Inspirational Catholic Saint - Saint Charbel

INSPIRATIONAL CATHOLIC SAINT - SAINT CHARBEL

This Inspirational Catholic Saint comes displayed in a clear fronted gift box which includes a Saint Biography on the back, and a Prayer Card inside.

Feast Day: July 23

Height: Approx 7.6cm.

Material: Resin.

Back of the Box Reads:

St Charbel

Youssef was raised in a pious home and became drawn to the lives of the saints and to the hermit life, As a young boy, he was responsible for caring for the family’s small flock. He would take the flock to a grotto nearby, where he had installed an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He would spend the day in prayer.

Youssef left his family and entered the Lebanese Maronite Order to begin his training as a monk, he received the religious habit of a monk and took the name Charbel, after a Christian martyr in Antioch from the 2nd century.

St Charbel died on the 24 December 1898. A few months after his death it was noted that a bright light was seen surrounding his tomb and the superiors opened it to find his body still intact. After that day, a blood-like liquid flowered from his body. Experts and doctors were unable to give medical explanations for the incorruptibility and flexibility. His tomb was opened many times with years apart and his body supposedly still had the appearance of a living one. Joseph Mahfouz, the postulator of the cause, certified that in 1965 the body of St. Charbel was still preserved intact with no alteration. In 1976 he again witnessed the opening of the grave, this time the body was completely decomposed. Only the skeleton remained.

A great number of miracles have been attributed to St Charbel since his death. The most famous one is that of Nohad El Shami, a 55-year-old woman suffering from partial paralysis. She tells that on the night of 22 January 1993 when she saw in her dream two Maronite monks standing next to her bed. One of them put his hands on her neck and operated on her, relieving her from her pain. When she woke she discovered two wounds in her neck, one on each side. She was completely healed recovered her ability to walk. The next night, she saw St. Charbel in her dream. He said to her, “I did the surgery to let people see and return to faith. I ask you to visit the hermitage on the 22nd of every month, and attend Mass regularly for the rest of your life”. People now gather on the 22nd of each month to pray and celebrate the Mass in the hermitage of St Charbel In Annaya.