An obscure border village in South Armagh has just received some famous visitors: St Paul the Apostle, St Teresa of Avila and St Agnes, among others. Actually, it was their relics that visited Meigh, a little village which rests in the shadow of Slieve Gullion.
It was here that Shalom World TV decided, apparently for logistical reasons, to broadcast its 2025 Conference on St Sharbel, the miracle monk who is credited with 33,000 miracles.
His relics, along with those of 200 other saints, were on display July 11-14 for the first time in Ireland, where devotion to St Sharbel seems to be growing.
St Sharbel shares a feast day, July 24, with our own St Declan, who, like Sharbel, sought solitude.
For Declan it was “a narrow place by the sea” and for Sharbel, it was in the mountains of Lebanon, where this Maronite Catholic was born in 1828.
The conference drew more than 2,500 visitors, and certainly, a few of my acquaintances have a particular devotion to him.
Michael Weynes, of St Brigid’s parish in Belfast, gave St Sharbel’s oil to a young girl who suffered from Crohn’s disease and was told by doctors that she would likely need a colostomy bag. “After her medical appointment,” he said, “I asked how she had got on. ‘Great – they didn’t find anything to worry about’.”
Sharbel
As patron of peace between Christians, Muslims and Druzes, St Sharbel is very much a saint for our times; conflict between these groups is now dominating the news.
St Sharbel was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1977 and notably an altar to St Sharbel was inaugurated at St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, in 2017.
Remarkable stories, which can now be found online, were told at the conference in Meigh, where ancient prayers were chanted in aramaic.
Fr Eli Abu Assaf, of the Antonine Maronite Order, recounted how his sister, a journalist, recovered from a devastating car crash. Doctors gave her a five per cent chance of survival. Her face had to be reconstructed and she was told she would not regain her sight. “She confounded her doctors,” said Fr Eli, who credits the intercession of St Sharbel.
St Sharbel is performing miracles all around the world for Christians, for Muslims and Buddhism”
At one stage, his sister was desperate to get home for Christmas, and was conscious of the divine presence of the infant child of Prague during her suffering. So, she told Jesus: “I need to go home to celebrate your feast with my family.”
She walked out of the hospital on December 23. “She has gained her strength,” said Fr Eli, “and her vision and she walks again and she does sport and she is back to writing her thesis and is back to work, living a normal life with her family.”
“St Sharbel is performing miracles all around the world for Christians, for Muslims and Buddhism all the denominations that come to your mind. He is performing miracles.”
Healing
The conference heard how relics can offer us a sacred encounter with the things of Heaven, and highlighted the scriptural references to relics – and not just the cloak of Christ through which a woman was healed in Matthew’s Gospel. Acts of Apostles refers to ‘healing handkerchiefs’, cloth touched by St Paul, and we read in 2 Kings 13:21 that the body of a dead Israelite sprung to life after being placed on the bones of the prophet Elisha.
Fr Eli said most healing miracles are of a spiritual nature, and cautioned against the desire for a “magic wand”
“We want magic not miracles,” said Fr Eli. “A magic wand to fix everything directly.”
“Hope is not wishful thinking. It is rooted in trust in God’s love and mercy and power and it means believing that God is faithful even in darkness and suffering.”
“Suffering is never meaningless if borne in hope.”
He no longer asks, “Why is God doing this to me?” but embraces his suffering. “No one needs to see someone suffering but if it happens let us deal with it in a different way. Offer your suffering to Christ and he will give you strength and courage.”
***
Tales of the miraculous are not often found in the sports pages of a newspaper. But there it was on page 33 of The Belfast Telegraph, right in the middle of all the golf coverage. Chief sportswriter Steven Beacon had encountered golf fan and former pastor Marc Taylor (48) at The Open in Royal Portrush. “It’s a miracle I’m here,” Taylor declared. “I was told after the last Open at Royal Portrush that I was going to die.”
Taylor has been diagnosed with a massive tumour in his abdomen, and was told by doctors, on January 8, 2021, that there was nothing more they could do for him. He had prayed fervently that he would live to see his two sons, Luke and Dillon, get married. It seemed that was not going to happen.
It was the era of the Covid lockdown, so he was alone in his room at Altagelvin Hospital. He was not expecting any visitors when a woman arrived at his door. She had fuzzy grey hair, and was wearing a fur coat, a neck scarf and a pair of DM boots. “I looked at her and had never seen her before in my life,” he said.
