Sharbel Makhlouf was born at Be’quaa-Kafra, a hamlet in Lebanon. Being orphaned of father from early childhood he was brought up by his uncle. The child’s inclination for prayer and solitude was incredible. Therefore, no one was surprised when Sharbel joined the monastery of Our Lady of Mayfung at the age of twenty-three and later ordained a priest in 1859. After receiving a solid base for his spiritual growth in the monastery, his next goal was to venture into a more rigorous and austere form of life. Therefore he left Our Lady of Mayfung, established a hermitage in 1875 and followed the foot-steps of St. Maron, a fifth century hermit. For twenty-three long years he led a life of solitude, prayer and penance, with a plank for his pillow and a simple vegetable meal a day. His hour of reckoning came on December 24, 1898. Sharbel was canonized in 1977.
Reflection: Sharbel, who is a member of the Aramaic Maronite Antiochian Church and who is rightly called “The New Star of the East,” reminds us that sanctity is possible in any part of the world and irrespective of the Liturgical Rite one follows. All that is required is the will to “discipleship.” The celebration of this feast brings home to us the truth that the liturgy of the East and of the West are like the two lungs of the Church which supplement each other to enrich and vivify it.
Father of truth, behold your son who makes atoning sacrifice to you. Accept the offering; ….He died for me that I might have life. (St.Sharbel)
