Saint Sharbel

St. Sharbel, a revered monk, and priest of the Maronite Order, lived in Lebanon. Numerous healings and blessings have been attributed to his powerful intercession, making him a beloved saint to seek help from in times of need. Born as Youssef Antoun Makhlouf in 1828, St. Sharbel was raised in a devout family high in the Lebanese mountains. Tragically, his father passed away when he was just three years old, leaving his mother to raise him and his four siblings.

St. Sharbel’s mother raised him in a spirit of piety. As a young child, he was drawn to the lives of the saints. He was also exposed to the hermit life early on, as he had two uncles who lived as hermits. One of St. Sharbel’s duties during his youth was to care for his family’s flock of sheep. He often brought the flock to a nearby grotto and created a shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary there. St. Sharbel often spent his day in prayer there while tending his family’s sheep.

At the age of 23, he left home and joined the Monastery of Our Lady in Mayfouq for his first year as a monk. He later moved to the St. Maron monastery in Annaya and took the religious name Sharbel after a martyr from Antioch. Following his ordination as a priest, St. Sharbel chose to lead an ascetic and hermitic life, rarely leaving his hermitage. He sought to emulate the holy hermits who came before him and spent twenty-three years living as a hermit.

In 1898, at the age of seventy, St. Sharbel suffered a stroke while celebrating Mass and passed away on Christmas Eve. After his death, many miraculous occurrences were associated with him. Lights were seen near his grave, and it was then discovered that his body had been secreting sweat and blood. Over the years, pilgrims have traveled to the Annaya monastery to seek his intercession, leading to numerous spiritual graces and miraculous healings.

One remarkable event involved a paralyzed 55-year-old woman who dreamed of St. Sharbel performing surgery on her, leading to her complete healing and two wounds on her neck. He appeared to her in a dream the following night and informed her that he had performed surgery on her so that others would return to the Faith.

He was canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI, who had earlier hailed the Lebanese Maronite saint as an “admirable flower of sanctity blooming on the stem of the ancient monastic traditions of the East.”

St. Sharbel, obtain for us the grace to lead a virtuous life and be a holy example to others.

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,

Most High Servant,

Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 

(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)