1 – A Holy Family

His father is Antoun Zaarour “Abu Hanna" from Bkaakafra, and his mother Brigitta Elias Yaakoub Al-Shediak from Becharre. He had two brothers: Hanna and Beshara, and two sisters: Kaoneh and Wardeh, he was the youngest. The origin name of Fr. Sharbel was Youssef; he changed it when he entered the Order. His father was a simple farmer like the majority people in his village; he was living from the cultivation of his properties, while his mother took care of the house chores. His parents were pious and righteous; they were interested in raising their children due the true Christian education.

            2 - The death of the father during forced labor

At that time, the army of the prince of Lebanon Emir Beshir Shehab was making use of the owners of pack animals, to transfer to Beit Eddin the crops of the prince, including all kinds of grains.  

 In the harvest season of the year 1832 Anton Zaarour had a beast for burden, he was working in the region of Mejdlaya (a town between Zgharta and Tripoli).There, he was restrained for forced labor. He carried on his donkey a crop from Mejdlaya to Jbeil to be sent after that to Beit Eddin. In his coming back from Jbeil to Bekaakafra, he reached Gharfine where he got ill then died and got buried. So on August 8, 1831, Antoun Zaarouz gave up his last breath in Gharfine located in the region of Jbeil due to forced labor. His widow took care of the children with the help of his brother Tannous Zaarouz.

       3 – The birth and the Baptism of Sharbel

     The House of St Sharbel's maternal grandfather, where he was born, is still in Khaldiyeh; it was renovated and converted into a church.

They said that Brigitte used to come to Khaldiyeh in winter with her family and their cattle, to escape the cold and poverty. She helped her parents during the olive harvest and stayed there for four months. Youssef (St. Sharbel) was born there in the winter of 1833, after few months of the death of his father(1).  He got baptized in the ancient church of Our Lady of Khaldiheh, or in the church of Our Lady of Bkaakafra.  

              4-The remarriage of his mother

 Brigitta married Lahoud Georges Ibrahim, in the month of October, 1833. Then she moved with him, to Shlifa and Btedii where he owned some lands. Around the year 1850, Lahoud ordained a priest, and called Fr. Abdel-Ahad. He did not serve in Bkaakafra, but in the region of Baalbek, and he died on the year 1853.  

               5 -An orphan under the uncle guardianship

 Youssef lived as an orphan. His uncle Tannous raised him with his siblings. The children remained in the house after the remarriage of their mother. Brigitta was overlooking them from time to time. They looked after each other, under the supervision of their uncle Tannous, and their distant relatives.

              6-The monastery school of St. Hawshab

Youssef learned to read and write, according to the custom of those days, by the priests of the village, in the monastery of St. Hawshab, the village school at that time. He was carrying a prayer book always in his hands. He had a good character and cared for his brothers. Youssef grew up with age, knowledge, piety and righteousness. He was a good example, in word and deed, among the children of his village. He prayed a lot, and often went to confession and Holy Communion.

              7 - Joke among the disaster 

Youssef was smart and intelligent; sometimes inclined to joke; he had many jokes, of course in the context of politeness.

    It was raining on Monday, October 12, 1842 (2).  Rain was abundant, followed by a torrent which rushed to Shaghoura in Becharre, close to the "Cedars of God". He described the scene in a popular poem, and recited it in the village school, where he was learning to read and write with other friends:   

  A small flood has started in "Toum Elmezrab" (3)

    and then went down to Shaghoura  

 The Arabs in "Daher El-Qadib" said;

  "The relief that comes from God is near"  

 This is a great opportunity for the wolf;

           to attack a sheep or a lamb  

The residents of Becharre first said: we could make a visit 

         This is a cloud that does not last; a passing   cloud;  

When it reached Becharre the people got confused

           Let's bring our shovels to close the gaps  

This torrent raked the valley and left no standing wall

People were screaming and calling, what a wonderful scene!  

When it arrived to Hadchit it took the greater fame and glory

The walls collapsed, the largest buildings were demolished  

Then it reached  Qanoubine , pouring right and pouring left

The residents got troubled,   and hid themselves in the dens  

In the Valley of Faradice it redoubled its efforts and became stronger

People carried the image of the Saint and said: deliver us O Saint

The inhabitants of Bqarqacha, these gazelles, all lost Sleiman  

Youssef Hanna, the crooked teeth, projected in the pit  

In the pit he covered it and called his uncle Sarkis

He came to dust off his gown, instead he ripped it down   

As for the inhabitants of Bqaakfra their appearance turned pale

When they decided to move they used boats not beasts 

The residents of Hasroun and Bazoun were afraid of the stream  

They said, let's cut branches and shrubs to fill the slots 

Then it reached Hadad and Qnat, a farmer-member died

Hanging on a mulberry tree, in the garden of Hantoura

The owners of the mill, "Shahla ", fled in terror;

The miller took it slightly, and then of fear he filled the pit (4)

The owners of the mill, "Blatt "exclaimed

"Bring us the mud to coat, and clay the cracks.  

When it arrived to Joura   O God, what a scene!

the largest trees in that grounds, was carried to "AlKura".  

  At "Tourza" it came with force, all the trees bent,

"O people! What can we do, we have never seen such a scene!" 

 At Raskifa, the inhabitants, were sick of life

The flood carried away the soil, and opened hundred graves 

At Kosba, it grew stronger and became more violent,

 It uprooted all the trees with unimaginable force.  

In Bsarma, a torrent, of overwhelming pride

Didn’t spare a hand-less jar, or strainer or small jar.  

At Kfarquahel (5), the people were traitors and deserved it

The strongest walls collapsed and left no more traces.

 When it arrived to "Dahr ElAain" it raked both sides

They said: "the bad luck strikes us, the sign is clear enough."  

At "Abu Ali" the waves rose, higher and higher 

Some people were killed, and others abandoned their houses.  

When it reached El-Mina, it raged and roared more

Flowing from right and left, the punishment of God was visible.  

The sea water became muddy; the high tides exceeded any expectation  

If it lasted a little longer, it would spare no boat.

              8-The "Rock of the Saint" and the cow             

 He used to plow his father's properties, isolated himself away from other children of his age, and avoided the frequent contact with people; seeking solitude and loneliness, not only to pray but also to avoid unpleasant conversations. He led his cow, which he inherited from his father, to pasture, while he sat aside in a place called "the rock of Bhaiss", a rock that resembled to a cave, a property of his family, and a prayer book in his hand. He visited this place quite often, that the people called it the "Rock of the Saint." When the cow had eaten enough, he let her rest, saying:" Rest now, "Zahra" it's my turn and not yours, I want to pray."   So he prayed, even when his cow rested, then again, if the cow got up to eat, he told her:"Do not start now, wait till I finish my prayer because I cannot talk with you and God at the same time, God is my priority." There, he spent a long time absorbed in prayer, and we never heard that he left his cow ruined the property of others.

              9 - "The Saint" and the cave.

Since his childhood, Sharbel felt a deep desire for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. He was kneeling in the church, like a monument, without moving, prayed alone, and went to the grotto for prayer, the fact that aroused astonishment, and sometimes the scorn of his peers. This cave is called so far, "the Cave of the Saint." It's located south of Bkaakafra, and it belonged to his family.

 There, he took refuge so often, carried a handful of incense that was burning before an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where he laid a bouquet of flowers. Because of his great devotion, his tendency to prayer, his attendance to the mass and the ritual liturgy, and his distinction by his good behavior; the people in the village called him "the Saint". At first, to make fun of him, but then, God accomplished their prediction by making him actually a saint.    

             10 - Miseries

His step-mother, the wife of his uncle Tannous who was his guardian, died on 9/9/1839, when Sharbel was six years old. Also when he was seven, the civil war broke against the Egyptians and killed at least two people from Bkaakafra, by the soldiers of Ibrahim Basha, in the summer of 1840.  At the age of 14, an outbreak of the contagious cholera widespread, and at least one person from Bkaakafra died and buried outside the village on 11/10/1847.

 In the ambiance, of these tragedies and natural death, Youssef wrote a poem describing the fact, especially the dead of young people, either by murdering or because of illness, and then he reflected on the eternity:  

         Poetry:
            O ye tears!  Pour yourselves! The sun of life declined; 
            Death struck me and closed my lids; my parents bore me no more;
            They called the priests to funeral and covered my body with soil; 
            O sinner! Submerged in the sea,

 Thou art a passing shadow in life;

 Death came knocking at your door

 What was the use of being young!  

             11 - Weddings: early marriages

Early marriages were common in the old society; Sharbel was almost 12 years, when his sister, Kaoneh, got married in March 19, 1845 at the age of fifteen. In less than two months, his brother Hanna got married in May 3, 1845, at the age of sixteen, and had a baby girl at the end of March 1846.

            1 - The two maternal uncles of Saint Sharbel   

Fr. Sharbel had two maternal uncles: Youssef and Antonios, sons of Elias El-Shediac, who had no other children; both entered the Lebanese Order. The first, took the name of Augustin, the second, was called Daniel. Fr. Daniel was the youngest, but he was ordained before his brother. Being the eldest, Augustin remained at his father’s house to serve him because he was already old and didn't have anybody to take care of him. After the death of the father, the elder brother followed the youngest; fulfilling two sacred obligations. Both were virtuous hermits, and thus the proverb came true with St. Sharbel: "Although the boy changes, he looks like his maternal uncle." The two monks were born in their village Becharre or in Khaldieh where the family had spent the winter. Daniel pronounced his vows on 2/29/1838 and was ordained a priest on 6/20/1841. He lived with St. Sharbel in the monasteries of Kfifane and Maifouq. He was the spiritual father of St. Al-Hardini Nehemtallah, while Augustin pronounced his vows on 7/1/1841 and was ordained on 3/23/1847, he remained on the convent of Kozhaya and then transferred to Our Lady of Maiifouk convent.

 After that, the two brothers were transferred to the convent of Kozhaya to remain there after 11/2/1874. Then, Daniel entered the hermitage of Saint Boula-Ghebta that belongs to Kozhaya convent, before February 8/1875, his brother Augustin followed him.

  Both of them died as hermits; Fr. Augstin the hermit died, provided with the last rites, he died suffering from dropsy, in the state of holiness on 11/1/1884.  Fr. Daniel the hermit died, already well advanced in age, provided by the last rites, on March 23, 1895. He was virtuous, he passed away, saying: " I long to resolve myself, to be with Christ."  

              2-On the way to the priesthood... in the convent of Kozhaya

Sharbel remained in the village until the age of eighteen; he did not infatuated with entertainment, nor to hang out with youngsters, rather he  sought solitude, isolation and prayer. He used to go with his brother Hanna, to visit his two uncles. Once Fr. Daniel went to Bqaakafra and when he wanted to go back to the convent, he asked Hanna Antoun Zaarour, to allow his brother Youssef to accompany him, Hanna said: "Uncle, I am afraid that Youssef will never come back and will stay in the convent, if he goes with you."

Daniel replied: "I hope that he will enter the Order, there's nothing worth it in this world." Then Youssef accompanied his uncle to the monastery of Kozhaya. 

                   3-In the monastery of Mayfouq: follow me: (Mk 2/14)

  After eight days from his returning to Bkaakafra, Youssef entered the Order accompanied by Fr. Daniel, to the Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouq, where his uncle lived at that time. There, Youssef entered the novitiate and called Sharbel on August 8, 1851.  He stayed in his secular clothes for eight days, after which he  put on  the monastic custom; which means he had to go deeper in spirit and neglected the body; knowing  that he  left his biological  parents , and surrendered himself to  his spiritual parents. (the superior and the novices’ teacher).  During the period of novitiate, he performed his duties perfectly, and was very pleased by his vocation. He was a model in the observation of the monastic rules and regulations, and an example in his obedience to the superiors, and his love for his brethren.  

   4-The name of Sharbel

 Sharbel is a Syriac name, a compound of two words; sharb means story or tale, and El means God; the name of Sharbel therefore means the story or the anecdote of God. This name was carried by a Syriac martyr who was the Bishop of Edessa (now in Turkey), and was crucified in 121. Several monks of the Lebanese Maronite Order bore the name of Sharbel. The remains of St. Sharbel's church are still in Bqoufa, near Baghlett-Becharre. It's known till today, that part of the territory of Baghlett-Becharre near Bqoufa, belongs to Al-Shidiac family; the family of Sharbel's mother. Sharbel may have visited frequently the properties of his maternal grandfather and became aware of Saint Sharbel, the patron saint of that church, and would have prayed there.  

     5 - He didn't look back (Lk 9/62)

            First, his uncle and guardian, Tannous, followed him, then his mother and after that, his two brothers, Hanna and Beshara; they all tried to prevent him from entering the Order and bring him back home, but he refused to return with them. After that, his mother Brigitta went to Mayfouk, where Sharbel was a novice, accompanied by her brother-in-law, Tannous Zaarour, she tried again to bring her son back to the village, watching the exit of the novices who were heading to the fields, hoping to see her son. When she saw him, she rushed and grabbed him by the habit, while he was staring at the ground, and she said: "Come home with me." He took advantage of her distraction, escaped from her and followed his brothers. About twelve times, she and his uncle Tannous went there to bring him back to Bqaakafra but they failed. In Mayfouq the people called him a "Holy Spirit"; he raked behind the laborers, kept his eyes lowered to the ground; he looked at no one and spoke to no one.

  6-Do not grieve for Youssef (Lk 23.28)

            When Brigita had despaired from the returning of her son Youssef to Bqaakafra, she felt a great sadness that the signs appeared on her face; for she was always thinking of Youssef. Then, after the death of her daughter, Wardeh, the villagers told her: "Do not grieve for Youssef; God put you to the test, by the death of your young daughter." Wardeh died, on November 22, 1851, bearing the last sacraments.

 7-Wardeh….the fervent

She was a very pious girl addicted to prayer; she prayed with great fervor, knelt upright, raised her arms and recited the rosary. She was engaged to Tannous Hanna El Khaïssi; and she had a long rosary in her pocket, so when the villagers saw her praying , they told her:"Your rosary is so long, once you get married, do your stepmother let you recite it?" She replied: "Let me die before walking into her house." Indeed, her wish was granted, because she died a virgin and betrothed. She kept saying:"O my Lord, bring the good, and take away the evil, I'd rather die before I get married if the marriage does not delight you." It was said that her cousin, Antoun Boutros Zaarour, saw a dove getting out the window of her house when she died.

 When her fiancé came to visit her, while she was kneeling and praying her arms outstretched, she used to tell her niece, the daughter of Hanna: "Stand behind me, block between me and my fiancé by lifting your arms like me, so I can complete my prayers.” 

 8-A crazy adventure (Mt 18/8-9)

          The Superior General and his councils banned the joint work between monks and women in the treatment of silkworms, even if this affected the monasteries incomes. Therefore, it became accustomed in Mayfouq to send the novices to peel the bars of mulberry branches and pluck them, while women and girls in the other hand, took care of feeding the worms, in the same house.
         It happened that one of those girls, who worked at the convent, noticed the decency of Fr. Sharbel, which distinguished him from others. Willing to test him, she threw at him a silkworm from above where she stood, then came down to pick up the worm and put it in his hand; so he left the monastery at night, and went to the convent of Saint Maron Annaya which is isolated and far away from the civilization.
         Therefore, we read in the diary of Mayfouq convent, opposite the name of brother Sharbel the term "defrocked", which means that he left the Order.
But when Sharbel recounted this event to the superior of the convent of St. Maron Annaya, the latter, had consulted the Superior General about this novice, then the Superior General granted approval to admit Sharbel, in the convent of St. Maron Annaya to resume his second year of novitiate.The term "defrocked" annoyed his brother Hanna, but he knew that the real reason for leaving Mayfouq was his desire to a complete withdrawal from the world. Fr. Ephrem of Bqaakafra, one of his fellow villagers, was at that time, in the monastery of Saint Maron Annaya.  

   9-You have the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68)                                                           

After this news, Brigitta hastened to bring him back to Bkaakafra.  So, while he was leaving the monastery of Saint Maron with the novices, to work in the field, she rushed towards him held him by his habit, insisting to bring him back with her. But when she found that he was persisted in his vocation, she told him: "Either stay firm in the Order and become a good priest, or come back home immediately with me."  Sharbel replied: " What you have said, be done."  

 10-My burden is light (Mt 11:30)

After the novitiate, Sharbel made his solemn vows, and wore the angelic hood, handed from the higher priest of the monastery of Annaya, Fr. Antonios Al-bani, on November 1/1853, at the age of twenty. At that time, the solemn vows were pronounced only one time, while celebrating.

             11-We will meet again in heaven (Mk 3: 31-35)

            Birgitta went again to visit her son in the convent of Annaya after his solemn vows. She requested to see him urgently, but he didn't confront her, instead he talked some few words with her, from inside while she stayed outside. She told him: "Thus, you deprive me from seeing you, my son?" She was astonished and admonished from his behavior. He replied:" If I don't see you now, we'll meet again in heaven." Sad and moved to tears, the mother went back home. Sharbel has done so according to the novice policy: do not speak with non-monks of his family and others. As for the females, the novice  should do his best with the superior, not to force him to meet them , and if he was obliged to do so, he must strive not to look at their faces and talk briefly with them; observing the monastic rules, a monk should be away from women even the relative ones. ( 6)

             12 - I give you rest (Mt 11/28)

He was tightly bound to his oath and his responsibilities. We couldn’t give him even the slightest criticism, about what he did in his entire life. His work, his behavior and his appearance were all phenomenal which imposed respect and reverence. He had never known an air of lassitude even at the end of his life, quite the contrary; he was growing more and more in righteousness, devotion and piety. He practiced all the virtues in a way that surpassed everyone and every monk, constantly and consistently without any weakness or fragility; promptly and willingly. He had no more thoughts than to think about God, no more tongue than to praise God, no more voice than to bless God. He was an example in the observance of the rules and the performance of his duties, to the point if someone is asked to perform a difficult job, he replied:  “Do you think I am Fr. Sharbel to ask me to do all of these?  I cannot live like Fr. Sharbel or work like him."

