St. Charbel Statue

HAND PAINTED PLASTER STATUE – 9 Inches High & 3 Inches Width

Saint Charbel Makhlouf was an ascetic and religious from Lebanon belonging to the Maronite rite, and the first Eastern saint canonized since the 13th century. This saint was born on May 8, 1828,44 in Beqaa-Kafra, the highest inhabited place in Lebanon.

STORY ABOUT HIM
He made solemn vows in 1853 and was ordained a priest in 1859 by Bishop José al Marid, under the patriarchate of Paulo I Pedro Masad. He established as his residence the monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya, which is located 1067 meters above sea level. Father Charbel lived in this community for 15 years as an exemplary monk dedicated to prayer, apostolate and spiritual reading.

Sometime later he felt the call to the hermit life and on February 13, 1875, he received the authorization to put it into practice. From that moment until his death in 1898, he dedicated himself to prayer (he prayed the Liturgy of the Hours 7 times a day), asceticism, penance and manual labor. He ate once a day and was silent. The only disturbance to his prayer came from the number of visitors drawn by his reputation for holiness. They were looking for advice, the promise of prayer, or some miracle.

PRAYER
O Lord Jesus, you inspired the Saint, Monk and Hermit Charbel to live and die in your path and you gave him the strength to detach himself from the world in order to make triumph, in his hermitage, the monastic virtues. We implore Thee to bestow upon us the grace to love Thee and serve Thee following his example. God Almighty, who has manifested the power of Saint Charbel’s intercession, by the numerous miracles and Favours, grant us our petition(s) by his intercession. Amen.