There is, on the face of it very little to tell about St Charbel. Basically he was someone from a very poor Lebanese family in the mid 1800's who became a monk and for the last 23 years of his life became a hermit. As a monk he lived a very hidden quiet life about which, naturally enough we know next to nothing. He seems to have been very obedient and saintly. In this he reminds me of St Therese of Liseaux who after her death one of her fellow nuns reportedly said, 'What are we to find to write of her; she laid such an ordinary life!' Like St Therese God choose to lift St Charbel (whose name means , 'Good News'), out of the darkness and up to the mountaintops by a series of miracles. Firstly at once after his death a light shone around his tomb which began to draw huge crowds. The Church authorities had his body dug up and found it immersed in a sweet smelling oil, perfectly preserved.
There is a lovely film on his life on utube with English subtitles which I have watched several times:
How strange I have never heard of this saint until this week and now I have learned that this saints Holy oils will be blessing Brendan this morning. St Charbel pray for us
St Charbel's miracles are too numerous to count. A blind woman was cured in past couple years in the US when his relics made a tour and i watched a great video about Him from the Divine Mercy youtube channel. He is so great. So humble in life, he never raised his eyes. Would work through his meals. St Charbel, pray for us!!!
I would say just about the biggest miracle of all is bringing the dead back to life. That is really, really hard to top, even in the lives of the saints. There was a case of a lady from Lebanon who took her extremely ill child on pilgrimage to St Charbel's Tomb. Sadly when she got there the poor little thing was dead and she placed the body on the Saints Tomb. Touched by this one of the monks opened the tomb and lifted some of the oil surrounding his body out with a spoon and placed it in the child's mouth. The child at once came back to life. There are numerous witnesses to this as there was a crowd at the site at the time.
To be honest I'm not sure where I got this but I thought it worth posting. Saint Charbel Makhlouf Today, July 24, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Charbel Makhlouf (also known as Sharbel, 1828-1898), “Hermit of Lebanon,” Maronite Catholic monk, and “Wonderworker of the East.” Youssef Makhlouf was born in 1828 in Bika’Kafra, the highest village of Lebanon, near the grove of the still-conserved famous cedars of Lebanon. He was the youngest of five children born to a pious mother, who lived the life of a religious within their home. Youssef worked as a shepherd in the fields for most of his childhood, especially following the death of his equally pious father. Following his father’s death, the family was supported by a kind and generous uncle. Youseff was profoundly affected by the example of his two other maternal uncles, who were both monks of the Maronite Lebanese Order. These monks lived in a hermitage approximately three miles away, and young Youssef would often visit them—first with his mother, and late on his own. They would tell him repeatedly: “All here below is nothing, the world is vanity, life is short. The true beauty is God, near Him there is true happiness. Wisdom is to not find oneself with empty hands at the supreme hour.” Youssef grew in maturity and piety. He spent hours each day praying and reading Holy Scriptures and Christian literature. His favorite book was Thomas a Kempis's “The Imitation of Christ,” which he began in earnest attempting to follow. Youssef served Mass every morning, and in that function, on the altar, he discovered the true purpose of his existence: to be, like his Savior, a victim to be offered, with Christ, to His Father. At the age of 23, Youssef left home one morning without warning, and walked to the monastery of the Maronite Order. There, he entered the order, with the support of his mother, and received the habit only one week later. He chose the name of Saint Charbel, a martyr of the church of Antioch. At the monastery of Annaya, Charbel served his community for two years, as a novice. He was then sent to prepare for ordination to the priesthood at Saint Cyprian of Kfifan. Six years later, at the age of 31, he was ordained. For sixteen years he served the members of his congregation and community, a model of Christian humility, obedience, patience, and love. He dedicated himself totally to Christ to live, work and pray in silence At forty-seven, he returned to the hermitage near Annaya, where he would remain until his death. There, he lived a life of contemplation, penance, and mortification. During the extreme cold of the winters, he refused to put on additional clothes, shivering through his prayers in simple robes. Saint Charbel also gained a reputation for holiness, and despite his wish to live in isolation, 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. He reportedly never raised his eyes from the ground, his face shrouded by his cloak, unless his gaze was fixed on the tabernacle during the Eucharist. The week before Christmas, while Saint Charbel was offering Mass, paralysis struck him suddenly as he elevated the Eucharist