Saint Charbel's Family - "They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" Acts 2-42

    On May 8, 1828 in a mountain village of Biqaa-Kafra, Lebanon, Charbel was born to a poor Maronite Family. From childhood his life revealed a calling to "bear fruit as a noble Cedar of Lebanon."

    Charbel "grew in age and wisdom before God and men." At 23 years old he entered the monastery of Our Lady of Lebanon (north of Byblos) where he became a novice. After two years of novitiate, in 1853, he was sent to St. Maron monastery where he pronounced the monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

    Charbel was then transferred to the monastery of Kfifan where he studied philosophy and theology. His ordination to the priesthood took place in 1853, after which he was sent back to St. Maron monastery. His teacher provided him a good education and nurtured within him a deep love for monastic life.

    During his 16 years at St. Maron monastery, Charbel performed his priestly ministry and his monastic duties in an edifying way. He totally dedicated himself to Christ with undivided heart and desired to live in silence before the Nameless One.

    In 1875 Charbel was granted permission to live as a hermit on the hill nearby the monastery at St. Peter and Paul hermitage. His 23 years of solitary life were lived in a spirit of total abandonment to God.

    Charbel's companies in hermitage were the Son of God, as encountered in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, and the Blessed Mother. The Eucharist became the center of his life. He consumed the Bread of Life and was consumed by it. Though his hermit did not have a place in the world, the world had a great place in his heart. Through prayer and penance he
offered himself as a sacrifice so that the world would return to God.

It is in this light that one sees the importance of the following Eucharistic prayer in his life:

"Father of Truth, behold Your Son a sacrificed
pleasing to You, accept the offering of Him who died for me…"

On December 16, 1898 while reciting the "Father of Truth" prayer at the Holy Liturgy Charbel suffered a stoke. He died on Christmas Eve at the age of 70. Through faith this hermit received the Word of God and through love he continued the Mystery of Incarnation.

To the Grave

Father Charbel spent the night before Christmas, 1898 in church, following his usual custom of twenty-three years, ever since he became a hermit at the hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul on the mountain of Annaya. He did not waver from this praiseworthy custom. But that last night, he was lying down, neither awake, nor praying, nor meditating; he was asleep, sleeping the sleep of death. His soul, however, was with God, quite awake, in the eternal awakening. This was the last night Father Charbel would spend in the church of Saints Peter and Paul. Contrary to his custom and for the first time, Father Charbel was lying on the floor, over the mat of hair, with his face exposed.

Please note that people never saw his face when he was alive. He always kept his head down in church, at work or when walking, always looking to the ground. He would lift his eyes only to heaven. When in church, he always faced the altar with his eyes fixed on the tabernacle. However, when he died and was Lying face upward, his eyes were closed, still not looking at anyone, exactly as in his lifetime. Holding vigil at the body of the Servant of God in church, were his companions of the hermitage, Father Makarius Mishmshany, and Brother Francis of Qartaba, along with a group of monks from the monastery of St. Maron. As soon as they learned of the passing of Father Charbel they rushed to the hermitage to kiss his hands and to be blessed by touching his body while bidding him farewell. Many spent most of the night kneeling near him, praying.

The snow was coming down heavily, accumulating on the hermitage and on the neighboring mountains and valleys. It was extremely cold and windy, to a degree that those keeping vigil around the saintly remains were trembling from the severity of the cold. And no wonder. The altitude

of the hermitage is one thousand and four hundred meters above sea level, on a high summit exposed to the wind.

Those keeping vigil were asking one another, "If we are suffering so much for only one night in this severe winter, how was Father Charbel able to live twenty-three years here spending every night of his life, kneeling on bamboo, in pain from midnight until the time of his Mass at 9:00 o'clock in the morning, fasting and immobile as the stone statue erected on the floor before the altar. Truly, this hermit was a saint. He endured fatigue, hunger, poverty and cold with the courage of a martyr. Every minute of his life was martyrdom, without complaint. No doubt he is now finding the reward of his marvelous martyrdom, with God."