 When the lay people, saw Fr. Sharbel in this state; constantly kneeling in continuous silence, in uninterrupted prayer and total devotion during the Mass; doing the hardest job like the least of the servant, dressing despicably, neglecting the worldly matter, they said: "Congrats to him, this monk has lived as the past Saints and hermits of whom we’ve read in the book of martyrology, he strengthened our belief and we blamed ourselves for our commitment to this perishable world." 

               13 -Alishaa the hermit ... a spiritual father for Sharbel

 Fr. Alishaa "the Saint", discovered the Charisma of Sharbel, since he had met him in the novitiate, in the monastery of Annaya ... Sharbel used to visit Alishaa frequently in his hermitage, and he took him as his spiritual father, early in his monastic life. After his solemn vows, it was decided to keep Sharbel in the convent; so he remained three years in Annaya.  Alishaa benefited from the presence of Sharbel near him, and he took a personal initiative to give him linguistic and theological lessons, on Sundays and Holidays. After Rome had appointed the monastic authority in 1856, St. Al-Hardini Nehemtallah assigned as a general counsel. Therefore, Alishaa asked his brother to send Sharbel to the Monastery of Kfifane to study and become a priest. He saw in him, in spirit, a Holy priest. 

              14 - Sharbel...student of St. Nehemtallah Al-Hardini 

 His superiors sent him to the Theological Institute at Saint Cyprien in Kfifane to complete the necessary studies for the priesthood. At that time, the principal of the Institute was father Nehemtallah Al-Kafri, a man of goodness and knowledge. In this atmosphere of learning and sanctity, brother Sharbel found what he was looking for.

 He accomplished, by his efforts and diligence the greatest part of his studies in moral theology, besides the fundamentals of Syriac and Arabic languages, and a harvest of another good part of the monastic virtues and of Christian perfection. When Fr. Al-Kafri was absent, Saint Nehemtallah Al-Hardini replaced him in teaching.  Sharbel was one of the best and the most talented students, smart and diligent, skillful in moral theology, and excellent in his other theological studies.  His superiors and teachers showed full appreciation when it came to his person; praising his virtues and his monastic ideal behavior, so that he never had to be admonished or punished. He was a good model when he prayed, kneeling, on the same spot. There was neither pews in church, nor kneelers. His kneeling showed his perfect devotion, so that other students felt a deep respect when they saw him in this position, which led them to call him a "Saint".

 Al-Hardini said: "I have a Holy student, who is brother Sharbel from Bqaakafra." When he died on12/14/1858, Sharbel was present.  

            15-A pious mother                                                                                  

Some women in Bqaakafra worked on spinning "cocoons worm" to weave silk   shirts, between them Brigitta the mother of Fr. Sharbel. If she hears the bell ring for the vigil Sunday, she would abandon her work to attend the prayer, and did not return to it, till Monday. Brigitta used to fast every day until noon; she retained this purpose until the end of her life; refraining from eating meat by applying a vow that she had promised. She used to go to the convent of the Carmelite Fathers in Becharre to confess. Once, she told her confessor about her vow of daily fasting and abstinence from eating meat for life; he allowed her to fast but forbade her to abstain completely from eating meat saying: "You are obliged to taste the dish that you prepare with meat for your family, because you do not make two kinds of food, so you have to eat what you cook, but I request that you pray the rosary every day, instead of eating greasy food. 

16- To serve not to be served             

After the success of Sharbel in his studies, he was ordained a priest on July 23, 1859, by laying on the hands of Bishop Joseph Al-Marid. Later his niece, Wardeh, came accompanied by some relatives to congratulate him and urge him to go to his village to celebrate a Mass there, he replied: "The monk who entered the convent then go back to his village should repeat his novitiate." In fact, since his departure from Bqaakafra to the Order, he never returned there.  

        17-In the convent of Saint Yaaqoub Al-Hosson                      

      Sharbel was sent to the convent of Saint Yaaqoub Al-Hosson in the town of Batroun, where he spent a period of time entirely dedicated to the ascetic life, abstinence and prayer. On 10/30/1859, the monastic community of Bqaakafra, elected Brother Youhanna of Bkaakafra, as a delegate for the General Synod.  Shortly after few months, Alishaa asked again for Sharbel to come back to Annaya to develop his talents, watch over him and accompany him.

       18 - In the Convent of Annaya    

     In 1820, the Order built some cells and a chapel (7) in the place (Al-Hara), where the threshing was located.  In 1828, the decision was taken to build the monastery of Annaya. But actually, the work began, on May 8, 1839 with the establishment of the wells, the cellars and the basement. (8) On October 20, 1841, the work was completed despite the damage caused by the army of Ibrahim Basha, the Shiite (9) resistance and the spread of smallpox disease. Thus, Sharbel was transferred to Annaya by the obligation of obedience. His name was already in Annaya, in the local councils for the election of the delegates for the years 1868 1871 1874.  Sharbel also worked with the novices, between the years 1869 and 1874, 1895 and 1898.   

  
19 - Miracle of 1865

 In 1865, the locusts invaded the district of Batroun, yet the government took no action against it. The monks tried in vain to drive them out, but they did not succeed.  Fr. Roukoz Meshmesh, the Superior of the convent, ordered Fr. Sharbel to bless the water and sprinkle the properties of the convent, to prevent the locusts from destroying the crops and the trees. Sharbel walked through the field sprinkled it with holy water; turning to the locusts, he said: "Blessed are you, eat from what is wild and not what is edible." Thus, God preserved the crops and the mulberry of the monastery from the damage caused by the locusts.

 1 - The establishment of Sharbel's hermitage

In 1798, the sons of Abu Ramia Boutros and his brothers from Ehmej, purchased the land called Al-Mourouj (the meadows) from the family Melhem, according to a deed of sale, from the dignitary (Sheikh) Hassan Melhem who gave them the convent of the “Transfiguration”, located on Mount Tabour, which the Shiites called "the prophet", "Rass".  Abu Ramia family, in turn, gave the land to their brother Youssef, (10) and helped him, to build the church of St. Peter and Paul, assisted by the villagers.  Youssef abandoned the world, joined the Order of the Worshippers, and received from the hands of the Patriarch Youhanna Al-Hélou the monastic habit. Four years later, Daoud joined this Order and was ordained a priest. In 1814 both entered the Lebanese-Maronite Order and left their possessions to the Order. From the village of Ehmej, Brother Michael and father Simon were also with them. In 1828, the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul was converted into a hermitage.

   2 - The description of the hermitage  

 The hermitage is located on a hillside, at an altitude of 1378m. It has only one floor down, consisted of two sections, east and west, each consists of three cells, and their roofs covered with wooden beams .The ceiling of the church enclosed by a vault structure. The altar next to the eastern wall is dedicated on the name of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the patron saints of the hermitage. The ground of the church is paved with tiles from simple stones.  In the west wall is the actual entrance to the hermitage, where the faithful can enter directly from outside the hermitage to attend the mass.  The corridor which separate the cells from the church, ended in the north with a hallway opened by an arch.  The hermitage is surrounded by a high wall of two to three meters height, and exposed to storms and thunderbolts. Few hermitages on such level, on the mountaintops of Lebanon, are inhabited. 

  3- Its first hermit

            The first hermit, from our Order, who entered this hermitage, was the man of God, Fr. Al-Hardini Alishaa; after obtaining the permission from the Superior General Fr. Ignatius Bleibel, on November 29, 1829. At first, he remained at the hermitage of Kozhaya for about a year and a half, and then he transferred to the hermitage of Saint Maron Annaya. He had a passion for manual labor: it was he, who paved the hermitage, carrying the plates on his back from a great distance. It is he, too, who planted the vineyard to the east of the hermitage, after cutting the trees. He also dug and plowed the soil.  God performed miracles through his intercession.  

 4 - View of the two masters of Sharbel about the anchoritic life

            Once St. Nehemtallah Al-Hardini came to visit his brother, the hermit Alishaa, in the monastery of Annaya (1847- 1850). Alishaa invited him to enter the hermitage to be in peace and tranquility, he said: "It is more advantageous and more convenient for you to abandon the Convent life, and live in this hermitage with me, where you'll spend the rest of your life in stillness and tranquility away from the noise, to pray with a spirit of calm and serenity. Let us spend our lives together and live in peace.”

 Nehemtallah replied:"Those who strive in the community with people gain the greatest reward and the highest merit. This is where; we must endure tolerance and patience, break our will and accept the weakness of the weak.

  The spiritual fathers consider the common life as a perpetual martyrdom, for the monk, cannot do what he pleases, which is suitable to his temper and his life, rather he must be careful that he does not violate or offend his brethren.  He also must observe his behavior in order to give them no doubt on him; this is the duty of a monk, dear brother. However, the hermit lives alone, he is spared from the temptations of the outside, he spends his time in prayer and in the vineyard, and he lives as he wants, while in the convent the monk applies to the vow of obedience. In the hermitage there is no tempter or humiliation while with the community they are always existed.  Then, at the convent, we have to live among our brothers, and endure with patience and firmness what attacked us from ridiculousness and despicableness. In this way we increase our recompenses and we expiate for our sins, and live the words of the Lord: "Those enduring to the end shall be saved."(Matthew 24/13). Also, in the monastery who practiced the virtue, set a good example to others. So I can say, each person has his vocation, because everyone is unique; one lives for prayer, other for life in the community, as for me, this is my vocation, which I have followed for a long time.”  

        5- The status of the Order before Sharbel’s entry to the hermitage  

      The Parties started in the Order, after the general Synod on 1832, during which the Maronite Patriarch intervened to appoint the man of God, Fr. Houlaihel Mubarak as a Superior General, and later, the affiliation to the village communities started to grow.  Despite the minimal observance to the monastic spirit, this approach to membership in the region had increased. The convents of Jbeil and the North remained in common between the monks of the two regions, till the appointment of Fr. Ephrem Geagea as Superior General in 1862.                        

         6 - The policy of the Superior General, Ephrem Geagea  

       The Superior General Geagea was a supporter of regionalization in the Order... He proceeded to transfer almost all the monks of the North from the region of Jbeil. He founded the convent of Saint Semaan Al Qarn and the school of Ban in the North. He abandoned the siege of superiorship General in Tamiche convent, to reside mostly in the convent of Kozhaya and of St. Semaan Al Qarn. 

             ^{7 - The convent of Annaya until the entry of Sharbel into the Hermitage}   

           The monks of Jbeil, especially those of Meshmesh, took over the ministries of Annaya convent and began to minimize the hermit Alishaa Al-Hardini, who was almost a superior in his hermitage and an excellent administrator. The Maronite Patriarch proposed his name to be a Superior General in 1856 as a solution to the conflict between the two hostile camps in the Order in that time, because he was considered one of the most famous monks in knowledge, virtue and administration. He invested the profits of the hermitage in the purchase of fifty lots, and other seven properties, between the years 1833 and 1870, in addition of some lands that were sold after his death. After 1870, when he bought the last land, a fight broke out between him and the Superior of the convent of Annaya Fr. Roukoz Meshmesh, then the misunderstanding perpetuated to Fr. Abdel Massih supported by fathers Roukoz and Antoun Meshmesh.  They sent a band to hit brother Abdallah Al-Bani who was serving the hermit Alishaa.  As a result of this accident, the Superior General had to intervene, so the hermit left the administration of the estate entirely. The monks, however, were eager to assimilate everything and had sent out Fr. Antoun Meshmesh to take away "the goats from their shepherd." The hermit then wrote a letter to the Patriarch, in which he asked, by the name of Christ, to help him.

 8- Alishaa asked for Sharbel with the audacity of the Saints 

 The membership of the region had sorted the monks of the Order into five major groups; each consisted of a small team that linked with the kinship, and particularly, the affiliation to the village (11) and to personal interests. Fr. Alishaa, “the "Saint", loved his Order, regretted what was happening, and worked for the benefit of the convent of Annaya and the Order, that’s why he did not withdraw to the North to escape persecution but rather, he asked for Fr. Sharbel from the Superior General, Ephrem Geagea, who respected him for his virtues, his good management and because he was the brother of the "Saint of Kfifane".  Fr. Geagea granted his request, by keeping Sharbel with him and not transferring him to the North.  Alishaa, also, sent the same request to the superior of the convent, Fr. Roukoz Meshmesh who at first refused and then, after the miracle of the lamp that Sharbel performed, in July 1869, he accepted his request. Fr. Sharbel officially inherited Alishaa, on the eve of his death and his funeral ...  so that, in one day, they could both be two universal and important saints.

       9- Water in the lantern (Mt 25:1-13)

                 When Sharbel was at the convent during the triennium of Fr. Roukoz Meshmesh he worked in the field as one of the lowest servants.  One night, he was watching the goats, and it was harvest time, while in the convent there was a group of thirty reapers having their dinner, the servants bustled to serve the tables, the dispenser (12) was eager to serve the reapers; this was when Fr. Sharbel came and asked, before the whole crowd to fill his lantern oil. The dispenser scolded him and said, "Why didn't you come on the day time?" He replied: "I was in the field." The dispenser replied: "As a punishment, I will not give you oil for tonight, go away." He obeyed and returned to his cell.  The servant, however, placed a bench transversely to block his way, so Fr. Sharbel stumbled and fell to the ground, without complaining. Saba, who was only 13 years, and was a servant in the convent ,went up to him and asked him for the lantern, pretending that he wants to fill it with oil , but in reality  he poured water into it, from a metal container where they put the ashes . Fr. Sharbel took the lamp and lit it and it was lit.  Meanwhile, in the absence of Fr. Sharbel, the use of oil had been prohibited; it was a strict order from the superior, to all the monks not to light their lanterns after the bell rings for sleep. That night, the superior woke up because he needed something, as he was leaving, he saw a light and went straight to see from where it came, it was from the cell of Fr.  Sharbel. He told  him: "Didn't you hear the bell?  “Why haven't you turned off your lantern?  Haven’t you taken the vow of poverty!?" He immediately knelt down and begged forgiveness and said: “I came back from the field and tried to finish my prayer, and I am not aware of this ban."  Saba who was close to the cell said to the Superior: "I really wanted to fill the lantern of Fr. Sharbel with oil but the dispenser refused;   on my return I saw the metal tube, and I filled the lamp with water .The Superior opened the lamp and made sure it was water. Then he could not restrain his feelings, went and told all the brothers in the monastery, and this fact spread in the convent.  After this event, in the morning, the Superior called Fr. Sharbel and said:" If you want to serve the hermits, I give you permission." Fr. Sharbel replied:" There is a big difference between my desire and the Superior orders, I made a vow and I do not work due to my will because my will doesn't belong to me anymore, but if you order me, I will obey and go." The Superior replied: "Go".   Fr. Sharbel knelt asking his blessing, so he recited a prayer and blessed him. He rubbed up expressing his gratitude, hastened and gathered his spiritual and prayer books, his mat and blanket, tied them up with a cord, put the burden on his back, entered the church to visit the Blessed Sacrament and walked toward the hermitage.

           10- Why the hermitage?

 Fr. Sharbel felt a strong desire to withdraw from the world, this impulse was even more apparent after his ordination, because he didn’t request to be freed from manual labor, that he had performed before his ordination.

  His presence in this convent far from the villages in the wilderness didn’t happen out of his own request, but by an order from above. Therefore, he submitted to the same discipline as all the monks, who went to the field work after the prayer service in choir and meditation, as the ancient monks did. But since in recent times, it was less common to see monks working in the field, because the parishes needed its priests. The attendance of Fr. Sharbel in the convent and in the field was a very rare matter that reflected his belief in this statement.

 His commitment to silence and his preference to avoid, not only people but also his fellow monks, and his passion for absolute poverty and the harsh and strange mortification that he applied; all of these made his Superiors met his desires without asking. So they kept him in the monastery and didn’t entrust him with the pastoral ministry in parishes, not to disturb him in his sublime thoughts, so he could be a model in prayer, in the Mass, at work and in theological dispute, and sometimes being available as a confessor for men. Then, he was sent to the hermitage after realizing that he was already living as a hermit.  His anchorite life in the hermitage wasn't other than a continuation of his priesthood life since the novitiate.... Therefore, there was no difference between his life in the convent and that in the hermitage, so they truly called him the miracle of the hermits. His entry to the hermitage was in obedience to his Superiors and not due to his request because he had no particular inclination. His merit of being in the hermitage wasn’t greater than that of the monastery.  On the other hand, his fellow brothers could no longer endure his holiness, because by his example, monks and hermits, conservative or not, felt rebuked.  Then, if someone craved to eat a grape and saw Fr. Sharbel, he would drop it at once, feeling ashamed.  

 11 - Servant of Alishaa

The hermit Alisha Al-Hardini requested Fr. Sharbel to come to the hermitage, he immediately accepted. Fr. Sharbel was serving the hermits and particularly, Fr. Alisha; he used to bring to the monastery his eating, his drinking and serving his Mass. Sometimes, he celebrated Mass in the convent, because he had no one in the hermitage to serve his Mass. He remained diligent on this plan, for six years. 

   12-He blessed the water jar

  Before the appointment of Fr. Semaan Ehmj to the Order, before 1871, the locusts came to his area. The residents of Ehmj asked Father Sharbel to bless their water, to sparkle it in their vineyards and fields in order to remove the harm of the locusts. After the water was blessed, Fr. Semaan personally carried it, so they sprayed their vineyard near the hermitage   

              13- Alishaa recommended Sharbel ... to be his successor 
                               
            After 44 years and a half, in the hermitage of Annaya, Fr. Alishaa died on February 13, 1875 at the age of 76, bearing the last sacraments. He remained conscious till the last moment of his life. He was buried in a wooden coffin on Sunday, February 14 at 8 am and placed in the cemetery of St. Maron monastery. Many people attended his funeral. The following day, the head of the convent, Fr. Elias Meshmesh ordered that Fr. Sharbel officially becoming a hermit together with  Fr.  Libaos Al-Ramaty.  

              14 - Sharbel abandoned the economic method of Alishaa           

 The hermits forbid the cutting of the logs from the hermitage woods because of its nearby to the monastery, preferring to go further in uncontrolled areas; Fr. Sharbel thwarted this custom of predecessors, leaving this issue to the good knowledge and the wisdom of the Superior. Thus, throughout his life, he submitted to the blind obedience. Also on the issue of collecting the vows income and other offerings, they were collected by others, for the benefit of the convent’s properties; Fr. Sharbel delivered them to the servant, then to the Superior to do what is appropriate, without giving any opinion.

