Charbel The Apostle

From Charbel the Hermit

Father Charbel was neither a pastor nor an envoy, but every time he had a chance to serve any soul he did it with great joy. He used to listen to the confessions of those who asked him, among them his brothers the monks, the priests and believers. His guidance was always useful and righteous. He was often called to visit the sick and the mourners, he always did his best to comfort them and prayed for them and for the sick, and helped them surrender their problems to Jesus and put their faith in him.

The Statue of Saint Charbel outside the Monastery of
Saint Maron Annaya

He always prayed for the sinners as well as for the welldoers, he often mentioned them during his celebration of the holy mass. Father Charbel was not a homilist, but he never frustrated anyone who asked him from any  advice or guidance. He was always obedient to the Superior, whenever he ordered him to celebrate the holy mass in a church outside the monastery, either on a Sunday or on a Feast day, he complied joyfully and when he finished he went back immediately to the convent without talking to anyone.

When his Superior ordered him to participate in a ceremony of funeral in any of the surrounding villages, he followed strictly the order and abided by going straight to the church. When villagers saw him, they run to him and asked him to pray over water and to bless them, while the Superior and the other priests went first to the house of the deceased then to the church to celebrate the funeral. Father Charbel used to participate to the liturgy of the funeral and return immediately to the monastery afterwards.

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Saint Charbel's Daily Activities

When the morning bell at the monastery of Saint Maron Annaya rings very early in the morning, father Charbel could already be seen on his knees at the door of the church, holding his book of prayer against his chest, his head inclined, and praying. He celebrated the holy mass early and left for his work without any delay or pause, taking with him his rope and pick. On his way to work, whether near or far, he held his chaplet in his hand and prayed all the way, never talked to anyone on his path, not even looked right or left. If anyone greeted him by:”Praise God”, he answered:”God Bless You”.

When he reached the place where his superior has instructed him to go, he would immediately begin his work with enthusiasm and motivation. He worked with all his power, continuously without taking any break. He dug with his pick without raising his head, sweat poured from all of his body, and his clothes would become all sweaty. He never took the hood off his head to wipe his forehead from excessive sweat. He built walls, collected stones, and did all kinds of earthworks. His eyes never left the ground during work, sometimes his hands trembled from extreme fatigue, and his palms were cracked from the excess of hard work.

Monastery of Saint Maron Annaya and its surounding lands

In winter time as in summer and harvest time, he never took the hood off his head. When others used to have time for a rest, to have cold water and to chat, he used to sit alone by himself never talking to anyone, not even drinking a drop of water.

When the bell rang for prayer he knelt down, raised his hands and prayed, then got back to work. If the chief of the field was late to call him to lunch at noontime, he never objected. All that was heard around him was the sound of his pick against the stones, or against the earth that he was digging, otherwise silence was his companion and his friend.

The other monks and all the workers used to revere him a lot, they had a lot of respect for his virtues and they avoided to discuss casual subjects in front of him. No one dared to joke in front of him, or talk to him about any news or stories because he didn’t care about anything that was happening either in the Order, in the country or even in the world. His only preoccupation was God and his work, leaving everything else to the Divine care.

He always stayed at work until sunset, and if the chief of the field stayed late, he used to stay with him and worked with the same enthusiasm of the day. He never drew the chief’s attention to the end of the day. In the evening, he used to collect a large amount of logs of wood that he carried on his back all the way to the monastery with the chaplet in hand, praying. During the days of heavy rains or snow, Sundays and feast days, he was either at the church or in his room.

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Saint Charbel's Physical Description

Saint Charbel

Saint Charbel was 1.6 meter tall, he had a straight posture, his body was very thin and his biceps flimsy like thumbs, his fingers were long and thin. He had a long pointed nose with clear details, a regular mouth and average neck, a wrinkled forehead, a long hair like all the other hermits as per their habits. He had a rounded and delicate face radiating light and inspiring God’s presence in him.

He used to attract all hearts to him, and through his face one could see happiness, meekness, serenity, and comfort of the heart. His face reflected his piety and his love for God at every moment. The color of his face was dark, brown and suntanned. The excess of penance and long night prayers have made him very skinny, but he walked fast even in his old age, and he was fervent in all his duties.

During prayer, Saint Charbel's face was enlightened by a magical and intriguing light, the heavenly graces were abundently overflowing from him as Jesus has become his strength, his wealth, and his constant joy.



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Charbel Succeeds to Alishaa

From Charbel the Hermit

When father Charbel moved to the hermitage, the wishes of hermit father Alishaa were fulfilled, as he had discovered Charbel’s call for hermit seclusion. Father Charbel used to serve the holy mass for Alishaa and used to take care of his daily necessities and bring him food and beverage from the monastery.

