Saint Charbel, pray for us

 July 24th is the Feast Day for Saint Charbel.   If you have yet to hear about this saint, you aren't alone.  I, too, had never heard of him until one of the moms at our Catholic Mom's Group mentioned this wonderful saint to us at one of our group meetings.  

Saint Charbel has been associated with thousands and thousands of miracles, blessings and cures in his home country of Lebanon and throughout the entire world.

In fact, I am one of these thousands and thousands who is eternally grateful to St. Charbel for his intercession.  (More on that topic for another journal.)

St. Charbel was born in Lebanon in 1828 and his birth name is Youssef Antoun Makhlouf.  Ordained in 1859, St. Charbel lived in a monastery and then a hermitage until his death in 1898.  

About St. Charbel, from Catholic.org:
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"He was a typical saint and hermit, who spent his time praying and worshiping. Rarely had he left the hermitage where he followed the way of the saintly hermits in prayers, life and practice.

Few months [after his death], dazzling lights were seen around [his] grave. From there, his corpse, which had been secreting sweat and blood, was transferred into a special coffin. Hordes of pilgrims started swarming the place to get his intercession. And through this intercession, God blessed many people with recovery and spiritual graces.

In 1925, his beatification and canonization were proposed for declaration by Pope Pious XI. 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."
 
To read more about Saint Charbel, visit Catholic.org

By Unknown (Old Photo) (www.st-charbel.fr) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

For the Prayer to Saint Charbel, please click here.

For a Novena to Saint Charbel, please click here.

As always, thank you for reading.  God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!
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Sources:
Saint Charbel, Catholic Online, https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=112
Image: By Unknown (Old Photo) (www.st-charbel.fr) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons​