Saint Charbel Makhlouf

Life events

1. Born — 1828

   Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born on May 8, 1828, in Bekaa Kafra, the highest-elevation village in Lebanon, one of five children of mule driver Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta (née Chidiac). His father died in August 1831 during corvée service for the Ottoman army, leaving his widow to raise the children; she later remarried a man who became the parish priest of Bekaa Kafra.

2. Tonsured — 1851

   In 1851, Makhlouf entered the Lebanese Maronite Order at the Monastery of Our Lady in Mayfouq, later transferring to the Monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya (Byblos District), where he received the habit and took the religious name Charbel — after a 2nd-century martyr of Antioch. He made his final religious profession in the Order on November 1, 1853.

3. Educated — 1853

   Makhlouf studied philosophy and theology at the Monastery of Saints Cyprian and Justina in Kfifan, Batroun District, in preparation for ordination. One of his professors there was Nimatullah Kassab al-Hardini, who was himself later independently canonized.

4. Ordained — 1859

   Charbel was ordained a priest on July 23, 1859, in Bkerke, and was subsequently assigned back to the Monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya, where he practiced severe asceticism.

5. Other — 1875

   In 1875, the abbot granted Charbel permission to withdraw to the Hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul near the Monastery of Saint Maron, where he spent the final 23 years of his life living as a hermit alongside other hermits.

6. Died — 1898

   Charbel died from a stroke on December 24, 1898, at the Hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul, Annaya, and was interred at the Monastery of Saint Maron on Christmas Day.

7. Other — 1977

   Pope Paul VI canonized Makhlouf on October 9, 1977; Bishop Francis Zayek described him at the time as 'the second St. Anthony of the Desert' and 'the first Confessor of the East to be raised to the Altars according to the actual procedure of the Catholic Church.'

8. Translated — 2017

   On September 2, 2017, relics of Charbel were translated to Saint Elisabeth Cathedral in Košice, Slovakia — the first Slovakian church to receive his official relics from Lebanon — drawing monthly pilgrims from Poland, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Charbel was beatified on December 5, 1965, by Pope Paul VI at the closing session of the Second Vatican Council — the formal cause having been opened on April 4, 1929. (certain)
• Among Charbel's seminary professors at Kfifan was Nimatullah Kassab al-Hardini, who was later independently canonized — two Maronite saints from the same classroom. (likely)
• Months after burial, his tomb was opened and the body reportedly found intact and exuding a blood-like liquid; the condition was confirmed at openings in 1950 and 1952, with full decomposition not noted until 1976. (plausible)
• The most widely cited post-death miracle is the reported healing of Nohad El Shami in January 1993: she awoke from a dream of two monks with two neck wounds and full recovery of her ability to walk. (plausible)
• A shrine to Charbel was inaugurated at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on October 28, 2017, containing a mosaic and relic donated by SGBL Bank chairman Antoun Sehnaoui, attended by Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi and Cardinal Timothy Dolan. (certain)