#maronitecatholic

"SAINT MAROUN (MAR MARON), PRAY FOR US!" #SaintoftheDay

Saint of the Day – 24 July – St Charbel Makhluf O.L.M. Monk, Priest, Hermit, Miracle Worker  – The holy monk whose dead body radiated white light – (8 May 1828 at Beka-Kafra, Lebanon as Joseph Zaroun Makhlouf – 24 December 1898 at Annaya of natural causes).   St Charbel was Beatified in 1965, at the close of Vatican II and Canonised on 9 October 1977 by Pope Paul VI.   Patron of Lebanon.

Youssef Antoun Makhlouf, the fifth child of a mule driver and his wife, he was born at Biqa-Kafra in the mountains of north Lebanon.   Orphaned at an early age, he was brought up by an uncle who showed little sympathy for his charge’s devotion to prayer and solitude.   Undeterred, in 1851, at the age of 23, Makhlouf entered the monastery of St Maroun at Annaya, taking the name in religion of Charbel, a second-century martyr at Antioch.

For 16 years, he worked hard in the monastery’s vineyards and sang the office at Mass.  If Charbel was in any way distinguished from his fellow monks it was in his greater fervour for mortification, his rapt attention at Mass and his constant perusal of Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation of Christ.   Although ordained a priest in 1859, Charbel increasingly felt the call to become a hermit.   For some years his superiors resisted this ambition.   In 1875, however, he removed to a hermitage attached to the monastery.   At 4,600 feet above sea level his cell was often freezing;  it was clear, however, that suffering and self-obliteration were precisely the graces which he sought.   Following his death, the monks who trembled with cold during the night when they kept vigil at his coffin before his funeral, said:  “See how we find ourselves unable to endure for a single night, the rude cold of this chapel!   How could this priest live here for twenty-three years, on his knees, like a statue before the altar, every night from midnight until eleven in the morning, when he rose to say his Mass?   Blessed is he, for he undoubtedly receives at present his reward with God!”  

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 the Blessed Virgin 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…”

When Charbel died, aged 70, he was interred in the monastery cemetery, without a coffin, as was customary. 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.”  Over the next 45 days, however, it seemed to many observers that the place where his body lay was irradiated by white light.   After four months it was decided to open the grave. Charbel’s cadaver was found to be perfectly preserved notwithstanding floods which had turned the area into a sea of mud.

The corpse was re-clothed and installed in the monastery chapel.   Now, a strange liquid was secreted from the pores of the dead man’s skin, making it necessary regularly to change his garments.   An examination conducted in 1927 by doctors of the local French medical institute found that the body was still incorrupt.   At this stage it was transferred to a new zinc-lined coffin, which was placed inside the wall of an oratory.

In 1950 a liquid was observed to be oozing from a corner of the tomb.   Another examination discovered a viscous fluid in the bottom of the coffin.   And while subsequent investigations have revealed a body no longer incorrupt, the bones have mysteriously turned red.

Hundreds of cures have been, and still are, reported by those who visited Charbel’s tomb. He was canonised in 1977.

Thought for the Day – 24 July – The Memorial of St Charbel of Makhluf  ( Watch – “The Saint Charble Song” …it’s special…

In 1950, Father George Webby, a Maronite priest from Scranton, visited Lebanon, took a photo of monks outside the wall of the monastery in which St. Charbel had lived and upon development of the picture saw that St. Charbel miraculously appeared with the monks, according to information provided by St. Anthony’s Church.

Art work for holy pictures of this saint is now taken from this photo.   Can you see him? (Hint: smack dab in the middle) click on the picture and then zoom in….

St. Charbel is listed among The Incorruptibles, saints whose bodies were found intact years after burial. His body kept pouring oil and blood until the year before his canonization in 1977.

“…a hermit of the Lebanese mountain is inscribed in the number of the blessed, a new eminent member of monastic sanctity is enriching, by his example and his intercession, the entire Christian people.   May he make us understand, in a world largely fascinated by wealth and comfort, the paramount value of poverty, penance and asceticism, to liberate the soul in its ascent to God…” ……….Blessed Pope Paul VI, October 9, 1977

St Charbel Makhluf, Pray for us!

A beautiful ode to Saint Charbel, written by J. Michael Thompson- (a Catholic Composer, professor of ecclesiastical chant):

The mountain heights of Lebanon Resound with songs of joy; The cedars of that ancient land Stand tall as we employ Our hymns of praise and thankfulness For Sharbel’s saintly ways, Lived out in strict humility That guided all his days.

True monk and hermit of the hills, Saint Maron’s modest son Scorned wealth and comfort in his life That heaven’s crown be won. Of Mary, heaven’s Queen and Gate, Devoted son was he, Who cherished all the ancient rites With great humility.

Fierce lover of the lowly life, True father of the poor, As you have done, so help us all To struggle and endure, That Christ be praised in ev’ry life, That riches not ensnare Or rule us in our daily walk; That strong may be our prayer!

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest, One God in persons three, Receive this hymn we offer now, And keep your Church e’er free To follow, as Saint Sharbel did, Enflamed with love so bright That we, with eyes fixed firm on Christ, May vanquish sin’s dark night.