Sharbel was a monk-priest of the Maronite Church in Lebanon who spent the last twenty-three years of his life in prayer at a hermitage. Many healings reported at his tomb have made him a saint honored throughout the world.
Life
Saint Sharbel Makhlouf was born in 1828 in Bekaa Kafra, a mountain village in Lebanon; his given name was Youssef. He lost his father when he was small and grew up in a devout family, and as a young man he entered the Lebanese Maronite Order, receiving the name Sharbel.
Ordained a priest in 1859, he spent years at the monastery of Annaya and then withdrew to a nearby hermitage, where he lived for twenty-three years in prayer, work and silence. He died on Christmas Eve in 1898, and afterward many people began to visit his tomb. Pope Saint Paul VI canonized him in 1977.
Spirituality
Saint Sharbel's spirituality is a life of union with God in silence and in the Eucharist. He prayed and worked without words and celebrated Mass with great care. Though he lived far from the world, his prayer became a spring of comfort for many, and it has helped make the rich tradition of the Eastern Churches known in the West.
Reflection
Saint Sharbel bore witness to God more by silence than by words. Why not spend even a few minutes at Mass or adoration today simply resting before the Lord without words?