetrius I Qadi. In 1933 he was named archbishop of Beirut. The Synod of Bishops of the Melkite Church elected Maximos Patriarch of Antioch on 30 October 1947, succeeding the recently deceased Cyril IX Moghabghab.