"Nothing created has ever been able
to fill the heart of man. God alone can
fill it infinitely." - St. Thomas Aquinas
"In 1875 Fr Sharbel was granted permission to live as a hermit nearby his monastery at St. Peter and Paul hermitage. His 23 years of solitary life were lived in a spirit of total abandonment to God. Sharbel's companions in the hermitage were the Sons of God, as encountered in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, and the Blessed Mother. The Eucharist became the center of his life. He consumed the Bread of his Life and was consumed by it. Though this hermit did not have a place in the world, the world had a great place in his heart. Through prayer and penance he offered himself as a sacrifice so that the world would return to God. It is in this light that one sees the importance of the following Eucharistic prayer in his life:
Father of Truth, behold Your Son
a sacrifice pleasing to You,
accept this offering of Him who died for me...
On December 16, 1898 while reciting the "Father of Truth" prayer at the Holy Liturgy Sharbel suffered a stroke. He died on Christmas Eve at the age of 70. Through faith this hermit received the Word of God and through love he continued the Ministry of Incarnation."
St Sharbel Makhluf
Lebanon ~ 1828-1898
Priest and Hermit
Perfume of Lebanon
Incorrupt
More miracles attributed to his intercession
than any other saint
Feast Day - July 24
When Sharbel was canonized (1977), Bsp Francis Zayek,
head of the U.S.
entitled “A New Star of the East.” Bishop Zayek wrote:
“St. Sharbel is called the second St. Anthony of the Desert,
the Perfume of Lebanon, the first Confessor of the East to be
raised to the Altars according to the actual procedure of the
Catholic Church, the honor of our Aramaic Antiochian Church
and the model of spiritual values and renewal. Sharbel is like a
Cedar of Lebanon standing in eternal prayer, on top of a mountain.”
____________________________
https://saintcharbel.net.au/miracles/st-charbel-heals-people-from-various-countries-religions-and-backgrounds/
St Sharbel, pray for us!
***************************************
Lord, infinitely Holy and Glorified in Your Saints,
You have inspired Charbel, the saint monk,
to lead the perfect life of a hermit.
We thank You for granting him the blessing
and the strength to detach himself from the world
so that the heroism of the monastic virtues of poverty,
obedience, and chastity, could triumph in his hermitage.
We beseech You to grant us
the grace of loving and serving You,
following his example.
Almighty God, Who has manifested
the power of St. Charbel’s intercession
through his countless miracles and favours, grant us ...
[Mention your intention here]
through his intercession.
Amen.*********************************************