She wanted to know if he was Marc Taylor, and he wanted to know how she got in. “She laughed,” Taylor recalls, “and said ‘Miracle one, not one person has stopped me and I have found your room.’”
Messenger
But why had she come, he wanted to know. “Did you get bad news today?” she asked him and then announced: “God woke me in the middle of the night to find a guy called Marc Taylor to tell him he is not going to die, he is going to live.”
The messenger turned out to be Angela McCauley. She was a mother of 14, a devout Christian, married to Brendan, and she herself had been healed of stage four cancer 15 years earlier.
Her words were prophetic. Taylor’s doctors subsequently changed their minds and decided to operate on him one more time.
Taylor and Angela, whose name means messenger in Greek, became friends.
She passed away on June 7, and following her requiem Mass in Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Belfast, Marc spoke at her graveside in St Patrick’s Cemetery Portaferry.
Taylor still suffers some residual pains from his illness but is looking forward to attending the weddings of his sons, on August 20 and November 12. He is also looking forward to meeting Angela again in Heaven. “I can’t wait for the reunion,” he declares with great hope.
***
A parishioner from St Mary’s, Maghera has been inspired to go on a mission trip to the Philippines with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Clare Donelly is organising a 13-mile fundraising walk around the Antrim Coast on August 2. Along with family and friends she is aiming to raise funds for the mission trip with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. She will be working with the Pusa ngAma Foundation. She is asking for prayers, as well as sponsors for the walk. Donations to Revout@clarefdon.
***
As the Jubilee of Youth prepares to gather in Rome, the focus is on attracting younger members to our own parishes. Down and Connor Diocese has launched a recruitment drive for a ‘Youth Minister’ for the family of parishes in Duneane, Antrim and Randalstown. The contract is for three years.
***
Congratulations to Bernie Smyth, director of the pro-life group, Precious Life. She is one of 15 Christian women who have received the ‘She Leads’ UK/America award. “I was incredibly honoured and humbled,” said the Co. Antrim woman who has spent many years supporting the rights of the unborn child and assisting vulnerable women. A good choice for the second annual award.
The valley of the saints and a message of hope
An obscure border village in South Armagh has just received some famous visitors: St Paul the Apostle, St Teresa of Avila and St Agnes, among others. Actually, it was their relics that visited Meigh, a little village which rests in the shadow of Slieve Gullion.
It was here that Shalom World TV decided, apparently for logistical reasons, to broadcast its 2025 Conference on St Sharbel, the miracle monk who is credited with 33,000 miracles.
His relics, along with those of 200 other saints, were on display July 11-14 for the first time in Ireland, where devotion to St Sharbel seems to be growing.
St Sharbel shares a feast day, July 24, with our own St Declan, who, like Sharbel, sought solitude.
For Declan it was “a narrow place by the sea” and for Sharbel, it was in the mountains of Lebanon, where this Maronite Catholic was born in 1828.
The conference drew more than 2,500 visitors, and certainly, a few of my acquaintances have a particular devotion to him.
Michael Weynes, of St Brigid’s parish in Belfast, gave St Sharbel’s oil to a young girl who suffered from Crohn’s disease and was told by doctors that she would likely need a colostomy bag. “After her medical appointment,” he said, “I asked how she had got on. ‘Great – they didn’t find anything to worry about’.”
Sharbel
As patron of peace between Christians, Muslims and Druzes, St Sharbel is very much a saint for our times; conflict between these groups is now dominating the news.
St Sharbel was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1977 and notably an altar to St Sharbel was inaugurated at St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, in 2017.
Remarkable stories, which can now be found online, were told at the conference in Meigh, where ancient prayers were chanted in aramaic.
Fr Eli Abu Assaf, of the Antonine Maronite Order, recounted how his sister, a journalist, recovered from a devastating car crash. Doctors gave her a five per cent chance of survival. Her face had to be reconstructed and she was told she would not regain her sight. “She confounded her doctors,” said Fr Eli, who credits the intercession of St Sharbel.
At one stage, his sister was desperate to get home for Christmas, and was conscious of the divine presence of the infant child of Prague during her suffering. So, she told Jesus: “I need to go home to celebrate your feast with my family.”