              15 - A moon among the stars

  His life in the hermitage wasn’t different from that in the convent, except that he was following the rules of the hermits.  He never failed any duty even the smallest responsibility of the hermit.  He had the opportunity to meet his eager desire to go further in asceticism and mortification as well as having one meal per day.  He even exceeded the rule, by more asceticism and wore sackcloth and a girdle of iron thorny directly on his flesh and skin.  I have never seen in my life, any hermit that can be equalized to him in the virtue and the observance of the rule, even among the most devoted monks. He surpassed all hermits, for he was between them like the moon among the stars. His life was angelic and divine. His personality was embodied by; purity, sincerity, living faith, hope, love for God and neighbor.

               16 - Servant of the hermits (John 13/14)   

              Fr. Makarios Meshmesh entered the hermitage of Annaya on April 25/1880. Fr. Sharbel used to go frequently  to the convent to bring for the two hermits,  Fathers Makarios Meshmesh and Libaos Al-Ramaty their food and drinks for a week; he put the stuff in a bag made of a  goatskin and carried it on his back. He considered himself a servant to his companion, Fr. Makarios Meshmesh, the hermit.

             17 - Come back to the hermitage!                                                

Fr. Sharbel was responsible to watch over the field planted with cucumbers. One morning, Fr. Makarios found that the land was swept by the foxes so he blamed Fr. Sharbel for his negligence, Fr. Sharbel said:"I saw the young foxes were hungry, I felt sorry for them and I let them eat." Fr. Makarios replied angrily: “Go and sleep in the convent". He arrived there so late walked into his cell; there stood the empty lantern, which it hadn't been used for years. He went to the kitchen to fill it with oil, the cook replied:"The dispenser went, and I have no oil". He asked him to give him at least a bit of it. The cook took the lantern, filled it with water instead of oil and gave it back to him, and behold it was burning, even longer than if it had been filled with oil. After two hours of absence the dispenser, Brother Francis Meshmesh came, he entered the cell of Fr. Sharbel to find the lighted lantern, he approached it, examined it and found nothing but water, and he was shocked, and didn't dare to ask him anything. He told his brother, the Superior Elias Meshmesh, he examined the lantern himself and found water in it.  After the miracle of the lamp, the head of the convent ordered Fr. Sharbel to return to the hermitage after he had been expelled by Fr. Makarios.

A: A portrait of Fr. Sharbel

  I-Description 

 He was 160 cm tall (5ft-3 ); slim and slender body, straight back,  long and thin fingers, proportional neck and mouth, long refined nose, long hair according to the tradition of the hermits, thin arms  as  a thumb. 

 His face was round and fine, overflowing with bright light, marked by the severity of God, and drew all hearts to it. His forehead was wrinkled, brimming with gaiety, reported by the gentleness, tranquility and serenity of the heart.

 His face reflected the devotion and the love of God at all time, especially during prayer. A heavenly light illuminated his face, because the Lord has become his strength, his wealth and his permanent joy.  His face was pale, light brown, tanned from the sun.  Due to the many mortification and the long vigil nights of prayers, he became very slim, just skin and bones, but he used to walk quickly even in his old age. He was very ardent in all his affairs. 

  His beard was short and thin inclined to be blond in origin, and had Gray hair in the middle and at the top sides; and he rarely washed it, so it became twisted from the lack of washing and care. His hair in his majority kept black, almost until his death.    

   II- Stories and Events

            1 - Pale

    When Fr. Moubarak visited Sharbel's hermitage for the first time, he summoned all the hermits; Fr. Sharbel came and sat opposite to him, his eyes downcast, his hands crossed on his knee; he did not raise his eyes to look at him, nor at the brother who accompanied him; he did not speak to them, nor asked any question, but he was answering briefly and meekly to their questions. Six years later when they  came for the  second visit,  he behaved like the first time - in his presence, his attitude, his way to sit down and talk; they noticed no change, only that he was pale. He was so colorless, and if his interlocutor did not notice a twinkle in his eyes, he would believe he was dead. His body melted like a candle in the Love of God, so that he became skinny, thin and pale.   

                         2 - His daily schedule

When the bell rings early in the morning, we see Fr. Sharbel kneeling straight next to the door, behind everyone, he remains in this position, holding his book in his hand; the other hand rests on his chest, and his face turns toward the ground.

    After the early mass, he goes to the field, without a grace of period or distraction, with a rope and a pickax, until sunset. But he doesn’t go due to his own desire but according to the order of his superior or by the order of the landowner. He used to go, walking to his work, in the near or far field, or in the vineyard, carrying his Rosary and praying, looking neither right nor left, speaking with no one. If someone tells him; "Praise be God", he would answer: "God bless you."  When he arrives to the place of his work, he at once, takes his pickax, and begins to work with a big desire and lot of energy, like a wage-earner with a large payment that increases, if he increases his work.  He doesn't care, if the head of the work is a priest, a brother or an employee, they all represent the authority, which comes from God. He works with all his strength, a constant continuous hard work, without taking a break or raising his head from the ground.

He puts all his energy into this work so that the sweat drips from his forehead and from his clothes. He never raises the hood to wipe his sweat but it was always tied.

  Sometimes, he builds partition walls, gathers the stones aside by his hands, cut the grass to isolate the ground in front of the sewer. His hands chunked and became so dry from the hard work.

   In the days of intense heat at the time of harvest, like in the days of winter, he doesn’t raise the hood from his eyes, and when the other brethren were sitting to rest, drinking cold water, and hanging out together, he was sitting aside and alone; he does not speak or drink, as if he was waiting impatiently to return to his job. If it hasn’t been for obedience to the command, he wouldn't have rested.

  When the bell rings for prayers, he retires to a hiding place, kneeling on the stones, arms outstretched in prayer, after this pause, he resumes his job, always in perfect silence.

If the head of the field delayed to invite Fr. Sharbel and the monks to eat at noon, he would not afflict, nor say we are hungry or tired; these words have never come to his mind, he has never uttered them; if the stones in the field and the trees speak, Fr. Sharbel speaks.

 The only sound around him was the sound of the hatchet when they came upon the stones or the echo of the stones that he picked for the construction of the enclosing wall or when he threw a pile of stones. The silence was his closest friend and his intimate companion.

 The monks and the workers revered him and respected his virtues and avoided to talk useless speech with him, no one dared to joke around him, or talked with him about the incidents occurring in the world, as he was not interested in them, nor care for what was happening in the country, or in the matters relating to the Order's management, but his main concern, in all, was only God, leaving everything to the Divine Providence.

 He remains in the field until the sunset, and if the supervisor kept working to a late hour, Fr. Sharbel remains working in the same energy which he began the work, rather his enthusiasm increases with more work. He never pointed out to the field's supervisor that the time is already over; primarily, he never objected anything. 

     In the evening, he was gathering grass and wood to form a large bundle and carries it on his back and returns to the convent bending under the weight, holding the rosary in his hand and praying.  

 The days when it was snowing and raining, and that on Sundays and holidays in the summer, he never leaves the Church or his cell.                                                                        

                       3 - How does he eat?

Fr. Elias Ehmej witnessed: In the evening, at the time of eating, his companion called him, he came, his arms folded, head bowed, eyes lowered to the ground, while his hood was up to his eyes.  He remained upright till his companion told him to sit. So he sat down on the floor after praying, pulled a foot above the other, the hem of his habits covered his feet; still with arms crossed, as mentioned above, waited for his companion to tell him: "Eat."

  Then he put his plate of clay before him, made the sign of Cross carefully and reverently as if he was in the church then he began to eat, silently, quietly and decently. After eating, one of his two companions ordered him to wash the dishes; he rose immediately, prayed and performed the order.

   I have heard that he was drinking the water of the dishes (13) which I haven’t seen it because he didn't make his mortification to show off, but rather he did his best to keep it hidden; but sometimes we maneuvered to steal a glance to some of his gestures... and if it happened that something fell from the dish of a companion inattentively, or few crumbs were on the ground, Sharbel took advantage to pick them up and eat them even with the dust.

                     4 - The secret of the existence of Lebanon 

 Nakhle Shaker Kanaan said on 1897:   I’ve known Fr. Sharbel since the summer of 1897 when I was 24 years old. At that time we used to visit some friends every summer in a region of a high mountain.  There were no big hotels, no cars, and no paved roads. We used horses and donkeys for transportation.  That year, my friend, Shoukri Beik Arqash returned from Paris, after earning a graduate degree in law. With him, I decided to go on excursion to Mayrouba to visit the dignitary Beshara Al-Khazen ... then we headed to the high mountain of Al-Akoura and Laqlouq. While we were at that mountain, we went to see the hermit, who was already famous for his virtues and holiness in the region. We went down to Ouwaïny ... and then we went to the hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul, we paused there to rest under an oak tree. There were already people camped for several days waiting to get the blessing of the hermit. While our muleteer was preparing the meal, a tall, thin monk came from the field, holding a sickle and a load of grass, he greeted us with bowed head, we asked him for permission to sit down and eat, with kindness and joy, he agreed. Then he started to serve us, offering some grapes and water, without keeping our company. We invited him to dine with us, but he excused himself cautiously and discreetly, and he stammered: "Thank you, I already ate at the monastery."  From his conversation with Shoukri Beik, I still remember these words: "It is God, who created us, he takes care of us: God is omnipotent; we live well without any merit from our part.  God be with you".  As we were describing in detail, the beauty of the vast landscapes laying at our feet, from the mountains to the sea, the hermit replied: "This is God's gift to the Lebanese; this site is a heavenly gift, it’s located here so we will be able to praise His Holy name. Everything we possess belongs to God.” He didn't agree to receive from us any gift or present. Sharbel was listening to the speech of Mr. Arqash on the works of hermits and devotees in France, and then he said: "France is the eldest daughter of the Church."

   At this moment the bell of the monastery of Saint Maron rang, announcing the Angelus, I asked him to recite the prayer of the proclamation. He did this, followed by the Litany of the Virgin and the cult of the veneration of Mary. We knelt in reverence, repeating the prayer after him; he sang softly, lowered to the ground, his head wrapped in his hood, and his eyes closed like an angel in human form, transported by the Spirit into the sky...

  When we left the hermitage, he stood up with incomparable modesty and delicacy; his eyes directed to a world beyond the cosmos, hands crossed on his chest, muttering the words:"God be with you."  I remember Shoukri kept talking about the hermit and said: "These pious hermits on the tops of the mountains are the secret of the existence of Lebanon by their purity and their righteousness.

                              5 - Sharbel behaves with simplicity

Moussa Moussa witnessed: One day I accompanied him while he was carrying on his back thorny shrubs to build a fence around the vineyard.  He saw on the ground a small envelope of cigarette paper, with a picture of a knight on it, after a few steps he turned back and pick it up. When he reached the hermitage, he deposited the envelope along with other images and knelt to pray. I told him: "What are you doing ? He replied: "It's St. George, and I am praying before his image." I replied, laughing: "This is an envelope of cigarette paper." He gave it to me, and I threw it away.  

C: Work and Prayer
 

A: He bore our sufferings (Mt 8,17)

 1 - Healing the brother of Boutros Jawad Meshmesh

    I suffered a sore chest and stomach ache for over two years and I have had breathing difficulties similar to those of asthma, to the point that I needed to stop two times if I want to say the "Hail Mary".  I was under treatment, but without result, and I was feeling tired day and night until Fr. Sharbel blessed me, so I immediately healed and never felt any pain again. I have continued my heavy manual work and I am now sixty years old. 

     2 - He saved a girl from the death (Lk 7:11-17)

    Youssef Abbud witnessed: While my sister was pulling the grass from the top of a rocky slope called “the slope of the church of Ehmej”, she stumbled and fell, from the top of a twenty-meter-high cliff, then hit the ground unconscious and motionless. Her body covered with bruises, her face streaked with injuries and became cold and yellowish, and her pulse stagnant. The villagers laid her on a mattress and carried her home, thinking she was already dead. When I heard about the accident, I hastened to the hermitage of St. Maron Annaya, very disturbed. I told Fr. Sharbel about the accident, asking him to intercede for her to God and bless the holy water for me. When he saw me very troubled, he said: "Your sister is still alive and she will be healed, take the holy water and sprinkle it on her." When I went back home, I found her unconscious and people were moving around her and weeping. I sprinkled her with the holy water, the temperature went back to her body, and she opened her eyes and spoke. Two days later, she left her bed fully recovered. 

3 - The healing of a dumb man (Mk 7:32-37)

     Brother Francis Qartaba testified: I have a brother called Asaad Hanna Salem, who suddenly fell ill; for two months he could no longer speak. My parents sent me a letter to the convent of Annaya, and then the superior gave me permission to go and visit him. In my village, Qartaba, people thought he was crazy, and advised me to take him to the convent of Kozhaya where they exorcise for haunted people. Instead I drove my brother to the hermitage, and asked Fr. Sharbel to pray on his head, begging him to tell me whether he is going to be cured or not, he replied: Get him into church; I brought him and made him kneel on a bench in the choir; then Fr. Sharbel came the Gospel in his hand, the stole around his neck; he put the Bible on his head and read from it about three minutes; then he poured some holy water in his hand and let my brother drink, saying: "Do not be afraid he will recover." We left to our village; me, Saba Tannous Moussa and my dumb brother, after ten minutes of walking, my brother shouted loudly calling me "my brother" and then at a distance from us, some monks were heading towards the shrine, he began to call them: "O brother Boutros Maifouq, O brother ...." Thus, he spent all day singing and rejoicing until he arrived to his house at Qartaba. 

4- Another dumb

   Moussa Moussa witnessed: My son Tannous is a monk at the monastery of Maifouq, later he took the name of Boutros when he entered the Order; he was mute from the birth till eight years old, although he could hear. We were very sad because of his silence; one day I took him to the hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul, and asked Fr. Sharbel to pray for him; from that time, the child gradually began to talk and now he speaks like you and me.

5 - The crazy of Ehmej (Mk 5:1-20)

Boutros Moussa witnessed: I lived with a man named Jibrael Youssef Saba from Ehmej, who was suffering from insanity after his marriage to a girl from

village above mentioned, despite the objection of her parents. He tore his clothes, uttered insults, ran naked through the fields; one day I saw him naked from a distance; carrying a pistol in his hand aimed it to his chest, the ball came out but missed him; I ran behind him to his house and found him in the process of breaking the rosary beads of his wife and cursing. Since I am his best man, I advised his parents to take him to visit Fr. Sharbel; they initially thought to lead him to the grotto of St. Anthony in Kozhaya, as it was accustomed in those days to take the crazy ones there to be cured. Pursuant my advice, Jibrael was led naked to the hermitage; reaching it he refused to go in, we tried, in vain, to bring him inside. One of the hermits, Fr. Libaos, tried to force him but he sulked. I told Fr. Sharbel about his case, he went out and ordered him saying: "Enter the church." He obeyed without the slightest opposition, and sat improperly, the hermit said: "Kneel upright”, he knelt, arms folded like an angel; so the hermit read the gospel and prayed on his head, he got healed immediately; with tears in his eyes, he looked at his parents and told them: "Give me my clothes." .Then he left the church healthy and completely normal. At present he is in the United States.6 - He saved many children from the dead Fr. Boulos Makhlouf witnessed: My father, Nuha, went to visit his brother, Fr. Sharbel in Annaya's hermitage; the hermit gave him an amulet of St. Anthony to hang it around my neck; but his cousin Ibrahim Hanna Makhlouf knew about the gift from the hermit, and asked my father to give him the amulet to hang it around the neck of his son Nehemtallah; the story of this man is that he had experienced the death of three sons who died a year after their birth;  he was always worried about the possible death of his son Nehemtallah; so he suspended the amulet around his neck, because it was from Fr. Sharbel; the child survived and he is in the United States; Ibrahim kept the amulet and passed it down from one child to another and all have been saved. 

7 - Your son is alive (Jn 4:50)

    Youssef Antoun Jibrael, from Kfarbaal, was sick and had high fever since twenty days to the point that he fell unconscious. So Boutros Gerges, the muleteer of the convent, and the cousin of the patient mentioned above, ran to the hermitage to ask Fr. Sharbel for holy water and for his prayer; before talking with the hermit, Fr. Sharbel met him at the door, saying: Slowly, when you go back home, you will find your sick relative healthy, having regained consciousness and sitting in his bed. And so it was; the muleteer was surprised how Fr. Sharbel had known the purpose of his visit, before he asked him anything, and how he knew about the healing of the patient.

8 - Your son is well! (Mt 15:25)

     Maron Abi Ramia from Tourzaya came to Fr. Sharbel to the hermitage, to ask him for holy water and to pray for his son who was seriously ill and unconscious; after seeing the hermit, and receiving the holy water he retraced the path in a hurry; when Fr. Sharbel saw him rushed eagerly concerned and worried, he took pity on him, and told his companion: Call him and tell him to go slowly, because his son is all right. When the man arrived home he found his son conscious and well; after the doctor Wakim Beik from Jbeil, had given up all hope of his recovery.

9 - A barren woman conceived (Mk 7:24-30)

    Nehme Mdawar testified: I went to the hermitage of Annaya, three months before the death of Fr. Sharbel, with the hope that my barren wife Zarifeh, would conceive by the intercession of Fr. Sharbel; before returning, Fr. Makarios, his companion, gave me a blessing from the hermit Fr. Sharbel; four months later my wife became pregnant; she gave birth to a baby girl, followed by three more girls then a boy. 

10 - The healing of Ouwaini's daughter (Mk 7:24-30)

    Ouwaini witnessed: My wife gave birth to a daughter who suffered from complications in the bile, so that she couldn't breastfeed; when Fr. Sharbel recited a prayer over her head, she recovered and resumed breastfeeding.