The Hermitage in Annaya

After that Father Charbel had served Alishaa in the hermitage for six years, and after that Alishaa had spent in the hermitage of Annaya forty four years and a half, he died on the thirteen’s of February 1875 and was buried on Sunday the fourteenth of February. On the next day, the Superior of the monastery father Elias Al Meshmeshani ordered father Charbel formally to stay at the hermitage. Charbel stayed at the hermitage with the hermit father Libawos Al Ramati, then father Makarios Al Mishmishani joined them on the 25th of April 1880.

Father Charbel used to come to the monastery to bring the weekly needs of food and beverage to the hermits, and used to put the provisions in a hemp bag and carry it on his back all the way to the hermitage. He used to do that because he considered himself a servant of God and of his brothers.

The Curing of Najib El Khoury

From Charbel The Hermit

Around 1873, doctor Najib Beik El Khoury went severely ill and was nearing death. His mother asked for father Charbel to come and pray over him hoping that he would be healed. As his father was also a doctor, he knew that his case was critical and uncurable. When the messenger reached father Charbel, he told him to come by night. Then the messenger explained to him that the patient’s situation is critical and cannot be delayed, and they needed to move instantly. Then father Charbel said:”I will leave now with you, but I do not want anyone to see me”. He said that out of his humbleness because he didn’t want to attract people’s attention to him.

The Way to Saint Charbel's hermitage in Annaya

When they reached the patient’s house, his temperature was very high and he was in a coma. He had typhoid. Father Charbel prayed over him and wiped his forehead with a wet handkerchief of blessed water. The patient opened his eyes immediately after being in a coma for several days and said two words:”Father Charbel!” Then his mother told him to kiss father Charbel’s hand and he did.

Father Charbel then said to those who were present:”Praise God, he is cured, give him something to eat”. First they hesitated because the patient had typhoid and it was believed at that time that food might ruin him, but father Charbel insisted on them to feed him and he left. Afterwards, they gave him food, he ate and was relaxed.

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A First Sign!

In 1865, a wave of locust, a nasty species of grasshoppers particularly destructive to vegetation, invaded the Batroun area, and the Government was unable to counter this plague. The monks of the Maronite Order were also trying hard to clean their fields without any success. Then the Superior of the monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya, Father Roukoz Al Meshmeshani ordered father Charbel to pray on water and to spray it over the lands of the monastery in order to avoid the complete stripping of the vegetations. So Father Charbel did as he was instructed to and he walked in the fields spraying water and talking to the grasshoppers, and all the vegetation belonging to the monastery survived devastation.

Monastery Of Saint Maron Annaya

In July 1869, during father Roukoz Al Meshmeshani’s mandate, Charbel was working in the field like a modest servant. On one evening he was watching over the goats belonging to the monastery and it was harvest time, and the monastery had asked for help from a few harvesters. After the monks had finished their meal, the harvesters stayed for dinner, and they were around 30 men. As food was being served, Charbel came to the “Kararji” (the monk responsible for the provisions in the monastery) and asked him for some oil for his lamp. The Kararji yelled at him as he was busy with the dinner, and asked him:”why didn’t you come earlier during the day? as a punishment, there will be no oil for you tonight, Go”. So he obeyed and went back to his room.

The servants had placed a bench transversely to bar the way for him, so he stumbled and fell on the floor but did not say any word or complained. Then one of the servants in the monastery at that time: Saba who was 13 years old came to him and took his lamp to fill it with oil, but in fact he filled it with water. Father Charbel took his lamp to light it, and it lit. The Superior had instructed during Charbel’s absence not to light any room after the evening bell, so he woke up on that night and saw the light and went out of his room to see where it came from, and it was from father Charbel’s room. So he asked him: “didn’t you hear the bell? Haven’t you vowed obedience?”. So Charbel knelt down and asked for his forgiveness saying:” I came back from the field and I still have one prayer, I didn’t know about this restriction”. The servant Saba was outside the room and he heard the conversation, so when the superior left Charbel’s room Saba confessed to him that he took the lamp but the Kararji wouldn’t give him oil, so he filled it with water from the outside jar. The Superior went back and dismounted the lamp and emptied some liquid in a cup and realized that it was water. At that moment he couldn’t hide his emotions and the news quickly spread in the monastery.

Charbel had expressed to his Superior on several occasions, his wishes to become a hermit, but Superiors usually do not allow seclusions in the hermit easily. But after the incident of the lamp, on the next morning, the Superior called Charbel and told him that he had no objection if he wanted to become a hermit. Charbel answered:”There is a big difference between my will and your orders, for I have made vows and I can’t act according to my wishes, so if you give me an order I will obey and go”. Then the Superior said: “Go”. So Charbel knelt down in front of him and asked for his blessing, The Superior prayed over him and gave him his blessing. Then he stood up thanking him and hurried to pick up his prayer books, his mattress and blanket, wrapped it all with a cord and put it over his back. He passed by the church and visited the Holy Eucharist and left for the hermitage.

By this, the hermit, father Alishaa Al Hardini’s request was fulfilled and Charbel joined the hermitage. Father Charbel used to serve him and bring him his necessities from the monastery like food and beverage and serve the holy mass for him. He kept on doing this for six years.