A divine gift
San Charbel Makhlouf
Not only is he famous for his miracles, but also for his foresight. A faculty that manifested itself through divine visions and communications.
Father Charbel, by virtue of his intimate union with God, was given the gift to break down the barriers of time and space. In the divine light he predicted future events, saw events happening from a distance, scrutinized the thoughts and feelings of hearts and was an interpreter of God’s will among men.
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Foresight of Saint Charbel Markhlouf
Gerges Boutros' cousin had been in a coma for twenty days due to a strong fever. Gerges went to Father Charbel to recommend him to his prayers and to get some holy water..
The hermit was waiting for him at the threshold, and without letting him explain the reason for the visit, he anticipated him by saying: When you get home, you will find your cousin conscious and sitting on the bed. Gerges was astonished that Father Charbel knew the reason for the visit without having explained it to him, and when he returned he found everything as he had predicted to him.
Another witness recounts: One day my grandfather, who practiced folk medicine, was called to treat an official named Jibral Sleiman Abbas, but not seeing improvements sent my father to call the saint. Father Charbel hesitated, but with the permission of the superior he left at sunset, on foot, with two other monks.
My father preceded them by about twenty meters. After a good stretch of road, Father Charbel stopped and said: they say he died, we recite the Angelus and pray, because that man died, so he knelt down and began to pray.
Then he added: it is useless to continue the journey, because the mission that the superior has entrusted to us is over, the patient is dead. Not believing his words, my father invited him to continue. Arrived near the village, they heard the cries coming from the dead man's house. The sick man had died in the night, at the time when Father Charbel had announced it. My dazed father asked him how he had known, but the hermit did not answer and continued to pray".
The nuns of the Maronite Lebanese order produced images of cloth to hang around their necks, depicting the Lord, the Madonna and the saints. Father Charbel made extensive use of it and gave it to the faithful. Sister Moujahida Al Khayassi declares that one day the saint sent him to ask for one: I sent it to him through a man who had to go to Annaya, and I also asked him for a blessing. To make sure that he carried out the task, the man had to ask him and tell me three names of his relatives from Bqaakafta.
When I returned, the officer handed me a piece of paper folded like an envelope and said: The hermit did not send any more. There was written: Father Charbel, hermit of St. Maron of Annaya, to the one who asks for a blessing or a relic, that the protection of Saints Peter and Paul descend upon you. It was written in Arabic with an irregular spelling". The superior advised her to keep the paper and carry it on. The nun rolled it up, sewed it in a piece of cloth and put it around his neck.
He later gave it to a sister in America, as a protection for the trip. Then the religious continues, I sent Father Charbel a dozen images of cloth and asked the messenger to bring me a bottle of holy water.
The person in charge said to me on my return: I have given him everything, here is the holy water. I took it, went into my room, but as I was about to use it, because I was suffering from rheumatism, a clear and sudden intuition revealed to me that the man had not delivered the images to Father Charbel and that the bottle didn't come from him either.
When his mother came to the convent, I said to her: Your son did not give the pictures to Father Charbel, but kept them for himself and filled the bottle at the fountain. It is true affirmed the woman, he took them with him to America, but he will send you the money and also those of the bottle. I thus had the confirmation that it was Father Charbel who had inspired me.
Youssef Abboud recounts: My son Gerges was going through a critical point in his illness. I went to the hermitage and asked Father Charbel for some blessed water, but the saint said to me: Now sit down, God willing. I asked him again and he answered: Calm down, surrender yourself to God who will reward you and he did not give me the water.
I returned home sad and bewildered, because he had not wanted to give me the holy water. When I arrived at the house, I heard cries and groans and realized that my son was dead. Then I understood Father Charbel's words and why he had not given me the holy water, as if he knew that my son was already dead and did not want to tell me.
