Category: Countries & Regions
In Catholic tradition, patron saints are holy men and women whose lives and intercession are considered especially suited to particular needs, groups, or situations. The Church's practice of invoking saints reflects the doctrine of the Communion of Saints — the belief that the faithful departed remain united with the living in the one Body of Christ and can intercede before God on our behalf.
The designation of a patron saint for "Lebanon" reflects centuries of Catholic popular devotion and, in many cases, formal proclamations by popes or bishops recognizing a saint's particular connection to this intention through the circumstances of their life, death, or documented miracles.
Formally proclaimed patronage — sourced from canonized saints in the Roman Calendar.
Saint Sharbel Makhluf is invoked as patron of Lebanon. Saint Sharbel Makhluf was born Youssef Antoun Makhluf at Bekaa Kafra, in the high mountains of Lebanon, on May 8, 1828, into a poor Maronite Catholic farming family. After the death of his father he was raised by an uncle, a hermit at the monastery of Saint Anthony of Quzhaya. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/homilies/1977/documents/hf_p-vi_hom_19771009.html.
Saint Sharbel Makhluf is the primary patron saint of lebanon. Their feast day is July 24.
A patron saint is a holy man or woman canonized by the Church whose life and heavenly intercession are considered especially powerful for particular needs, groups, or situations. Catholics ask patron saints to intercede — to pray to God on their behalf — drawing on the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
To ask for a patron saint's intercession, Catholics typically pray directly to the saint, saying something like: "Sharbel Makhluf, pray for us." You may also light a candle, attend Mass on their feast day, or make a novena — nine days of consecutive prayer — asking for their help before a particular need.