A hidden life of prayer

The story we bring into prayer

Charbel was a Maronite monk and priest in Lebanon. After years of community life at Annaya, he spent twenty-three years in a nearby hermitage. His days were shaped by Mass, prayer and manual work, offered with a deep concern for the salvation of others.

At his canonization, Pope Paul VI described people seeking Charbel's help in distress. He also explained that the hermit's particular way of life was not everyone's calling. We can make a little room for silence within our own responsibilities, and carry another person's needs into that quiet.