[1] (Arabic: شربل مخلوف, May 8, 1828 – December 24, 1898), born Youssef Antoun Makhlouf and venerated as Saint Charbel, was a Maronite monk and priest from modern-day Lebanon.

Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born on May 8, 1828, one of five children, in the mountain village of Bekaa Kafra, the highest by elevation in Lebanon.

His father, Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf, was a mule driver who died in August 1831 while returning from corvée for the Turkish army, leaving his wife Brigitta (née Chidiac) a widow to care for their children.

[5] Makhlouf was raised in this pious home, and became drawn to the lives of the saints and the eremitical life practiced by two of his uncles.

[5] In 1851, Makhlouf left his family to begin training as a monk of the Lebanese Maronite Order at the Monastery of Our Lady in Mayfouq.

[5] As a young monk, Makhlouf began to prepare himself for ordination by studying philosophy and theology at the Monastery of Saints Cyprian and Justina in Kfifan, Batroun District.

– George Emmanuel Abi-Saseen, one of the pallbearers[7]One story claims: "A few months after his death, a bright light was seen surrounding his tomb and the superiors opened it to find his body still intact.

[8] Additionally, the 1950 television tape of his exhumation showed Makhlouf's body as still intact, despite the grave having become severely rusty.

[10] The Catholic Tradition website[11] says: "Father Joseph Mahfouz, the postulator of the cause, certified that in 1965 the body of Saint Charbel was still preserved intact with no alteration.

The cathedral is the first in Slovakia to receive his official relics from Lebanon, and attracts pilgrims from across the country as well as neighbouring states like Poland, Ukraine and Czech Republic.

The pope said: “A hermit of Mount Lebanon is enrolled in the number of the blessed… a new eminent member of monastic sanctity has by his example and his intercession enriched the entire Christian people … may he make us understand, in a world largely fascinated by wealth and comfort, the paramount value of poverty, penance and asceticism, to liberate the soul in its ascent to God.” On October 9, 1977, the pontiff canonized Makhlouf.

[21] The Lebanese Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, attended the inauguration ceremony giving his blessing and a dedication, as well as Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

I wanted that Light to stay permanently.”[31] After the vision, Nader was leaving when his arm felt hot and itchy near the statue of Saint Charbel.

But I felt nothing but warmth.”[32] Dr. Nabil Hokayem, a plastic surgeon from Beirut, examined the mark and believed it was a third-degree burn despite it not causing Nader pain.