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Saint Charbel / Saint Hardini / Saint Rafca / Saint Marina / Saint Aquilina / Three Massabki Brothers
The Story of Saint Charbel
 On May 8, 1828 in a mountain village of Beka'kafra, the highest village in the near-east, Charbel was born to a poor Maronite family. From childhood his life revealed a calling to "bear fruit as a noble Cedar of Lebanon". Charbel "grew in age and wisdom before God and men". At 23 years old he entered the monastery of
Our Lady of Mayfouk (north of Byblos) where he became a novice. After two years of novitiate, in 1853, he was sent to St. Maron monastery where he pronounced the monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Charbel was then transferred to the monastery of Kfeifan where he studied philosophy and theology. His
ordination to the priesthood took place in 1859, after which he was sent back to St. Maron monastery. His teachers provided him with good education and nurtured within him a deep love for monastic life.
During his 19 years at St. Maron monastery, Charbel performed his priestly ministry and his monastic duties in an edifying way. He totally dedicated himself to Christ with undivided heart to live in silence before Nameless One. In 1875 Charbel was granted permission to live as a hermit nearby the monastery at St. Peter and Paul hermitage. His 23 years of solitary life were lived in a spirit of total abandonment to God.
Charbel's companions in the hermitage were the Sons of God, as encountered in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, and the Blessed Mother. The Eucharist became the center of his life. He consumed the Bread of his Life and was consumed by it. Though this hermit did not have a place in the world, the world had a great place in his heart. Through prayer and penance he offered himself as a sacrifice so that the world would return to God. It is in this light that one sees the importance of the following Eucharistic prayer in his life:
"Father of Truth, behold Your Son a sacrifice pleasing to You, accept this offering of Him who died for me..."
On December 16, 1898 while reciting the "Father of Truth" prayer at the Holy Liturgy Charbel suffered a stroke. He died on Christmas Eve at the age of 70. Through faith this hermit received the Word of God and through love he continued the Ministry of Incarnation.
On the evening of his funeral, his superior wrote: "Because of what he will do after his death, I need not talk about his behavior". A few months after his death a bright light was seen surrounding his tomb. The superiors opened it to find his body still intact. Since that day a blood-like liquid flows from his body. Experts and doctors are unable to give medical explanations for the incorruptibility and flexibility. In the years 1950 and 1952 his tomb was opened and his body still had the appearance of a living one.
The spirit of Charbel still lives in many people. His miracles include numerous healings of the body and of the spirit. Thomas Merton, the American Hermit, wrote in his journal: "Charbel lived as a hermit in Lebanon---he was a Maronite. He died. Everyone forgot about him. Fifty years later, his body was discovered incorrupt and in short time he worked over 600 miracles. He is my new companion. My road has taken a new turning. It seems to me that I have been asleep for 9 years---and before that I was dead."
At the closing of the Second Vatican Council, on December 5, 1965 Charbel was beatified by Pope Paul VI who said:
"...a hermit of the Lebanese mountain is inscribed in the number of the blessed...a new eminent member of monastic sanctity is enriching, by his example and his intercession, the entire Christian people... May he make us understand, in a world largely fascinated by wealth and comfort, the paramount value of poverty, penance, and asceticism, to liberate the soul in its ascent to God..."
On October 9, 1977 during the World Synod of Bishops, Pope Paul VI canonized Blessed Charbel among the ranks of the Saints. top
Life of Saint Hardini
 Father Hardini was born Joseph Kassab in the year 1808. His father was George Kassab and his mother Marium Raad, daughter of Reverend Yousef Yacoub. He had four brothers and two sisters, his brothers were 'Assaf, Elias, Tanious, Yacoub and his sisters Masihieh and Mariam. Joseph's brother Elias became Father Lesha', the Hermit at Qozhaya, and later at 'Annaya where he died. Father Charbel replaced the late Father Lesha' at the hermitage in 'Annaya. Joseph entered the school of the monks of St. Anthony at Houb from 1816 to 1822 and then entered the monastery of St. Anthony Ishaia and became a novice on November 1828. There he adopted the name Fr. Nimatullah Kassab Hardini, then he learned to bind books.