She walked out of the hospital on December 23. “She has gained her strength,” said Fr Eli, “and her vision and she walks again and she does sport and she is back to writing her thesis and is back to work, living a normal life with her family.”
“St Sharbel is performing miracles all around the world for Christians, for Muslims and Buddhism all the denominations that come to your mind. He is performing miracles.”
Healing
The conference heard how relics can offer us a sacred encounter with the things of Heaven, and highlighted the scriptural references to relics – and not just the cloak of Christ through which a woman was healed in Matthew’s Gospel. Acts of Apostles refers to ‘healing handkerchiefs’, cloth touched by St Paul, and we read in 2 Kings 13:21 that the body of a dead Israelite sprung to life after being placed on the bones of the prophet Elisha.
Fr Eli said most healing miracles are of a spiritual nature, and cautioned against the desire for a “magic wand”
“We want magic not miracles,” said Fr Eli. “A magic wand to fix everything directly.”
“Hope is not wishful thinking. It is rooted in trust in God’s love and mercy and power and it means believing that God is faithful even in darkness and suffering.”
“Suffering is never meaningless if borne in hope.”
He no longer asks, “Why is God doing this to me?” but embraces his suffering. “No one needs to see someone suffering but if it happens let us deal with it in a different way. Offer your suffering to Christ and he will give you strength and courage.”
***
Tales of the miraculous are not often found in the sports pages of a newspaper. But there it was on page 33 of The Belfast Telegraph, right in the middle of all the golf coverage. Chief sportswriter Steven Beacon had encountered golf fan and former pastor Marc Taylor (48) at The Open in Royal Portrush. “It’s a miracle I’m here,” Taylor declared. “I was told after the last Open at Royal Portrush that I was going to die.”
Taylor has been diagnosed with a massive tumour in his abdomen, and was told by doctors, on January 8, 2021, that there was nothing more they could do for him. He had prayed fervently that he would live to see his two sons, Luke and Dillon, get married. It seemed that was not going to happen.
It was the era of the Covid lockdown, so he was alone in his room at Altagelvin Hospital. He was not expecting any visitors when a woman arrived at his door. She had fuzzy grey hair, and was wearing a fur coat, a neck scarf and a pair of DM boots. “I looked at her and had never seen her before in my life,” he said.
She wanted to know if he was Marc Taylor, and he wanted to know how she got in. “She laughed,” Taylor recalls, “and said ‘Miracle one, not one person has stopped me and I have found your room.’”
Messenger
But why had she come, he wanted to know. “Did you get bad news today?” she asked him and then announced: “God woke me in the middle of the night to find a guy called Marc Taylor to tell him he is not going to die, he is going to live.”
The messenger turned out to be Angela McCauley. She was a mother of 14, a devout Christian, married to Brendan, and she herself had been healed of stage four cancer 15 years earlier.
Her words were prophetic. Taylor’s doctors subsequently changed their minds and decided to operate on him one more time.
Taylor and Angela, whose name means messenger in Greek, became friends.
She passed away on June 7, and following her requiem Mass in Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Belfast, Marc spoke at her graveside in St Patrick’s Cemetery Portaferry.
Taylor still suffers some residual pains from his illness but is looking forward to attending the weddings of his sons, on August 20 and November 12. He is also looking forward to meeting Angela again in Heaven. “I can’t wait for the reunion,” he declares with great hope.
***
A parishioner from St Mary’s, Maghera has been inspired to go on a mission trip to the Philippines with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Clare Donelly is organising a 13-mile fundraising walk around the Antrim Coast on August 2. Along with family and friends she is aiming to raise funds for the mission trip with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. She will be working with the Pusa ngAma Foundation. She is asking for prayers, as well as sponsors for the walk. Donations to Revout@clarefdon.
***
As the Jubilee of Youth prepares to gather in Rome, the focus is on attracting younger members to our own parishes. Down and Connor Diocese has launched a recruitment drive for a ‘Youth Minister’ for the family of parishes in Duneane, Antrim and Randalstown. The contract is for three years.
***
Congratulations to Bernie Smyth, director of the pro-life group, Precious Life. She is one of 15 Christian women who have received the ‘She Leads’ UK/America award. “I was incredibly honoured and humbled,” said the Co. Antrim woman who has spent many years supporting the rights of the unborn child and assisting vulnerable women. A good choice for the second annual award.
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