Life of St. Charbel (also written St. Sharbel or Mar Charbel)

Thanks NYer. I'll have to read this later.

Absolutely magnificent,really beautiful! BTW, do any of you know where I can obtain some of St Charbel's oil? Thanks.I've wanted to get some for years and I haven't seen any place.

I remember seeing an artists picture once of St. Charbel reading his Bible on what must have been a very cold day.

St. Charbel didn't seem to mind, but Jesus was standing next to him, wrapped up tightly in his cloak, and trying to warm his hands from a candle.

I tried to find the pic, and post it, but couldn't find it.

do any of you know where I can obtain some of St Charbel's oil?

You don't need St. Charbel's Oil! All you need is ...

"Saint Sharbel has been healing and curing people for one hundred years or so. Through prayers and belief one could be granted health with Saint Sharbel’s intercession. Hundreds of thousands of people have received grace through this Maronite Lebanese Saint. We at the "The Folk Physician" wanted to make known to the Russian people this "means" of getting well. "

Saint Sharbel’s Phenomenon In Russia

I remember seeing an artists picture once of St. Charbel reading his Bible on what must have been a very cold day.

Yes! I have that saved to my desktop at work but where I found it will now drive me crazy! Once I do rediscover the source, I will post it to this thread.,p> See my post #6 to Lady In Blue.

The image of St. Charbel has tremendous healing powers, as cited by the Russian publication. Recently, a woman who works in the same building with me, left work in tremendous pain. The lymphnodes in her right neck, adjacent to the collarbone, had swollen up. The pain was so intense that she sought medical relief. Her doctor put her on pain killers and referred her to a surgeon.

After examining her, the surgeon prepared her for the worst. He told her that swelling of these particular lymphnodes usually indicated the presence of cancer, and sent her to a lab for an MRI. With great faith in St. Sharbel, I began praying to him each night to intercede on her behalf, IF "it be God's will". The MRI normally takes 1/2 hour; hers took 1 1/2 hours. After meeting with the surgeon to discuss the results of that MRI, she told me that he was stunned. He was so certain that she had cancer; yet, ALL of the test results came back negative. He could not explain why those lymphnodes were swollen, nor understand how her test results were negative.

Today, she is completely healed. I have no doubt that those prayers to St. Sharbel and his intervention, are responsible for this outcome. While most of us can never live the ascetic life to which he devoted himself, we can learn much from his personal sacrifice and total devotion to our Lord and the Eucharist.

I found the picture you were talking about! It's at Charbel.org, under "Photos." Here it is:

Beautiful! Thank you for posting it. It looks like Christ is trying to warm his hand by the candle. Are those young cedars on the hill?

It looks like Christ is trying to warm his hand by the candle. Are those young cedars on the hill?

Looking at the picture again, I am under the impression that Christ is lighting the candle for St. Charbel, since He is the Light of the World. Also, I am not positive, but those very well could be cedars.

I am under the impression that Christ is lighting the candle for St. Charbel, since He is the Light of the World

Of course ... (slapping head) ... sometimes I feel like such a duffus!

Saint Sharbel’s Phenomenon In Russia

Thanks for the link. I actually found that article as I was searching for the St. Charbel and Jesus picture last night. I find it interesting that devotion to St. Charbel has spread to Russia of all places, given his background as a Catholic AND an Arab. St. Charbel's intercession, due to his lifelong devotion to Our Lady, could end up leading to the conversion/reunification of Russia.

Very interesting Pyro. Thanks.

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

July 24, 2007

St. Sharbel Makhlouf

(1828-1898)

Although this saint never traveled far from the Lebanese village of Beka-Kafra, where he was born, his influence has spread widely.

Joseph Zaroun Maklouf was raised by an uncle because his father, a mule driver, died when Joseph was only three. At the age of 23, Joseph joined the Monastery of St. Maron at Annaya, Lebanon, and took the name Sharbel in honor of a second-century martyr. He professed his final vows in 1853 and was ordained six years later.

