There are over 26,000 miracles attributed to the intercession of Saint Charbel Makhlouf since his death in 1898. You could say he has a bit of a track record—and he’s not slowing down anytime soon.
“We’re seeing more miracles in these past two years than we have in the past decade,” Father Louis Matar, the Maronite priest who keeps a tally of the saint’s miracles said in an interview.
St. Charbel was a Maronite monk and priest who lived in Lebanon. The Christian community in Lebanon remembers the holy man for his miraculous healings and desire to unite Christians and Muslims.
Here are six incredible miracles attributed to St. Charbel. These miracles are just a small selection of thousands. To read more about other miracles and find out more about the life of this holy hermit, visit the official website of the saintly cause.
1. The healing of Sister Mary Abel Kamari of the Sacred Hearts
Sister Maria Abel Kamari was a thirty-year old nun who became ill with gastric ulcers in 1936. Despite multiple surgeries, Sister Maria wasn’t able to eat. Swallowing became difficult and her voice was weak.
In addition to her ulcers, she suffered from osteoporosis, lost her teeth, and her right hand became paralyzed. In 1942, she became bedridden.
Eight years later, Sister Maria requested to be taken to Charbel’s tomb. When she touched the tomb of the hermit, she described what felt like a electric shock go through her body. She stood up unassisted and completely cured.
Detailed medical tests confirmed her miraculous healing. Sister Maria’s healing was one of the miracles confirmed by the Catholic Church that led to Charbel’s beatification.
2. The healing of Iskandar Obeid
In 1925, Iskander Obeid, a blacksmith, was working in his smithy when a piece of metal damaged his eye. After further damage in 1937, Iskander was no longer able to see out of his right eye.
Doctors recommended that they remove Iskander’s eye. He refused removal, despite the incredible pain. In 1950, he began to intercede to Charbel for a cure.
One night after prayer, Iskander saw Charbel in a dream. The saint asked Iskander to make a pilgrimage to to his monastery in Annaya. When Iskander arrived, he went to confession and Mass. That night, he spent time praying in front of Charbel’s tomb.
The next morning, he awoke and had no pain in his right eye. A medical board later confirmed that Iskander’s eye had undergone complete and miraculous healing and regeneration.
Iskander’s miracle was one of the miracles that the Catholic Church confirmed during the process of St. Charbel’s beatification.
3. The healing of Mariam Awad from Hammana
Mariam Awad was born in Shakra, Izra (in Syria) and lived in Hammana, Lebanon.
Between 1963 and 1965, Mariam underwent three surgeries for cancer that spread to her stomach, intestines, and neck.
When her tonsils became infected with cancer, Mariam turned to Charbel. The cancerous growths made swallowing and talking incredibly painful. Mariam asked Charbel for either a miraculous cure or the grace to bear the suffering.
One night she prayed, “Provide me with the cure to this disease. You are a great saint who has cured the blind and the lame. When I recover from this illness, I’ll go thank you in your shrine.”
The next morning, Mariam woke up and was completely cured.
Mariam’s miraculous cure was the miracle that led to Charbel’s canonization in 1977.
4. The healing of Nohad El Shami
One of St. Charbel’s most well-known miracles is the healing of Nohad El Shami. She was fifty-five years old and healed from her partial paralysis in 1993.
Nohad says that she saw two Maronite monks standing next to her bed in a dream one evening. In her dream, the monks operated on her neck.
When Nohad woke up, she had two wounds in her neck. She was completely healed and began to walk again.
Nohad said that St. Charbel appeared to her the next night in a dream and asked her to visit his hermitage on the 22nd of every month. He also asked her to attend Mass regularly.
The 22nd of each month has since become a popular day to visit St. Charbel’s hermitage to pray and celebrate Mass.
5. The miraculous healing of Dafne Gutierrez’s vision
Dafne Guitierrez suffered from Arnold Chiari malformation for seventeen years. The malformation had resulted in total blindness, awful headaches, seizures, and vomiting.
The mother of three was unable to take care of her children and doctors approved for her to go to a nursing home and rehabilitation facility.
But Charbel had other plans.
Dafne visited St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in Phoenix to venerate Carbel’s relics. The saint’s remains were on a tour of thirty-six Maronite parishes in the United States.
Just a few days after venerating the relics, Dafne’s vision was restored.
“God gave me my vision back for a reason,” Dafne said in an interview. “I want to be able to help others. I’ll give testimony wherever I can because it’s important for people to know that God does exist and he does hear us. I tell people, ‘Don’t lose the faith. And the most important of all is confession, which brings you healing.'”
6. The miraculous recovery of Côme de Cacqueray
Côme de Cacqueray was born with a malformation below his bladder. The malformation damaged his bladder and kidneys, and doctors didn’t have high hopes for his survival.
When he was only a month old Côme began palliative care. Friends of the family suggested that the family pray to St. Charbel, and sent some holy oil from Solesmes Abbey.
“The life of this saint particularly attracted us and we decided to entrust our little Côme to him. We said a novena to him in August. Since then, we have said many prayers and novenas to St. Charbel. We bought a small statue of him, which fits perfectly in our prayer corner,”Ségolène and Aurélien de Cacqueray, Côme’s parents, said in an interview.
Thanks to Our Lady and St. Charbel, Côme beat the odds and celebrated his first birthday in 2018.
Hoping for a miracle of your own? Here’s a prayer for the intercession of Charbel that you can pray:
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 manifested the power of Charbel’s intercession through his countless miracles and favors, grant us… (state your intentions here)…through his intercession. Amen.