Quiet and Obedient

Father Charbel was a stranger to the ‘Jbeil’ neighborhood as he was the only monk from the area of ‘Al Jebbe’ in northern Lebanon. He showed an amazing obedience to everyone at the monastery, religious or not, some of them gave him orders with disdain, others gave him orders to ridiculize him, and he never disobeyed any order. Nobody defended him except the Superior, who had a deep respect for father Charbel and who was very angry against anyone who caused him any pain or despised him. As for Father Charbel, he was always working, praying and very obedient, he never showed any sign of grief in spite of being mistreated. He was similar in his behavior to Saint Theresa saying: I want to vanish from the world and to be the last in everything for you, Jesus.

According to the monastic rules, a monk should be silent. That is why father Charbel talked very little, just to answer the one who addressed him. His voice was heard only when he was reading the Gospel, or during the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. He never spoke to anyone whether men, women or monks and he was the incarnation of the monastic laws. He never talked at work and he never took any break or wasted any time with a visitor or a traveler. He was never involved in any gossip, never asked about anything or anyone, and he answered briefly and nicely when he was asked about anything. 

Charbel spent the little break before going to sleep in silence, not participating to the conversation with the other monks. Nevertheless, he spoke abundantly when he was asked about a spiritual or theological matter and he spoke with joy. Except for that, his whole life was about silence and his tongue was exclusively reserved to talk to God.

At church and in the hermitage he was like an angel. He was a monk of work, prayer, and silence and he was in a permanent meditation about heavenly matters. He was often caught in his meditations and spent hours in a standstill position talking to God without even blinking an eye. Everyone who saw him knew that he was living in another world, as he was not of this world. (John 17:16)

The Least Among All Others

According to the monastic rules, all the acts and behaviors of a monk should be characterized by lowliness and humbleness with regards to his brothers. Father Charbel complied strictly with such rules and on many occasions he was misunderstood by the unreligious world and his brothers the monks as well. People underestimated him for his poor clothing and his general appearance, others laughed at his naïveté and made fun of his excessive acts of penance. Some of them have put water in his lamp, some others talked to him severely and harshly which made father Charbel on one occasion, despite his extreme patience and quietness, say to hermit Makarios:” Even if I were stupid, be patient with me, bear me for the sake of Christ.”

The hermitage of Saint Peter and Paul in Annaya and the surrounding lands
where Saint Charbel lived and worked for 29 years.

Charbel was the exemplary Christian with his humbleness, doing his best to conceal his righteous acts, he was disturbed when people complimented him. He avoided gatherings with people and even with monks and he liked being alone in silence to pray and meditate. He was a human being only in his physical appearance, as he was already living in heaven.

If anybody criticized him about any matter, even if not guilty, he knelt down immediately with his hands folded asking for forgiveness, with his head inclined; He never got up again unless ordered to do so, as if he was still a novice.

He was known for his meekness and was like a sheep, some of his brothers named him: meekness. He never spoke about himself, he accepted extreme humility in everything and was never ashamed of his poor dressing, or his modest food or miserable room or anything that human pride despised.

Saint Charbel never asked for a better job than others, he always required the less fortunate task for himself and the lowest position in everything. He often mentioned to his brothers:”I am the least of my brothers and I do not deserve to be among them.” He always considered himself to be the less important of the monks, he was a servant for all. He reached a point of denial of his own life and existence, and picked up tasks that were not meant for monks like dish washing and sweeping, and did it with joy, “for it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.” (Matthew 9:48)”

Saint Charbel And The Sacrament Of Confession

Saint Charbel hated sin, he used to run away from anything that might cause him to sin, he was even disturbed if it was mentioned in his presence. All those who knew him well witnessed that he never committed intentionally any sin, not even a small one. He was known to abide strictly by the commandments of God and of the church and the Maronite order, he felt pain if others happened to break such commandments. 

