HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
Weekly Photo Challenge – Waiting
The expression ‘waiting for a miracle’ is well known, and mostly the miracle never happens. But sometimes it does.
MB has mentioned St Charbel in some of his recent Lebanese Wedding posts. St Charbel Makhlouf (1828 – 1898) was a Maronite Christian monk and priest who has become synonymous with miracles. Thousands of miracles are claimed by people the world over who have attributed their healing, or whatever, to the intercession of St Charbel. The monastery contains many letters on display, received from all parts of the world, detailing miracles that the writers attribute solely to the Lebanese saint.
On Saturday last, the day before MB’s Lebanese wedding, MB visited the church and monastery of St Charbel at in the Lebanese mountain village of Annaya, some 25 minutes drive from the town of Jbail. The elevated location offers a gorgeous view over the surrounding countryside and the Mediterranean sea to the west. Hundreds of visitors were present on Saturday morning, both local and foreign. A sense of holiness is certainly palpable.
And now, here’s a strange one. As MB came to discover later, many of the visitors are Muslims. And many of Charbel’s miracles are actually claimed by Muslims. On MB’s return to Qatar, he was informed by a Muslim work colleague that he and family love to visit the site of St Charbel, due to the feeling of peace and holiness that pervades the church and monastery location.
A few photos, to give followers a sense of it all:
HX Report 
How beautiful to read your story of the saint bringing religious harmony ~ now that is a miracle we could all pray for!
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Thanks HH. I hadn’t thought about it like that but it’s a nice point.
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Lovely snaps, and the tale behind it too…
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Thanks TT. I enjoyed very much my visit.
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