A List of Saint Charbel's Documented Miracles
The list below gathers the named, sourced cases most often cited in the dossier of Saint Charbel Makhlouf. It is organized by the degree to which each case has been examined by church or medical authority. The three formally recognized by the Vatican appear first. Monastery-documented cases follow, then the most widely reported modern testimonies. A final section flags accounts that are often repeated online but should be treated with caution.
For the broader context of these miracles, how the Church evaluates them, and the holy oil that accompanies many of them, see the companion article on the miracles of Saint Charbel. For the life of the saint, see Saint Charbel Makhlouf.
The Three Vatican-Recognized Miracles
Under the process of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (now the Dicastery), a miracle must be complete, immediate, permanent, scientifically inexplicable, and clearly linked to the intercession requested. Three cases in Saint Charbel's dossier met this standard.
1950 — Iskandar Naim Obeid, Lebanon (Beatification Miracle)
A blacksmith from the village of Baabdat. A metal fragment had struck his right eye years earlier and left him blind on that side for more than a decade. On a pilgrimage to Annaya in 1950, he reported a dream in which a monk touched his eye. He awoke with his sight restored. Ophthalmologists could identify no medical cause. His was one of two cases accepted by Pope Paul VI for the beatification of December 5, 1965.
1950 — Sister Maria Abel Kamari, Lebanon (Beatification Miracle)
A religious of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts. Since 1936 she had suffered from severe gastric ulcers, bone disease, and paralysis of the right hand. Bedridden for fourteen years, she was taken to the tomb of Saint Charbel on July 11, 1950. The Maronite Order's archives record that she was instantly and completely healed at the tomb. Medical examinations afterward confirmed the recovery. Her case, with that of Obeid, was accepted for the beatification.
1967 — Mariam Assaf Awad, Lebanon (Canonization Miracle)
A Lebanese woman diagnosed with metastatic stomach cancer that had spread to her throat and intestines. Surgeries in 1963 and 1965 had failed to arrest the disease, and by 1967 her condition was considered terminal. Her family brought her to Annaya, where she prayed at the tomb and was anointed with the holy oil. She awoke the following morning free of all symptoms. Medical follow-up confirmed the complete disappearance of the disease. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints accepted her healing as the miracle required for canonization, proclaimed by Pope Paul VI on October 9, 1977.
Monastery-Documented Cases
Cases below have been recorded in the monastic archive at Annaya, reviewed by local medical commissions, or reported in established Catholic press. They have not been submitted for formal Vatican recognition, but each is associated with an identifiable source, a named person, and medical documentation where available.
1898 to 1899 — The Light Over the Grave, Lebanon
Saint Charbel was buried on December 24, 1898 in the monastic cemetery at Annaya, according to custom, without a coffin. For roughly forty-five nights, monks and villagers in houses across from the monastery reported seeing a bright light over the grave. The accounts were numerous and persistent enough that on April 15, 1899, monastery superiors ordered the grave opened. The body was found intact and flexible, floating in a reddish liquid. This was the beginning of the reports that would eventually bring the case to Rome.
1899, 1927, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1965 — The Six Formal Exhumations
Between 1899 and the year of his beatification, the body of Saint Charbel was examined six times by ecclesiastical authorities, doctors, and scientific commissions, including the French Medical Institute of Beirut. Each examination confirmed the preservation of the body and the continuing presence of a reddish, blood- and serum-like substance exuding through the saint's clothing and coffin. After 1965 the body began to undergo normal decomposition; the bones are now preserved in a reliquary at the monastery.
1993 — Nohad El Shami, Lebanon
A Maronite woman from Lebanon, Nohad El Shami was diagnosed in early 1993 with hemiplegia caused by bilateral carotid artery occlusion, eighty percent on the left and seventy percent on the right, confirmed by Dr. Joseph Chamy, Dr. Antoine Nachakian, and Dr. Majid Chamy. On the night of January 22, 1993, she reported a dream in which two monks, one of whom she later identified as Saint Charbel, performed a surgical incision at the side of her neck. She awoke with two scars on her neck and her paralysis was gone. The scars remained visible for the rest of her life. Her medical records were published. She continued to receive pilgrims at her home in Dahr El Sawan until her death in 2023. The case has been widely reported by CNEWA and Catholic press and is one of the most cited contemporary testimonies.
2011 — Yasmin, Brazil
A child who had been deaf-mute from birth. Following the application of oil from Saint Charbel's tomb by Sister Petronyl, she began to speak. The case was registered in the Annaya archive on September 14, 2011.
2016 — Dafne Gutierrez, United States
A mother of three from Phoenix, Arizona. She had been rendered blind by papilledema, the result of an Arnold-Chiari brain malformation. On January 16, 2016, she venerated a relic of Saint Charbel at Saint Joseph Maronite Church in Phoenix. Within forty-eight hours her vision had returned to 20/20. The case was reported in the National Catholic Register, Catholic News Agency, AsiaNews, and the national press.
2024 — The Oil of Naples, Italy
During Masses organized at a parish in Naples that distributed oil from Saint Charbel's tomb, multiple testimonies of healing were recorded, including the reported disappearance of a breast tumor in a young woman. The events were covered by Catholic News Agency and other outlets and drew attention to the spread of Saint Charbel's devotion in Italy.
2026 — Georgianne Walker, United States
A woman from Indiana who had suffered a non-healing post-surgical abdominal wound. Her scheduled further surgery was cancelled after her wound closed, which she attributed to the application of Saint Charbel's oil. The case was formally registered at Annaya on January 17, 2026, and reported by EWTN, the National Catholic Register, and Catholic World Report.
