Saint Charbel
Feast Day: July 24
- Born in 1828 and raised within a devout Maronite Catholic family of humble means, Yussef Antoun Makhoulf prayed daily as a child while tending his family’s cow. Rejecting both his mother’s desire for him to marry and his uncle’s wish to employ him in business, young Yussef left for the Monastery of St. Maron in 1851, following his maternal uncles who were living as hermitical monks.
- In 1853, Yussef would become “Brother Charbel”, named after a second century martyr from Antioch named Charbel. Brother Charbel studied for the priesthood and was ordained a priest 1859. He then returned to the Monastery of St. Maron, where he served for 16 years.
- Fr. Charbel was permitted to live in the St Peter & St. Paul Hermitage in 1875, which belonged to the monastery. For the next 23 years he lived a hermit’s life of rigorous ascetism, devoted to the Eucharist and prayer.
- One day, while celebrating Mass, Fr. Charbel suffered a stroke. He died only eight days later -- on December 24, 1898. Fr. Charbel was buried in the monastery’s cemetery. Months afterwards, dazzling lights were seen coming from his tomb. In investigation, his tomb was opened, and a blood-like fluid was found inexplicably flowing from his body. His tomb was again opened in 1950, 1952, 1955, and 1965, and each time his body was found still flexible and emanating the blood-like fluid. Doctors and other medical experts could not explain the cause.
- The postulator of his cause for canonization witnessed the exhumation of his body in 1976 and reported it as "decomposed". His relics were transferred to a Saint Elisabeth Cathedral in Kosice, Slovakia attracting pilgrims from around the world.
- Both Christians and Muslims alike have visited the gravesite and many have experienced numerous miracles and graces. The number of confirmed miraculous healings is significant.
- On a pilgrimage to St. Charbel’s tomb on May 8, 1950, Fr. George Webby, a Maronite priest from the United States, took a picture of his fellow Maronite missionaries. Upon development of the film, an image of a monk with a white beard was also seen in the photograph. This occurred on the anniversary of St. Charbel’s birthday, and is believed to miraculously be his image.
- Fr. Charbel was beatified on December 5, 1965, and later canonized on October 9, 1977, by Pope Paul IV.
- Known to Lebanese Christians as the “Miracle Monk of Lebanon” St. Charbel has been called the second St. Anthony of the Desert, the Perfume of Lebanon, the first Confessor of the East.
St. Charbel, Pray for Us!