ST CHARBEL
- Youssef Antoun Makhloof was born to a Maronite Catholic family on the 8th of May 1828, in the highest village of the Middle East, North Lebanon, Bekaa Kafra.
- Charbel is the religious name that Youssef Antoun Makhloof chose for himself when he joined the Lebanese Maronite Religious Order.
- Youssef was the youngest of five children born to Antoun Zaarour Makhloof and Brigitta Elias al-Shedyaq.
- He was baptized, in his parish Church, on May 16th 1828. His father Antoun died under the harsh forced work of the Turks.
- At a very early age Youssef had to assist in supporting his family.
- He was in charge of shepherding few goats and sheep in the prairies surrounding Bekaa Kafra. In the serenity of nature, he would entrust his little flock to Mary Mother of God and enjoy spending hours in a natural cave, where he kept her icon, in prayer and meditation.
- Two great uncles, Youssef’s mother brothers, influenced deeply the boy’s personality. They were both hermits in the Maronite old monastery of Saint Anthony Qozhaya in the deep valley of Qadisha.
- At the age of 23, Youssef joined the same Monastic Maronite Lebanese Order (1851), but chose to be in a different far-away monastery, Saint Maron Annaya.
- Charbel, the new name that Youssef adopted signifies the young man’s desire to follow in the footprints of the early martyrs of the Antiochian Syrian Church and his desire to leave the world and start a new life with Jesus, a life centered on community prayer and manual labor.
- Saint Charbel was ordained to the sacred priesthood on July 23rd 1859.
- He served in the monastery of Saint Maron, Annaya for 16 years.
- The miracle of the Lamp, which gave light though filled with water, convinced St. Charbel superiors that his request was truly of divine origin. On February 15th 1875, Charbel was permitted to join the hermitage of Saints Paul and Peter in Annaya, where for years he longed to totally consecrate his life to Jesus under the austere rules of the monastic life.
- He spent 23 years in the hermitage, and died on Christmas Eve on December 24th 1898.
- Several months after his burial, light shone from his tomb. His body found intact and transpiring water and blood.
- On January 5th 1965, Saint Charbel was beatified by Pope Paul VI.
- On October 9th 1977, Saint Charbel was canonized.
