Saint of the Day: Bl. Estafan Nehmé

Lebanese Maronite Monk (1889-1938)

His life

+ Yusuf was born in Lehfed, Lebanon. After being educated by monks of the Lebanese Maronite Order, he joined the order in 1907 and received the religious name Estafan (Esƫfān). His personal mantra was, “God can see me.”

+ During the First World War, he helped to provide food for those starving during a famine.

+ Remembered for his devotion to the Mother of God, he worked in the fields of his own monastery and helped other monastic communities by working as a gardener and laborer; he became well known and other monasteries sought him to live with them because of his holiness, spiritual insights, and work ethic.

+ Blessed Estafan died on August 30, 1938, and was beatified in 2010.

For prayer and reflection

“My mouth shall be filled with your praise, shall your glory every day.”—Psalm 71:8

Spiritual bonus

On this day the Church also remembers Saint Fiacre. An Irish hermit who later settled in France, Fiacre died in 670 and is honored as the patron saint of gardeners.

Prayer

O God, who in your kindness called your servant blessed Estefan to the following of Christ, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, denying ourselves, we may hold fast to you with all our heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For a Monk)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.