during the consecration. For one week, he suffered in agony, repeating the prayer he was unable to complete during the Mass: “O Father of truth, behold Your Son, victim to please You; condescend to approve [this offering], because for me He endured death, to give me life...” On the evening of his funeral, his superior wrote: “Because of what he will do after his death, I need not talk about his behavior.” A few months later, a bright light was seen surrounding his tomb. The superiors ordered the tomb to be opened, and they found his body perfectly preserved, incorrupt (as it remains today). Scientific experts and doctors have been unable to explain this phenomenon. Since his death, thousands of miracles have been attributed to his intercession, giving him the title “Wonderworker of the East.” Sick and infirm people of every religion and nationality have been healed: deaf, dumb, blind, paralytic, those with cancer, mental illness, and many others. God worked these wonders either when people touched the body of the holy saint, were anointed with the oily liquid that sweats miraculously from his precious remains, or when they touched cloth soaked with this liquid or which had belonged to him. At the closing of the Second Vatican Council, in 1965, Charbel was beatified by Pope Paul VI who said: "Great is the gladness in heaven and earth today for the beatification of Sharbel Makhlouf, monk and hermit of the Lebanese Maronite Order. Great is the joy of the East and West for this son of Lebanon, admirable flower of sanctity blooming on the stem of the ancient monastic traditions of the East, and venerated today by the Church of Rome.” Saint Charbel lived a life of silence, mortification, deprivation and total gift of self, concentrating fully and completely on Christ. We might take a lesson from his simple acts of sacrifice and service, looking to our Savior with the same love, devotion, obedience, and longing exhibited by Saint Charbel. Prayer Lord, infinitely Holy and Glorified in Your Saints, You have inspired Charbel, the saint monk, to lead the perfect life of a hermit. We thank You for granting him the blessing and the strength to detach himself from the world so that the heroism of the monastic virtues of poverty, obedience, and chastity, could triumph in his hermitage. We beseech You to grant us the grace of loving and serving You, following his example. Almighty God, Who has manifested the power of St. Charbel's intercession through his countless miracles and favours, grant us...(State your intention(s) here...) through his intercession. Amen. Our Father...Hail Mary...Glory Be...
Many cures of muslims. I googled St Charbel miracles and there are a few muslim cases also. but this image appeared in a coffee cup when a man elias who was suffering from cancer, asked St Charbel for a sign.
The saint always had his eyes downcast. This was an Ancient Catholic Practice called, 'Custody of the eyes' , which drew the soul into solitude and protected it from harm at observing a sinful world. It strikes me as appallingly difficult to carry out if not pretty well impossible for modern man. But since so many saints carried this out...anyway it explains all the pictures of him with downcast eyes. I have met some very holy people in my time and several saints but have yet to meet one who ever carried this out. In many ways I am glad, the eyes are the gateway of the soul and I should be sorry not to see them. I met a very,very holy old Irish monk one time from whom it was more difficult to drag out more than one or two words at a time. This made me a little sad as I should have been happy to have listened to him all day long. But silence, rather than talking was very much part of his monastic vocation. After a while I learned that simply watching him in action taught me far, far more than talking ever could. The only thing he could talk plenty about was gardening which he was teaching me about was gardening. This too was part of his job, teaching so it was his role to talk about this. He never talked about himself or his past. I never knew what he had worked at or even what county he had come from. But watching him do the gardening I observed that he did all things well. For instance he taught me to always clean the garden tools and put them back neatly and well. I learnt from him the real joy of watching plants grow and flourish. But above all the depths and joys of silence. While I was working with him I wrote a poem about the silence of the Blessed Virgin. 'Mary spoke but seldom When she did All Creation muttered to a hush and Heaven bowed it's head at Wisdom's Ruling.' I would guess that the large majority of monks I met were very,very holy men indeed. A few of them real saints. This is especially true of the more austere Orders like the Cistercians and most especially the Carthusians. But by the very nature of things the vast, vast majority of them were unknown and will remain forever unknown until they reach Eternity. Some flowers of the garden God reserved to Himself in his bosom.
@zouxi I want to also say a massive thank you to our friend Zouxi who has answered my request and is placing a rose for me at St Charbels tomb in thanksgiving.. There are no accidents with God..who could write that story