11 - Who touched me? (Mk 5:30)

    Fr. Gibrael Gibrael witnessed: Mariam, the widow of Mikhael Nehmeh, from Ehmej, was bleeding for over three months. She had been treated by the doctors Najib Beik Khoury from Ehmej, Wakim Nakhle from Jbeil and Gergi Baz from Jbeil with no result. So she gave me a Turkish rial to take it, as an offering, to Fr. Sharbel, and bring a consecrated belt from him. He gave me a scarf, which he took from the image of Our Lady of the Rosary, placed in the chapel of the hermitage, saying that she should encircle herself with it and she'll be cured. As for the rial, he didn't accept it, but he said: Put it on the altar until Fr. Makarios arrives and receives it. As for the woman,  she was surrounded by the scarf, and was immediately healed.

12 - Holy water in the medicine

    Saba Ouwaini took blessed water from the Fr. Sharbel, and mixed it with the medicine that he gave for his patients; the patients benefited a lot. 

13 - His elder brother

    Wardeh Makhlouf the niece of Sharbel witnessed: Personally, I had never known the uncle of my mother, Fr. Sharbel, because he did not come to the village from the time he was a monk at the monastery and later as a hermit, and I had never visited him; but being an orphan, my grandfather Hanna Zaarour, brother of the hermit, took me into his home to take care of me, so I had heard him talking about Fr. Sharbel; at the carnival, my grandfather remembered him, and he said, weeping: "We eat meat, but my poor brother, never eats meat." In summer, he repeated with deep emotion: "We eat grapes, while my brother who is caring for a vineyard whose grapes could fill big bags does not eat at all." Once we sat down to eat row meat "kebbeh", looking at the dish he cried, saying: "How can I eat meat while the monk didn't eat?" Saying this, he refused to take a single bite. In his old age, he often wept, saying: "I cannot go anymore to visit my brother, Fr. Sharbel." When he was about to die, the relatives gathered around him, and I was with them, he looked at us and said: "I'm sick and I will die; it consoles me to see you all at my side; but when the monk will die, who will be at his bedside?" We answered him: "God won't leave him!" He died on January, 25 on the day of the Conversion of St. Paul, eleven months before the death of Fr. Sharbel and was buried beside the church of St. Saba in Bqaakafra. 

B: The Last Mass

1 - A sudden illness

    Kafa the wife of Ouwaini testified: One Sunday I went with a group of people to participate in the Eucharist in the hermitage of Saint Maron-Annaya; Fr. Sharbel began the Mass, but when he had finished the words of consecration, a sudden illness attacked him; Fr. Makarios, his companion, hastily, helped him to kneel; then he got better and continued the mass, when he lifted the Blessed Sacrament he stiffened; his companion remarked that he unusually raised the host for a long time, he approached him, found him in full pain; he pulled gently the host from his hand, placed it on the paten, and assisted by Brother Boutros the servant of the  hermitage, made him sit on a chair near the altar; half an hour after the crisis passed, he completed the Holy Sacrifice, despite his illness.

2 - Do not leave

    Kafa continued: The following Sunday, I returned with some women to attend the Mass in the hermitage; when we entered the church, we found Fr. Sharbel kneeling, absorbed in prayer. At our request, one man inquired about the time of the Mass because it was very cold and we couldn't wait longer, he told us: "Don’t leave; it's Fr. Sharbel who will celebrate the Mass soon, wait for him."  Shortly afterwards, the hermit put on his chasuble and began the Mass; prior to the Words of consecration, the same symptoms began again; they took off his vestments, and he remained in the church. When we decided to go back home Fr. Makarios stopped us and said, "Do not go, Fr. Sharbel has a pain in his heart, when he gets better he will resume the mass." Then, the hermit got up and continued the Holy Sacrifice. 

3 - How beautiful is this child!

After the Words of Consecration Rachelle the young daughter of Youssef Saba, saw a beautiful child instead of the host, when the hermit raised it; she cried out turning to her aunt: "Look my aunt, how beautiful is this child!"  Her aunt silenced her, putting her hand on her mouth, not to make noise and disturb the hermits.  

4 - O Father of Truth!

    Arrived at the lifting of the chalice and the host during which the priest recites the prayer that begins: "O Father of Truth, the crisis attacked him strongly again, he remained motionless for a few minutes while raising up the cut and the Host; Fr. Makarios noticed that he became pale, his feet remained in the same position; he put his stole, came trembling and said: "Let down the cup and the Host." But the hands of Fr. Sharbel clung firmly on them, and he stood motionless like a rock; Fr. Makarios told him a second time: "Let go of the cup, Fr. Sharbel, give me the body of Christ, do not be afraid, leave it."  Fr. Makarios snatched the cup and the Host, while Fr. Sharbel opened his hands with great difficulty, then he sat him down. After this incidence, we looked at Fr. Makarios and saw him blushed and trembled from fear, after a rest, he resumed the Eucharist

5 - The hermit cut the child

    While he broke the bread, Rachelle sobbed, her aunt asked her: "Why are you sobbing?!" She replied:" Don't you see that the hermit is dividing the child into two? Again, she silenced her, while Fr. Sharbel continued his mass, till he felt chills and pain in his heart. So Brother Boutros Jawad Meshmesh called, his companion, Fr. Makarios, who came towards him took off his chasuble and sat him down; after a long rest, Kafa came up and asked Fr. Makarios, if Fr. Sharbel can still continue the Mass, he replied: "I don't think so", then she walked away. Having rested for the third time, he resumed his mass. 

6 - He drank the blood of Christ

    Brother Boutros Meshmesh witnessed: The crisis attacked him again, while he was about to drink the Blood, so it prevented him from receiving it; with all his strength he held the cup, embraced it with his lips and his teeth, and remained like that motionless, till Fr. Makarios came and tried to take the cup from him; he hardly snatched it, after Fr. Sharbel had already managed to consume the blood of Christ.

                                  7 - I want to celebrate the Mass

    They took off his vestments and carried him to the kitchen; he was unconscious yet he kept repeating: O Father of Truth. O Jesus, O Mary, O Joseph. His companion put him on a rug made from the goat's hair to warm him, because of  the bitter cold and the snow that already had piled up to a height of over one meter. When they covered him, he threw away the blanket. Sometimes he came to himself and said: "I want to say the Mass, prepare the altar for me." He also said in Syriac: “Praise the Lord from heaven, praise him in the highest."  And: "Lord have mercy on me." He kept repeating these words during the last six days of his life.

C: His Last Days

1 - A piece of bread dipped in water

    Brother Francis Kartaba witnessed: I was appointed to his service during his last illness until his death. The most he ate, after insistence, a piece of bread dipped in water or some vegetable soup, and he systematically refused milk, yogurt and meat. During all the period of his illness, he hadn't been removed the hood, or the habit or the sackcloth or the thorny belt; he was stable in one case, lying on a rug of goatskin, without agitation or crying; we hadn't heard from him except these words: "Oh ... Oh God!" he also mumbled some words (in Syriac) that I couldn't understand. When I noticed he had a natural need (to go to the restroom) I brought the chamber's pot but when it came to raising his coat, he struggled, raising his voice, waving his healthy hand and saying: no... no... no... I replied: "I am your brother do not be afraid, then he remained silent and let me do it.

2 -He blessed... despite his severe pain 

    With his hand, he blessed everyone who entered and asked for his intercession. He was quiet and placid; nothing was heard from him neither groaning nor restlessness; rather he bore his illness with amazing patience, despite his agonizing pain; enduring his suffering with total abandon to the Divine Will; invoking Saints Peter and Paul the Patrons saints of the hermitage's church, until his illness had reached its peak, then he lost consciousness.

3 - Simon of Cyrene (Lk 23:26)

 Ouwaini witnessed: When they called me to visit and treat him medically, he had already lost consciousness. From time to time, I noticed he let slip some words invoking the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In his last hours, I was accompanied by Fr. Mikhael Abi Ramia, who I summoned to assist him spiritually and have his blessing... we stayed at his bedside most of the night of December 24, 1898; then in the morning we returned home, to come back to the hermitage around noon. 

4 - His ardent love!

    Fr. Ramya witnessed: With his ardent love he repeated throughout the period I had spent with him: O Father of Truth, the names of Jesus, Mary and St. Peter and a prayer for Saint Jacob that he recited most of it, several times, and I read him the agony prayers.

5 - Wine mixed with myrrh (Mk 15:23)

The law orders: "If the disease persists on the hermit; or he is to be brought back to the convent, or he must abstain from eating meat, accepting death as a true hermit." So when the doctor Najib Al-Khoury instructed that they should give him a fatty soup to sustain his physical weakness; when he smelled the odor, he stirred and muttered, refusing to eat; but when they showed him that this was the order of the superior, Fr. Antonios Meshmesh, he obeyed and took a little bit.

6 - They read him the spiritual books

    Then he asked them to send his companion Fr. Makarios; who he asked for the last absolution; he received the last sacraments with great devotion and reverence, from his companion's hand and the abbot Mikhael Abi Ramia from Ehmej; who both alternately served him, and read him the spiritual books, pursuant the law: If the hermit is sick, his brother addresses him with words of consolation to lessen his boredom; his words must be useful to heal the suffering of the soul and to revive the Divine Love.

7 - The last blessing

Brother Boutros Meshmesh witnessed: When the agony started, I went to the hermitage where I saw him lying on a mat, outside his cell, surrounded by monks and laity; we heard him saying repeatedly: O Jesus, O Mary; when it was very difficult for him to articulate his words, he pronounced the two names intermittently. I sat next to him and asked for his blessing; he raised his hand to bless me, then looked at me keeping his hands up, cutting off the sign of the cross; I repeated my request with no result for three minutes; he continued looking at me putting his hand on his head, but nobody understood the meaning of his sign; then Fr. Ramya thought he might be pointed to my hood slightly raised above my head, that the tips of my blond hair was visible; he whispered in my ear to cover my head with the hood properly; as I pulled it down over my eyes, he smiled and blessed me, we were all surprised; in fact, he didn't allow that a monk lifted his hood even a little! When he was in agony, being beside him, he put his hand on me subconsciously, when he regained consciousness, he trembled and laid it away from me.  

8- He fainted from crying (Mt 26:75)

When he was about to pass away, Ouwaini cried out asking Fr. Makarios: "Raise your hand and give him the absolution." He couldn't because he was crying bitterly; he went out sobbing, refusing to approach him, then he fainted from crying. So Fr. Ramya replaced him as required by the duty of charity towards the dying; he was delighted by this unique opportunity to have served the agony of this Saint, and he gave him the last absolution.

9 - Into Thy hands I commit my spirit (Lk 23:46)

    In the last hour of his agony, those were present; the priest Mikhael Abi Ramia, the vicar Fr. Maron Meshmesh, Saba Tannous Moussa , Bro. Francis Kartaba, and Bro. Boutros Jawad from Meshmesh. Fr. Maron asked him: "Shall we call the doctor from Jbeil?" He replied with a shake of his head that means no; then by opening and closing his mouth, he bowed his head and died quietly and peacefully, saying: Lord, into Thy hands I commit my spirit. It was a virtuous and honorable death, after a life full of goodness, after six days of agony.

10 - Hemiplegia

    The cause of his death was the hemiplegia, coinciding with the death of Patriarch Youhanna Al-Hajj, on Saturday, December 24 the vigil of Christmas, at the age of sixty-five. Ouwaini said: After his death, I prayed the Litany of the Virgin Mary with Fr. Mikhael, Fr. Makarios and Bro. Boutros, his companion at the hermitage; after sending a messenger to the monastery to inform them of the death of Sharbel, I went home accompanied by Fr. Mikhael.

D: To the tomb

1 - They divided my garments (Jn 19:24)

    Bro. Francis Kartaba witnessed: Wanting to change his clothes, Fr. Mikhael Meshmesh objected saying: "My brother, put it back until the superior comes, lest they say, those who changed his clothes took what he had." I replied: "He is a hermit, what can he have?" By taking off his habit, we saw below it his cilice: a hair-shirt, covering his hands and his chest, falling to his thighs; he added an extension cloth taken from an old coat, from the elbow to the wrist, to hide it from the eyes of others; the cilice was stuck to his skin, when we took it out, it scattered and shattered from the sweating and the long time of using it (17) ;  later Fr. Makarios took it, then he left it to Bro. Boutros Jawad Meshmesh. We also could see that his hood, which he had not taken off even during his illness, was tied to his neck with a thread-hair; the white extension, that falls to the back under the habit, to keep the hood on the head, it wasn't there anymore because it had been worn out with time and sweat; it was replaced by a piece of folded cloth, stuffed with something thick and heavy, so we said: "This is the money of the hermit!" We opened it and found that the hermit put pebbles inside it, to maintain by its weight the hood in his head and to cause him trouble by pricking him when sleeping and when moving, we were deeply touched when we saw this. His body was frail bearing a scar caused by the iron belt around his waist with a width of three fingers. Bro. Boutros Jawad Meshmesh removed from his neck a chain with a cross and a medallion.  

2 - The last night

    They closed his eyes and mouth, and put his hands on his chest with the Holy Cross, the companion of his life and his struggle, and they were repeating: The Saint died! Congratulation to him! May God give us a death like his! May God have mercy on us through his intercession! His body was taken to the church of the hermitage, and then placed before the alter, on a mat made from the hair of goats, while his face turned towards the west, facing people. So Fr. Sharbel spent the Christmas Eve of 1898 in the church, as his devotional custom; but that night he was sleeping in death while his soul was awaken in eternity... Those watching over his body were: Fr. Makarios, his companion, Bro. Boutros Jawad Meshmesh, Bro. Francis Kartaba and a group of monks from the monastery of Saint Maron who rushed to the church of the hermitage to kiss his hands. They'd spent part of the night kneeling beside him praying; the watchmen were saying: "If we are constrained to spend one night here, in this terrible winter, how did he manage to live in this hermitage for twenty-three years? Blessed is he! Now he is before God, and he is rewarded for his amazing and perpetual martyrdom." 

3 - Christmas of 1898

    The snow that reached the height of one meter, and in some places two meters, blocked the roads; the monks were confused and saying: Can we, tomorrow, transfer the body of Fr. Sharbel to the convent's tomb, in this hard weather and dense snow? Will we be able to mourn him and distribute the death shares in the neighborhood? As if, the angels of God, who had announced in that night the Birth of the Savior, to the shepherds of Bethlehem, those same angels also proclaimed in the nearby villages of Annaya that Fr. Sharbel was born in heaven. 

    The monks of the monastery of St. Maron, the peasants, the villagers of nearby villages, they all woke up in the early morning and saw the snow still falling down; they believed that they would not be able to reach the hermitage, to participate with the release of the body to the monastery of Saint Maron; and they thought that those who were in the hermitage, would be obliged to bury him in the yard of the hermitage's church.

     Some farmer-members put on their winter clothes, wrapped their heads in turbans that showed only their eyes; put on their boots that reached to their knees; shovels in their hands, they began to clear the path with a great courage, to reach to their saint and carry him to the monastery. At eight o'clock, a group of youths gathered in the hermitage; at nine they brought a stretcher covered with a cloth made from the goat-hair. Fr. Makarios came with the brothers and the monks, carried the body and put it on the stretcher; then they lifted it with young people on their shoulders; they were all  ready for the descent from the hermitage to the monastery of Saint Maron, walking by a rough path that young people had cleared, but the snow continued to fall with a risk to block it again; all feared of a possible tilting of the stretcher with the body of Fr. Sharbel as the path was so difficult to spot because of the snow; so the hermit Fr. Makarios said: Walk and trust in God! Does not worry, Fr. Sharbel will facilitate the path for us!  

4 - The transfer of the body to the convent

    When they carried him out of the hermitage, the clouds dispersed and the sun appeared before them, while behind them the snow was falling! The procession progressed without fatigue or difficulty, as if walking through a path covered with "ostrich feathers", all said: "This is one of the miracles of Fr. Sharbel!" They took him to the convent, put him in the church in a coffin according to the monks' custom; the superior was absent.

5 - The funeral prayer

    At three o'clock in the afternoon the funeral was held at the convent, with the presence of the monks and the farmer-partners only, because of the density of the snow, in addition to Shiites Hjoula and its surrounding; the countenance of grief and depression were on their faces. They came to venerate him and have his blessing; they knelt before him, kissed his hands, took a piece of his clothes, or his beard to take it with them as a blessing. The funeral was simple but very impressive; the attendance was repeating the words from the Scripture: Precious before the Lord is the death of his Just. They didn't say a eulogy, as if Fr. Sharbel had intended to die in silence, as an accomplishment to his humble life. 

6 - The cemetery

    The cemetery is located east of the church, with a length of six feet, and a width of three meters.  Its west wall is adjacent to the east wall of the church. It is divided into two tombs separated by a stone wall from east to west, and its roof is made from soil; each one of the tomb has a door in the east wall, blocked with soil. Fr. Sharbel was buried in the south tomb.

7 - The funeral

    The monks witnessed: Some monks wished to bury him in a place specially prepared for him because the cemetery of the monks was bathed in rainwater and to them he was worthy of putting in a private tomb because he is a Saint; so they insisted to put him in a coffin to keep his relics. While the other monks, including the vice-superior, they wanted to bury him in the cemetery of the monks, according to the rule, and the vice-superior said: "If he is a Saint, he will preserve his body." We went down to the cemetery, just two steps, and we dug at the door, because the ground outside the door titled on a strong decline; we sunk in mud and water and the dripping water from the roof; the water penetrated inside the tomb from all sides, because its land was very low compared with the outer surface of the Earth around it, and still submerged with mud and water most of the months of the year. We entered there one by one; the cornice inside was elevated, about thirty centimeter above the ground, on which there were no bones or skulls; all the bones quoted and gathered at the corner of the cemetery; we put stones on which we placed two planks covered with a piece of goat-hair carpet; we did so for the Fr. Sharbel, for the high spiritual position he had  in the heart of everyone, and for the risk of being flooded with water, and mud due to the high land around the cemetery.

    We buried the body wrapped with his habit, according to the custom of the monks, without ever thinking that he would stay incorrupt; his mouth was closed with a scarf tied around the head, but a layman took it away leaving the mouth open; so we said: we are dust, and to dust we return; all present at the funeral said:  Blessed is he, he is a saint, he went directly to heaven.

