Light From the East – Saint Charbel

Saint Charbel Makhlouf is one of the best known saints in the Middle East. He arouses admiration and universal awe because of the extraordinary miracles and signs wrought through the power of his intercession. No one ever photographed Saint Charbel, neither did anyone paint a portrait of him in his lifetime. On May 8th, 1950, still another extraordinary event occurred. Several Maronite missionaries took a photo of themselves before the Saint’s grave. After the photo was developed, it turned out that there was another unknown figure—that of a monk—standing among them. Some of the elderly monks recognized that figure as Father Charbel himself, and from that time on this photo has been the prototype of all subsequent portraits of the saint hermit. Deacon Harold dives deeper today along with Soulful Psalm 147A.