St Charbel makes locust disappear from the farmer’s fields near St Maroun’s Monastery in Annaya, Mount Lebanon.
St Charbel lived the last 23 years of his life as a hermit in purity, obedience and humility which he practiced with the utmost love at the St Peter and St Paul hermitage in Annaya, Mount Lebanon.
At the hermitage St Charbel prayed, meditated and attend mass daily, read the bible and scriptures daily, performed manual Labour daily, lived a life in poverty, ate one meal a day which were scraps from the other hermits and monks, carried out penance, practiced corporal punishment, chained himself, mortification of the body, slept on goat’s hair and used a timber log as a pillow which laid directly on the ground, slept less than five hours a day and observed strict silence in order to be as close to God as possible.
God rewarded St Charbel for his continuous commitment and service to him and blessed St Charbel with many talents, graces and filled him with the Holy Spirit which enabled St Charbel to perform many miracles when he was alive.
In 1885, a vast cloud of locusts descended on the farmer’s fields and began to ravage and eat the crops and harvest. Locusts is also called acridid or short horned grasshopper and any of several grasshoppers of the family Acrididae, having short antennae and commonly migrating in large numbers or swarms that strip the harvest, crops or vegetation from large fields and areas.
The poor farmers who lived next to the monastery of St Maroun in Annaya, Mount Lebanon quickly ran to the monastery to get help from the Superior Monk because the locust would destroy and eat the crops and harvest and would eventually cause widespread famine.
The Superior Monk asked Father Charbel (St Charbel) to urgently go to the farmer’s fields were the locust had attacked their crops and harvest and to pray and bless the fields with holy water. So Father Charbel (St Charbel) calmly walked with the farmer’s to their fields and reassured them that everything will be ok because their faith in God was excellent.
Once Father Charbel (St Charbel) arrived at the farmer’s fields he stood calmly, prayed in silence, sprinkled holy water and gave a final blessing. As soon as Father Charbel (St Charbel) gave the final blessing, the locust gradually left and disappeared from the all the field’s which had crops and harvest on them.
The poor farmers could not believe what they just witnessed and continuously thanked and praised Father Charbel (St Charbel) for his miracle. Father Charbel (St Charbel) responded “God bless you and your fields”. Then Father Charbel (St Charbel) put his equipment in his bag and calmly walked back to the monastery to continue his work.