A man who offered his life to spirituality

One of the most popular saints of Lebanon, and a disciple of the religion of St. Maron. Charbel Makhlouf was a devotee monk of performing miracles, which earned his beatification in 1965 by Pope Paul VI and canonized by the Catholic Church in the year 1977 by the Holy Father himself. He became the first Lebanese Saint to the Holy See.

 

Saint Maron, 300 B.C

St. Maron how was born in Aleppo (Syria) chose the life of a hermit. His job was to preach the good faith and provide a completely fresh perspective to that used in these times, along with these talks and predictions a large congregation of people was added, thus a large number of devotees. At this time, a major shift in the church of the Middle East began to take place. The idea of St. Maron, contrary to that of the Monophysites, preached that Jesus was God and man ,  he felt the pain , evil and disease. For this reason St. Maron’s belief was sympathetic to this important congregation, giving them the name of Maronites.

 

 

 

 

The beginnings of the Maronites are disclosed in the mountains, brought there by John Maron, this happened in order for them to be able to care for their families and ideologies from other religious groups. Their characteristics are those of family and prayer. They live near their church. Devotion is one of the strongest emblems of this religion. Education is also important to them, which translates into prayer.

 

A miraculous monk

St. Charbel begins his stint as a Maronite monk in the year 1851, at the age of 20. One of the most important messages it conveys, is that of the history of the Lebanese. Since childhood he kept a cave with an image of the Virgin Mary  (widely worshiped by these people). He lived in a school of faith, with clear concepts within their religion, always obeying his superiors and deciding to be a hermit. This choice by San Charbel introduces him to a strict regime, his life was based on specific times of prayer, whereas prayers took place at 3:00 am, 7:00 am, 1:00 pm, etc., being able to eat only vegetables grown by him and not to mention word except in mass.

One of the most fantastic of this Saint, are miracles. Many people have seen them. The first was that despite the symbolic date of his death (December 25) St. Charbel ‘s body has remained incorrupt. Days after his passing, several monks began to notice that bloody oil began to flow from the grave, once opened, they discovered this man suspended in the water. The body was cleaned and taken elsewhere, however, this fact was repeated. One of the best known miracles of this monk is the one of Nohad El Chami, a Lebanese woman paralyzed by hemiplegia.  At 55 years she had suffered from an incurable disease. One night in January 1993 she had a dream in which two monks came to her room, one of them was Saint Charbel he walked towards her and put his fingers on her throat, indicating that he came to operate, she answered: “No need, as doctors have already told me that there is nothing to be done”. Yet it is said that St. Charbel proceeded with this operation, once this was over, the woman could walk. This visit by Saint Maron and Saint Charbel has been marked in the memory of this woman, because his fingers are marked on the throat, where the saint is said to have touched her.

 

 

 

Text: Excelencia George Abi Yunes, obispo de la diócesis Maronita de México. ± Photo: CVS / Archivo Libanés