Saint Charbel and His Devotion to the Virgin Mary

Saint Charbel’s life cannot be understood apart from his love for the Virgin Mary. From his childhood in Baakafra, devotion to the Mother of God was deeply rooted in his soul. 

As a child, Charbel would join his mother in prayer at the village church, where they honored the Virgin with hymns and litanies. His mother often reminded him of a simple yet powerful truth: “Whoever venerates the Virgin cannot be lost.” These early lessons shaped the foundation of his spirituality and accompanied him throughout his priesthood and monastic life.

Later, when villagers visited him seeking advice for the salvation of their souls, Charbel’s answer was strikingly direct and filled with faith:

“If you desire to be saved easily, venerate the Virgin. She can save those who venerate Her.”

For Charbel, Mary was not distant; she was a motherly presence, a refuge, and the surest path leading to her Son, Jesus Christ.

Throughout his life as a hermit, Charbel invoked Mary with unwavering confidence. In the solitude of his cell, he entrusted every difficulty, every suffering, and every prayer to her maternal intercession. Witnesses to his last hours recalled that he repeated the Virgin’s name with burning faith until his final breath.

His devotion to Mary was not only personal but also universal. He saw in her the “Mother of Light,” capable of guiding the world through its struggles and of embracing every soul with her maternal protection. To Charbel, Mary was higher than the mountains of Lebanon, stronger than human weakness, and brighter than the morning star.

This devotion to Mary did not end with his death. In 1993, when Saint Charbel appeared to Nohad El-Shami and healed her from paralysis, it was only the beginning. He continued to appear to her many times afterward, giving her counsel and reminding her of the importance of prayer. In one of those apparitions, he asked her to pray the Rosary, the same prayer he himself loved so deeply. He invites us to turn to the Virgin Mary with childlike trust, to seek in her both a mother’s tenderness and a source of strength in times of trial.

For Saint Charbel, Mary was the Mother of Light, the protector of souls, and the surest guide to Christ. His message is consistent in life and after death: turn to Mary, cling to the Rosary, and trust in her intercession.

A Spiritual Reflection

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Light, extend her mantle over us as she did over Saint Charbel. May she intercede for our families, our nations, and our world, bringing us the peace of Christ. And may her maternal love fill our lives with the same hope, courage, and joy that sustained the humble monk of Lebanon until the end.