St Charbel heals Elias with cancer in Damour, Mount Lebanon.
Elias was born in Damour, Mount Lebanon in 1947 and was regular smoker for thirty years and he quit smoking in the year 2000. After he quit smoking Elias went to a doctor to do a full physical and medical test and examination to see if he had any illness or cancer. The doctor agreed and proceeded to do his medical tests and examinations on Elias which included a chest x-ray.
The x-ray showed a small spot on Elias’s lung but the doctor seemed confident that everything was ok but ordered a CAT scan to make sure. Therefore Elias went to Aboujaoude Hospital where he underwent the CAT scan and the results showed that he had a cancer on his lung.
The doctor proceeded to do more tests and examinations on Elias’s lung to determine the kind and stage of the cancer. The doctor also tested Elias’s head, stomach and bones to see if he had cancer in these areas as well before undergoing any surgery.
The results of the tests and examinations discovered another cancer in Elias’s brain. The doctor referred Elias to a cancer specialist to examine his 2 two cancers and give him the best advice and solution to stop and eliminate the cancers. The cancer specialist examined Elias and the results indicated that Elias had to start chemotherapy immediately to stop the cancers from becoming bigger and spreading throughout his body.
Elias agreed to start chemotherapy at the hospital and do whatever the cancer specialist tells him to do. Before every chemotherapy session Elias drove and prayed at St Maroun’s monastery in Annaya, Mount Lebanon and St Peter and St Paul hermitage in Annaya, Mount Lebanon. These two places are a few hundred meters apart and it’s where St Charbel used to pray, meditate, Labour and sleep. Elias asked St Charbel to be with him during his chemotherapy sessions and he believed that St Charbel will help him during this tough time.
After Six months of chemotherapy, the MRI showed very little improvement in Elias’s lung and brain cancers. Elias continued to do chemotherapy and also kept praying at St Maroun’s monastery in Annaya, Mount Lebanon and St Peter and St Paul hermitage in Annaya, Mount Lebanon. However after twenty chemotherapy sessions, the MRI showed an 80% improvement in Elias’s brain cancer. The cancer specialist was satisfied with the results and felt the need to continue the chemotherapy.
Elias wanted to get a second doctors opinion regarding his brain and lung cancers so he travelled to Melbourne in Australia. In Melbourne he was examined by a well-known cancer specialist and he also reviewed his cancer file from Lebanon. The cancer specialist couldn’t believe the difference between the first and the last CAT scan and MRI results. The cancer specialist said he was one of the very few people to respond very well to chemotherapy and he was on the road to full recovery. Elias travelled back to Lebanon from Australia to continue the chemotherapy. After a few chemotherapy sessions the cancer specialist did a new CAT scan on Elias’s brain. The scan revealed no cancer was found in Elias’s brain but the cancer in the his lung was still there but wasn’t spreading to the other parts of his body.
The cancer specialist gave Elias three choices regarding his lung cancer: firstly, to continue the chemotherapy, secondly, to continue the x-rays or to stop the chemotherapy and keep a close watch on the cancer. Elias told the cancer specialist that he needed two days to think about the three choices. During this time, Elias went to St Maroun’s monastery in Annaya, Mount Lebanon and St Peter and St Paul hermitage in Annaya, Mount Lebanon and asked St Charbel to help him decide what to do and to give him a sign.
The next morning, Elias’s wife was having a coffee with her daughter in their house and after Elias’s wife finished her coffee she put her coffee cup on the table. As she was talking to her daughter she looked at the coffee cup and saw the face of St Charbel at the bottom of the coffee cup. Elias’s wife ran to Elias’s bedroom with the coffee cup, woke him up from his sleep and showed him the face of St Charbel at the bottom of the coffee cup.
Elias shouted with joy and excitement and told his wife that this was the sign he asked St Charbel for regarding his cancer. Elias got dressed immediately and went to a professional photographer to take a photo of the cup. Once Elias arrived at the photographer’s place, the photographer said he had never seen anything like this in his life. The photographer took a photo of the coffee cup with the face of St Charbel in it but the photo came out blank. The photographer tried again to take a photo and still the photo came out blank. The photographer couldn’t believe what was happening.
Then Elias held the cup in his hand and said these words to St Charbel, “St Charbel, I will distribute your photo all over the world at my own expense. Please help the photographer take the photo.” The photographer tried again to take a photo and this time the camera worked and photo came out very clear. Once the photo was developed by the photographer, Elias started to promote his miracle and the photo of St Charbel’s face in the coffee cup in Lebanon and around the world.
Elias went to the cancer specialist to let him know the miracle that happened to him and to get a final test and examination done regarding his lung cancer. After the results of tests and examinations, the cancer specialist excitedly informed Elias he was cleared from all cancer in his body. The cancer specialist could not believe the cancer had just disappeared and vanished from Elias’s body. Elias now lives cancer free and happily with his wife and family.