Mystic · Modern
St. Charbel Makhlouf
1828–1898 · Maronite monastic hermit tradition
Canonized 1977; Maronite monk and hermit of Annaya.
A Lebanese Maronite monk of the Order of St. Maron who spent sixteen years in the monastery of Annaya and twenty-three in its hermitage, in silence, manual labor, fasting and nightly adoration, speaking only when required. He left no writings; his teaching is his life, and the miracles at his tomb made him the most venerated saint of the Christian East in communion with Rome.
Why he matters: The purest modern witness of the Syriac-Maronite ascetic tradition, venerated by Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims alike; he shows that the Eastern Catholic Churches hold the hermit's path as living patrimony.
Reading
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Love Is a Radiant Light: The Life and Words of Saint CharbelHanna Skandar · Reported sayings and the life, from the Annaya community.
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Saint Charbel: Mystic of the EastPaul Daher · The standard biography by a monk of his order.
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Hymns on ParadiseSt. Ephrem the Syrian · The Syriac spiritual world Charbel inhabited.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.