He professed his first vows on 14th of November 1830. After he finished his theological studies, he was ordained a priest under Bishop Seiman Zwain in the monastery at Kfifan on 25th of December 1833.
He became a member of the general council three times from 1845 to 1848, 1850 to 1853, 1856 to 1858. As a member of the council he continued to bind books. He taught in monastic schools, especially in Kfifan.
Father Nimatullah lived a very holy life. He was a man of prayer, totally "enraptured by God". He spent days and nights in meditation, prayer and adoration of the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary was his patron and Father Nimatullah prayed Her Rosary. He was also a very humble, sensitive and patient person who lived his monastic vows of "obedience, chastity and poverty" to perfection. His fellow brother Monks and the people who knew him called him "The Saint" while he was still alive. One of his students was Charbel Makhlouf (St. Charbel), 1853 to 1858.
Father Nimatullah Hardini died in the monastery of Kfifan on 14th December 1858. He passed away after struggling ten days with a high fever which he contracted from the cold winter wind characteristic of northern Lebanon. He was only then fifty years of age. He died holding a picture of the Virgin Mary, his last words being: "O Virgin Mary between your hands I submit my soul." People who were nearby at the moment of Father Nimatullah's death witnessed a heavenly light illuminating his room and an aromatic smell which remained in his room for a number of days afterwards. When the then Patriarch, Boulos Massad, heard of Father Nimatullah's death he commented: "Congratulations to this monk who knew how to benefit from his monastic life."
Some time later, the Monks opened Father Nimatullah's tomb and to their surprise they found his body had remained incorrupt. He was then removed and placed in a coffin near the church. After obtaining due permission from the local ecclesiastical authority, from 1864 visitors were allowed to see Father Neemtallah's intact body until 1927. In that same year the Committee of Inquiry set up to investigate the Cause of Father Nimatullah finalised its investigation. Father Nimatullah's body was then reburied in the curving wall of his monastic cell, before being transferred to a little Chapel where masses are celebrated for visitors.
He was declared Venerable on September 7, 1989. At the behest of his Beatitude Patriarch Nasrallah Peter Sfeir, his body was examined and placed in a new coffin on May 18, 1996. His body was recently transferred to a new coffin made of cedar and placed in the Monastery of Kfifan where people may visit.
Several cures have taken place through his intercession. These include the raising to life of a Muslim child whose mother claimed had died, the healing of a person with a neurological disease, the restoration of sight to a blind person and the curing of a person suffering from cancer.
The case of the curing of Andre Najm is of particular note due to its very recent occurance and thourough investigation by the international medical community that followed. Andre Najm, born on October 29, 1966 enjoyed excellent health for the first twenty years of his life. However in June of 1986 he began to experience a chronic fatigue and nervous breakdowns, unable to even walk a short distance. Many physicians in Lebanon and abroad treated him to no avail. He was suffering from a form of blood cancer and required frequent blood transfusions. top
Life of Saint Rafca
 Born about the year 1832, Blessed Rafka was first known by her baptismal name Boutrossieh (Pierrette or Petronila in French). Before dying, Blessed Rafka told of her life to Sister Ursula, superior of the monastery in which she died, “There is nothing important in my life that is worthy of being recorded … my mother died when I was seven years old. After her death my father married for a second time.”
When Blessed Rafka was 14 years old her stepmother wanted her to marry her brother, and her maternal aunt wanted her to marry her son. Rafka did not want to marry either of the men and this caused a great deal of discord in her family. After overhearing her stepmother and aunt exchange insults, Rafka asked God to help her deal with the problem. She then decided to become a nun and went straight to the convent of Our Lady of Liberation at Bikfaya.
This decision was not just to escape the problem of her marriage but a response to a true calling. As Rafka recounts, “When I entered the Church I felt immense joy, inner relief and, looking at the image of the Blessed Virgin, I felt as if a voice had come from it and penetrated the most intimate part of my conscience. It said to me: You will be a nun.”
Rafka’s father and stepmother did try to take her back home but she did not want to go. “I asked the mistress of novices to excuse me from seeing them and she agreed. They returned home, saddened, and since then I never saw them again…”
Fr. Joseph Gemayel and his family founded a new religious institute for women that provided them with full- time education as well as religious instruction. Blessed Rafka’s name, Pierina, was listed last among the first four aspirants of “Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception” (“Mariamettes”, in French) in Fr. Gemayel’s notebook dated January 1, 1853. She was 21.