The hermitage of Saint Peter & Paul Annaya where Saint Charbel
lived as a hermit for 29 years

He used to make a sincere examination of his conscience on a daily basis, and accounted himself for all his acts of the day. He went to confession on a weekly basis during all his life as monk and later on during his life as priest and hermit. 

Father Charbel used to listen to the confession of the believers when ordered by his superior, as he was not in charge of that. All those who confessed for him or asked for his advice praised his excessive interest about what's best for them and the deep impression he left in their souls. His words used to go straight to one’s heart and left a spiritual impact on the soul. Believers also talked about his wisdom and luminous advices that served to build a spiritual life. Saint Charbel was able to read one’s soul more than anybody else, and he never rejected anyone asking for his guidance or teaching, even religious persons. 

He loved to contribute to the salvation of souls, and suffered when he met those who were far from God. He prayed a lot for sinners and did his best to straighten their way again and draw them closer to Jesus. He listened to their confessions and often blamed people severely upon grave sins and imposed a tough penitence for forgiveness. He often listened to women’s confession when ordered by his superior. 

He strived to give hope for others, including the monks and priests, and if one of them happened to be seriously ill, the Superior called on father Charbel and insisted on him to give the confession or to anoint the patient, to encourage him and give him hope so that he can leave this life looking for the resurrection. Father Charbel often spent the whole night sitting next to the ill, only left him briefly for his midnight prayer at church. His Superior asked him on several occasions to go and pray over patients, and he always did it with great joy and contentment.

A Culture Coming From the Heart

In his days, Saint Charbel was a real man of sanctity, his physical appearance inspired a simple and naïve man but in reality he was a master in theology and in spiritual matters. He was very smart and he excelled in his studies of literary theology, as well as the mastering of the Syriac language, and the translation from Syriac to Arabic and the mastering of the Arabic language. His answers were always clear and convincing, his conversations with other priests were about literary theology, the salvation of souls, the sacrament of reconciliation, and his tongue overflowed with words proceeding from his generous heart which was burning with Divine love.

The old church at the monastery of Saint Maron Annaya

Father Aalwan testified:” On several occasions he came from the hermitage down to the monastery to help us in the baking of the bread. He spoke to us about theology and we learned a lot from him. He was good at answering questions more than anyone else. He was accurate in his answers and nice in his expressions and very humble. He never spoke unless he was asked to, and all his speeches about piety and prayer revealed to us the deepness of his faith. He often mentioned verses from the Holy Gospel and the Holy scriptures and suggested to have each one of us say a verse that begins with the last letter of the mentioned verse, and he used to explain it.”

He never got bored or tired of reading the holy Gospel and from meditating about the life of Christ. He was an honest follower of the Gospel and he tried all his life to imitate Christ, he undertook all the deeds that made him worthy of being a disciple of Jesus: obedience, modesty, faithfulness, love for his neighbor as for himself, and prayer.



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Saint Charbel's Character

Saint Charbel looked like someone who was naïve and slow minded, but in reality he was very smart, and sharp minded. He had a pure heart, his speech was simple and nice, transparent without any ambiguity. His answers were always brief and concise but very clear. He only spoke the words that were necessary, to help people and for the salvation of souls. All his speeches were exclusively around religious subjects, all his acts oriented towards the salvation of his soul and the salvation of his neighbor.

Saint Charbel

He had a genuine opinion with regards to theological matters, and his little talk made of him a very concentrated and quick minded person. His smartness was reflected in the perfection of his job and acts, and everything around him was in a perfect and harmonious state. But all his wisdom and cleverness was sacrificed for the good of others, and he was crushing his own wills and desires for the sake of others, until he became a living example of the words of David in the psalms: I have become your slave and I am with you every day.

He had a naïve heart and he never had any intention or wish in his whole life except God, God alone. But he was far from being a naïve person and he had the wisdom of the Saints, he never left any occasion or reason for his superiors or brothers to blame or criticize him for any kind of misbehavior, but he always performed well his duties, honestly and precisely. He never forgot any of his due tasks and was always seeking the satisfaction of his superiors and brothers leaving no place for them to find any gap in his acts.

