The Catholic Church marks the feast of St. Charbel July 24. The Lebanese saint, a priest and hermit monk of the Maronite rite, died Dec. 24, 1898. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1965, and canonized by the same pontiff Oct. 9, 1977.
The Register asked Fay Fayad, a member of St. Peter Parish in Lincoln and a native of Lebanon, to write about the popular saint.
Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born May 8, 1828, the fifth child of Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta Chidiac. Youssef was raised in a devout, loving Christian home. His father died when Youssef was 3 years old.
Youssef was always drawn to the monk and hermit life influenced by his maternal uncles who lived in a hermitage at Saint Qozhaiah. At 14, he was teased by his village friends because of his love, devotion and zeal for God and our Lady. “Here comes the saint,” they would ridicule. He would walk go to pray in a grotto he discovered, where he made a shrine for Our Lady, bringing incense and candles. In a sense, this grotto served as his initial hermitage.
At 23, Youssef left his home at night and went to the monastery of our Lady of Mayfouk in the Byblos District. No one in his family knew about his decision. On his way to the monastery, a voice said, “Youssef, you are leaving your family and the people who love you and this world, giving up your freedom and the joy of this world.” Suddenly, he heard his uncle’s voice saying, “Look for God, Youssef. Here on earth all is vanity, God is your only happiness. Worldly pleasures are temporal, their desires quickly fade away, and death will too soon be calling. The wise man is he who prepares his Soul for the day of reckoning.”
In 1851, Youssef joined the Lebanese Maronite Order, choosing the name Charbel, which means “God’s Anointed.” After two years of academic and spiritual formation, he took his religious monastic vows of obedience, poverty and chastity at St. Maron’s Monastery in the Village of Annaya (Mount Lebanon).
After receiving his habit, his hair was cut to symbolize his dedication to God and rejection of worldly vanity. The habit is black to symbolize dying to the world, and the cloth proclaims his poverty. The angelic cowl (or hood) symbolizes the monk’s commitment to purity, chastity, and renunciation of worldly life. The belt symbolizes the monk’s fidelity and commitment to chastity and the tassel is a reminder of the whip used to scourge Jesus. Every time the monk touches the tassel, he says, “With your pain, O Jesus Christ.”
Charbel received his formation in theology and philosophy at the monastery of Saints Cyprian and Justina in Kfifan, Batroun District of North Lebanon, 1853 to 1859. He was ordained a Catholic Marionite priest July 23, 1859, and assigned to St. Maroun’s Monastery in Annaya (Mount Lebanon) for 16 years. Charbel was given approval to become a hermit Feb. 15, 1875 and entered the Hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul in Annaya (Mount Lebanon).
As a hermit, Father Charbel learned and followed the rules of his Order to the letter, which include celebrating Mass and visiting the chapel frequently, night and day; prayer, meditation and reading the Holy Scriptures; manual labor as a powerful remedy for many temptations and as a proof that he is not deserting his human obligations and in accordance with the stern injunction of St Paul: “If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.” The hermit must live a life of strict poverty and can eat only one meal a day, sent by the Monastery. He must never eat meat or drink wine and during Lent he can only have vegetables with a little oil.
The hermit must not sleep more than five hours and he must observe strict silence. In case of necessity, he must speak briefly and in subdued tones. He must not leave the hermitage without the consent of his superior.
Father Charbel suffered a stroke Dec. 16, 1898, and died that Dec. 24. In the years following his death, many miracles took place through his intercession. When he was beatified in 1965, his body was found to be incorrupt. He canonized by Pope Paul VI Dec. 9, 1977, during a Maronite Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica. Many miracles are still attributed to his intercession. Two new miracles attributed to St. Charbel Makhlouf have been reported since the beginning of 2026 — one in the United States and one in Lebanon.
Saint Charbel’s feast day in the Maronite Rite is marked the third Sunday of July.
