Scharbel Machluf

Scharbel Machluf (often also written Charbel Makhlouf ; * May 8, 1828 as Joseph Machluf in Biqa-Kafra , Lebanon ; † December 24, 1898 in Annaya , Lebanon) was a Maronite monk, and the first in modern times by the Roman Catholic Church was officially canonized in 1977 (Remembrance Day on July 24th ).

Life

Joseph Machluf came from a simple Christian farming family in the then inaccessible high mountain region in northern Lebanon , the only region in the Arab world that is still almost exclusively inhabited by Christians , whose culture is strongly influenced by the numerous Maronite monasteries and hermitages there.

Joseph, who is said to have been very pious as a child, entered the Notre Dame de Mayfouk monastery (north of Jbeil (Byblos) ) at the age of 23 . In 1853 he moved to the monastery of St. Maroun in Annaya, where he performed the monk's vows and took the religious name Scharbel (after the old oriental martyr Sarbelius ).

He spent the next few years at Kfifan Monastery , where he studied theology with Father Nimatullah al-Kafri and Father Nimatullah al-Hardini (the latter was canonized by John Paul II in 2004 ). He was ordained a priest in 1859 and returned to Annaya. In 1875 he decided to live as a hermit in the Hermitage of St. Peter and Paul above Annaya. On December 16, 1898, while he was celebrating Holy Mass in the Hermitage, he suffered a stroke , of which he died on Christmas Eve 1898.

Scharbel was said to have had various miracles during his lifetime . Soon after his death, it was found that his body had not rotted or dried up, but still contained and secreted body fluid. This was also confirmed in later reburial . These phenomena, as well as numerous healings from the sick after a visit to Scharbel's grave, quickly made him an integral part of oriental-Christian popular piety . Two healings from 1950 finally led to the initiation of a beatification process in Rome, which on December 5, 1965 with the official beatification of Scharbel by Pope Paul VI. found its conclusion. Due to a third healing in 1967, the canonization took place on October 9, 1977 , again in Rome by Paul VI.

“Mar Scharbel”, whose image can be found in numerous corners of God , on taxi windscreens, and in churches and chapels in the Orient, belongs to St. Rebekah Ar Rayès ( canonized by John Paul II in 2001 ) and St. Nimatullah al-Hardini , the academic teacher Scharbel (canonized in 2004 by John Paul II) on the three Lebanese saints officially canonized by Rome.

The feast of the Holy Scarlet is celebrated in the Catholic Church on July 24th . In the German-speaking countries, the holy Scharbels has been commemorated since February 2006 in Stans in the canton of Nidwalden in the Swiss Alps, where he and Saint Niklaus von Flüe , whose life story in Switzerland is very similar to that of Saint Scharbels in Lebanon, in the former Capuchin Church is venerated.

literature

Maria Bayer: A new saint of the Maronites. - Scharbel Makhlouf (1828–1898). In: Ostkirchliche Studien I / 3, Würzburg, September 1952.
Ernst Joseph Görlich , Der Wundermönch vom Lebanon: The life of Saint Scharbel Machluf, Stein am Rhein 1979. ISBN 978-3-7171-0484-1

Web links

Commons : Charbel Makhlouf - collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Machluf, Scharbel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Machluf; Joseph; Makhlouf, Joseph; Makhlouf, Charbel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Monk and saint of the Catholic Church
DATE OF BIRTH	May 8, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH	Biqa-Kafra
DATE OF DEATH	December 24, 1898
Place of death	Annaya