On February 9, 1855, the Feast of St. Maron, Rafka commenced her novitiate in Ghazir convent and chose the name Anissa (Agnes). She took her first vows in 1856 that were renewable every year. She was first “in charge of the kitchen and was studying in preparation for teaching the rudiments of culture … She was placed in charge of the workers and had the task of giving them religious instruction in a spinning mill in Scerdanieh , where she remained for two months.” After her final vows, Rafka was sent to the Jesuit founded Eastern seminary of Ghazir .
In 1860 she went to Deir-el-Qamar , in southern Lebanon. She recounted, “That year there were the well known battles and bloody massacres.” In less than two months the Druse sect, goaded by the Turks, killed 7,771 people and destroyed 360 villages, 560 churches, 28 schools, and 42 convents. Blessed Rafka saved one child’s life by hiding him in her skirt as he was being chased by some soldiers.
Two years later, Rafka was transferred to Gebail where she remained for one year before going to Ma’ad at the request of Antoun (Anthony) Issa, a local dignitary who was married but had no children. Rafka lived in their home while teaching Christian doctrine and supervising religious practice. One of her students of six years described Sister Anissa as “always tranquil, serene, sensitive and smiling in her humility…she never raised her voice and…never used corporal punishment.”
In 1871, the “Mariamettes” religious institute dissolved. Blessed Rafka decided to join the Baladita Order, the monastic order now named “The Lebanese Maronite Order of St. Anthony, founded in 1695 and told Antoun Issa of her decision. He asked her to stay on until the end of the year promising to leave her property and money but refused. Realizing her resolve, he offered to pay the dowry demanded by the Order for her.
That same night, Blessed Rafka dreamed of three men. One with a white beard, one dressed like a soldier and the third was an old man. One of the men said to her, “’Become a nun in the Baladita Order.’ I woke up very happy … and went to Antoun Issa, bursting with joy … and I told him about my dream.” Antoun identified the men as St. Anthony of Qozhaia (St. Anthony Abbot) of whom the order was inspired, the soldier was St. George, to whom the church in Ma’ad was dedicated and the third could only be a Baladita monk. Rafka decided to leave immediately for the monastery of St. Simon in Al-Qarn. Antoun gave her the money as promised as well as a letter of recommendation to the archbishop.
On July 12, 1871, at the age of 39, Blessed Rafka began her novitiate into the new monastery and then on August 25, 1873, she “professed her perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the spirit of the strict Rule of the Baladita Order.” Her new name was that of her mother’s, Rafka, (Rebecca), the name of Abraham’s great granddaughter and wife of his son Isaac. Rafka remained in the monastery until 1897.
In 1885, at the age of 53, Blessed Rafka decided not to join the nuns for a walk around the monastery. In her autobiographical account she wrote, “It was the first Sunday of the Rosary. I did not accompany them. Before leaving each of the nuns came and said to me, ‘Pray for me sister.’ There were some who asked me to say seven decades of the Rosary … I went to the Church and started to pray. Seeing that I was in good health and that I had never been sick in my life, I prayed to God in this way, ‘Why, O my God, have you distance yourself from me and have abandoned me. You have never visited me with sickness! Have you perhaps abandoned me?’”
Blessed Rafka continued in her account to her superior, the next night after the prayer “At the moment of sleeping I felt a most violent pain spreading above my eyes to the point that I reached the state you see me in, blind and paralyzed, and as I myself had asked for sickness I could not allow myself to complain or murmur.”
“The symbolic daughter of a country which for over a decade has been in the world headlines because of its suffering,” 1Blessed Rafka (Rebecca) suffered many years because of her desire to share in the passion of Jesus Christ.
One sister accompanied Rebecca to Tripoli for a medical visit for her eyes. “The doctor explored, poking one eye, then the other. Blood gushed out and… [Rafka] remained calm and smiling, repeating, ‘In communion with your suffering, Jesus!’…Two or three days later, the sore became inflamed and for about a month there was a copious discharge of pus.”