His strict observance of the monastic rules showed his deep knowledge of such rules. His talk of the spirit was a supreme talk since that he had taken the way of ultimate perfection that he would never give away, not even a little. With his discipline he managed to put everything around him in order and he never pronounced any single word out of the context. His Theological answers were deep and meaningful and his wisdom has spared him bad thoughts and temptations, superstitions and unnecessary exaggerations.

When he studied at the monastery of Kfifane, he worked very hard and learnt very well, but he always looked naïve and poor minded. When it came to acts of penance and repression of the body, even though frequent and continuous, he always did such acts with joy and persistence, and he never suffered any illness or health disorder due to the tough acts of penance.

Besides his decent tongue, his good discipline implied respect and appreciation for him from all those who knew him. He never caused anyone to stumble, but quite the contrary, as everybody considered him to be a Saint and asked for his blessing, his superiors considered him to be an example to follow. He had the wisdom that was not of this world, as he was not of this world.

Joy and Contentment

Saint Charbel was always content in his life and in every situation that he happened to be in, he never asked for anything different or better, but only longed for God’s will. He lived his happiness wherever the authority ordered him to be. It was good for him either to sweep the floor, to cook, to work in the field or anything else, as long as he was complying with his vow of obedience in front of God. On many occasions whenever he needed anything from the Superior, he asked one of his friends to talk to him and did not address him directly, out of extreme humbleness. He deprived himself from the necessities that were essential to everyday’s life, he always accepted the least, the most degraded and most difficult matter in everything.

The Hermitage of Saint Peter and Paul, Annaya

Saint Charbel was like a child, he had a clean and pure heart, he was extremely simple. Arrogance and artificialness were totally unknown to him. He was extremely transparent in his behaviors with others, he never offended anyone except himself by additional acts of penance. Father Charbel never asked for a hard work to punish himself, or to pray for long hours in front of the Holy Eucharist, but he was happy whenever he was ordered to perform such duties, and did it with a great joy. He was steady in his beliefs, and was very determined in his acts of penance, which he happily conducted until the last moment of his life. Nobody ever heard Charbel complaining about anything in his whole life, everything about him was extremely simple whether it was his food, his clothes or his job. He rarely talked to people and never started a conversation with anyone, he was not even aware of what was going on in the Maronite Order or with the monks, except for the tasks that he was ordered to perform.

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Saint Charbel's Sleep

From A Life Of Hardship.

A bed similar to the one used by Saint Charbel, at the
Monastery of Saint Maron, Annaya

Saint Charbel’s bed consisted of dry oak leaves, with a cover sewn from goat hair. His pillow was a log of wood wrapped with an old black fabric. He slept on this bed during summer and winter, and it was an extremely rough backrest for him as it had no mattress and no comforter. Sometimes on extreme cold winter nights, he used a woolen blanket that he attached to the hemp. The sight of his bed stirred one’s heart as it looked like a place for torture rather than a place to rest, especially after his long and hard days at work in the fields. In fact, he slept on a piece of hemp over a couple of wooden boards supported by four stones, around 20 cm above the floor. He often abandoned his bed and slept on the floor.

Father Elias Ehmej testified:”I noticed several times that he was exhausted from sleeplessness as he often stayed awake very late in the night to pray. Many times when he was on his knees praying, he fell asleep and his head and body started to bend slowly until he woke up again before his head reached the floor, then he would straighten himself again, beating the weakness of the body, raising his eyes, taking a deep breath and resuming his prayer. In spite of his pain and sleepless nights, nobody ever saw him taking any nap during the day or even any brief rest under a tree.”

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Saint Charbel's Food

From A Life of Hardship.