Following the example of the fifth-century St. Maron, Sharbel lived as a hermit from 1875 until his death. His reputation for holiness prompted people to seek him to receive a blessing and to be remembered in his prayers. He followed a strict fast and was very devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. When his superiors occasionally asked him to administer the sacraments to nearby villages, Sharbel did so gladly.

He died in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve. Christians and non-Christians soon made his tomb a place of pilgrimage and of cures. Pope Paul VI beatified him in 1965 and canonized him in 1977.

Comment:

Pope John Paul II has often said that the Church has two lungs (East and West) and it must learn to breathe using both of them. Remembering saints like Sharbel helps the Church to appreciate both the diversity and unity present in the Catholic Church. Like all the saints, Sharbel points us to God and invites us to cooperate generously with God's grace, no matter what our situation in life may be. As our prayer life becomes deeper and more honest, we become more ready to make that generous response.

Quote:

When Sharbel was canonized in 1977, Bishop Francis Zayek, head the U.S. Diocese of St. Maron, wrote a pamphlet entitled “A New Star of the East.” Bishop Zayek wrote: “St. Sharbel is called the second St. Anthony of the Desert, the Perfume of Lebanon, the first Confessor of the East to be raised to the Altars according to the actual procedure of the Catholic Church, the honor of our Aramaic Antiochian Church, and the model of spiritual values and renewal. Sharbel is like a Cedar of Lebanon standing in eternal prayer, on top of a mountain.”
The bishop noted that Sharbel's canonization plus other beatification cases prove “that the Aramaic Maronite Antiochian Church is indeed a living branch of the Catholic Church and is intimately connected with the trunk, who is Christ, our Savior, the beginning and the end of all things.”

St. Sharbel Makhluf

Saint Sharbel Makhluf, Priest
Optional Memorial
July 24th

St. Sharbel taking vows as a Hermit
unknown artist

(1828-1898) Saint Sharbel was a Lebanese monk, born in a small mountain village and ordained in 1858. Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he spent the last twenty-three years of his life as a hermit. Despite temptations to wealth and comfort, Sharbel taught the value of poverty, self-sacrifice, and prayer by the way he lived.

Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

Collect: from the Common of Pastors
First Reading: Sirach 3:17-24
My son, perform your tasks in meekness; then you will be loved by those whom God accepts. The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord. For great is the might of the Lord; he is glorified by the humble. Seek not what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power. Reflect upon what has been assigned to you, for you do not need what is hidden. Do not meddle in what is beyond your tasks, for matters too great for human understanding have been shown you. For their hasty judgment has led many astray, and wrong opinion has caused their thoughts to slip.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 19:27-29
Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

Vultus Christi

Saint Sharbel Makhlouf

By

Father Mark

on July 24, 2009 7:47 PM |

Back From Miami

Dear readers, I returned this evening from Saint Timothy's Parish in Miami, Florida where, at the invitation of Father Jordi Rivero, I gave a three day retreat to the Community of Love Crucified. Our Lord blessed us abundantly during this retreat. Praise and thanksgiving to His Eucharistic Heart!

Today's Saint

Saint Sharbel the Miracle-Worker has followed me from the earliest days of my monastic journey. I remember learning of his beatification at the close of the Second Vatican Council in December 1965. Saint Sharbel's three inseparable loves, depicted in this image -- the Most Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Word of God -- are the mystical treasure of those who seek, in some way, to follow him in a life of silence and adoration.

Collect from the Missale Romanum 2002

O God who called your priest, Saint Sharbel to the singular combat of the desert and imbued him with every manner of piety, grant us, we beseech you, that by striving to be imitators of the Passion of the Lord we may be found worthy of becoming sharers in his kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

Ex Oriente Lux

Saint Sharbel (also spelled Charbel) of Lebanon is one of those in whom the Holy Spirit fashioned a heart of flesh, a heart exquisitely sensitive to the mystery of Divine Love. The hermit priest Sharbel was beatified by Pope Paul VI on December 5, 1965, at the close of the Second Vatican Council. It was as if Paul VI wanted the Council to end with Rome gazing Eastward.