For two years, Blessed Rafka suffered. She went to several doctors who all agreed that there was nothing they could do. Upon the persuasion of Fr. Estefan, Blessed Rafka consulted an American doctor who strongly suggested that the eye be removed. Fr. Estefan recalls, “Before the operation I asked the doctor to anesthetize the eye so that Rebecca would not feel any pain but she refused. The doctor made her sit down and pushed a long scalpel … into her eye … the eye popped out and fell on the ground, palpitating slightly … Rafka didn’t complain … but only said, ‘in communion with Christ’s Passion.’” The pain was then all concentrated to her left eye and nothing could be done.
Gradually her left eye shrunk and sunk into the socket and Rafka became blind. For about thirty years both sockets hemorrhaged two to three times a week. She also suffered from frequent nosebleeds. “Her head, her brow, her eyes, her nose were as if they were being pierced by a red hot needle. Rafka did not let this pain isolate her from the community. She continued to spin wool and cotton and knitted stockings for the other sisters; she participated in choral prayer.
Due to the harsh winters at the monastery of St. Simon, Rafka was allowed to spend the coldest months on the Lebanese coast as a guest of the Sisters of Charity and then of the residence of the Maronite Order. Unable to observe the Rule at these locales, Blessed Rafka asked to be taken to the monastery of St. Elias at El Rass, which belonged to her order.
In 1897, Blessed Rafka, out of obedience, was able to permanently move to the monastery St. Joseph of Gerbata in Ma’ad along with Sister Ursula, where she remained for the last 17 years of her life. It was here that her suffering increased.
In 1907, she confided to Sister Ursula that she felt a pain in her legs, “as if someone were sticking lances in them and pain in my toes as if they were being pulled off.” This began the long list of sufferings and pains Blessed Rafka withstood for the last seven years of her life.
Based on direct evidence and on the autopsy of Rafka’s remains in 1927, she became paralyzed due to “the progressive disarticulation of her bones. She kept intact only her brain, her tongue, her ears and her wrist and finger joints while the pain continued in her head, her devastated eye sockets and her nosebleeds … completely immobile her lower jaw touched her benumbed knee.”
Even in this state, Blessed Rafka was able to crawl to the chapel on the feast of Corpus Christi to the amazement of all the sisters. When asked about this, Blessed Rafka replied, “I don’t know. I asked God to help me and suddenly I felt myself slipping from the bed with my legs hanging down; I fell on the floor and crawled to the chapel.”
On a separate occasion, when asked by her superior if she would like to see, Blessed Rafka responded, “I would like to see for at least an hour, to be able to look at you.” In an instant the superior could see Rafka smile and suddenly said, “Look, I can see now.” Not believing her, Sister Ursula put her to the test asking her to identify several objects. Shortly thereafter, Rafka fell into a deep sleep for about two hours. Sister Ursula became worried and tried repeatedly to awaken her. Upon waking, Rafka explained that she had entered a large, beautifully decorated building with baths full of water and people crowding to enter them; she went with them. Sister Ursula asked her why she came back; why she didn’t continue to walk. Blessed Rafka explained, “You called me, and I came.”
Blessed Rafka’s obedience and love for her superior is quite evident in this account. For a nun, the superior, “as the Rule puts it, represents Christ and is owed respect, obedience and love. Despite her condition, Rafka did nothing without the Superior’s permission.”
Three days before her death, Rafka said, “I am not afraid of death which I have waited for for a long time. God will let me live through my death.” Then on October 23, 1914, four minutes after receiving final absolution and the plenary indulgence, she died.
On June 9, 1984, the eve of Pentecost, in the presence of the Holy Father John Paul II, the decree approving the miracle of Elizabeth Ennakl who was completely cured of uterine cancer in 1938 at the tomb of Rafka, was promulgated.
On November 16, 1985 His Holiness Pope John Paul II declared her a Blessed and on June 10, 2001 the same Holy Father elevated her to the rank of Saints at a solemn ceremony in the Vatican top
Saint Marina
 Marina was born in Qlamoun North Lebanon sometime in the fifth century. Her father was a pious man. Her mother died while Marina was very young. This has made her father renounce the world and leave for the Monastery of Qannoubine in the Holy Valley; accompanying him was his daughter, whom he dressed like a man. It is said that her parents names were Ibrahim and Baddoura or and Eugene and Theodora. It is also said that when her father became a monk he left her in the care of her caretaker and after a few years he returned to see her, at which time she insisted on going wherever he went. In any event, father and daughter entered into monkshood with the daughter still pretending to be a man. As a monk she was known by the name Marinos.
