Maronite Saints
The Maronite Church has given seven canonized saints to the universal Catholic Church, along with a Blessed, a Venerable, and a growing list of Servants of God whose causes are still open. They are not founders of great movements or authors of famous books. They are hermits, nuns, lay brothers, and martyrs, most of them from the mountain villages of Lebanon, whose hidden lives became known to the world through the favors and healings attributed to their prayers.
This is the complete list of Maronite saints and holy figures, with the dates the Church recognized them, their feast days, and a short account of each life. For the fuller stories, follow the links to each profile, or browse the full Maronite saints library.
How Many Maronite Saints Are There?
Seven Maronite figures hold the title of Saint. Saint Maron stands at the origin of the tradition. Three modern monastics, Charbel, Rafqa, and Nimatullah, were canonized between 1977 and 2004 and are often called the great trio of Maronite holiness. In 2024, three lay brothers, the Massabki Brothers of Damascus, were added when Pope Francis canonized the Martyrs of Damascus.
Below them on the path to sainthood are Blessed Estephan Nehme, beatified in 2010, and Venerable Estephan Douaihy, the patriarch and historian declared Venerable in 2008. Several more Maronites, including nuns and monks of the last two centuries, are Servants of God with causes in progress.
The Canonized Maronite Saints
Saint Maron (c. 350 – 410)
The father of the tradition. Saint Maron was a fourth-century Syrian hermit who left the towns to live in the open air on a mountain near Antioch, praying under the sky in every season. His reputation for holiness drew disciples, and after his death his followers built a monastery in his name and carried his way of life into the Lebanese mountains, where it became the Maronite Church.
His feast is celebrated on February 9. Read the full story of Saint Maron and the founding of the Maronite tradition.
Saint Charbel Makhlouf (1828 – 1898)
The most famous Maronite saint, and one of the most venerated saints in the world. Charbel was a hermit at Annaya who spent the last twenty-three years of his life in almost complete silence, dedicated to the Eucharist and to prayer. After his death, a light was reported over his tomb, and his exhumed body was found preserved and exuding an oil-like fluid that pilgrims associate with healing to this day.
He was beatified in 1965 and canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1977. His feast falls on July 24, kept on the third Sunday of July at Annaya. See his life, his documented miracles, and the novena prayed in his name.
Saint Rafqa (1832 – 1914)
A Lebanese nun who asked God to let her share in the suffering of Christ, and received it. For the last decades of her life Rafqa endured blindness and a slow paralysis, bearing them with a serenity that astonished those who cared for her. She kept working and praying as long as her body allowed, and asked only to remain useful.
She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 10, 2001. Her feast is March 23. Read the story of Saint Rafqa and her voluntary suffering.
Saint Nimatullah Al-Hardini (1808 – 1858)
Scholar, teacher, and the spiritual father of Saint Charbel. Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini was a monk of the Lebanese Maronite Order known for his learning, his skill in binding and copying books, and his refusal of every honor offered to him. He formed a generation of Maronite monks, Charbel among them, in the discipline of silence and prayer.
He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 16, 2004. His feast is December 14. Read about Saint Nimatullah Al-Hardini, the teacher of Saint Charbel.
The Massabki Brothers (died 1860)
Francis, Abdel Moati, and Raphael Massabki were three Maronite laymen from Damascus, sons of the same father, and men of business and family rather than the cloister. On July 10, 1860, during the massacres that swept Damascus, they were killed inside a Franciscan church for refusing to renounce their Christian faith. Francis, the eldest, is remembered for answering that he would give his money and his life but never his faith.
Beatified in 1926, they were canonized by Pope Francis on October 20, 2024, together with the eight Franciscan friars killed alongside them, the Martyrs of Damascus. They are the first Maronite laymen ever raised to the altars, and their feast is kept on July 10. Their canonization gave the Maronite Church its first saints who were not monastics: married men, tradesmen, fathers, holy in the middle of ordinary life.
The Blessed and the Venerable
Blessed Estephan Nehme (1889 – 1938)
A lay brother of the Lebanese Maronite Order whose entire vocation was manual labor and silent prayer. Brother Estephan built walls, worked the fields, and carried stone, and those who knew him remembered a man who was always at peace and always at work. His often-quoted words were simple: God sees me.