8 – We forgot the shovel

    After closing the door with a large slab, blocking it with earth and snow and reciting the last prayer, someone said: Too bad! We forgot the shovel in the cemetery! A secular man replied: That's OK, the companions of Fr. Sharbel in the field, used to leave for him at the end of the day shovels, hoes and plows to transport all of them to the convent.

9 - The prayer for the dead, masses and rosaries

    The law orders: When a monk died in a convent, his supervisor should write to the Superior General and other superiors of convents, informing them of the death without delay, so that they offer him masses and prayers, according to the custom. Pursuant to Rule we read that many monks, according to the testimonies, had stated that they did their duty, and it was recorded in the book of the Masses in Annaya: ten Masses were celebrated for the repose of the soul of Fr. Sharbel of Bqaakafra.

10 - Weeping bitterly

            Fr. Makarios had mourned him bitterly; because after his departure, he lost a merciful father, a brother, a compassionate friend and an obedient servant; enjoying his intimacy and feeling lonely far from him. He was very distressed by the absence of this heavenly angel, he remembered him and longed for him; because of his deep sadness he saw him in a dream, in a state of bliss in heaven. This venerable Fr. Makarios said: "I am not worthy to be in this hermitage, where the Holy Fr. Sharbel lived." Eid Nakad said: Once, I saw my mother weeping bitterly, I asked her about the reason, she replied: My uncle, Fr. Sharbel died during Christmas Lent, in the time of cold and snow." Tannouri added: "How great was my grief when I informed about his dead! I had shed abundant tears, for a long time.

11 - Blessed are you, Father Sharbel

Fr. Al-Andari witnessed: I remember that when the obituary of Fr, Sharbel arrived, to Fr. Nehemtallah Al-Quaddoum Kafri, and he was the Superior General of the Order, famous for his knowledge and his virtues; residing at the convent of Kfifane; he told the superior of the convent and the principal of his school, while I was near them: "Blessed are you, Fr. Sharbel, you have obtained the heaven.

E: The light of the Resurrection

1- The wonderful light

Some of the farmer-members witnessed: After the first night of his funeral, we started to see from our houses, opposite the convent at a distance of ten minute walk from the South side, a bright light, different from the regular light, like an electric light, it appears and disappears, keeping the same pace as long as we look at it, so some people said: Initially, it may be a lightning!*In this light, we saw the dome and the east wall of the church adjoining the cemetery, better than during the day; we came to the monastery, and told the monks, but they didn't believe us, they didn't pay any attention to us! When we informed the Superior he expressed his disbelief, saying: "When you see the light let someone tell me or else send me a signal." The signal was to shoot when we see the light. Every time, the superior heard a shooting, he went out the convent with his monks, but few of them had seen something; so the Superior Fr. Antonios Meshmesh went to the house of Tannous Shehade, opposite the south side o the convent, and had seen the light. We kept on seeing this strange light, whenever we visited our friends whose houses are opposite the cemetery; all those who spent the evening over there saw it; this hearsay was multiplied, and this phenomenon was repeated every night for a month and a half. 

    Once this news had spread around, the residents of Meshmesh, Ehmej, Kfarbaal, and the Shiite villages like: Hejoula, Rass Osta, Mazraat Al-Ain and others ... many had come to see the light; they actually saw it and confirmed this phenomenon to the monks and to others. Those farmer-partners also saw it: Tannous Shehade, Elias Abi Suleiman, Magames from Kfoun; and Raja had seen the lights from Meshmesh itself, though her house was on the summit, overlooking the monastery of Saint Maron Annaya.

2 - The diary of Annaya

    During the illness and death of Fr. Sharbel, the Superior was absent; when he returned to the monastery a week later... he knelt in the mud on the south side of the cemetery, where Fr. Sharbel was buried, then began to pray; the monks also knelt behind him... then he stood up and said: "With the loss of Fr. Sharbel, we lost the lightning rod that drove away the wrath from the Order and from the Community and Lebanon!" He took the diary of the convent and wrote:  On December 24, 1898, the hermit, Fr. Sharbel of Bqaakafra, died after hemiplegia, provided with the last rites; he was buried in the cemetery of the convent at the age of sixty- eight, in the triennium of Fr. Antonios Meshmesh. What he made after his death, is enough to show his good conduct, especially his loyalty to his vocations so that we may say: his obedience was angelic and not human. 

3 - Some monks hadn't seen

    Some of the monks in the convent witnessed: We heard that some farmer-associates, whose houses were opposite to the convent, saw the light after his death, and they informed us that they saw a bright light above his grave several times; we heard that bright flames appeared from the cemetery during the night, but we didn't see anything. People flocked there because they believed in his holiness during his lifetime, at first they were coming from the neighboring villages, because the news of the light emanating from the tomb had spread.  

4 - Fr. Sharbel has dazzled me

    One night, at the end of the evening, the superior, Fr. Antonios Meshmesh ordered Bro. Boutros Meshmesh, to fetch drinking water from a fountain, situated above the cemetery; he took a little jar with a lantern and went out. He was late more than twenty minutes, while the distance can be traversed in five minutes, so they opened the East Room, which overlooks the fountain and called him, he replied from near the cemetery, saying: "Fr. Sharbel appeared to me like a star, that's why I couldn't come back, and the lantern is extinguished.” They brought with them a lantern and found him sitting at the gate of the cemetery shivering, his clothes soiled by mud and the jar was intact in his hand. He told them that while he was descending from the fountain, he saw a bright colorful flame in the shape of a star, it dazzled him and he fell on the ground.

5 - Fr. Sharbel is...stupid!

Tannous Shehade from Ehmej, a farmer and worker in the convent, was suffering from a pain in his throat, hips and shoulders; he had been treated from Ouwaini and others for seven years, with no result. One day some visitors from Kartaba came to visit the tomb of Fr. Sharbel, seeking healing, approached him he mocked them; Bro. Elias Al-Mahrini and some farmers who were with him replied: "Do not say that!" he repeated his words: "You are people with little understanding! When Fr. Sharbel has become a Saint?"

When visitors who came to ask his intercession, had become numerous, some of them told him: "Pray for Fr. Sharbel, he will cure you." He replied: "I ask healing from this stupid, I do not believe in his holiness; rather I would seek healing from our ass and not from him!" His wife insulted him by saying: "You are a renegade." Then after his return from the field, and feeding the cows, he thought he saw a ghost before him, he approached him, and saw the hermit with a stole around his neck, a frown on his face, a crutch in his hand, he told him: "What did you say about me, today on the

field?" He put his hand on his neck; he replied perplexed: I didn't say anything, I was just kidding, but I beg you, heal me!"  He leaned before him, crying: "My Father, I beg you."  He gave him, a blow on the chest, with his crutch, in the place where he had a pain in his hip, chest and shoulders, saying: "Fr Sharbel is stupid." then he disappeared; at once he healed.

6 - And... They became friends

    A year later, one night Tannous felt a dangerous attack, and thought he was about to die he called the monks but nobody answered him; so he asked help from Fr. Sharbel; he appeared to him, and touched his cheek, saying: Stand up, do not be afraid. At that moment, he stood up healthy. 

                                   6 - Mahmud Hamada or Abu Sabta

    On February eight at the vigil of St. Maron, the patron saint of the convent, the prefect of the region of Al-Mounaitra in Tourzaya, Sheikh Mahmud Hamada, a Shiite  from Aalmat, came escorted by several policemen in pursuit of some of the outlaws from Houjoula; among the members of the escort, there was also a Christian, Executive Secretary, called Abdallah Mouawad; believing that the robbers were lying in the woods surrounding the monastery; they tied their horses in Al-Ouwaini and headed towards the convent during the night; arriving to a place near the convent, in a gloomy and rainy night, they couldn't continue to Houjoula so they returned to the convent area; before arriving there, they saw from afar  a light which appeared at first low, and then glittered and shone like a star near the door, east of the convent's church, sparkling high in circular form and then disappeared.

    They believed that the bandits were hiding there, and communicating by signals, so the prefect hoped to catch them in the convent; when he reached there, the light disappeared! They had already surrounded the monastery, so they hurried to the spot of the light and found nothing; they knocked at the door, Bro. Boutros Mayfouk replied from inside: "The portal is closed, it is late, the monks are already asleep; this is not the time of hospitality." They replied: "Open for us, when you know us, you no longer dispute!" When he opened for them, they questioned and searched, without finding anybody except those who inhabit the convent.

    The farmer-members heard knocking at the convent's gate, late at night, they came to see what was going on; they saw Abu Sabta, a Shiite, the prefect of the region, Sheikh Mahmud Hamada, accompanied by five policemen; they all gathered in the office of the assistant-superior Fr. Maron Meshmesh, then the prefect asked: "Why didn't you open for us, right away?"  They answered: "Because we were asleep." He replied: "How were you asleep? While I with my men, we saw the light on the east side, near the portal appearing and disappearing; it is a proof that there was someone awaken in the convent." They said: "Where you saw the light, there lies the cemetery where the hermit, Fr. Sharbel was buried; several nights, the farmer-members and many other people saw a light above the cemetery; Sheikh Mahmud replied:" I swear! At the first opportunity, I will tell the Patriarch about this issue, and I will publish the news in the newspapers! I, myself have been known the death of bishops and patriarchs, I went through lot of graves, but I have never seen such a scene that dazzles our eyes!"  Then he wrote a verbatim record of what he saw and sent it, to His Beatitude Patriarch Elias Al-Howayek. He made sure the light didn't originate from a lantern or a fire flame but it came from the tomb of Fr. Sharbel.

 F: Thy just will not see decay (Ps 16:10)

1 - An adventure on the Feast of St. Maron in 1898

    Some of the monks witnessed: The day after the passing of Mahmud Hamada by the convent, I went (me Fr. Alouan) to the tomb with the company of Bro. Elias Al-Mahrini, Saba Al-Ouwaini and the muleteer of the convent, in the absence of the superior who was in Jbeil. We opened the tomb, it was full of water to the level of the board that was supported by two stones, where the body of Fr. Sharbel was laid; the land was very muddy; the body was wrapped in a monastic tattered tunic, and covered with worms from the neck to the feet; we gave thanks to God who has preserved the body of Fr. Sharbel, despite the worms that covered it. He seemed a monk lying on his back, his hands folded on his chest; his body was in a good condition but the drip fell on his face from the roof of the tomb, from the sewer of the church and from the roof of the convent ; which affected his beard, his nose and lips; uprooted a part of the hair and pierced the flesh; his right eye was slightly whitened, and hollowed somewhat from the other eye and damaged; Saba Ouwaini took a small board with which he cleaned the coat of Fr. Sharbel from worms; then we closed the door with stones. The assistant-superior informed the superior about what happened; the prefect of Shiite told him as well, of the light he saw in the convent with his men, at night. 

2 - Attempts to kidnap it... 

    When rumors about the appearance of the light multiplied, visitors with their patients flocked from neighboring villages; some tried to open the door of the tomb by force, at the end they succeeded in opening it; they examined the body, plucking hairs from his beard, taking pieces from his fingernails, and his habit or some from the soil of the cemetery, as a blessing. Therefore, the monks asked the superior to open the grave; he responded to their request. 

3 - In the presence of the Superior

    Some of the monks witnessed: So we opened the tomb and found the body stayed incorruptible; his clothes were well preserved, despite the mold that covered them and his whole body because of the water, the drainage, and the moisture. We were all astonished. Bro. Boutros Meshmesh entered accompanied by Bro. Gibrael Meshmesh, Saba Tannous Moussa, Bro. Boutros Mayfouk, Bro. Gibrael Mayfouk and many others. We found the body of Fr. Sharbel as we had put it the day of his funeral, his clothes were dry. We uncovered his chest and examined his body and saw that the mold covered it, and the bottom of his feet that were callused during his lifetime because of the hard work and lack of care, lost the calluses which fell under the feet that became very soft like the feet of the babies. Bro. Elias Al-Mahrini picked up the two calluses. His body and his muscle were soft and flexible as he was alive. The superior said: Hold the body through the toe of the feet, if it detaches from the body, leave it. Two of them hold him, one by his hands and the other by his feet, and they moved him to see if he was disjointed; they found him intact and safe as if he is still alive; then the superior ordered us to go out and close the grave.  

4 - I was surprised

    Bro. Boutros Mayfouk witnessed:  We found the shovel that we had forgotten in the cemetery during his funeral, its stick was rotten; while the body of Fr. Sharbel stayed the same. I remember well the fact that his trousers were dry but stained with blood from his body! Bro. Boutros Meshmesh added: We were all surprised how the body and clothes remained free of corruption in the midst of the mud; while the wooden stick was ruined, from the water and the moisture! 

5 - The recovery of Ouwaini

    I was suffering from a pain in my back as a result of a lightning that stroke my house two years ago; I unsuccessfully followed many treatments; I became a little humpbacked, and the pain never left me; if I walked two hours, I should rest for two days. When I heard that His Beatitude gave permission to open the tomb, I hurried there, hoping to be healed because of my full confidence in his Holiness. I passed my hand on his back and his chest, and then rubbed my back saying: "Now it's your turn." Wanting to tell him that now it's your time to act, you died in my hands, without asking anything from you, now I ask you to heal me. After that, I accompanied the monks to Ehmej to attend the funeral of Daoud Youssef Saad, walking back and forth about two hours. When I returned home, my wife told me: "I see that you are alright, you're not tired as usual, did Fr. Sharbel heal you?" Became aware, like someone awakened from inattentiveness, I touched the painful area in my body, then I got up, sat down, turned left and right; I felt no pain at all. 

6 - Flattening the terrace

    The monks went back to the Superior insisting on him to allow them to remove the body from the water and bury it near the church, in a dry place to protect it from moisture and corruption, but he refused. He sent the request to his Eminence the Patriarch, requesting him to report what should be done; he told him also about the phenomenon of the lights and other issues; and that he was no longer able to prevent the visitors from coming to the tomb.  The Patriarch, ordered to leave the body in its place, to remove the water, raise the body from the ground and take all measures to prevent water from penetration inside the tomb. So the tomb was opened, the monks got in, they evacuated the water, then lifted the body on two boards laid on wooden tripods, spread the soil on the terrace, flattened it by a cylinder stone to prevent dripping.  

7 - What should I do?

    The Superior of the convent of Annaya wrote again to the Patriarch: On December, 24, last year, your son Fr. Sharbel from Bqaakafra, hermit at the hermitage of your monastery in Annaya died. Since then, every night, the light shines from his tomb; many saw it emanating as a lighthouse; if it shines from this side, the other side remains dark; the people from the surrounding area and the monks do not doubt that this light is caused by a divine intervention; because of the kindness of the deceased and of the miracles he performed in his lifetime; especially after the audit made four days ago, which showed that the body remained incorruptible in contrast to other decaying corpses. Since the place is so humid, I suggest to put the body in a coffin covered with asphalt; if your Beatitude would allow us to put him in a hiding place into the wall of the church, where there is no moisture, it would be more suitable to protect the body. Anyway, the decision is up to your Beatitude. 

G: Outside the cemetery

1 - The transfer of the body

    His Beatitude ordered to remove the body from the cemetery, and put in an isolated place where nobody at all was allowed to visit it. So the cemetery was opened, the body removed before: Fr. Maron Meshmesh, the assistant superior, Fr. Antoun Meshmesh, Fr. Youssef Meshmesh, Fr. Makarios, his companion at the hermitage, Bro. Boutros Meshmesh, Bro. Elias Meshmesh and Fr. Youssef Ehmej. The body was placed in the nave of the church, on the ground; till they prepare for it, a special place out of sight. The monks asked the permission to change the clothes which remained the same since his death and to clean up the mold from the body, but the assistant-superior Fr. Maron refused their request and the body was left in the church until morning.  

2 - A light around the body

    Fr. Francis Al- Sebrene witnessed: At midnight, as usual, Bro. Elias Al-Mahrini made his visit to the Holy Sacrament; after reciting the rosary and the evening prayers, he came running to me, woke me and said, trembling: "I saw something strange, I have never seen like it in my life, come and see; for it is a light streaming from the tabernacle, bypassing the body of Fr. Sharbel, arising on the chandelier and then returning to the tabernacle." I hurried with him to church, I saw nothing, I argued with him, but he confirmed and pointed with his finger as if he was seeing something substantiated in front of his eyes. Many confirmed that the light no longer appeared in the tomb, since the body of Fr. Sharbel had been transferred from the cemetery.  

3 - The body was bathed with water

    Ouwaini witnessed: When I arrived at the convent, the monastic folk met me saying: Today Fr. Sharbel drove away the assistant-superior and prevented him from saying the Mass in the church; he came early to celebrate the Holy Eucharist but the stench of mold bothered him so much. We went into the church and found the body bathed with water and the smell of mildew spread strongly; we carried the body and laid it in the cloister of the convent on a goatskin mat; we removed the clothes and wiped the mold with a cotton quilt from the monastery that I kept with me in my house. At first, it smelled of mold, but then a pleasant smell emanated from it; I kept it as a precious treasure; many asked me for a piece of it as a blessing and I gave them. Unfortunately, a month later, someone stole it from my house. 

4 - The condition of the body

    We found the body intact in every limb, from up till down, flexible, fresh, soft as if his soul is still in it; his eyebrows; blackish in color, thin belly and it had a scar on the hip where he put the metal thorny belt, but there were no wounds on it; his eyebrows, his hair, his beard and his hairy chest were preserved, and tended to be gray; the hands and the face bore traces of mold, dazzling white as the cotton. After cleaning up the mold from the body, the face and hands seemed to belong to a living sleeping  person, with no trace of corruption, but it emanated a bad smell; we took off the clothes but we didn't need to tear them, because the limbs were flexible as those of a living person; when we washed the body from the mud, we found that it was in a good condition and had a fine normal color;  his knees were calloused, but once the mud was removed, the calluses disappeared; showing tender and soft knees; we dressed him in new clothes after having exposed him naked on the roof throughout the day to drive out the moisture.  

