July 24 + Saint Charbel Makhlouf

Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born in 1828, one of five children, in the mountain village of Bekaa Kafra in Lebanon. His father, Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf, was a mule driver who died in 1831 while returning from work for the Turkish army, leaving his wife Brigitta a widow to care for their children. She remarried a man who went on to Holy Orders and became the parish priest of Bekaa Kafra.

Being raised in a pious home, Youssef became drawn to the lives of the saints and the eremitical life practiced by two of his uncles. As a young boy, he was responsible for the family's small herd of cows. He would take the herd to a nearby grotto, where he had enshrined an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There he would spend the day in prayer.

In 1851, Youssef left his family to begin training as a monk of the Lebanese Maronite Order at the Monastery of Our Lady in Mayfouq. He later transferred to the Monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya. There, he received his habit and took the religious name Charbel, after the Christian martyr Saint Maroun. He made his final religious profession in 1853.

Following the example of Saint Maroun, Charbel led a life of monastic simplicity, service to others, and, above all, great devotion to God. Charbel spent most of his life in seclusion and prayer and was known for his miraculous healings, prophecies, and asceticism. 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 devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. When his superiors occasionally asked him to administer the sacraments to nearby villages, Charbel did so gladly.

Father Charbel died at the age of 70 on Christmas Eve in 1898. He was beatified in 1965 and canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI.

Some of the most remarkable stories surrounding Charbel are related to the miracles he has performed since his death in 1898. Thousands of people have reported experiencing healings and various other supernatural events following an appeal to Charbel, and there have been over 26,000 miracles attributed to his intercession. His tomb in Annaya, Lebanon has become a place of pilgrimage for many of those seeking his aid.

Charbel is the Patron Saint of Lebanon, those who suffer in body and soul, healing, miracles, and is a protector for families and farmers.

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See the Saint Charbel Collection