​The celebration started with Confessions, then at 12 PM, Fr. Cesar celebrated the Divine Liturgy in St. Mary's Chapel.

After the Holy Mass, a first-class relic of Saint Sharbel was made available for veneration. Then Fr. Cesar led a procession with the relic, while the faithful followed singing Maronite hymns. At the shrine, they gathered for the final blessing with the relic and individual blessing with the Holy oil of Saint Sharbel.

Watch the Celebration Video

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​On Saturday October 15, 2022, The Family of Saint Sharbel celebrated the fifth anniversary of the dedication of Saint Sharbel's Shrine at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes (Emmitsburg, MD).

Father Theodore Trinko (Institute of the Incarnate Word, IVE- http://ive.org/en/) celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating with him was Rev. Youssef Keikati (Pastor of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church in Easton, PA) and Fr. Cesar (IVE), Chaplain at the Shrine.
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Fr. Keikati came with 40 people from his parish.

The choir chanted in English and Arabic the proper traditional Maronite hymns for parts of the liturgies.

​After the Divine Liturgy, the Fathers led a procession with the relic of St. Sharbel (placed in a cedar-shape reliquary) while the faithful followed singing the traditional Maronite hymns. At the Shrine, the celebration concluded with the blessing with and the veneration of the relic of St. Sharbel.

​After the celebration, the Family of Saint Sharbel offered to pilgrims sweets and complimentary prayer cards.

Watch Full Video of the Celebration

On the 23rd of July 2022, “The Family of Saint Sharbel” in the US celebrated the Feast of Saint Sharbel at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, in Emmitsburg, Maryland. 

At 12 PM, Fr. Cesar (IVE), Chaplain at the Shrine, celebrated the Holy Mass in St. Mary's Chapel. The Lebanese community in the area, as well as other pilgrims of the National Shrine, joined “The Family of Saint Sharbel” in this celebration.

After the Holy Mass, Fr. Cesar celebrated the veneration of and the blessing with St. Sharbel’s Relic. ​

At the end, Literature on Saint Sharbel were distributed to the faithful.

​On Saturday, July 23, 2022, after the Holy Mass, Monsignor Robert Powell with Father Simon El Hajj from Saint Sharbel Maronite Catholic Church (Somerset, NJ), conducted the blessing of St. Sharbel’s statue at Saint Cyril of Jerusalem Catholic Church in Jamison, Pennsylvania.

​Watch Father Simon El Hajj’s homily on St. Sharbel

Also, a first-class relic of St. Sharbel is on display for veneration along with other saints’ relics in the church.

The Family of Saint Sharbel is pleased to share with you this talk on St. Sharbel, given by Father Chris Alar, MIC (Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.), on July 23, 2022, for the Feast of St. Sharbel: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/videos/explaining-faith-st-charbel-saint-most-miracles-ever

The talk is part of Fr. Alar’s series “Explaining the Faith”, and is entitled “St. Charbel: The Saint with Most Miracles Ever?” In this episode, he gives an overview of St. Sharbel’s life, healing miracles, incorruptibility and more.

With more than 29,000 registered miracles, St. Sharbel is considered to have the most miracles out of the over 10,000 saints in the history of the Church, other than the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Click HERE to watch the talk on the Divine Mercy website. 

The Family of Saint Sharbel celebrated the birthday of Saint Sharbel on Saturday, May 7th, 2022, at the Shrine of Saint Sharbel, at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, in Emmitsburg, MD. 

At 12 PM, Fr. Theodore Trinko (IVE), Chaplain of the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, celebrated the Holy Mass in St. Mary's Chapel. ​

Watch the video

Click HERE to read the homily of Fr. Trinko.

At times, after the regular prayer meetings, the members pay a visit to the sick offering spiritual support, and sharing some of St. Sharbel’s resources: prayer cards, holy oil, books... Occasionally, they may provide financial support for medication.

For over sixteen years, the Family of St. Sharbel has been able to extend its apostolic work to India by providing spiritual resources and devotional items to various parishes, missions, and individuals. Brother Lloyd Butello, the Family's national coordinator in India, has served as the hands and the feet—the extension—of the mission of the Family of St. Sharbel in India.

Though there is currently no Family of St. Sharbel prayer group founded in India at this time, that hasn’t stopped the spirit of the Family of St. Sharbel from spreading there. For nearly twenty years, Lloyd has collaborated with the Family of St. Sharbel, USA to provide the faithful in India with resources, both spiritual and temporal.
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Most recently, during the month of October—World Mission Month—there was a collaborative effort to assist several projects, one of which ministered to the faithful of St. Peter’s Church, Koliwada.

​Another missionary and collaborator is Fr. Gregory Butello, a Missionary of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS) and uncle of Lloyd. Fr. Gregory has been a missionary in India for over seventeen years and works among the poor, most of whom are not Catholic. Most recently, he was transferred to St. Anthony Church, Kalambist, a mission located in the Sindhudurg Diocese where he serves a humble community of 300 Catholics. Much of the faithful have moved to nearby cities like Pune and Mumbai to seek out a better lifestyle and living conditions, but Fr. Gregory, along with the other MSFS fathers, continue to provide pastoral care to the faithful there. Upon his request, the Family of St. Sharbel was able to supply them with religious materials and devotional items in addition to catering to some of the pastoral needs of the mission.

In a recent correspondence detailing the fruits of the collaborative projects, Lloyd expresses his deep gratitude to the Family of St. Sharbel abroad: “Amid these trying times that the world is facing, we Catholics are called to be a beacon of hope and I am delighted to say that the Family of St. Sharbel is truly a beacon of hope. I hear with interest of all the various charitable projects back home and abroad, that this Family of God tries to take into hand and see to its fulfillment.
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On behalf of the hundreds of lives in India that you have touched and have helped to come more closer to Jesus-A Big Thank You!”