2026 — Racha Charbel, Lebanon
A woman from Jezzine, Lebanon, diagnosed with a spinal meningioma of 2.3 by 0.3 centimeters, confirmed by Dr. Christian Atiya. A follow-up MRI after her pilgrimage showed the complete disappearance of the tumor without surgery. Her case was registered at Annaya on the same day as Walker's, January 17, 2026.
Widely Reported Testimonies
Named cases from reputable Catholic or Maronite press whose documentation is less formal than those above. Each has an identifiable source.
Ali, Syria
A Sunni Muslim from Darha, born 1991, whose right leg was reportedly nine centimeters shorter than his left. After prayers to Saint Charbel, later medical measurement found his legs equal in length. Testimony recorded at the Saint Charbel Maronite community in Punchbowl, Sydney.
Roula Bahsoun, Lebanon
A practicing Shia Muslim who became a regular pilgrim to Annaya following favors received. Her devotion is frequently cited as an example of the cross-religious veneration of Saint Charbel in Lebanon.
Thomas Trad, Australia
An infant in Sydney diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease. His grandmother, Laurence Trad, reported a vision of Saint Charbel. The infant's recovery has been reported by the Maronite community in Sydney.
Côme de Cacqueray, France
A newborn diagnosed with a severe bladder and kidney malformation considered fatal. His parents undertook a novena with Saint Charbel's oil. His survival and development have been shared in French Maronite press.
Muslim testimonies at Annaya
The monastery at Annaya documents a long tradition of testimonies from Muslim pilgrims, often arriving after reported dreams or visions. A profile by Aleteia in 2016 of a Muslim Lebanese newscaster's public devotion to Saint Charbel is representative of a pattern, not an isolated case.
What This List Does Not Include
Many accounts circulate online that we have chosen not to include here, not because they are necessarily false, but because they cannot be sourced to named witnesses or established press.
Mystical phenomena rather than healings: The account of Raymond Nader, a Lebanese engineer who reports a luminous encounter at Saint Charbel's hermitage in November 1994 that left a hand-shaped mark on his arm, is widely repeated. The mark has been medically documented, but this is not a healing miracle, and the case has not been submitted for ecclesiastical judgment. We treat it as a report of a mystical experience, distinct from a miracle of healing.
Anonymous dream accounts: "Saint Charbel appeared to me and healed me" is a very common online testimony. Annaya records many such reports. Without a named person, medical record, or source, they sit outside the scope of this list.
Inflated numbers: A figure of "33,000 miracles" is sometimes cited. This is an internal Annaya count of reported testimonies received, not Vatican-recognized miracles. The Vatican has ruled on three, as above.
How the Church Counts Miracles
The Maronite Church, like the universal Catholic Church, distinguishes three tiers in these accounts.
Vatican-recognized miracles. Three, as above, examined under the full process of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Monastery-registered cases. Tens of thousands, across more than one hundred countries, received and archived by the monks at Annaya. These are testimonies, not certified miracles.
Private devotion. Countless favors, dreams, and graces reported by individual faithful, never registered formally, believed and passed on within families.
The Church does not require one to believe in the testimonies to venerate Saint Charbel. Beatification and canonization are the public judgments. The rest is the life of devotion, in which God answers prayers in his own way, often without paperwork.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many miracles has Saint Charbel performed?
Three miracles have been formally recognized by the Vatican: the 1950 healings of Iskandar Naim Obeid and Sister Maria Abel Kamari for his beatification in 1965, and the 1967 healing of Mariam Assaf Awad from metastatic cancer for his canonization in 1977. The Monastery of Saint Maron at Annaya maintains a separate archive of reported healings, which now numbers in the tens of thousands of cases from more than one hundred countries.
What is the most famous miracle of Saint Charbel?
The best known modern case is that of Nohad El Shami, a Lebanese woman healed of hemiplegia in January 1993 after a dream in which two monks, one identified as Saint Charbel, performed a surgical incision on her neck. She woke with two scars on her neck, visible for the rest of her life, and her paralysis was gone. Her medical records were published. The case has not been submitted for formal Vatican recognition but is among the most widely cited modern testimonies.
Were any Saint Charbel miracles reported in 2026?
Two new healings were formally registered at Annaya monastery on January 17, 2026: Georgianne Walker of Indiana, a non-healing post-surgical abdominal wound that closed after the use of the holy oil, and Racha Charbel of Jezzine, Lebanon, a spinal meningioma that disappeared on follow-up imaging without surgery.
Are Muslims and people of other faiths healed by Saint Charbel?
Yes. Annaya's registry includes testimonies from Muslims, Druze, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and people of no religious background. Muslim pilgrims are a regular presence at the tomb, and the cross-religious veneration of Saint Charbel is a recognized feature of his cult in Lebanon and the wider Middle East.
Is Saint Charbel's body still incorrupt?
The body remained remarkably preserved from 1899 until around the time of Saint Charbel's beatification in 1965, after which it began to undergo normal decomposition. Six formal exhumations took place between 1899 and 1965. The bones are now preserved in a reliquary at the Monastery of Saint Maron in Annaya.
How can I report a miracle received through Saint Charbel?
The Monastery of Saint Maron at Annaya receives testimonies directly. Pilgrims may leave written accounts at the monastery, and established Maronite parishes around the world forward testimonies to Annaya. Medical documentation is welcomed where available.
See also: The Miracles of Saint Charbel (overview). Saint Charbel Makhlouf. Annaya Monastery. Novena to Saint Charbel. Saint Charbel Prayer for Healing.