He was beatified on June 27, 2010, in Kfifan, Lebanon. His feast is August 30. Read the life of Blessed Estephan Nehme.
Venerable Estephan Douaihy (1630 – 1704)
The Maronite Patriarch who gave his Church its history. Douaihy was a scholar formed in Rome who returned to Lebanon, was elected patriarch, and spent his life defending, reforming, and recording the Maronite tradition. His writings on the liturgy and the history of his people remain foundational, and he is often called the father of Maronite historiography.
He was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. Read about Venerable Patriarch Estephan Douaihy.
A Saint of Lebanese Heritage: Mariam Baouardy
Saint Mariam Baouardy (1846-1878), known as Mary of Jesus Crucified, is not a Maronite in the strict sense. She was born near Nazareth to a Greek Melkite Catholic family of Lebanese and Syrian origin, and she entered the Discalced Carmelites. But her Levantine roots, her mysticism, and her love for the Christian East have made her deeply beloved in Lebanon and across the Maronite diaspora.
She was canonized by Pope Francis on May 17, 2015. Her feast is August 26. Read about Saint Mariam Baouardy, the Palestinian Carmelite mystic.
Feast Days of the Maronite Saints
The feast days below follow the Maronite liturgical calendar. For the full year of Maronite feasts and seasons, see the Maronite liturgical calendar and the visual calendar of feast days.
February 9 — Saint Maron
March 23 — Saint Rafqa
July 10 — The Massabki Brothers (Martyrs of Damascus)
July 24 — Saint Charbel Makhlouf (third Sunday of July)
August 26 — Saint Mariam Baouardy
August 30 — Blessed Estephan Nehme
December 14 — Saint Nimatullah Al-Hardini
What Unites the Maronite Saints
With one exception, the Maronite saints were formed in silence. Maron prayed alone on his mountain. Charbel, Rafqa, and Nimatullah gave their lives to the monastic rule, and their holiness grew in hidden places: a hermitage, a sickbed, a bookbinding table. Even Estephan Nehme, a lay brother, made a vocation out of the quiet work of his hands.
The Massabki Brothers broke that pattern and completed it. They were laymen with families and businesses, and their sanctity was proven not in a cell but in a single hour of testing. Together the Maronite saints teach that holiness is not reserved for the monastery. It is available in silence and in the marketplace, in a long life of prayer and in one decisive act of faith.
To understand the spiritual world that produced them, read about the Maronite tradition and the Maronite Divine Liturgy that shaped their prayer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Maronite saints are there?
Seven Maronite figures have been canonized: Saint Maron, Saint Charbel, Saint Rafqa, Saint Nimatullah Al-Hardini, and the three Massabki Brothers. Beyond these, Blessed Estephan Nehme has been beatified, Venerable Estephan Douaihy has been declared Venerable, and several other Maronites are Servants of God with open causes.
Who is the most famous Maronite saint?
Saint Charbel Makhlouf, the hermit of Annaya, is by far the most widely known. His incorrupt body, the oil from his tomb, and more than a century of documented healings have made him one of the most venerated saints in the world.
Who was the first Maronite saint?
Saint Maron, the fourth-century hermit whose followers founded the Maronite Church, is the first and the namesake of the tradition. In the modern era of formal canonizations, Saint Charbel was the first Maronite raised to the altars, canonized in 1977.
Are the Massabki Brothers Maronite saints?
Yes. Francis, Abdel Moati, and Raphael Massabki were three Maronite laymen from Damascus, killed in 1860 for refusing to renounce their faith. Canonized in 2024, they are the first Maronite laymen ever declared saints of the universal Church. Their feast is July 10.
What is the difference between a Saint, a Blessed, and a Venerable?
These are stages in the Church's recognition of holiness. A Servant of God has an open cause. A Venerable has been recognized for heroic virtue. A Blessed has one confirmed miracle. A Saint has two confirmed miracles, or died a martyr, and is venerated by the whole Church.
Explore each life in full: Saint Charbel. Saint Rafqa. Saint Nimatullah. Saint Maron. Blessed Estephan Nehme. Venerable Estephan Douaihy. Saint Mariam Baouardy. Or browse the whole saints library.