CAPG's Blog 

Saint Charbel

Saint Charbel Maronite Church in Raleigh, NC

"The collapse of the family means the ruin of the Lord’s plan for humanity, that is to say, a breakdown that removes salvation and sanctity from human beings. (...) "The family is the basis of the Lord’s plan; and all forces of evil are focusing all their evil on destroying the family because they know that by destroying the family, the foundations of the plan of God will be shaken. The war of the Evil One against the Lord is his war against the family, and the war of the Evil One against the family is the core of his war against the Lord. Because the family is the image of God, from the beginning of the creation of this universe, The Evil one is focusing on destroying the family, the foundation of God’s plan." "One does not have to look far to see evidence of Satan’s plan in our world today, as the family is further fragmented and divided in modern culture." Saint Charbel's Sermon

"And in fact, who would not admire, in Charbel Makhlouf, the positive aspects that austerity, mortification, obedience, chastity, solitude have made possible to a degree rarely achieved? Think of his sovereign freedom in the face of difficulties or passions of all kinds, of the quality of his interior life, of the elevation of his prayer, of his spirit of adoration manifested in the heart of nature and especially in the presence of the Holy Sacrament, to his filial tenderness for the Virgin, and to all these wonders promised in the beatitudes and realized literally in our saint: gentleness, humility, mercy, peace, joy, participation, from this life, in the power of healing and of conversion of Christ. In short, austerity, for him, put him on the path to perfect serenity, to true happiness; it left ample room for the Holy Spirit." Homily Pope Paul VI at the Canonization of Charbel (in French)