3rd Sunday of July
Youssef Makhlouf was born on May 8, 1828, into a modest Maronite family in Bekaa Kafra, a village in North Lebanon.
Youssef entered the Lebanese Maronite Order in Annaya in 1851, and upon receiving the habit, changed his name to Charbel after the second century Christian martyr of Antioch. At the monastery, Saint Charbel was taught by Saint Nehmetallah and ordained a priest in 1859.
After 16 years, Saint Charbel left the monastery and withdrew to the hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul. He spent 23 years in prayer, fasting, manual labour, and penance.
In December 1898, while celebrating the Divine Liturgy, Saint Charbel suffered a stroke. On Christmas Eve, he died at the age of 70.
Following Saint Charbel’s death, people reported beams of light around his tomb. When the tomb was opened, Church authorities found his body incorrupt and exuding sweat and blood. It remained this way until 1965, the year of Saint Charbel’s beatification. He was canonised on October 9, 1977, by Saint Pope Paul VI. Many graces and cures have been obtained around the world across people of different religions through the intercession of Saint Charbel.
O God of silence, in stillness Your adorable and mysterious Trinity lives, loves, and acts. In the silence of time, Your great mysteries have been accomplished.
Blessed is the one who quiets everything within himself and listens to the impelling voice which leads to You. Charbel heard this voice and closed himself in solitude. He separated himself from a self-seeking world and spoke with You.
You taught him to deny himself and to die like the grain of wheat. You asked him to bind himself to You in a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Freed from himself, he discovered You, O Lord, embraced the way of the Cross, and filled his spirit with the memory of Your Son’s passion and death.
The holy mysteries became his life, the Eucharist his real food, and the Mother of God his consolation. Day and night he sought You in the scriptures and in the lives of the saints.
Through unending prayer his whole life became a living hymn of praise to You and ended in a sacrifice of love that continues to proclaim Your glory.
We beseech You, through his intercession, to inspire us to a life of prayer and sacrifice. Help us to live lives of quiet dedication to the service of Your Church, forever. Amen.