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Religion is full of the sights of hermits devoting their existence to God and sitting out in the desert somewhere, maybe in a cave of some type. I am not saying there is anything wrong with this picture or practice. I only mention it because I am about to talk about St. Charbel, a Lebanese hermit that is credited with many miracles. He was born on May 8, 1828. His parents were very religious and instructed him in the ways of piety. His birthplace was Bkaakafra in the North Lebanon Mountains.

St Charbel believed that solitude was the way to gain God's grace and at the age of 23 he left home and joined the Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouq. The monastery was located near Jbeil. He didn't stay their for his whole life. He was sent to the Monastery of Saint Maroun at Annaya. This may be blasphemy to some but I have to wonder why he took such a severe step as to renounce ever seeing his family, including his mother again. This is exactly what he did. He decided that the way to holiness was to cut all ties to the world. His mother had come to the monastery and begged him to return home but instead he vowed never to see her again or for that matter ever see anyone again from the outside world.

He was very well thought of since, after he became a priest, he carried out his duties without complaint and in an exemplary fashion, including all different types of manual labor. He never broke his vows of chastity. He was allowed to enter the hermitage in 1875 and even though he was a hermit he was still subject to the rules that were enforced by his superiors.

At this point many miracles became associated with him. One of the first miracles happened when one of the priests was trapped by a snake. It was said he ordered the snake away and it turned and left. He is also credited with clearing fields of grasshoppers by sprinkling them with holy water. Then he died from a stroke on December 24, 1898. But this was only the beginning of his miracles.

An unexplained brightness surrounded the grave where St. Charbel was buried. It lasted for 45 days then gradually began to fade away. Of course by this time people had found out about it and were coming from everywhere to see it. But the pilgrims that came were not all peaceful and some tried to steal pieces of anything they could get from the grave. Now the authorities opened the grave to see what was going on. A liquid was coming from the body that looked like blood and it was easily seen. The liquid can still be seen today. It is said that a cloth that contains stains where the liquid got onto it is responsible for many healings.

The last time the grave was opened was in 1955 and it still oozed the red liquid and was still flexible as if he had just died and rigor hadn't set in yet. A nun named Sister Maria Abdel Kamari was bedridden for 14 years and given the last rights three times. She was taken out to the grave and then something miraculous happened. She felt a surge of energy come over her body and stood on her own. She had been completely cured of her illness. A mother of 12 suffered narrowing of the arteries and became paralyzed in 1993. She lay in bed and then a vision came over her. St Charbel came to her bed with another monk. He put his hand on her neck and told her he was going to operate on her. She felt a sharp pain under his hand. He told her to drink but she protested that she couldn't drink without a straw. He said that she had been operated on and cured and didn't need a straw anymore. She awoke from her vision and was cured. Another woman who was paralyzed was given a brew made from oak leaves that come from a tree that St. Charbel had blessed. She said when she drank the liquid she felt a burning that was so painful she couldn't adequately describe it. She fell to the floor with spasms of her feet and passed out. When she awoke she had been cured.

One of the most spectacular miracles involves a Mr. Raymond Nader. He had gone to the hermitage of St. Charbel to meditate. That night he felt this fiery warmth around him, then he says he was in a different world and bathed in a beam of light, light that was much brighter than any light anyone had ever seen. He thought he was dreaming but then he heard a voice, that seemed to come from everywhere, saying that he was more awake than ever. He said he felt deep peace. Four hours had passed but it only seemed like seconds. When he took off his pullover there were five finger prints on his arm and they itched and oozed blood and water. It was confirmed that these prints were caused by a second degree burn. A year later he saw a procession with a very old priest at the end. He approached him to speak to him then he again felt that he had been taken somewhere else. He was given a message and the voice he heard was that of St. Charbel. He would be given five more messages and each time the fingerprints would reappear. Some of the Messages are as follows:

"The Lord has created each human being to shine, to enlighten the world; you are the light of the world. Each man is a lantern meant to shine; the Lord has provided a clear and transparent glass to the lantern, to enable that light to shine and illuminate the world; but they are taking care of the glass and forgetting about the light; they are caring about the glass shape, coloring and decorating it, until it becomes thick, opaque, preventing light from shining forth, and thus is the world drowned in darkness. The Lord insists on illuminating the world. Your glass must become transparent again. You should realize the purpose for which you are born in this world."

"Christ knows what is in your hearts, and it is your hearts that he wants. Don't seek for the truth outside the Christ; when you know the Christ, you will know the Truth and you will be free. The Christ wants you to be free. Fear not, and be sure that the Christ has defeated the world."

"The Church of the Christ is a rock upon which are being shattered the waves of evil. Christ is the way. Crosses of light will flood the Earth."