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On Monday, December 1, Pope Leo XIV spent time in prayer at the tomb of St. Charbel, a 19th-century Maronite hermit monk, renowned as a great miracle worker. This event at the St. Maroun monastery in Annaya took place on the second day of the Pope’s trip to Lebanon.
His visit to the tomb is a powerful gesture that not only reflects the Pope's devotion to the Lebanese monk, but also signifies the Holy See's connection with the Maronite community, the largest Christian community in Lebanon.
In the images of St. Charbel, his face is framed by a white beard and a black hood, haloed by the light of holiness. Interestingly, as Pope Leo XIV noted in his words to youth in the evening after his visit, “his eyes are always depicted as closed, as if veiling an infinitely greater mystery.” And indeed, saint Charbel is always depicted in traditional iconography with his eyes closed, as if he were praying.
The Pope continued:
Through the eyes of St. Charbel, which were closed in order to see God more clearly, we continue to perceive God’s light with greater clarity. The song dedicated to him is beautiful: ‘O you who sleep, and whose eyes are light for ours, on your eyelids a grain of incense has blossomed.’
Hermit and humble servant
In addition to this spiritual explanation, there’s another side to it, related to the fact that St. Charbel was a hermit monk.
“Maronite hermits don’t look at the faithful who come to visit them; they are their servants,” explains Bishop Samer Nassif, chorepiscopus of the Diocese of Sidon in Lebanon. St. Charbel was obeying the rule of Maronite hermitage, according to which hermit monks receive their visitors with an attitude of humble service.
Since the times of St. Maron, and as tradition has perpetuated, hermits in Eastern Maronite monasticism don’t live cut off from the world. Mornings are reserved for Mass and prayer, but afternoons are punctuated by visits from the faithful, who come to seek advice, a blessing, or a word of life.
“A Maronite monk is like a servant, asking his visitors, ‘What can I do for you?’ This is one of the distinctive features of Eastern Maronite monasticism, and this form of monastic life has contributed to the spread of Christianity in the Middle East,” emphasizes the Maronite chorepiscopus.
In the world but not of the world
Nor does the Maronite hermit live cut off from the sufferings of the world; quite the contrary. Charbel Makhlouf was well aware of the violent persecutions against Maronite Christians in Mount Lebanon at that time. He was 32 years old when the Maronite massacre took place in 1860.
“St. Charbel is in the world, insofar as he suffers with his people and prays for them, but he is not of this world,” says chorepiscopus Samer Nassif. “His eyes are closed because he is turned toward God; he belongs to Heaven.”
“He renounced the wealth and glory of this world to follow God; he didn’t even want any power in his community. When he entered the monastery, he sought only ‘the glory of God’ and ‘the salvation of [his] soul.’”
Pope Leo to youth in Lebanon
He sometimes seems silent or absent, but he reveals himself to those who seek him in silence.
As you strive to do good, I ask you to be contemplatives like Saint Charbel by praying, reading Sacred Scripture, participating in Holy Mass and spending time in adoration.
Pope Benedict XVI said to the Christians of the Levant: “I encourage you to cultivate a true and lasting friendship with Jesus through the power of prayer” (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, 63).