Although young, Marina occupied herself with the practice of monastic virtues with utmost spirit and minuteness. She was silent and reticent with bowed head and eyes concealed the features of her face and eyes with a hood.
One day she was sent to a neighboring town on a mission for the Monastery. He was obliged to spend the night at the house of a friend of the monks named Paphnotius.
Paphnotius had a young girl who had fallen into adultery and was found pregnant. Upon finding out, her father was enraged and demanded the name of the perpetrator. His daughter told him that Marinos the Monk had raped her the night he spent in their house. Her father went straight to the Monastery and told the Superior, who was surprised for he knew that Marinos is pious and pure. The Superior called Marina and scolded her, but Marina said nothing to defend herself and did not reveal that she was a woman. Consequently, the Superior was very perplexed and considered Marina's silence to be an admission of guilt. He then sentenced Marina to dismissal and to be thrown outside the Monastery.
Marina resigned herself to the will of God and stayed at the door of the Monastery praying and living off the leftovers of the monks' food. Her father had long since died.
When Paphnotiu's daughter delivered, Paphnotius brought the child, a boy, to the Monastery and gave him to Marina to raise. Marina took the boy and began raising him with what the monks used to bring in the way of goat's milk and of leftovers from their table. Marina carried the shame of this hideous accusation without any complaints and still did not reveal that she was a woman. It is believed that upon receiving the child to raise, she cut a piece from her habit to swaddle him and that upon her retreat into the grotto to raise the child, she miraculously was able to nurse the infant from her own breasts.
Another version states that she used to feed the child milk, donated by the shepherds who used the pastures in the vicinity of her grotto. This situation lasted four years until the Superior had compassion for her and let her enter the Monastery under very strict conditions.
Marina persevered in her ascetic work until the hour of her death when the features of his face glowed with a heavenly light. She asked forgiveness from all and she forgave all those who sinned against her. She then gave up her spirit. The Superior then ordered that the body be prepared for burial outside the Monastery. It is not known how long she lived after the accusation, there are mainly two versions, one claiming that it was 4 years and another states that it was around 20 years.
It was a great moment of astonishment when the monks found that Marina was in fact a woman and not a man. The Superior and the monks fell on their knees before asking God and marina for forgiveness. Legend tells that when she died, the bells of the monastery rang on their own. As for the father of the sinful daughter, he was ashamed and came to make a statement before everyone. As for the daughter, she spent her life crying and repenting at the tomb of Marina.
Tradition has it that Tourza, a village in north Lebanon about 29 km from Becharré, was the place of the sin that was laid on Marina. It is believed that because of the slanderer's action, this village remained forever poor and was several times destroyed by earthquakes.
The sanctity of Marina spread all over Lebanon, people from all regions came to the Monastery of Qannoubine to be blessed by her body. Her tomb became a source of cures and graces. top
Saint Aquilina
 Aquilina was born in Byblos in 281. Her father's name was Eutolmius. She received her catechism from Evthalios, Bishop of Byblos. Her heart was inflamed with the love of Christ; hence her faith and fervor radiated like the sun in Byblos and its surroundings. At the age of twelve, Aquilina began an endeavor to spread Christianity among her compatriots. That was done through her example and teachings driven by the zeal of apostles and the innocence of children. Due to her preaching, many of the pagans were baptized, especially young lads and maidens. She was reported to the authorities and brought before Magistrate Volusian during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, and, when questioned about her activities she replied, "I am Christian". The Magistrate said, "You are leading your friends and comrades away from the religion of our gods to the belief in Christ, the Crucified. Don't you know that our kings condemn this Christ and sentence to death those who worship him? Leave this error and offer oblation to the gods and you shall live. If you refuse, you shall undergo the most atrocious sufferings." Aquilina answered, "I am not afraid of suffering at all; rather, I aspire to it because with it I emulate my God, Jesus Christ, and die like Him, so that I am resurrected and glorified with Him."
