On December 24, 2020, the Innu indigenous community of Sheshatshiu [1], Canada, installed a statue of Saint Sharbel in Tshitshitua Shushep (Saint Joseph) Church, Our Lady of Snows Parish [2] in the Corner Brook and Labrador Diocese. A good question will be: How did this community hear about Saint Sharbel, a saint from the other part of the world? Here’s the story. In 2017, Fr. Joe Pichai, from the missionary Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian), founded by St. Vincent de Paul, was asked by the Bishop of the Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador, Canada to work among the Innu indigenous people in Sheshatshiu, Our Lady of Snows Parish. The Innu people have a long history of strong faith with the Catholic Church, since they were evangelized in 1615. More about the Innu Catholic community history HERE. Fr. Joe tells The Family of Saint Sharbel his story about encountering St Sharbel and introducing him to the Innu community: Last year one of my parishioners, Simon Andrew, had a liver transplant in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I prayed for him and the transplant was successful. Simon returned home after the operation. Beginning of June 2020, I remember opening my iPad and while browsing through, I found a movie on St. Sharbel. I watched the whole movie, and then a desire sprouted in my heart to pray to St. Sharbel for his intercession for the healing of the many sick people in my community. I googled and found the email address of The Family of Saint Sharbel. I wrote them an email requesting a medal and holy oil for my friend Simon Andrew. To my surprise I got a quick reply and also a small parcel with all the things I requested. My friend Simon was not feeling well in the fall of 2020. So he travelled to see the liver specialist at the Health Sciences Hospital in St. John’s, Newfoundland, at the beginning of October 2020. On the basis of his routine monthly blood tests, Simon was told that his body was rejecting the liver transplant. He was very upset about it. He called me that day, I told him not to lose heart and that I am praying for him and moreover I am going to start praying a Novena to St. Sharbel, especially for him. I started the Novena to St. Sharbel on October 3. Simon and his wife Tina returned from St. John’s by car, a three-day trip. By this time, he was so physically unwell that he was unable to drive. He got back to our town and went straight to the Labrador Grenfell Regional Hospital in Goose Bay Labrador and was admitted overnight. He was again told that they could do nothing for him, but they increased his anti-rejection drugs anyway. They did the blood work and reported that his kidneys are not working well. He was devastated. He was really down and gave up hope. I gave him hope. I asked him to join in the 9 days of the Novena prayers and on the last day of the Novena I anointed him and gave him the medal I received from The Family of Saint Sharbel.
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Miracle number 93 from the Register of New Miracles happened with the two children Yusef and Karam Majdi Al-Salman, born in Syria in 2013. They are from the Unitarian Druze Community, residing in Aley, Lebanon. The father is a wedding planner. One day, the father decided to take his family on a trip to Byblos area, so he took them to Laqlouq, where they spent their day. On their way back, they stopped at Annaya, and it was their first visit to the region. Upon their arrival, the mother felt a shiver down her spine, and since her children were mute, she prayed in front of the tomb of Saint Sharbel, asking him to intercede for her two children before the Lord and give them the ability to speak. When they returned home, and while she was asleep, Saint Sharbel appeared to her, and when she rose from her sleep, her oldest son began to speak, and on the second day her youngest son began to speak as well. The family came from Aley to Annaya to thank Saint Sharbel for giving their children, Yusef and Karam, the ability to speak. They recorded the miracle on April 18, 2016 The Tomb of Saint Sharbel, Annaya-Lebanon. Photo by Fr. Shadi Bechara
One of the mother’s relatives gave her a relic from Saint Sharbel and said to her, "Go into the care room and ask Saint Sharbel to intercede for your son with the Lord so that he could heal him from his illness and hang the relic in Yousef’s robes." So, the mother entered the boy's room, hung Saint Sharbel’s relic on her son’s robes, and stood near him praying. As she was standing near him, Yousef said to his mother, "Mom, I want to urinate." The nurses told his mother, "He feels that he needs to urinate, but he cannot do that because his kidneys are not working." The boy urged his mother, and she brought him the urinal, where he urinated blood and a little bit of urine, but it was only a few minutes until he urinated about five liters of urine. Yousef was cured. His mother Rola called the Minister of Health and dropped the case, saying to him, "Saint Sharbel has cured my son Yousef and spared the doctor at the same time". She took her son to a church and baptized him.
She came to Annaya with her son and his medical records and recorded the miracle of his recovery, thanking Saint Sharbel for his intercession with her son, on September 22, 2015.
On this occasion, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Monsignor Peter Azar (Rector of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary). “The Family of Saint Sharbel” participated in the celebration along with the Lebanese community in the area, as well as other pilgrims. After the Holy Gospel, Monsignor Azar said in his Homily that three years ago he was privileged to preside and preach at the special liturgy consecrating and dedicating the Statue of Saint Sharbel; it is with deep joy that he join with all of us, people of good will in this wonderful celebration of the third anniversary of the dedication, in this Holy location honoring a star of the East, from Lebanon, Saint Sharbel Makhlouf. Monsignor Azar added that it is a historic gathering that we give thanks to God for the deep fidelity of the Maronites to their rich heritage and their Catholic faith and as we ask Saint Sharbel and Our Lady of Lebanon to continue to give guidance and protection to those who seek it. Many details to share surrounding the miraculous works of God through the intercession of Saint Sharbel, but the most profound miracle of all is the restored faith of the people who are learning again to give thanks to God. Monsignor Azar also added about the Lebanese faithful that they rekindled a brave and courageous faith which would face many persecutions; and many regimes attempted without success to stomp out that deep faith which was restored in Jesus Christ and in the Catholic Church. Monsignor Azar concluded his Homily by saying: "May God through the intercession of Saint Sharbel grant us to have deep faith to stand firm especially in this difficult time of persecution of Catholicism and of the pain and the suffering of those who stand firm protecting the faith in Jesus Christ and dying for it, we all heard what happened in Iraq, what happens in all the world when you profess Jesus Christ as your Lord, you may die, but death my brothers and sisters is not the end; it is the beginning of the new life with God almighty. Amen.” After the Mass, Fr. Azar led a procession with the relic of Saint Sharbel (placed in a cedar-shape reliquary) while the faithful followed singing Maronite hymns. At the shrine, they gathered for the final blessing with the relic. In conclusion of the celebration, the faithful approached to venerate Saint Charbel’s relic placed in front of the statue.
