Saint Charbel and Catholicos Karekin I Sarkissian

I quote «A statue of Saint Charbel, a famous monk of the Catholic Church, has been delivered to  Armenia from Lebanon. Its opening is scheduled for September 22. According to the Arevelk publication, the transportation of the statue took seven days. The ten-meter statue will be installed in the Yeghvard region and  will become the first pilgrimage site to Saint Charbel in the  Caucasus. However, the installation of the statue in Armenia has  sparked discussions on social networks regarding the significance of  the Maronite saint of Lebanese origin for Armenia.» (ArmInfo.info, August 24, 2024. See the link below).

Attached is my translation Ara Sanjian's posting today on his Facebook page, about his recollection of the cannonization of Charbel Makhlouf and the reverence of the Lebanese Armenians are harboring towards the saint. Vahe H Apelian

Courtesy Ara Sanjian

SAINT CHARBEL AND KAREKIN CATHOLICOS SARKISSIAN

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Ara Sanjian

«The plan of the Lebanese businessman to place the statue of Charbel Makhlouf, in the  Nayiri community, is the object of attention of the Armenian mass media these days. Charbel Makhlouf,  lived in Lebanon in the 19th century and was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1977. 

I remembered that when Charbel was canonized in Rome in October 1977, Karekin Sarkisian was newly elected Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia under the name Karekin II. On the occasion of Charbel's sanctification, he posted in the Lebanese-Armenian newspapers a sequel of articles titled "The Dew of Holiness on the Lebanese Land". The articles  soon saw the light of day in the form of a separate booklet and was sold for many years in the bookstore of the Catholicosate of Antelias.

At the same time, just a few days before the canonization ceremony in Rome, Catholicoi Khoren I and Karekin II of Antelias made a pilgrimage to Annaya Monastery, where St. Charbel was a hermit and which today is one of the main pilgrimage sites of the Maronite Christian Church. The Catholicoi performed a service in the Armenian rite in Annaya, and Catholicos Karekin II also gave a speech in French that day. The Armenian translation of which was published in the Lebanese-Armenian press, under the title "Saints don't need us, we need saints...".

Lebanese and foreign Maronites constantly visit Annaya Monastery and believe that St. Charbel meets their requests and heals their illnesses. When I also suffered from cancer 10 years ago, my Maronite neighbors suggested that I go to Annaya and turn to St. Charbel.

Reverence towards St. Charbel has started slowly to permeate the Lebanese Armenians. During my visits to the Bourj Hammoud cemetery, where our family's mausoleum is, I have noticed in recent years that several families have placed statues of St. Charbel on the graves of their loved ones.

Zaven Khedeshian is the author of the statue of St. Charbel erected in the enclosure of Annaya Monastery. (Zaven Khedeshian is also the designer and the architect of the Armenian Genocide Monument in the Bikfaya, Lebanon, on the grounds of summer retreat monastery of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.)

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A statue of Catholic monk to be erected in Armenia:  https://arminfo.info/full_news.php?id=85648&lang=3