Prayers & Devotion
Prayers & Novena
A nine-day novena, prayers for intercession and healing, and a litany composed in honor of the hermit of Annaya — for anyone who wishes to bring their needs to him.
The prayers on this page are devotional compositions offered for personal and family use, written in the spirit of the popular devotion that has grown up around Saint Charbel since his death — they are not official liturgical texts of the Maronite Church. You are welcome to pray them alone, as a family, or alongside a parish novena, in whatever words feel most natural once you have made them your own.
Everyday Devotion
Two Prayers to Begin With
Prayer for Daily Intercession
Saint Charbel, hermit of Annaya, you left behind the comforts of ordinary life to seek God alone in silence, and God filled your solitude with a light the whole world has since come to see.
Teach me to quiet my own heart amid its noise and distraction, to trust that a hidden life of prayer is never wasted, and to place my needs before you with the same confidence that has drawn pilgrims of every faith to your tomb for over a century.
Pray for me now, in the particular need I carry today, that I may know God's presence as closely as you knew it in your mountain cell. Amen.
Prayer for Healing
Lord God, you filled your servant Charbel with such closeness to you that healing seemed to flow wherever his intercession was sought — for believers and unbelievers alike, for the poor and the desperate, for those whom medicine alone could not reach.
Through his prayers, I ask you now for the healing I need. (Pause and silently name your intention.)
Whatever your will for me, Lord, grant me the peace Charbel carried through his own final days of suffering, and let my trust in you grow no matter what answer this prayer receives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Nine Days of Prayer
A Novena to Saint Charbel
A novena is simply nine consecutive days of prayer around a single intention. Each day below pairs a short reflection on one facet of Charbel's life with a line of prayer — read slowly, then carry the theme with you through the day.
Day One
Silence
Charbel spent twenty-three years choosing silence over speech. Saint Charbel, teach me to quiet my heart; help me hear what my own noise so often drowns out.
Day Two
Humility
He sought no recognition even as his reputation for holiness spread beyond his control. Saint Charbel, free me from the need to be noticed, and let my good works remain quietly between me and God.
Day Three
The Eucharist
Mass was the center of his every day, prepared for at length and treasured beyond words. Saint Charbel, deepen my own reverence for the Eucharist, and help me never take it for granted.
Day Four
Our Lady
An icon of Mary stood on his altar and beside his bed for his whole monastic life. Saint Charbel, draw me closer to the Mother who watched over you, that she might watch over me as well.
Day Five
Penance
He fasted and labored with a rigor that still startles those who read of it today. Saint Charbel, give me the discipline to give something up for the sake of a deeper love.
Day Six
Obedience
He left his hermitage only when a superior asked it of him, and never otherwise. Saint Charbel, help me trust the people and circumstances God has placed in authority over my life.
Day Seven
Healing
Tens of thousands credit their recovery, physical or spiritual, to his intercession. Saint Charbel, carry my own petition for healing before God, for myself or for someone I love.
Day Eight
Unity
Christians, Muslims, and Druze alike sought him out in his lifetime, and still do today. Saint Charbel, help me see the people around me — whatever they believe — as neighbors worth loving.
Day Nine
Perseverance
He endured eight days of suffering after his stroke in complete peace. Saint Charbel, be with me in whatever trial I am carrying, and help me meet it with the same quiet trust you did.
A Litany
In Honor of Saint Charbel
A litany is a call-and-response form of prayer, traditionally recited aloud with a family, prayer group, or parish — one voice offering each invocation, others answering "pray for us." It can just as easily be prayed alone, in a single steady voice.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
- Saint Charbel, hermit of Lebanon,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, faithful son of the Maronite Church,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, lover of silence and solitude,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, devoted servant of the Eucharist,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, child of Mary, Queen of the Rosary,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, model of penance and fasting,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, obedient even in the smallest things,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, healer of the sick,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, comfort of the suffering,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, friend to Christians, Muslims, and all who seek God,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, patron of Lebanon,Pray for us
- Saint Charbel, intercessor for the hopeless,Pray for us
A Prayer for His Homeland
Prayer for Lebanon and Peace
For Lebanon and All Who Long for Peace
Saint Charbel, patron of Lebanon, you watched over your homeland in life and have not ceased to watch over it since.
In a country that has known so much hardship, be a light to those who feel forgotten, and a bridge between neighbors who have been taught to see each other as strangers.
As you were sought by Christian and Muslim and Druze alike in your own lifetime, intercede now for peace among all who call Lebanon home — and for every land, near or far, that longs for the same. Amen.
Carry This Devotion Forward
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