Saint Charbel used to eat once a day, after the midday prayer, his food consisted of some vegetables, olives and raw potato skins that he used to wash, boil a little bit and eat. Whenever he came from the hermitage to the Monastery to take food for his brothers, he always chose the rotten bread for himself that was often thrown to dogs, and took the fresh bread for his brothers. Sometimes he ate the remaining pieces of bread left on the table from the previous day. He never had meat, sometimes he added olive oil to his meal and never had any food cooked with butter or grease except for Feast days like Christmas, Easter, Feast of Saint Anthony, and Feast of Saint Peter and Paul after whom the hermitage is named.

Water jars at the Monastery of Saint Maron Annaya

The Hermits used to work on the lands of the hermitage of Saint Peter and Paul, they collected fruits like grapes, figs, peaches and others, and carried their collect to the monastery where some of it was offered to guests. Father Charbel deprived himself of fruits and rarely tasted it even though he was the biggest contributor to the work in the field. He never ate unless he was asked to, and he used to eat what Father Makarius gave him. He used to fill the water jar for his brothers from the Annaya source which was half an hour of walking distance to the hermitage, but he only drank from the well at the hermitage once a day during the only meal that he had for the whole day.

Maroun Abboud testified:”When I was at the monastery, I used to help the monks in the field work and Father Charbel was one of us. He never ate unless he was ordered to by the chief of the field, he used to take the food that he was given and eat it aside, alone, complying with the monastic rule for novices:”he should never eat unless he is granted permission.” Father Paul Al Sabrini adds:”On many occasions when Father Makarius happened to be at the Monastery of Saint Maron for his service of the rule of obedience, he requested a permission to return to the hermitage in the afternoon. We often asked him to stay with us but he used to say that he needed to go to the hermitage to give Father Charbel something to eat. I asked him once:”Doesn’t he know how to eat by himself? Why do you always have to go to give him food?” He replied:”He will never eat unless I either ask him to, or I give him food to eat”. Even when he was forgotten for a couple of days without being called to eat, he never asked for food and never ate by himself. Father Aghnatios Meshmesh confirmed this fact and said:”Father Charbel was known for this”.

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Saint Charbel's Clothes

From A Life Of Hardship.

Saint Charbel’s clothes were so deteriorated as if he was the poorest beggar. Even the novices at the Maronite Order had better clothes that him, he never put on a new cowl but always requested humbly to wear the used clothes left by the monks and brothers. Therefore, his cowl was old and full of patches, the wires were visible and made from local hard wool. It was reddish because of the excessive wear and tear, but always clean as he used to wash it by himself, and sew patches on it improperly with a stitch every 5 to 10 cm. He did not have different robes for summer and winter, but always wore the same one until it became completely ruined and desintegrated, then he would be given another one.

Saint Charbel's priest vestments

He had a leather belt like all the other monks, but it was torn at many places because of the rocks and logs of wood that he used to carry. He had a single black pants, a shirt from virgin fabric, an old vest and the monastic cowl overall. He never wore any socks during his whole life even in cold winter days. He always covered his shoulders with a shawl at church and outside the hermitage and removed it at work. He never took the hood off his head, not even in winter or summer, nor during day or night, but only during the holy mass as per the Maronite liturgy. His hood was big, covering his head, his eyes and ears, and part of his cheeks and neck. His shoes were very old and patched, known as the old monastic heels, and his handkerchief was from hard virgin fabric known as tissue.
Moussa Moussa witnessed:” I saw him once wearing a torn pair of shoes so I asked him: why are you humiliating yourself? Ask for a decent pair of shoes, your feet have become like a camel feet!” but he did not answer!

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Poverty Turning Into Richness

From A Life of hardship.

During his monastic life, Father Charbel intended never to touch with his hands any money, silver or gold coins. He always used the most degraded things and never threw any item whether little or big, not even a green leaf. When he used to see a grape under the vine, or a piece of bread on his way, he used to pick it up and take it to the kitchen. He was very poor like a beggar, and no other monk ever accepted to have his food, his bed or his clothes.

