ISRAEL: Hundreds attend church celebration of Mar Charbel’s Miracles on Mount Carmel, hold prayers for earthquake victims

Maryam Younnes reports from Isfiya, Israel – A traditional mass was held on February 22^nd at Saint Charbel’s Church in Isfiya, Israel. Every month on the same date, the Maronite patron saint Mar Charbel is revered for his life teachings and miracles. Hundreds of believers attend the mass to pray and receive blessings from the saint monk.

The Mass at the Syriac Maronite Mar Charbel Church in Isfiya, a Druze majority village on Mount Carmel, was presided by Mgr. Musa Al-Hajj, archbishop of the Syriac Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land. Hundreds of believers from all over Israel attended.

Neveen Elias, a Maronite Aramaic Israeli from the Maronite majority village of Jish in Northern Israel said: “This mass is very special to me; I participate every month to pray and ask Mar Charbel to bless me and my family. I also pray for peace so we could, one day, pray in Annaya in Lebanon.”

Mgr. Musa Al-Hajj dedicated the mass to the victims of the earthquake and asked the worshipers to dedicate their prayers and thoughts to the victims and survivors, saying; “We dedicate today’s special mass to the victims, survivors and all who are affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. We pray to God and Mar Charbel to keep our region safe.”

In addition, the Monsignor informed the parish on the major issues discussed at the first official meeting of Syriac Patriarchs held in Lebanon last December. He elaborated on the patriarchs’ intention to work together to strengthen the common Syriac heritage, spreading Christian liturgy, and, most importantly, their rising concerns regarding the surging Christian migration from their homelands in the Middle East.

Mar Charbel, a Syriac Maronite miracle saint

Mar Charbel was born Yousef Antoun Makhlouf in 1828 in Mount Lebanon. He became a monk of the Lebanese Maronite Order at age 23 and took on the name of Charbel. He was very devoted and often took the flock to a grotto to pray to Blessed Virgin Mary. Mar Charbel died on Christmas eve in 1898 and was buried at  Saint Maroun’s Monastery in Annaya, Mount Lebanon. In 1977 he was canonized at the Vatican.

Mar Charbel is most known for his powerful intercession for the sick. Many miracles have happened through him. One of the most known miracles is the operation he did on Nohad El Shami from Mezarib in Mount Lebanon.

Mar Charbel’s miracle healing

On the evening of January 9, 1993, Nohad suffered severe weakness, stiffness and lack of control over her left leg, arm and mouth. The doctors said that Nohad had suffered hemiplegia which was due to the obstruction and blockage of 80 per cent of her left-brain arteries and 70 per cent of her right brain arteries and concluded that there was no treatment to cure her. Meanwhile, Nohad’s eldest son Saad went to Annaya in Mount Lebanon, a hermitage site where Mar Charbel used to pray, meditate, fast, work and sleep. Saad brought back consecrated oil and soil from the tomb of Mar Charbel which was applied to his mother’s body.

According to Nohad, on the night of the January 22, 1993, she saw in her dream two Maronite monks standing next to her bed. One of the monks put his hands on her neck and started operating on her while the other monk relieved her from her pain. When Nohad woke up from the dream, she discovered two long surgical wounds on each side of her neck. Nohad also noticed she could move her arms and walk on her legs as normal. Nohad was completely healed from hemiplegia. The next night, Mar Charbel appeared to her in her dream and asked her  to visit his hermitage in Annaya on the 22nd of every month, and so the tradition began.