5 - Blood and water gushed forth (Jn 19:34)

Ouwaini witnessed: I learned that the monks had decided to bring out the body and expose it to the sunlight on the roof of the convent, and then put it back in the tomb; because the water was dripping from it and gave an unpleasant smell. I came to the monastery, after a short time, I do not remember exactly when, all the monastic folk was present with Boutros Saba Al-Khoury from Ehmej, who practiced the old medical treatment; the body was  transported to the roof of the convent and placed on a straw mat, after it was stripped, then exposed to sun and wind.

    Deeply touched, I told the monks: Why do you expose the body like that? Write to His Beatitude the Patriarch, and he will decide what is appropriate; because the idea of the physician Boutros Saba to expose the body to the sun and wipe it with alcohol, is unnecessary as long as it doesn't show any decay. You see all the parts are intact, even his sexual organ; then I began to turn his body under their eyes and found no trace of corruption.

    Fr. Francis Al-Sebrene added: Ouwaini stabbed him in his hip with a surgery knife, instantly the blood gushed forth from it, he took a large bottle and filled it with the blood and kept it with him; the blood was dark red. The monks reprimanded the mentioned Ouwaini, wiped the blood with cotton, and bandaged the wound so the blood ceased to flow. 

6- I knew who healed them

    Ouwaini continued: I took the bottle with me to my house and stored it for about a year. Whenever I was given a treatment for the patient, I dipped a straw in this bottle, and mixed my treatment with it, with my belief that it was the best remedy for healing, because I definitively believed in the holiness of Fr. Sharbel to the point that healing is inevitable by his intercession. Many of those returned to me expressing their gratitude for their healing; basically in my thoughts, I knew who healed them. It happened that my brother, Fr. Youssef Ehmej, fell ill, he followed many treatments by the best doctors, but he obtained no results; he asked me for the bottle hoping that through it he would get healed, I gave it to him and he didn't bring it back to me.

H: In the "exhumation" room

1 - In the sun

    The monks witnessed: Before we put the body in the "exhumation" room in a small attic, we carried it to the roof of the church where we placed it in a coffin exposed to the sun; because when we took it out of the tomb it was entirely humid, thinking that the body would get dry in the heat, especially in that day it was very hot. In the evening he was already a bit dry, so we changed his clothes; and then we put him repeatedly on the roof in the sun, and yet his body continued to drench. Bro. Boulos Lehfed added: Once, I saw the body exposed to the sun on the roof of the convent, at that time I was a boy looking after the Cattle of the convent in the nearby field, I didn't know why they put him that day on the roof, and because I was so young, I didn't care about this issue.   

2 - In fear that his fans would steal him  

    Above his monastic clothes, he was dressed in a white robe and was placed in a simple wooden coffin without a lid and then put into a small spot located at the top of the northern wall of the church, between the vault and the upper steps of the outer wall, in a small room booked to put coals and old vestments; this place is called "exhumation"; the access was blocked with a stone covered with clay, so that visitors and viewers couldn't reach him; for fear that the fans of his virtues and his holy life, would steal him; and in order not to confuse his body with the rest of the bodies so it would remain knowable.

    People flocked from all sides and from Kartaba, visiting Fr. Sharbel whom they called the Saint. The monks prevented them from going to the little room where he was laid; the body remained in the "exhumation" about two years, then it transferred to an isolated room, near the gate of the monastery. 

3 - The healing of a dumb child (Mk 7:31-44)

    Once, a man came with his mute child, from the town of Foutouh; after his persistence and his solicitation, the monk took him to where the body was laid, the man and his child knelt, prayed then kissed the hand of the Saint, and they went back; while they were going down the dark stairs, the mute child cried to his father: "Father, I beg you, hold me." The father called out: "Thank you Fr. Sharbel!" 

                               5 - Oozing out of the "exhumation"

    Blood and water, were oozing out of the body; a combination of red and white blood, but the white overcame the red; ran down the stairs and overspread in the church, emanating the smell of blood which bothered the monks; it wasn't emitting any odor, till after it got out.

I: In the hands of Fr. Youssef Kfouri

1 - On the roof of the convent

Fr. Youssef Kfouri witnessed: Two days after my arrival, the superior asked me to take care of the body; I opened the coffin which was not properly closed, I saw Fr. Sharbel in his monastic clothes, and felt a smell that wasn't bad, but also unpleasant; I found the body in a good condition as if it was for a monk, who died an hour ago. Three days later, I put it in a room on the northwest side, from there I was carrying it at night with the help of Bro. Egidious Tannouri, and laid it naked on the monastery roof; exposing it to the wind, so that the blood that dripped in abundance from his back and his hips, would get dry; this blood was very abundant; I put below the body two white sheets that I changed every day, because I found them too wet with water and blood, the blood was more common than water; I rarely let the sheets two days without changing them; the sweat was leaking viciously from every pore of the body. I kept on exposing the body on the air in the night about four months; the dry east wind that dried up the land and sometimes affected the living trees, didn't affect the body, but it remained intact; the monks sometimes tripped over it and were scared.

    I was doing all of these in my own initiative because the superior had work in the properties of the convent situated between mountains and coast. Having found that the blood still oozing profusely from his chest for four months, from late spring until late summer, I thought to extract the intestines of the body, hoping to stop the leakage of the blood; which made me work every day in changing the sheets; the idea was that the stomach had absorbed lot of water when the body was buried in the cemetery  

2 - They wanted to stop the oozing by any means necessary!

Ouwaini witnessed:  When the body of Fr. Sharbel was removed from the tomb, it was oozing plenty of copious red water like the one of reddish meat, spreading an unpleasant smell; the monks wanted by any means necessary to stop this leakage, I don't know why? So they asked Boutros Saba, an uncertified doctor to see the body; he examined it and advised to put it under the sun to dry out; they exposed it for a period to the heat, and I wiped it with alcohol, as recommended by the mentioned doctor; then they put it back in the old coffin without a lid in a room on the ground floor; but it continued to ooze more than before. 

3- For the reburial of the body

    Fr. Youssef Kfoury witnessed: The visitors were numerous and they complained from the smell that emanated from the body; even I smelled it, so sometimes I sprinkled the floor and around the coffin with some perfume, I used about three bottles. Fr. Elias Meshmesh proposed the reburial of the body, but the monks opposed this suggestion; so I sought advice from the superior, Fr. Mikhael Tannouri, who suggested to put the body back into the grave; I replied: It's not good for our reputation to return it to the cemetery, after taking it out from there is well-known now,  and the miracles he is performing; however  I see that we should take out the intestines, perhaps it would get dry and there would be no seepage or odor. I think he told me: "Do what you want." 

4- The surgery!

    Fr. Youssef Kfouri added: I consulted Ouwaini who was living near the convent, he replied: "I don't dare to touch the body of Fr. Sharbel, because he performed miracles during his lifetime, I fear that would cause me the death of my children." I replied: "We have no intention to offend him by extracting his stomach, but to stop the oozing of the blood." he obeyed. We agreed to keep the matter secret. I went along with Saba during the day, I cannot remember the hour. With a lancet he opened the hip, below the ribs, entered his hand, and extracted the stomach and the intestines; we found them so fresh, like the ones of a sheep that had been slaughtered an hour ago, without any trace of corruption or worms. The smell was the same as the odor of the blood effluent from a corpse, but I don't remember that I smelled any unpleasant odor; I put the internal organs in a regular metallic container; it didn't bleed from the part of the body that we opened, and I don't remember if the blood and water came out from the stomach and intestines. The heart, lungs, liver and gall bladder were intact such as the ones of a recently slaughtered sheep. The water was stained with blood and flowed abundantly; we carried them to an old part of the church, with no roof  called "Saint Georges"; here we dug in a corner and buried them, it was already night. I told myself: if the body will transfer to Rome to justify that Sharbel is a Saint, at least we kept something from it; I buried the metal container closed. After a while I asked Bro. Egidious Tannouri, who accompanied me, to examine that stomach and intestines, he checked saying that he found the bottle empty. I informed the Superior, when he came back, about what I did. 

5- Ouwaini distributed blessings to his patients

    Later Ouwaini went alone; he dug and took the stomach! This is what Bro. Tanios Al-Qady told us, that Saba put the guts in a pot and boiled them, and then he distributed them as a blessing to his patients, this was obvious from the question asked by the commission of inquiry: It's well-known that you had used the blood of this body, in order to treat the patients, and that they were cured because of this blood! The quantity you took must be great!

    Ouwaini said he felt deep regret in his heart and added: I remember I grabbed the liver and the heart; the heart was red, oozing blood mixed with water; it didn't have any smell at all; since then my act was constantly present in my mind; I blamed myself because I didn't keep it in my house as a precious treasure; I asked him earnestly to let me have the heart or a part of what I had removed, but he didn't allow me. 

                                             6- He continued to ooze                                   

Fr. Youssef Kfouri witnessed: the surgery was unnecessary because the body continued to ooze; the smell didn't emanate from the body but from the seepage; I didn't know where the liquid and that smell came from! The body was reduced to skin and bones! This is a sufficient proof that we are dealing with a strange and amazing fact; that we and the laity deeply believe in the sanctity of Fr. Sharbel; the visitors came from all over seeking his intercession. I felt a strong odor before changing the wet and stained clothes; and then after changing and replacing them with clean ones, the smell reduced, and remained strong on the exchanged ones. The lawyer for the beatification process brought an alb, which had been laid for a week on the body and then removed yesterday for examination and evidence. Fr. Kfouri smelled the scent and said: this is the same strong smell that I tried my best to take it away, and the yellowish-red spots on this alb are the same as before, but the leakage was more abundant.  

7- Extraction of the brain

    The medical examination showed that the skull was opened to the occiput, the bone was pierced by a very sharp instrument and the brain was extracted. Fr. Youssef Kfoury witnessed: I believe that this act was done by one of the visitors, in order to take it as a blessing; during the period of two years and eight months where I assumed the responsibility of the body; If I had not been so keen to keep it, the visitors would have snatched it pieces for the blessings; especially after his miracles became well-known and after the seepage of blood and water, particularly the miracle of Tabarja's paralytic. Most visitors had known him during his lifetime, because he performed miracles with them; so they tried to have a souvenir from him to ask for his intercession through it, whenever they were in difficulty. 

    It seemed to me that Saba Ouwaini did this extraction, because of his firm belief in the sanctity of Fr. Sharbel and to use it as a medicine to cure his patients;  my hypothesis based, that Saba was very attached to Fr. Sharbel; deeply respecting his virtues; he had known him a real knowledge and believed in his ability to perform miracles; after the death of Fr. Sharbel Saba used to pray one "Our Father" and a" Hail Mary" before preparing the medication, seeking his intercession for the healing of the sick;  he also asked me to wipe the body of Fr. Sharbel, with some towels, to keep them in his house; so I thought that maybe after I left the convent, Saba removed the brain;  the lawyer of beatification process supposed, that  for the lack of belief by doctors, they extracted his brain secretly. 

8- Restoration of the eye and the nose tip

    Fr. Youssef Kfouri witnessed: I put a little plasters or similar material in his left eye and nose, because when he was buried in the tomb, the roof was dripping constantly, especially on his eye and nose, causing a slight distortion on them; this intervention almost gave them back their normal appearance, and indeed they showed no deterioration. Ever since I've cared about the body, after his transfer until I was relieved from this responsibility, he remained in the same physical condition as far as the flexibility of the skin, either before or after the extraction;  I have noticed no difference, and this was an amazing mystery for us. 

9- Lack of discernment

    The monks laid the corpse only in places that could corrupt it quickly; either in the grave or in the small room on the ground floor; and I, who consider myself among those who are wise, I have acceded to the deformation of the body with my carelessness and naiveté; either by my procedure to expose the body to the wind for four months on the roof at night, or by the extraction of the womb.   

10 - He drove away the locusts (Lk 5:4-7)

     Locusts suddenly invaded the land of the convent from all sides, two hours before sunset; although monks and farmer-members had made every effort to stop them; the locusts covered the crops and the trees. The superior, Mikhael Tannouri, called Fr.  Makarios, the hermit and said: "Fr. Sharbel, in his lifetime, expelled the locusts from the vicinity of the monastery. Go now take a container full of water, wash his hands, and then sprinkle by this water the seeds, the mulberry trees and the crops of the convent, as much as possible."  Fr. Makarios obeyed; in the morning the locusts fled. One thing caught our attention; while the hermit sprinkled the seeds, it happened that the farmer-partner in the convent, Saba Zahra said to the hermit: I protect my land, don't trample on the seeds. While the locusts were leaving, some fell in that land and devoured everything. He tried in vain to protect it with the firing of his gun and the burning of thorny bushes, while all around the land had been saved. The locusts devoured the wild herbs even the barks of the wild trees; thus the locusts were useful to the properties of the convent. 

                          11 - Recovering from total paralysis (Mt 9:1-8)

    Maryam Zuwain witnessed: Following the birth of my eldest daughter, Abla, I was suffering from a disease on the hands and feet and the rest of my body for over six months; as a result of this disease, I was unable to move and I became like a piece of wood;  my pain was unbearable, my stepmother Jalileh, served me; I remember, when my daughter was crying and no one was there , I bent over her, raised her by my teeth and laid her on my chest to breastfeed her, because I was unable to hold her by my hands. Once, she fell from my chest and clung on a hot stove; in vain I tried to save her; I felt like I was in a dream in which I tried to walk but I couldn't move; I tried three times to get up , for my only daughter was threatened to be burnt; but I couldn't move, so I shouted with all my strength for help; a man named Fares Lahoud, who was flatten the roof in the rain, ran and snatched her. 

 My disease is not the type of depression that can be cured by emotional stimuli, what could be more emotional than seeing my little girl fell into a charcoal stove to stimulate my nerves and my maternal feelings and to forget my pain and prompt me to save her, yet I remained defaulting, and this weakness worsened my condition. This paralysis wasn't only on my hands and my feet but on  my whole body, including my lower jaw, so I couldn't eat for three months except for milk; I followed multiple treatments from many doctors with no result; so I surrendered to sadness and tears, and despaired from healing.

    One day a Shiite woman from the village of Ferret came into my house asking for alms, she asked me: "What's wrong with you?" Crying, I told her about my illness, she replied: "Not far from here there is a Saint, he is performing miracles, his name is Saint Sharbel in the Monastery of St. Maron, go there and you will be cured from your illness."  Fr. Roukoz Meshmesh was in our village at that time, I called him and asked if it was true what the Shiite woman told me, he replied: "Yes, it's true." He encouraged me to go and visit Saint Sharbel. I decided to make this visit to the tomb of Saint Sharbel and I made a vow for him; then I told my husband about my vow and my persistence to visit the tomb. He rushed and called a mule driver who took me to Annaya, with my aunt Wardeh; I suffered a lot from this trip, the carrier supported me from one side, and my aunt with another woman, from the other side all the way long. In my sickness I wasn't able to change my clothes or eat by myself, but my stepmother was taken care of everything.

 Arriving at the convent, they took me to the tomb; I was crying from pain and fatigue because I had spent five hours on the back of the mule from my village Yahchouch to the convent; I was praying fervently and asking Saint Sharbel to heal me and let me go back walking; then they took me to the cemetery where the body of the Saint was laid at first. The superior, Fr. Mikhael Tannouri came and was very touched by my situation; he encouraged me and told me: Be strong in your faith, you will be healed, today; he brought me water from the washing hands of the Saint, and towels that were soaked by the blood exuded from his body; my aunt and the woman with her, Karimeh Azar Karam from Yahshoush, wiped with this water and towels my body, my hands and my feet; at once I felt strength in my right hand, while I was in the cemetery; I started moving my fingers and supporting myself by my hand; my left hand, which was more deficient  and more paralysis and pain, I felt the pain was leaving it gradually; while I was at the cemetery, I felt that my whole body strengthened and I realized that I am on the way of recovery through the intercession of St. Sharbel;  I  left the cemetery by myself, and went up on the back of the mule to go back home; without eating anything because I made a vow not to eat or drink before my healing; my food was prayer and crying; the superior constantly encouraged me and strengthened my faith;  when I got up  on the mule, I needed no help; I felt that my left hand was tingling only;  arriving at the village of Sannour, I had absolutely no pain; I was sure of my recovery, I moved my hands and my feet normally; exalted with joy I got down from the back of the mule, and walked about fifteen minutes, on our way back; I arrived home at the same day completely cured through the intercession of Saint Sharbel; and since then I pray to St. Sharbel daily;  my relatives rejoiced; and that was a day of joy and pleasure for all of us. 

12 - Tabarja paralytic (Mk 2:1-12)

    Jerges Sassine witnessed: I saw the paralytic of Tabarja named Beshara Antoun Azzi, when he was brought to the tomb of St. Sharbel, transported on a mule; he was carried down, in my presence, at the gate of the convent, unable to move his hands and feet; we took him into the room where the body was laid on the north-west. His companions explained to me that he was afflicted with stroke since infancy, in the age of fifteen he was seriously ill and became disable; shortly thereafter they brought him back to the portal; he began to move his hands and feet easily, stretching them back and forth, and then they turned back to his village.

    In spring, I saw him coming to the monastery walking, I asked him: “Are you Beshara Azzi, who came last summer to this convent?”He replied: "Yes, I am the one who has been cured of his illness, and now I'm visiting St. Sharbel to thank him, without him, I will never have walked in my entire life."  In fact every year, he comes twice, in summer and spring, carrying votive offerings for St. Sharbel, and then returning home without eating anything, I asked him: "Why don't you eat in the convent?” He replied: "I have vowed not to eat anything!"

     Bro. Francis Kartaba added: When I was appointed to serve the guests in the convent, Beshara Azzi of Tabarja came to me, carrying a basket containing grains, nuts and other gifts, he gave it to me saying:" I have collected these offerings for the convent, in gratitude to St. Sharbel." Each time, the superior told him: "My son, take back home what you have collected, because you're poor."

    Eid Nakad said: Beshara asked us to show him the house in which the Fr. Sharbel was born and brought up, when we asked about the purpose of his visit, he told us, he was paralyzed and Fr. Sharbel cured him; so he traversed each year the Lebanese villages; expressing his gratitude to Fr. Sharbel, collecting alms; we celebrated with him, especially my mother. He continued to come to Bqaakafra, for three years, for this purpose.

