St. Charbel
Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born in 1828, in Bekaa Kafra (North Lebanon). He had a true Christian upbringing, which had given him a passion for prayer. Then he followed his two hermit uncles in the hermitage of the St Antonious Kozhaya monastery and was converted to monastic and hermetical life.
In 1851, he left his family village and headed for the Our Lady of Maifouk monastery to spend his first monastic year, and then he went to the St Maron monastery in Annaya, where he entered the Maronite Order, carrying the name Charbel, a name of one of the Antioch church martyrs of the second century. On November 1st. 1853, he exposed his ceremonial vows in St Maron’s monastery - Annaya. Then he completed his theological studies in the St Kobrianous and Justina monastery in Kfifan, Batroun.
He was ordained a priest in Bkerky, the Maronite Patriarchate, on July 23rd, 1859. He lived 16 years in the St Maron's monastery – Annaya. From there, he entered, on February 15th, 1875, the St Peter & Paul hermitage, which belongs to the monastery. He was a typical saint and hermit, who spent his time praying and worshipping. Rarely had he left the hermitage where he followed the way of the saintly hermits in prayers, life and practice.
St Charbel lived in the hermitage for 23 years. On December 16th, 1898 he was struck with an illness while performing the holy mass. He died on Christmas' eve, December 24th, 1898, and was buried in the St Maron monastery cemetery in Annaya.
Few months later, dazzling lights were seen around the grave. From there, his corpse, which had been secreting sweat and blood, was transferred into a special coffin. Hordes of pilgrims started swarming the place to get his intercession. And through this intercession, God blessed many people with recovery and spiritual graces.
In 1925, his beatification and canonization were proposed for declaration by Pope Pious XI. In 1950, the grave was opened in the presence of an official committee which included doctors who verified the soundness of the body. After the grave had been opened and inspected, the variety of healing incidents amazingly multiplied. A multitude of pilgrims from different religious facets started flocking to the Annaya monastery to get the saint's intercession.
Prodigies reached beyond the Lebanese borders. This unique phenomenon caused a moral revolution, the return to faith and the reviving of the virtues of the soul.
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I am so touched by this Saint and I actually cried while reading about him.
This is my favorite saint, I am Lebanese.
Saint Charbel is my favorite saint !! Proud to be Lebanese
How happy i am to read about St Charbel. When i first saw the picture, it looked familiar to my eyes as if i had seen him before. I hungered for more info and that led me to this site. How lucky i am to learn about this Saint. St Charbel, inspire Jessica with more desire for love of Jesus in the Eucharist. Amen
When I recently made a pilgrimage to the Virgin of Guadalupe Mexico City, I was surprised to frequently see images of St. Charbel. It was later explained to me by someone ,who married a Mexican City woman of Lebanese descent, that there is a large number of Lebanese who immigrated to Mexico many years ago. They introduced their devotion of their favorite saint to Mexico.
i would like to know more about st charbel and the colors of ribbons, and what they mean. and where i can buy the ribbon and the meaning of the colore.
I think yours is a good summary of his life but I am left hungry to read at least one example of miracles attributed to him. I, too want to know what he us considered the saint of. I understand he is popular in certain parts of Mexico or another part of Latinamerica. For what? I've been told Mexican immigrants to the U.S. consider him their patron saint.
i like it
Dear Sylvia
You might need to search for info about st Charbel; but for sure you do not need to search for how you should pray for him. Just speak to him.
It would be good to make coincide his name with that given in the daily list of saints according to the date ( 24th of December ).
I have a friend who has been extremely impressioned by this saint. No doubt the grace of God has been at work for His Glory
I am happy to have read St. Charbel's story on the website, although he is not listed in the column of the most popular Saints. I believe that St. Charbel is the Saint of All Saints. St. Charbel never lets anyone down; pray for Him sincerely and all your wishes will come true. I am happy to have been born in a country where St. Charbel has existed.
Sylvia;if possible,visit St.Marons,Lebanese Roman Catholic Church,in Philadelphia,10th & ellsworth st. . They have his relic there,and others. Many miracles have been reported at this church.
Hello. My name is Sylvia. A few months back, I had a dream of St. Charbel. Prior to this dream, I had never heard of him. Yesterday, I had a long conversation on a bus ride with a lady seated next to me. She told me something inside her told her to give me a gift. She told me to carry it always with me. I thanked her and opened it and it was a small medallion of St. Charbel. I got chills all over and was surprised. I told her about my dream and she said that he knows of my necessity and that he wants to help me. She said I should pray to him. Does anyone know what he is the saint of? I am doing some research to find out how I should pray to him (novena, rosary, etc.)
St. Charbel, a Maronite saint, I'm happy to know is united and truly acknowledged in the RomanCatholic church. As a catholic, I excited to hear how these wonderful saints lived a life of prayer, seclusion, discipline and sacrifice and how God has honoured St. Charbel.Today St. Charbel, I beg you to intercede for my grandson, Christian's full recovery from every torment of fragile X. Heal him of epileptic fits, separation anxiety, tip toeing hand flapping, pervasive developmental delays. Help him to speak, communicate, read, write, learn and flourish. Grant him full recovery: health of mind and body.
I was looking to see what is St Charbel the patron saint of ... and did not see that in the article ... but I enjoyed reading the article anyway... still need to know what he is the patron saint of too
I am of Lebanese origin and St. Charbel is one of my favorite saints.
You did a nice job telling his story and I suggest you add the dates of his beatification (Dec. 5, 1965) and canonization (Oct. 9, 1977). Thank you.
I am thrilled to see Eastern Rite saints in this index. St. Charbel is called the Wonderworker and is one of my favorite Saints and role models. Thank you for including this Maronite saint in the index.
Love It Keep Making more saints on this website
i think this is very nice for the people that made this website because they are letting the children learn about the saints.
thank you
your sincerly Annalise