Yussef Antoun Makhlouf, the youngest of Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta Elias al-Shediyaq's five children, was born in 1828 amid modest circumstances in Bekaa Kafra (North Lebanon). Antoun, who had been snatched from his family and forced into hard labor, died when his youngest son was three years old.
Yussef attended the parochial school and looked after his family's cow. Since his early years, he has been a devoted follower of prayer and solitude. He frequently went outside to meditate on God in the fields and meadows close to his village, taking in the breathtaking vistas of Lebanon's mountains and valleys.
While his mother desired that he marry a young woman, the boy's guardian and uncle Tanious wanted him to continue working with him. But Yussef had other ideas, and in 1851 he fled his family without telling anyone.
After trekking on foot to his new monastic residence, Yussef would take on the moniker "Brother Charbel." He did this in imitation of his maternal relatives, who were already living as hermits in the Qadisha Valley at the Hermitage of Saint Paul.
In November of 1853, Charbel made his monastic vows in a solemn ceremony that was off-limits to even his family and the general public. After completing his studies to become a priest, he was consecrated and went back to the Monastery of St. Maron.
During his 19-year stay, the priest-monk demonstrated a strong commitment to the contemplative stillness, manual labor, and life of prayer in the monastery.
Even some Muslims started to regard Charbel as a miracle worker after seeing God's "supernatural power" at work in his life, as witnessed by Charbel's superiors. He was permitted to live as a hermit in a nearby hermitage to Saints Peter and Paul in 1875.
Throughout the following twenty-three years, the monk's existence was characterized by intense oneness with God and strict austerity. He was deeply committed to God's Eucharistic presence and on December 16, 1898, while participating in the Maronite Catholic Church's Divine Liturgy, he suffered a stroke. He passed away on Christmas Eve of that year and was laid to rest in the Annaya cemetery of the St. Maron monastery.
A few months later, the graveside was surrounded by bright lights. After that, his body- which had been secreting sweat and blood—was placed in a unique casket. Pilgrims began pouring into the area in droves to seek his intercession. And God granted numerous individuals healing and spiritual favours as a result of this intercession.
Pope Pius XI proposed in 1925 to declare his beatification and canonization. The grave was opened in 1950 in front of an official committee that comprised medical professionals who confirmed the body's health. Following the excavation and examination of the tomb, the range of healing incidents unexpectedly increased. Many pilgrims from many religious traditions began to swarm the Annaya monastery in an attempt to obtain the saint's favor.
Pope Paul VI declared the Lebanese Maronite saint to be an “admirable flower of sanctity blooming on the stem of the ancient monastic traditions of the East” and later canonized him in 1977.
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