J: The Lodging

1 - The women at a separate location

The feeling of faith prompted the pilgrims to go walking to the monastery of Annaya; traversing distances of more than fifty kilometers, including: women, children, poor and sick, who were unable to ensure transport on the back of pack animals, but they came walking because of their poverty; some walked barefoot asking God to have mercy on them and gratify them the cure of their patients from incurable disease, or a chronic infirmity as the limp, the deaf, or the paralysis. The pilgrims arrived to the convent, exhausted after two or three days walking, and didn't find a place to shelter them because the monastery is in the wilderness; in addition, women were forbidden to enter to the monastery, even to church. There was no room to accommodate people except in a dark basement to the right of the entrance which was called the lodging or the accommodation. The visitors were staying in this lodging; the men entered to the church of the convent, while the women remained in the lodging and attended Mass, standing near the window of the church on the south side, just like the women of the farmer-members in Annaya.

 2 - The insistence of visitors

    The men insisted to see the body of Fr. Sharbel on the first step of the "exhumation" room near the north wall inside the church, they knelt praying and imploring; while the women knelt outside the convent, near the north wall; there in the open air they were crying, begging for help, praying, kissing the wall, holding a handful of earth to take it home for their patients. The monks took pity on the visitors, especially Fr. Youssef Kfoury, so he allowed the men to access to the small room to see Saint Sharbel in his modest coffin; the visitor who could see Fr. Sharbel, was comforted by the sight of his preserved body; he returned home happy and told the people that he had seen Fr. Sharbel sleeping like a living human being! The women were very disappointed to be deprived of seeing the body of Fr. Sharbel so they asked the monks with abundant tears to allow them to see it. 

3 - The lodging is converted into a chapel

Two years passed, and the number of visitors multiplied and their insistence to allow them to see the body of Fr. Sharbel increased. Fr. Youssef Kfoury suggested, at a local council, to transform the lodging into a chapel, which will enable women to participate in the Mass; and to put the body there, in a glass-fronted cabinet so that visitors can see him; and he will be responsible to prevent any veneration, forbidden by the church. The proposal was raised to the Superior General, who demanded the authorization of the Patriarch. So the lodging was transformed into a chapel for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days. The monks put the body in a room outside of the right portal of the convent; in 1901, they placed, by the superior-order, a portable altar to celebrate Mass for the female visitors, because the women, in the days of the cold, were unable to hear the mass through the outside window of the Church; and were unable to enter the church because of the ban.  

4 - Description of the Body

    Wardeh Makhlouf witnessed: Two years after the death of Fr. Sharbel, I came with my aunt and other women from Bqaakafra to visit his tomb. They opened it for us; I reached out my hand and held his hand; it was very soft like velvet; his body appeared normal, his beard as it was always, his face pinky, his neck was sweating, I passed my hand over his hair and his neck.

    Ouwaini added: His holy body oozed the same way in all seasons, I saw his clothes wet as those of sweaty people, and had the same smell; from time to time they changed his clothes for washing as they wash the ones of a living person.

    Bro. Boutros Lyan explained: I was changing his clothes, in different times, sometimes every week, sometimes every two weeks, or month. In summer, I had to change it more frequently because the seepage was more abundant. What I know, that the body is still healthy and sweating; people visit his tomb, and they believe that it is preserved by a miracle, because Fr. Sharbel is a Saint; this is not just the Maronite belief, but also the neighboring Shiites and other Muslims.   

5 - The body is standing

Fr. Youssef Kfoury prepared a glass-fronted cabinet; he laid the body upright supported by two crutches under both armpits; it was always oozing, and from time to time its clothes were changing; they were consisted from the regular monastic habit and a stole around his neck. The upper cabinet was glazed in wooden frame that opened in two parts as the shutters.

    Fr. Moubarak Tabet witnessed: I saw a coffin of wood leaning against the wall, the body of Fr. Sharbel stood up on his feet; his whole body was like he was still alive; his eyes closed; wearing a white alb; wetting with sweat and blood. I took his hand to kiss it, I found it more supple than mine, his skin was soft and of natural color, but yellowed by the death. The joy of the faithful, to see the body upright, was great, because they wished him standing among them; in contrary, most of the monks were dissatisfied with this position, because it was just like a childish idea that could despise the body Fr. Sharbel.  

6 - The Healing of a girl and the raising of a dead child (Jn 11:1-44)

    Maryam Shamoun witnessed: My little girl, named Esther, suffered from the age of three, epileptic seizures and fainting; I brought her to Saba, a healer who had no medical training, with no result. I made a vow to Saint Sharbel, she got healed. Then I gave birth to a boy who died on April 17, 1901. My third child at the age of one year, suffered from epilepsy as his brother, for more than eight days; and since he was a child we didn't understand his illness; his case became worse gradually; in the first days of his illness, he woke up and nursed very little bit, then he never nursed and lost consciousness. When I lost hope of seeing him cured, and it was clear that he's going to die like his brother, I was so desperate; so I decided to take him to the tomb of Saint Sharbel; I used to attend his Mass during his lifetime, in the hermitage of St. Peter, his mass cheered me up, impressed me and made me feel a deep reverence.  So I carried my child alone and walked, I didn't want anyone to assist me; may God have mercy on my fatigue and save him. In route, I met a woman, she took pity on me and she held him; then we met another woman, who looked at the child and said: "Where do you take the child? Do not wear yourself out! The child is dead!" I started screaming and crying as I saw my baby dead between my hands. The two women pinched the child, and shook him, but he showed no sign of life; I was about to go back, weeping over my dead child and seeing it was useless to continue; they encouraged me and we continued walking, hoping that the Fr. Sharbel will cure him;  this happened in Farshaa, a farm belonging to Meshmesh, about an hour away from the convent, I said to the woman carrying my child: "Let's depend on God, and go to Fr. Sharbel."  Upon our arrival to the convent, I called my cousin, Fr. Elias Ehmej; he went down into the room where the body was laid, he saw me kneeling by the coffin with tears, accompanied by two women standing near the door; on the step of the altar, I put my dead child wrapping with his clothes; he turned to me and said: "Are you crazy? How did you bring this funeral here?" He hurt me by these words but I didn't answer; the two women told him: "Your cousin came seeking the intercession of Fr. Sharbel to heal her sick son." He went in and found the child dead, mouth shut; he turned him several times, he opened his mouth; but he felt in him no sign of life!

 I said to my companion: “Put the child on the ground as the deceased should be placed, his face toward the sea, near the coffin of the Saint, before the altar, and if Fr. Sharbel is a Saint he will raise him up." Then Fr. Elias opened the coffin, washed the hands of Fr. Sharbel with water, opened the mouth of the child, with a spoon of incense he poured water into the mouth of the child, first, second, and third time, the child swallowed the water, and started breathing. I sighed deeply and we were very amazed;  he put a candle in his hand, then gave him back to me; I breastfed him and he sucked; I began to weep from joy; I returned home happy, along with the woman who helped me. My son is already a young man full of life and health. 

7 - A mysterious hand

Rev. Ibrahim Haqlani was flattened the roof of his bedroom, located on the south side of the convent of Annaya, using a cylinder stone; reaching the edge of the roof, a violent storm arose, and he felt down with the cylinder stone from a height of four meters. His brothers the monks hastened to help him; they were amazed since they found him running toward the gate of the convent, unharmed. When they asked what happened with him?! He replied: When I slipped down with the cylinder stone, I screamed: Fr. Sharbel, help me! I felt as if a hand was carrying me and then putting me down gently on the ground, after taking the cylinder stone away from me.

K: In the Chapel  

1 - Transfer of the body

Dr. Georges Shekralah made a coffin of walnut wood, worthy of Fr. Sharbel; and Boutros Daher carried it on the back of a mule from Beirut, in the autumn of 1909; he asked the monks to put it in a proper place; the body was transferred to a larger room, located south of the first one, in the basement at the southeast corner of the convent left the gate. The ground is paved with stones, and the room is arched with stones as well; the coffin was placed horizontally on a corner and it was closed. Lot of people from the neighborhood and the farmer-members came to attend the handover ceremony of the body; no epitaph has been placed on the tomb of Fr. Sharbel, neither during his funeral, nor after his transfer. Fr. Boutros Damien witnessed: I was present when the body was moved into the chapel; we dressed him in an alb, but the body still oozing a special liquid that soaked the alb and the other clothes; so we had to change them every few days. The people were flocking to visit him, kissing his hand, soliciting his blessing to cure their diseases and asking for the blessing of God through him.   

2 - The healing of a kidney

Hawshab Nakad witnesses: After the First World War, I felt an unbearable pain in my hip, I entered the American Hospital in Beirut, where I spent forty days during which I made a surgery of extraction of a calculus from the kidney; the operation was successful. A year later, I felt the same pain in the same position.  My mother and my sister Ghalia went to the convent of St. Maron Annaya; there they visited the tomb of Fr. Sharbel; they prayed fervently, asking for my healing. My mother asked one of the monks to give her an amulet that was touched the body of Fr. Sharbel to put it on my neck; the monk replied that he would give her something more valuable: he presented a cloth that was placed under the neck of Fr. Sharbel; and then he washed the hands of Fr. Sharbel after he raised it from the coffin; he put the water in a small bottle and gave it to her. When my mother returned, I put the cloth around my neck and drank the water. Three days later I dreamt that I was transported to the house of Fr. Sharbel, where I saw a monk who didn't talk with me a single word; in the morning, I eliminated, a kidney stone, as big as a bean. Since then I have no pain. 

3 - A barren gives birth

            Hawshab continued: When my mother visited the monastery of Saint Maron Annaya, a man called Nehmeh Youssef Nehmeh, who was married since twenty-seven years and yet he had no children, asked her to bring him a blessing from Fr. Sharbel, hoping to have a child; he gave her some money as offering for the convent. When my mother came back, she gave Nehmeh and his wife Hanneh a blessing, the same as mine. In less than one year they had their only child, called Tanios. 

4 -Visiting the tomb

    The visitors were many and from all sides, all nations and all races. They were pleading for his intercession as asking from the Saints, because they believed in his holiness and goodness. Those who owned livestock, they offered some of them to the convent. Many people of Christian communities and non-Christians flocked to visit him to cure them from their illness. Many of them, when they reached the monastery ground, they continued their walk using their hands and feet, to show respect. 

5 - I have little children

     Mary, the wife of Boutros Abi Musa from Shkania, was sick with epilepsy; Dr. George Shekrallah was treating her and bringing her medicine from Europe for a long time; but she hadn't derived any benefit. Her husband came to visit Fr. Sharbel, and told him: I beg you, heal my wife, because we have little children who need their mother to take care of them; and I am ready to pave the ground of the chapel (where the body of Sharbel), then he returned to his home. At night, he dreamt about three monks on the road, one of them was walking in the center, a stole in his neck, he ran towards him saying: Please, Fr. Sharbel heal my wife, he answered: She has been already recovered. The woman was healed instantly and completely.   

6 - I took his hand and put it in my sick eye

Akel Hayek witnessed: a neurological disease affected my right eyes in 6/8/1903, my eye was twitching continuously, the doctors of Beirut were unable to cure it; I heard about St. Sharbel, so I went to visit him; I found him laid in a coffin in a room of the monastery; I took his hand and put it in my sick eye; after a short period the pain disappeared and it got back to normal.    

7 - Better than the doctors of Beirut

Tanios Moussa from Ehmej witnessed: I had a very severe pain in my shoulder which continued for a while in this case; I used many treatments with no result. Finally, I decided to go to Beirut accompanied by my uncle Saba; on the way we passed to visit my uncle Fr. Youssef in the monastery of Annaya; I told him that I am going to Beirut to see the doctors there to cure the pain on my shoulder; my uncle said: We have here a doctor who is more important than all the doctors of Beirut, Fr. Sharbel! Go and visit him, and take a blessing and you will be healed. I went to the chapel, where the body was placed, and prayed. Bro. Boutros Meshmesh gave me a waistband after he put it on the body of Fr. Sharbel; I wore it and didn't go to Beirut. The second day I got up totally cured, and resumed my work as usual.    

8 - Maryam opened her eyes

Rahmeh the wife of Moussa from Ehmj witnessed: My granddaughter Maryam fell ill with high fever, the disease worsened and she lost consciousness. Her grandfather, Saba treated her, but she hadn't benefited; in the end she became like a dead person. We made a vow to lit an oil lamp in front of the body of Fr. Sharbel for her healing; when we turned on the lamp in front of his body, Maryam opened her eyes and asked for food; instantly the fever got to normal and she recovered.

L: He healed all the sick (Mt 8,6)

1 - The healing of Bro. Youssef Maifouq

Fr. Youssef Ehmej testified: While Bro. Youssef Maifouq was eating, a bone stuck in his throat: he suffered for a week, so we called the doctor, Najib Beik Khoury who found no trace for the bone, but the brother still suffering. One night he came to me and shouted: "Please, I was about to die from pain." I answered: "My brother, how can I help you? Take the oil lamp and light it in front of the coffin of St. Sharbel, I hope he will heal you." He went right away, lit the lamp, and knelt down, his hands resting on the coffin. Then he spat, the bones came out of his throat; he came to show it to me; a bone in the length of a needle, fine as a thread, I kept it for a while in my home.  

2 - The healing of Fr. Elias Ehmej

One time I felt a sharp pain during the night on my right side so that I could no longer walk without crutches. I looked at the painful spot and saw that my flesh was swollen as if it was pierced with a nail. I got up slowly limping, and went to the grave of Fr. Sharbel, it was at that time on the chapel, I poured water on his hand and then rubbed the painful area; I immediately recovered and went back to my room without crutches. 

3-Recovering from the typhoid fever (Mk 1: 29-31)

Fr. Alouan witnessed: When I came back from Annaya to Kozhaya, I found Bro. Bartholomew suffering from typhoid fever and was on his deathbed. I told him about Fr. Sharbel and gave him a piece of his hood, which I took as a blessing from the tomb; he put it on his head in good faith and prayed, the next day he recovered.  

4 - A cure from paralysis

 Shibley Shibley witnessed: I had a rheumatic disease on the knee; the disease worsened to the point of paralysis. Several doctors treated me, as Dr. Ounaissi from Jajj, Dr. Najem from Lehfed, with no result. So I asked for the intercession of Fr. Sharbel; I took holy water and a piece of cloth that had been placed over his body; I drank the water and put the cloth over my knees, God has healed me. 

5 - The healing of Saba Ouwaini

    In May 1925, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach; Dr. Gergi Shekrallah had treated me once, twice and three times with no success; and then he suggested that I accompany him to Beirut for an X-ray, for he was afraid as I did, it might be a cancer. I told him: "Let us reconsider it until tomorrow!" I left him, and prayed fervently to Fr. Sharbel, to heal me; I promised to donate to the monastery two piastres as a vow. In the night I saw Fr. Sharbel in a dream; he burnt a piece of his habit, took the ashes, poured them into the water and gave me to drink. I woke up at dawn and I was in a great pain; I left my bed and met my brother, Fr. Youssef Ehmej, who was preparing for the mass;  I wanted to attend the mass and then visit the grave of Fr. Sharbel; the pain, however, didn't allow me to stay to the end of the mass; so I hurried towards the tomb, my wife, my children and my niece joined me there; after praying and giving the offering; I took from the brother in charge of watching over the body, a piece of cloth from the habit of Fr. Sharbel, burnt it in a can, mixed the ashes with water, as I saw in my dream and then I drank the water. On the way back I felt less pain; I stopped to rest at my daughter's house, Maryam the wife of Tanios Boutros Moussa; she offered me to eat something, because for seventeen days I hadn't eaten except little bit; I agreed, she gave me stuffed zucchini; I ate a loaf of bread and two zucchini. Then I continued my way home, I felt the pain was gradually decreased until the evening. At home I ate well and felt no more pain.  

6 - The healing of Fr. Youssef Ehmej

    For more than three years I had constant throat pain. I was treated by doctors Gergi Shekrallah, Najib Beik Khoury and Jibrael Tawily. Meanwhile I had some rest, but the pain always came back. One day I took a piece from the habit of Fr. Sharbel and wrapped it around my neck. For years now I have no more pain and I still wear it around my neck.  

7 - Healing from eye disease (Jn 9)

    Youssef Nassif testified: I had a severe pain in my eyes accompanied with redness. When I awoke, my eyes were glued with eye mucus glands and only opened after having washed with water; however, my vision wasn't affected. The disease was lessened in winter, but increased in early spring to late autumn and lasted for three years. In vain I consulted Dr. Najib Beik Khoury;

   So I made a vow for Fr. Sharbel, that if he cures me, I would donate fifty Syrian lire; also I would help out each year a day on the estates of the monastery, free of charge, and I would testify before the Congregation of my healing. Then I made my visit to the grave, dipped his hand into the water, I brought the water home and washed my eyes for ten days, the rheum disappeared and the pain vanished;  for more than one and a half month now (1926) I have no more pain, but some redness remains. 

8 - Healing from Hemiplegia

Moussa Moussa witnessed: My cousin called Gerges Risha from Ehmej had suffered from hemiplegia; despite seven months of medical treatment, he could no longer walk. He asked for a piece of cloth from St. Sharbel's clothes and rolled it around his waist. He immediately felt an improvement and was gradually recovered, and now he is completely healthy. 

9 - The Healing of the brother of Boutros Jawad Meshmesh

     I got cramps in my shoulders, so that I couldn't move my hands. I went to the tomb of the man of God Fr. Sharbel, I opened the coffin and laid a piece of cloth over his sacred hand, and then I rubbed my shoulder and felt no more pain at all.  

10 - Healing of the wife of Youssef Khoury from Amshit

     Fr. Youssef Ehmej testified: The wife of Youssef Khoury from Amshit suffered from a hardening and spasms in the joints. They took her two or three times to Beirut; a group of medical doctors discussed the case, but in vain. When I visited her once, she told me about her situation,  I answered: "I will send you a piece from the alb of Fr. Sharbel and I hope you will recover." She and her parents told me that the piece of cloth was the right treatment for her. 