Upon her response, Volusian ordered that she be flogged. She was then tied and flogged mercilessly. The Magistrate tried again to shake her determination, but she answered with courage:
"Neither you nor Satan will be able to impose on me sufferings stronger than my strength to sustain, with the power of my God, Jesus."
Volusian, the Magistrate, tried to forget the matter of this maiden, counting on time to change her position, saying to her: "You are going to change your opinion in a few days, so contemplate the matter." Aquilina answered, "I shall never change my mind. I am determined and I shall not budge. I lived a Christian since my childhood and Christian I shall die." Upon her answer, the Magistrate ordered that her body be lacerated by a sharp rake. This lasted until she fainted and fell on the floor, then her eardrums were punctured with flaming iron rods forcing the brain to discharge through her nose. Volusian thought that she had died so he ordered that she be thrown outside the walls of the city.
Later, it is said with the help of an angel, Aquilina regained consciousness and went before the Magistrate. Upon seeing her, he was astonished and thought that he was dreaming. He ordered that she be imprisoned and decapitated in the morning. The next day, 13th June 293 A.D, she was found dead in her cell. The Christians buried her body outside the city where her tomb became a site for pilgrimage and cures.
Later her holy relics were transported to Constantinople where a great basilica was built in her honor near the Forum of Constantine in the Philoxene quarter. This basilica was later destroyed in a fire. top
Three Massabki Brothers
 In the course of the fighting in Syria and Lebanon in 1860, a great number of Christians died for their faith. Among them were the Franciscan Fathers and the Massabki brothers, who were all martyred at Damascus in Syria. The Franciscan Fathers were all murdered during the night of July 10th.
Among the thousands of lay Christians who shed their blood for Christ were the Massabki brothers. On that same night they fled to the Church for safety, but their assailants were able to enter and demanded them to abandon their religion. In the name of all, one of the brothers, Francis, refused their demand and said:
“We do not fear the one who kills the body…
a crown is prepared for us in heaven.
We have our souls…and we do not wish
to lose them. We are Christians and
we wish to die as Christians.”
They were martyred in the Church before the altar and their bodies were buried in the Maronite Church of Damascus. Pope Pius XI declared them blessed on October 10, 1926:
“By the power of these lines are named Most Blessed Martyrs the servants of God, Francis, Abdel Mohti and Raphael Massabki, Maronites of Damascus…and we hereby permit the display of their relics before all the devout, and the celebration, on their day of remembrance, of the Liturgy of the Martyrs.” May their prayers be with us. Ame
350 Maronite Martyrs
Retrieved from www.stmaron.org
In a letter addressed to Pope Hormisdas in 517, monks of St. Maron addressed the Pope as the one occupying the Chair of St. Peter, and informed him that they were patiently undergoing much suffering and many attacks. They singled out Antiochian Patriarchs Severus and Peter, who, they said, anathematize the Council of Chalcedon and Pope Leo, whose formula the Council had adopted. The Maronites were mocked for their support of the Council and were suffering affliction. The Emperor Anastasius had sent an army that had marched through the district of Apamea, closing monasteries and expelling the monks. Some had been beaten and others had been thrown into prison. While on the way to St. Simon Stylite, the Maronites had been ambushed and 350 monks had been killed, even though some of them had taken refuge at the altar. The monastery was burned. The Maronites appealed to the Emperor in Constantinople, but to no avail. Now, they were appealing to the Pope for deliverance from the enemies of the Fathers and the Council.
They exclaimed, “Do not therefore look down on us, Your Holiness, we who are daily attacked by ferocious beasts….We anathamatize Nestorius, Eutyches, Dioscorus, Peter of Alexandria and Peter the Fuller of Antioch, and all their followers and those who support their heresies.”
The letter was signed first by Alexander, priest and archimandrite of St. Maron. Over 200 other signatures of other archimandrites, priests and deacons followed. The importance of the Monastery of Bet Maroun was evidenced by Alexander’s name, which lead the list of delegates.
Pope Hormisdas, in a letter dated February 10, 518, told the archimandrites, priests and deacons of the region of Apamea that he had read their letter describing their persecution from the heretics. He consoled them in their sufferings and told them not to despair for they were gaining eternal life through it. The Emperor Justinian restored the walls of the principal monastery of St. Maron.
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