Charbel Makhlouf (1828–1898)

Biography

But it was not enough for him to be a model monk of piety, work and obedience, and wanting to imitate the fathers of the desert, in 1875 he became a hermit and since then lived in a naked cell leading a simple and tremendously austere life. He slept only three hours resting on a board covered in dry leaves with a piece of wood to support his head and wrapped in his worn habits and a thin blanket. Many visitors came to this cell to ask for his advice, his prayers and his blessing. Saint Charbel offered himself every day of his life, and the Lord took him with him at the end of the consecration of his Christmas Eve Mass. When they opened the grave where Saint Charbel and fifty-two other monks were buried due to a flood, they found his incorrupt body, and a reddish liquid coming out of his body. For fifty-four consecutive years the body of Saint Charbel was unearthed and the corpse was always seen as fresh as if he were asleep. Although a doctor eventually removed all the organs from the body, the blood flow did not stop. With the anointing of this liquid, many miraculous cures were given, and not only of the body but of the soul: sin, indifference, hatred and disbelief. For his beatification, a miracle recognized by doctors and theologians was needed. In the case of this saint, up to 1,200 miracles were counted.