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YOUSSEF ANTOUN MAKHLOUF SAINT MAR CHARBEL
Saint Charbel was a 19th century Lebanese Maronite Christian monk who was canonized a saint by Pope Paul VI on Oct. 9, 1977. Charbel is revered by Christians and Muslims alike in Lebanon, a country torn by sectarian divisions and, chronically, war.
Monastic Life and Death
Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born on May 8, 1828, in the northern Lebanese village of Bekaa Kafra, when Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire. He was the fifth child of a peasant father in a pious family. His two uncles had retreated to monasteries, a life Charbel would adopt when he was 23. His first monastery was that of Our Lady of Maifouk, followed by the St Maron monastery in Annaya, where he became a Maronite and took the name Charbel, after an Antioch church marty of the second century. He was ordained a priest in 1859 in Bkerky (to this day the Maronite Patriarchate in Lebanon), spending the rest of his life in various monasteries.
He was celebrating mass on Dec. 16, 1898, when he fell ill. He died nine days later, on Christmas eve, and was buried in the St. Maron monastery cemetery in Annaya. Legend has it that his body has never decomposed—that, beginning a few months after his death, his grave exuded light, and that his body kept sweating blood. Pilgrims began making the journey to witness the phenomenon.
Miracles
Charbels official Lebanese Website claims that In 1950, the grave was opened in the presence of an official committee which included doctors who verified the soundness of the body. After the grave had been opened and inspected, the variety of healing incidents amazingly multiplied. A multitude of pilgrims from different religious facets started flocking to the Annaya monastery to get the saint's intercession. Prodigies reached beyond the Lebanese borders.
The claims are likely exaggerated: Lebanons mountain climate has always lent itself to unexpected extremes. Charbels symbolic significance to Lebanon, however, cannot be underplayed.
Ceremonial Symbolism
Miracles attributed to Charbel include the curing of a Lebanese nun who had suffered from ulcers for 14 years, the restoration of sight for a man whod lost it in one eye 13 years earlier, and a mans recovery from skin cancer.
The day of the ceremony, thousands of faithful Lebanese gathered in Annaya, a 17-mile journey high into the mountains from the seaside old port city of Byblos. Many of the faithful claimed that Charbels big statue blessed the crowd and that paralytics walked.
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I also like Norway as a country, I find the landscapes beautiful.
Occupation
Engineer | Ingeniero
Interests
THE HOLY TRINITY, OUR HOLY MOTHER, ANGELS, the Maronite Christian Hermit monk YOUSSEF ANTOUN MAKHLOUF SAINT MAR CHARBEL from Lebanon, ST. Brother RAFAEL ARNÁIZ O.C.S.O. from Spain above other SAINTS.