Charbel Makhluf

Who they were

Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born to a farming family in a Lebanese village; his father died when he was three, and his stepfather became a priest. He loved to hear about his two uncles, hermits in the Valley of the Saints, and though he had to work as a shepherd from the age of ten, he spent his free time praying in a cave now known as 'the saint's grotto'.

One night in 1851, aged 23, he left home without a word for the monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouq, joined the Lebanese Maronite Order and took the name Charbel. In 1875 he became a hermit, praying often with arms outstretched in a bare cell, leaving it only to celebrate Mass. Taken ill during Mass at Christmas 1898, at the elevation, he died after eight days of agony, still keeping his rule.

The miracles

After his death many instant healings were reported at his tomb in Annaya, and they multiplied as his fame spread. The miracles formally examined for his causes are not described in the sources we have used.

Why that counted as sanctity

In Paul VI's words, Charbel shows a world charmed by comfort and wealth the great value of poverty, penance and asceticism, which free the soul to rise to God.

Connected on this site

• Paul VI Saint
  “In Paul VI's words, Charbel shows a world charmed by comfort and wealth the great value of poverty, penance and asceticism, which free the soul to rise to God.” — this site's research