Statue of Saint Charbel outside the Monastery Of Saint Maron Annaya

But his poverty and distressed look was only from the outside, as he was full of graces and virtues. He was even depriving himself of his family, he never went to visit them in his whole life, never talked about them or mentioned them. His brother used to visit him once every year or two, he used to meet with him for a little while after getting the permission from his superior. He had totally renounced his own will and had practically no choice in anything whatsoever, surpassing by far the monastic laws of strict obedience. Even though he was very clever, he never showed it, not in his speeches nor in his writings. He never said in his whole life any word like: this belongs to me, or this is our property.

He used to work with all his physical power, complete any task that he was asked to do. He always prayed very fervently at church, only stopped when ordered to leave for a new job, following the monastic orders instantly without any hesitation. He had a great integrity, his heart was not attached to anything in this life, as if he was not living on earth. He did not belong to this world, and his wealth was God's presence in his heart.

According to the monastic law, a monk should never waste his time, he should pray for the dead and for the needy whenever he could, and should never fall into joblessness to avoid temptation. Father Charbel observed meticulously the rules and had a great appreciation for time, whenever he was not at work he was praying or meditating and he never left any available chance without contributing to the common good of the monastery. He knew very well that his time on earth must be used to sanctify himself, so he was thriving all the time to store up for himself treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Hawshab Nakad witnessed:” Father Charbel’s niece Wardeh had a silver headwear for women that was left for her after her mother’s death, she sold it for 300 piastres (around two Ottoman gold liras) and took the amount to her uncle Father Charbel to present it as an offertory. But Father Charbel refused to receive the money and said to his niece from inside his room without seeing her face:” give this money to the superior” she answered him:”I want to deliver it to you and I want you to celebrate the holy mass and pray for her soul”, then he told her:”I will take note of the amount in my book and will celebrate the holy mass but I do not take money, go and give it to the Superior, I do not want to see any money”. Then she did as he told her.

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Work And Prayer

From A Life of Hardship

Father Charbel was very strict and disciplined at work, he was always quiet and in a good mood, motivated and ready for any kind of work that he is asked to do. He never chooses the easy task for himself and leaves the difficult one for others, but instead he always picks up the most degraded occupation for himself and does it humbly, and leaves the better one for his brothers. He always took care of the ignoble occupations of the monastery to get rid of the self esteem and pride which are the main reason behind the existence of hell. That is why he did not have any specific job at the monastery except the Holy Eucharist, prayer, and work in the fields.

He never looked around, never took a rest unless he wanted to make the sign of the cross, as if he never stopped praying even when he was at work. When he had no specific task to do, he used to collect stones from the field. He never refused to accomplish any task in the field, even in extreme cold or hot days, and he stayed at work until he was asked to stop or until the bell rang for prayer. He used to ask the permission of his chief to go to the church to pray or knelt down in the field for his due prayer.

Inside the Church of the tomb of Saint Charbel at the
 Monastery of Saint Maron Annaya

Whenever he was ordered to carry bags or provisions, he carried as much as he could never complaining about the quantity, and if anyone asked him to carry the heavy plow, he did it instantly.

Father Afram Nakad witnessed: “most of the responsible monks at the monastery were from the village of “Meshmesh”, he was the only one coming from the region of “Al Jebbe”. They used to order him to do all kinds of works, sometimes without pity, and he was always obedient, silent, never refused or complained about anything, and he never had pity on himself at work.

Brother Francis was the Superior’s brother and he was responsible for the provisions at the monastery, he used to order him to do many tasks merciless, and used to yell at him, but Father Charbel always obeyed him like he obeyed the Superior, even though he outranked him being a priest and Francis a brother. As soon as he used to return to the monastery carrying on his back heavy logs of wood, he ordered him to bring water or something else. At one occasion he was ordered to carry water in a bucket for small purposes, so he used it for the whole day for sprinkling, until his palms were stripped of the flesh”.

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