The miraculous healing of Miriam Awad from throat cancer in 1967 was accepted as the official miracle for canonization.
The doctor X-Rayed her whole mouth and took a sample for biopsy. He didn’t prescribe any treatment for this last disease. In this case, Mariam was doubtful of the nature of the disease. Since then, Mariam had started to pray to St Charbel. The two tonsils were struck with cancer, which resulted in unbearable pain and difficulty in swallowing. In addition to this, her voice started to weaken. There was also redness in the tonsils, which grew to the size of walnuts. Mariam refused any treatment, including radiotherapy. Instead, she always asked St Charbel for either the cure for what she had been suffering from or the power to bear this disease. One day, while sitting in her bed, she prayed the following to St Charbel: “Provide me with the cure to this disease. You are the great saint who has cured the blind and the lame. When I recover from this illness, I’ll go to thank you in your shrine.” She asked for recovery in the evening and before retiring to bed. Next day, she was completely cured. When the lump started to disappear completely on the fourth day she was astonished with St Charbel. Not to mention the growths on her neck. The affected parts of her body no longer suffered pain. She became fully strong and sound. Then, Mariam came to pay her vow in the St Maron monastery, the tomb of St Charbel, thanking him for the cure he blessed her with. The Tomb of saint Sharbel in Annaya-Lebanon. Image by Naanouh Productions
The Family of Saint Sharbel would like to invite you to the celebration of the third Anniversary of the Shrine of St. Sharbel on Saturday October 10, 2020 at the National Shrine Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes.
By Fr. Richard KunstWhen Pope John Paul the Great was criticized for canonizing so many saints, he acknowledged that he did, indeed, deliberately raise more saints to the altar than any of his predecessors, because he believed we are living in a time that needs saints as witnesses more than ever. There have been books written about the people he canonized and beatified, and it is quite refreshing to read about many of them, because we can identify with people from our own era who lived a heroic faith life. As much as I like hagiography, the study of the saints, I have to admit that many of them, living in a different era, seem to be a bit untouchable, or even unreal. In many cases they became “kitsch,” entering so much into the piety of worldwide Catholicism that they became little more than statues. I am reminded of St. Therese of Lisieux who has rightly been called the greatest saint of modern times. Her statue seems to be in a majority of churches, but I’d like to know how many people in the pews actually know anything about her life.
Reflecting on the life of St. Charbel calls to mind a common frustration among my brother priests and me. On a regular basis, many people come into Mass late. Often they are so late they miss one or two of the readings. It is even more common for whole portions of the church to be empty after communion. While we are happy that these people at least come to Mass, think of the contrast between our experience and that of St. Charbel, who would spend hours in prayer both before and after receiving communion. We would never go to a movie late, or leave before the story was over. Why in the world, then, would we do that with the Divine Liturgy where heaven and earth meet? St. Alphonsus de’ Liguori (1696-1787), born 130 years before St. Charbel, believed that if we didn’t receive our first communion until we turned 100, we would still not have sufficient time to prepare. At another time, he said that once we receive communion, twelve angels surround us, worshiping what we just consumed. Obviously, that is not dogma, but it is food for thought if we are tempted to leave Mass early. The saints are always icons of having lived the Gospels, including those who seem to be so different from us. St. Charbel is a great example of this. I pray to him that through his intercession more people will grow in awe and reverence for Christ’s Eucharistic presence. —Father Rich
St. Charbel, pray for us! Blessed Pope Paul VI canonized Charbel Makhluf on October 9, 1977. The Divine Liturgy for this feast was celebrated by Father Theodore Trinko (Institute of the Incarnate Word). “The Family of Saint Sharbel” participated in the celebration along with the Lebanese community in the area, as well as other pilgrims of the National Shrine.
Father Trinko concluded: “Everything in him was God’s and because of his generosity he received the promise of our Lord, a hundred times more than he gave up in his life, and eternal life and in the age to come. We can imitate Saint Sharbel’s generosity, and all of us can say yes to God no matter what He asks and no matter what He expects from us. Cheap souls will never make it to Heaven, and we will never save ourselves if you continue to put limits on what we will give to God.
At the shrine of Saint Sharbel, the Family of Saint Sharbel offered complimentary prayer cards to pilgrims. Watch the video. The National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes & The Family of Saint Sharbel, USA invite you to the Celebration of the Feast of Saint Sharbel at the National Shrine Grotto, on Saturday, July 18, 2020. Confession: 10:45-11:45 am Holy Mass: 12 pm, followed by the Blessing with the Relics of Saint Sharbel All Masses will be held outdoors at the Grotto Cave and we can only accommodate 350 attendees per Mass. Please bring hats, water, and umbrellas, and follow ushers' seating directives. In the event of inclement weather, Mass may be cancelled and will be announced. Please keep checking the announcement on the website of the Shrine. Hope you can join us in prayer on this blessed feast of Saint Sharbel.
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