Another Saint Anthony of the Desert

Just before the beatification, a prelate at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome said to Bishop Francis Zayek, the shepherd of Maronite Catholics in the United States, "Reading about the holy hermits of the desert, we used to consider many reported facts as mere fables. In the life of Blessed Sharbel, however, we notice that these facts are authentic and true. Blessed Sharbel is another Saint Anthony of the Desert, or Saint Pachomius, or Saint Paul the Anchorite. It is marvelous to observe how you, Maronites, have preserved the same spirituality of the fathers of the desert throughout the centuries, and at the end of the nineteenth century, 1500 years later, produced a Sharbel for the Church."

A New Turning

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, a Trappist monk was emerging from a long period of spiritual depression. Thomas Merton had been in the Abbey of Gethsemani for nine years. He wrote in his journal, "Sharbel lived as a hermit in Lebanon -- he was a Maronite. He died. Everyone forgot about him. Fifty years later, his body was discovered incorrupt and in short time he worked over 600 miracles. He is my new companion. My road has taken a new turning. It seems to me that I have been asleep for 9 years -- and before that I was dead." Sharbel, the 19th century hermit of Lebanon, pulled America's most famous 20th century monk out of a spiritual crisis. That is the communion of the saints!

Like a Lebanon Cedar

On October 9, 1977, Pope Paul VI canonized Sharbel, citing the psalm, "The just will flourish like the psalm tree and grow like a Lebanon cedar" (Ps 91:13). The New York Times gave extensive coverage to the canonization in Rome and to the corresponding festivities in Lebanon, days of celebration that brought Orthodox and Catholic Christians together with Muslims.

Holiness in Clusters

Saint Sharbel's influence continues to grow. In Russia he has an immense following of Orthodox Christians. Muslims continue to seek his intercession, going in pilgrimage to his tomb. In Lebanon and in the Lebanese diaspora he continues to teach the way of silence, the way of the Cross, the way of humble love. On May 10th, 1998, Pope John Paul II beatified Saint Sharbel's professor, the monk, Father Nimutallah al-Hardini. Holiness grows in clusters.

A Eucharistic Death

Saint Sharbel suffered a stroke on December 16th, 1898 while celebrating the Holy Liturgy. He was reciting the prayer, "Father of Truth, behold your Son, a sacrifice pleasing to you. Accept this offering of Him who died for me." He fell to the floor holding the Holy Eucharist in his hands. He died on December 24th. Sharbel had lived twenty-three years in solitude. A lifetime of saying "Yes" to Love prepared him for a fully Eucharistic death and an abiding mission in the Church, one that, even today, is prophetic.

Saint Charbel Makhlouf

Also known as: Joseph Zaroun Makhlouf
Memorial: 24 December
Profile: Son of a mule driver. Raised by an uncle who opposed the boy's youthful piety. The boy's favorite book was Thomas a Kempis's The Imitation of Christ. At age 23 he snuck away to join the Baladite monastery of Saint Maron at Annaya where he took the name Charbel in memory of a 2nd century martyr. Professed his solemn vows in 1853. Ordained in 1859, becoming a heiromonk.

He lived as a model monk, but dreamed of living like the ancient desert fathers. Hermit from 1875 until his death 23 years later, living on the bare minimums of everything. Gained a reputation for holiness, and was much sought for counsel and blessing. He had a great personal devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and was known to levitate during his prayers. Briefly paralyzed for unknown reasons just before his death.

Several post-mortem miracles attributed him, including periods in 1927 and 1950 when a bloody "sweat" flowed from his corpse. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for Lebanese and non-Lebanese, Christian and non-Christian alike.
Born: 8 May 1828 at Beka-Kafra, Lebanon as Joseph Zaroun Makhlouf
Died: 24 December 1898 at Annaya of natural causes
Beatified: 1965 by Pope Paul VI
Canonized: 9 October 1977 by Pope Paul VI
Images: Gallery of images of Saint Charbel [2 images, 30 kb]
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Hermit of Lebanon,
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