11 - In New York

    Boutrosieh, the wife of Nassif Saade from Hsarat-Jbeil, was afflicted with kidney disease for seven months in the United States, and entered to the hospital of Virgin Mary in the city of Nathan Matt in New York; she stayed there for a period with no avail. The best doctors in the hospital lost hope from her recovery. One day, while she was suffering, she thought to make a vow to St. Sharbel, perhaps he will heal her from her severe illness. Once, she made this vow she felt totally comfortable and recovered. This was in 11/20/1920. 

12 - His neck was curved

 Foula the widow of Nehmeh Deeb from Gouma witnessed in 08/15/1925: In 1902, at the age of four, my son Nehmeh, who is now in America, was unable to walk because of the laxity of his nerves; his neck was curved to the left side and he wasn't able to turn it around; he was treated from several doctors, including Dr. Anton Beik Khairalah Gran, Dr. Amin Effendi Thoma Batroun, but he remained in this state without any benefit for about five months. One night, in my dream, I heard a voice saying to me: Offer a quarter piaster for the convent and I will heal your son, or he wouldn't recover! When I woke up in the morning, I told Fr. Boulos Khoury Fares from Gouma about the dream; he said to me: "There is a Saint in the monastery of Annaya, pray for him, he will heal your child." I vowed to offer a quarter piaster and asked him to heal my son; he cured immediately; his neck straightened; his nerves intensified and he walked for the first time; I took him to the monastery of Annaya to visit St. Sharbel and offered the vow. 

                                13 - He refreshed and started breastfeeding

     The widow of Boutros Ghobary from Ehmj witnessed in 09/10/1925: I lived in the house of the priest Hanna Shehadeh from Meshmesh, nursing his nephew. One day we came to the hermitage of Annaya to baptize him in its church; accompanied with his mother, his father, his grandfather and his uncle Fr. Hanna; after the baptismal ceremony, we went down from the hermitage to the monastery to be blessed from the body of Fr. Sharbel, who was recently removed from the grave; when we opened his coffin an unpleasant smell emanated from the body. After this visit, we headed to Meshmesh, as we got far from the monastery, the child suddenly froze his eyes, started groaning and refrained from breastfeeding; so we were very worried about him;  his uncle the priest said to his grandmother: "What happened to the child, it's because of you, it is the result of your lack of faith in the holiness of Fr. Sharbel and because you have said the smell from his body is unpleasant... believe and ask him to heal the child." When his grandmother heard these words she knelt on the ground, praying and asking Fr. Sharbel, tears falling from her eyes, to heal the child.

 The parents of the child made a vow to Fr. Sharbel, begging him to heal their child; one of us went back to the monastery, offered the vow and brought a blessing from the body of Fr. Sharbel; once we put this blessing on the child, he refreshed, started breastfeeding as usual and recovered. 

                              14 - He granted her three boys and a girl

   Youssef Abbud from Ehmj witnessed in 09/10/1925: after the body of Sharbel was removed from the cemetery, I went with my wife to visit him, she asked God to give her a child; God granted her through the intercession of St. Sharbel three boys and a girl.   

15 - He refrained from eating

    Hanna Hussaini witnessed in 11/19/1925: My grandson, Assad, suffered from a pain in his stomach at the age of eight; he became pale, very thin and refrained from eating; he remained in this state, about nine months. His mother took him to Ehmj, so Saba Ouwaini could treat him but we didn't find him, she said: "I don't want any more to take him to doctors; I am determined to ask St. Sharbel to heal him."  We went to the monastery of Annaya and visited the body of St. Sharbel; we offered a vow for the recovering of the child and then we came back to Bejjeh, after few days the child recovered from the pain of the stomach and he started to eat as usual. 

16 - On foot

     Tannous Lteif from Fatqa Fettouh Kesserwan witnessed in 07/01/1926: As my son Elias had the yellow fever and was suffering from a stomach pain; his last physician was Dr. Khalil Karam, from Ghazir; but he did not benefit anything from the treatments and we were very concerned about his situation. On January 15, I was asleep, almost at midnight, and then I was inspired that the healing of my son is related to a visit to St. Sharbel; I got out of my bed and immediately vowed to take my son on the first day of July to Annaya on foot, seeking a blessing from the body of Sharbel. I told my son what had happened with me and announced his soon recovery; thus, he was recovered immediately and the disease disappeared completely. To fulfill my votive I went with him on the appointed time to the monastery of Annaya.

17 - She went deaf in one ear

Moussa Ghanem from Lehfed, the director of the district of Gezzin witnessed in 09/29/1926 : Around the year 1900 my sister Marta, at the age of eight, had a shock in one of her ears and because of this she lost hearing completely; she was treated by some of the physicians but she didn't benefit from the treatments. My sister asked me to send her to visit St. Sharbel. Upon her arrival to the place where the body of St. Sharbel was laid she felt a strong ringing in her infected ear and at once she recovered.  

18 - He granted him a boy

     Fr. Boutros Zahra witnessed in 10/09/1926: Youssef Boutros Abi-Nassif from Mayfouq hadn't had children for thirteen years after his marriage. He made a votive for St. Sharbel and he granted him a baby boy, called Naim and in baptism Sharbel.

19 - After fifteen minutes

    Maryam Barakat from Yahshoush witnessed in 10/17/1926: My son Wadih had an abscess in his neck at the age of two and a half, so I took him to the monastery of Annaya to visit Fr. Sharbel. After my arrival with my mother-in-law one of the monks took my child and wiped his neck with a blessing from St. Sharbel; after fifteen minutes he came back healthy, I didn't even know where the abscess was.

20 - My parents were concerned for my life

    Deebeh the wife of Nehemtallah Ibrahim from Lehfed witnessed: I got sick after I gave birth to my son Estephen in 1926, with puerperal fever disease accompanied with cough and chest congestion that I could no longer breathe; I remained like that about a month, my parents were concerned for my life, they gave me many treatments with no result. Finally, I made a vow for Fr. Sharbel and stopped the medication, I felt better, and in less than a week, I resumed my housework. I visited St. Sharbel crawling on hands and feet, I fulfilled my votive and thanked God.

M: Sharbel's objects

1 - The haircloth and the holy water of Sharbel

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Q: Sharbel's Image

1 - A monk with a transparent body!
 

Bro. Elias Nohra witnessed: On Monday, May 8, 1950, the day of the feast of St. John the Evangelist, patron of our Missionaries Congregation, I headed, under the order of the Principal of the Apostles' School in Jounieh, Fr. Youssef Merhi, ( later bishop) to visit the monastery of Saint Maron Annaya with Fr. Boutros Shalhoub, Fr. Sassine Zaidan, professed brothers, novices, scholastic and servants, we were about forty people in the school bus. Arriving at noon, we visited the church, the tomb of Saint Sharbel and the convent, the crowd was immense, the number of patients afflicted with disabilities was great; the prayers in the church were continuous, and the public in the midst were participating in prayers with faith and fervor; we celebrated the ceremony of Saint Maron, then the Blessed Sacrament.   Sharbel's Image    >>>

    After that a part of our team  ascended to the hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul, where I really wanted to take a picture with some brothers who were with me; the novice Youssef Antoun from Ebrine; on his right the student Hanna Ghosn from Dar-Baashtar; behind him a tree adjacent to the hermitage; to his right a young man who was visiting the shrine called Youssef Tannous from Hawqa; on his right Bro. Boulos Yazbek from Kartaba; seated before him Fr. Elias Abi Ramia from Ehmej, the head of the hermitage. The photo was taken with a camera "Kodak Broni". On May 9, we developed the film; and behold, before the young man from Hawka, was the image of a venerable monk; where we saw his face, his white beard, his hood on his head  and his right hand fingers blackened like a mummy. His body was transparent, dressed in a black habit like all Lebanese monastic monks; behind him appeared through his body, the stones and the herbs on the ground, as if the monk was from transparent glass; the figure of the monk appeared clearly, while kneeling, and it seemed closer to the camera from the other two young men standing behind him; his hood too was transparent. 

2 - I want to take a picture with you!

Youssef Tannous witnessed: I visited the hermitage of Sharbel on May 8, 1950. Some visitors from the Monastic of Kreim, came to me saying, would you like to take a picture with us? I replied, that's OK, and I stood up arms crossed. Then suddenly a monk appeared before me, saying: "I want to take a picture with you and sit in front of you."  Bro. Nohra Elias shot, suddenly the monk disappeared. After the development of the film, the monk who I only had seen, reappeared in the picture, those who knew him said that he was Saint Sharbel.  

3-This is the picture of Fr. Sharbel!

The attorney in the canonization process Fr. Mansour Awad, in cooperation with the Presidency of the Lebanese Order, in particularly the Abbot John Andari, showed this picture to the following: Alishaa Nakad who is the son of Wardeh, daughter of Hanna the brother of Fr. Sharbel; Bro. Gerges Nehemeh Lehfed; Fr. Elias Meshmesh; Fr. Youssef Ehmej; Fr Boutros Khalifa Maifouq; Fr Boulos Younan Meshmesh; Fr. Antonios Nehmeh; Fr. Youssef Saad Khoury from Meshmesh. They all knew Fr. Sharbel in his lifetime and testified under oath, that this is the image of the Fr. Sharbel, represented him suffering at the time of his agony; also his hand resembles to the one on the corpse of Fr. Sharbel. Mrs. Nouhad Shamy said: This is the photo of Fr. Sharbel.

4-The Superior General Ighnatios Al-Tannoury

    "The way of holiness" magazine wrote: We have enlarged the picture of Fr. Sharbel and collected about thirty pictures of the old fathers of the Order and then we went to Al-Tannoura asking him to recognize each of the fathers represented in the pictures; as a trick to know if he could recognize the image of Fr. Sharbel. Gradually, he gave us the name of the fathers on the photos; when he arrived to the photo of Fr. Sharbel, he took it stared at it, looked at it closely, no longer till the tears flowed from his eyes, then he kissed it, bathed it with his tears; we knew well that it was the miraculous image of Fr. Sharbel that appeared in the shooting of the photographer. We asked him: "Father, is this picture to one of your relatives or your loved ones, that it has touched you so deeply." He replied, sobbing like a child: "No, this is the picture of Fr. Sharbel, from where did you bring it? He never took a picture in his lifetime! 

5 - The distinguishable mark!

      Abbot Andari explains: This image has a distinguishable mark, well-known to all who were witnesses on April 22, 1950 upon the disclosure of the body of Sharbel in the monastery of Saint Maron Annaya; this mark is, the fingers on the right hand of the corpse that is unharmed; it appeared in the image as it is currently in his coffin; as if it was taken directly from it.

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R: I will overflow of my Spiri (Ac 2,17)

1- the curing of a handycaped and a paralysed

Al-Indari testify: when the tomb was opened in april 22 -1950, I met while we was in the walkway, a young crippled man named Emile Boutros,who walks on two crutches because of a bad knee. So I told him to call for the intercession of Saint Charbel for curing.

Then when we was in the Church to examine the body of saint Sharbel we heard in the outside applauding with lots of noise. In checking the matter, we learned that the young crippled man was healed of his illeness.

   And I also knew that a man from Bmaryem, (not to claime his name), whom he works for the phone company, passed by saint Maroon  Ennaya`s Monastery, the day of the examination of the body.

   And since he could`nt enter the tomb, he wiped his hat at the wall, for blessings, and went back to his town Bmaryem.

   He had a paralysed niece, means she cannot walk, now her parents knew that he was at Ennaya saint Maroon`s monastery. So they asked him if he brought with him, any blessing (item). He told them the story, he could`nt enter the tomb and that he wiped his hat at the wall. Then he gave them the hat, they wiped the girl with that hat and she got healed and stood up and walked. 

   2-Their hearts was broken ( Acts 2/37 )

   And the crowds was mooving in to pay a visit to the tomb, from all ranks, and of all religions, schollars and simples, governors and average people. Aiming for curing of sicknesses, illnesses, and hopeless cases.

   Now the greatest miracle of all, was that : a lots of people whom was away from receiving holy Sacrements for decades especialy the Sacrement of repentance (Confession).

   Now visiting the tomb, they were driven by a great sense of  piety and the feelings of repentance, and went to confess with tears. 

   3-Curing a blood streamer (Mark 5/25-42)

   Curing father Lattouf Al-Indari sister in law from a blood stream she had it for two years when she was about to die. Then she was cured with the intercession of father Sharbel. 

   4- The curing of joints illeness

   Niehmat Yousef Ibrahim, one of saint Maroon Monastery`s partners.

   In 1941 When he was five years old, he caught a desease, the illeness of his joints. His parents took him to the physicians, and they said, the healing of this desease takes a long time.

   So his mother rushes to saint Sharbel`s intercession, and asked for relics of his tomb. So I gave her a piece of clothe of his trace, and some water with which some of saint Sharbel`s clothe was dipped in. So she took that blessed piece of clothe dippeded it in that blessed water, and rubed her son`s joints, right at that moment the boy start mooving and the next day was healed. 

   5- After Lord Jesus (Matt 20/29)

   Father fallom the Jesuite, wrote: I myself went to mount Jbeil. The seen was wonderfull, tens of buses, hundreds of cars, carrying the crowds. This what drive me to think about the crowds which was bursting two thousand years ago, after Lord Jesus… It is a seen that leaves in the mind, a deep impression of faith! Thus I beleive There are miracles there, that leads to faith which exceed the healing miracles. 

   6- Red flames of fire like tongues (Acts 2/3)

   The healing matters went beyond boundaries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, even to Europe and America.

   Sharbel became the common news for the whole world. The number of daily visitors to the tomb are no less then five thousands, when at sundays and feast days the number grow up to fifteen thousands, and at Pentacost day the number crossed forty thousand!.

   About five thousand people of whom was standing at the right side of the tomb in the open field, the day of the pentecost, assured seeing in the midst of the day, father Sharbel`s tomb, illumined with a heavenly light, clear and so bright, soon as it diminished turn to redish fiery tongues. Like that one, which came down from heaven the day of Pentecost on the Appostles at zion`s upper room .

   Joy and fear shadowed over the presence and every one was crying that feelings. And they glorified God in Sharbel.

 The following day (to Pentecost) and right before all these crowds who was gathered from all around the world, and at their views, many of who carried petitions for healings of their hopeless cases to father Sharbel`s tomb, was healed miraculously just at once. 

   7- One miracle in two!

   This miracle happened with Fouad, the brother of the recluse father Youhanna Al-Khawand. After he was in coma for over two years. Now happened doubled miracle: The first is the healing of Fouad who`s name became Sharbel. The second is the printing of Sharbel`s picture in the heart of the recluse father, which made of him a modest monk, in all the stages of his life, and he followed Sharbel`s footsteps, and became a recluse in saint Antonios`s cell at Tamish, in 1/17/1989.

   A poeme was written by father Khawand discribing what happend; here is what it mean:

   Father Youhanna khawand was eleven years old when he joined Monasticsm.

   In Ghosta as a beginner and in his third year, when saint Sharbel was enlighted with heavenly light over his tomb, plus the miracles, that have been performed thrue him.

   His brother was yet in coma for two straight years. Physicians gave up on him.

   Hopeless, remain skin and bones, lying asleep.

   It came to pass, that one of Their relatives, Yousef Shekrey, a very faithfull person. Visited saint Sharbel, kneeled and prayed at the tomb, then collect a piece of cotton watered from the saint`s body. He wiped Fouad`s forthead with that cotton, and prayed fervently to the precious Lord.

   Fouad was then in the Monastery of the Cross getting full service, as a sick patient.    

   At night Fouad wokes up, cried loud: <mom! where am I? What is the matter with me!?>.

    After seen his brother, father Khawand went back to his monastery, and thus saint Sharbel changed his life from an evil person to a modest one, and spent lifetime as a monastic and now as an anchorite. 

   8- The blinds sees, the lames walks and the sicks are getting heald. (Lu 7/22)

   El Aamal news letter, wrote in 6/1/1950: We are satisfied to recite details of three miracles happened Thursday at the view of all the people, who reach the Monastery at all hour of the day, among them diplomatics, high ranks, clergy men, individuals and families.

Mary Maalouf She is from Zahleh living in Al-Rmaileh Beirut. She had shortness in one leg, about eight centimeters. She headed to saint Maroon`s monastery that Thursday. Then she went visiting saint Sharbel`s tomb, as costumed, the second she enter, her leg became just normal, and she never felt any shortness after that. Then she went back home, which became a station for the visitors   Saeedeh Asaad Farhat She is from Al-Jermok, El-Nabatiyeh, and she was seventeen years old. Born mal-formed and hunchbacked, She could`ve never staight herself up. That Thursday she visited saint Sharbel, and bowed down before the tomb, and start praying, and saying:  I Wo`nt leave before I got healed . then instantly stood up straight, and start walking thrue the crowds, like she have never been ill.   Mohammad walks He had his feet paralyzed. And could`nt walk without crutches, and with lots of care. That Thursday also visited saint Sharbel. The moment he touches the tomb, the two crutches was seen falling on the ground, and the man stood up on his feet and walked fast without any help, in the midst of these mobes, where every one was astonished. He headed straight to the Monastery and asked the abbot to accept him in, as a monk among the monks. But the abbot appologises and asked him to go back to his family and kin.

     9- Prince kaysar Abi El-Lamaah

   I had stomach ulcer. And I always vomited what I eat, this happen jointly with blood dripping. And I use to spend many months every year in a critical conditions. I was treated by many physicians, and I got no result. Then I payed a visit, to saint Sharbel and came back. And since then it has been two years already, vomiting has gone, and also no blood dripping any more, nor acid burning my stomach, when in the past it was constant and strong, burning my throat up. 

      10- Inserting in, Sharbel`s Tomb in the (Tourist Manual)

   Lisan El Hal news letter, wrote in June 1950: July and august, convoys of tourists arriving Lebanon, coming from America, and all parts of Europe and Asia.

   Touristic companies chifes representatives of Lebanon, informed our agent: < Some amendments has been inserted lately to their vocational tour program to the Lebanese land,  (Added to the list of historic events, sharbel`s tomb at saint Maroon Ennaya).

    And his news are spreaded around the globe .

   Major general of the national security brigade, gave his order to invent a small police station, neighboring the monastery, and another one in Al-Mnaytrah on the monastery`s way, to controll the traffic that crowd out on the streets days and nights heading to the monastery.