Lebanon celebrates on the third Sunday of July every year the feast day of Saint-Charbel Makhlouf, one of the most beloved Lebanese saints in Lebanon and around the world.
On the occasion this year, 11,000 candles were lit in St. Charbel’s town of Bkaakafra on the balconies, rooftops, and along the sides of the roads, amid bells, burning incense, and prayers.
On Saturday night, the town of Bkaakafra welcomed a multitude of people who decided to spend the night in prayers in the church of the town, some in gratitude for healing prayers that had been answered, and some appealing for Saint Charbel’s intercession to heal a family member or themselves.
Just like every year, a pilgrimage march titled Abu Dukushto, a hymn recited by St.Charbel in his daily mass, was launched from as far as Ehden and Hadath El Jebbeh to Bkaakafra along with hymns and prayers on the roads leading to the town.
Just like every year, a pilgrimage march titled Abu Dukushto, a hymn recited by St.Charbel in his daily mass, was launched from as far as Ehden and Hadath El Jebbeh to Bkaakafra along with hymns and prayers on the roads leading to the town.
Mar Charbel Makhlouf was a Lebanese Maronite monk and priest who was born in 1828 in the north mountain village of Bkaakafra. Throughout his life, he obtained a wide reputation for holiness. He was beatified by the Vatican in 1965 then canonized Saint in 1977 as a result of his worldwide healing miracles after his death.
St. Charbel is widely known for his monastic spirituality and miraculous gifts of healing in answer to the believers’ prayers of intercession wherever they are in the world. In Lebanon, seekers of heeling of all religions pray at his tomb, located at the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya.
Saint Charbel has been also known for uniting Christians and Muslims; his healing intercessions go beyond one religion, and also one country. In addition to his native Lebanon, St. Charbel also inspires devotion among Catholics in Europe, the Middle East, and throughout Latin America, where his miracles have manifested.
