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.
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| 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.
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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