Polish Vaticanist Anna Artymiak, who has in recent days been covering on the Pope's trip to Turkey and Lebanon, sent the following report to me:
Day #5: St. Charbel -- "There is no peace without conversion of hearts"
By Anna Artymiak
Monday, December 1, 2025
Pope Leo started the second day of his trip to Lebanon with a visit to the tomb of Saint Charbel at the Monastery of Saint Maroun situated on picturesque hill in Annaya.
As Leo himself said, he came “as a pilgrim to the tomb of Saint Charbel.”
Leo XIV is the first Pope to pray at the tomb of famous Lebanese saint.
The warm welcome offered by Lebanese people was impressive. Thousands gathered long the way of the route of popemobile. Enthusiasm was huge although the weather was harsh, with heavy rain. But even a heavy rain could not deter the Lebanese from coming and waiting to see the Pope, even just for a second.
People threw flowers in front of the papal car.
Reaching the hill, the Holy Father changed his car for the popemobile to give more chance for the pilgrims to see and greet him.
On their faces there was joy.
When the Holy Father reached the monastery, he went first to the tomb of St. Charbel for a silent personal prayer.
Leo XIV knelt in front of a cedar coffin of the saint for about five minutes in a dark chapel.
Then, he lighted a candle.
There was present also the President of the country, Joseph Aoun, with his wife. According to the Lebanese Constitution, which protects power-sharing among the country's different ethnic and religious groups, the president of the country must always be a Maronite Christian.
After his silent prayer, the Holy Father, in a short reflection, pronounced in impressively fluent French, presented a summary of St. Charbel's spiritual legacy, which has affected many and remains an example today.
St. Charbel's “counter-cultural” witness and immense prayerfulness “could teach those who live without God how to pray, those who live immersed in noise how to be silent, those who live ostentatiously how to be modest, and those who seek riches how to be poor.”
Leo proposed St. Charbel as an example for bishops and ordained ministers who take on the evangelical demands of their priestly vocation, adding that “his steadfastness, as radical as it was humble, is a message for all Christians.”
The Holy Father spoke of St. Charbel's holiness. “During his earthly life," he said, "many went to him to receive comfort, forgiveness and advice” and after his death “his work multiplied and became like a river of mercy.”
He said that he was entrusting to St. Charbel's intercession “the needs of the Church, Lebanon and the world” — unity for the Church, and peace for Lebanon and the world.
The Pope also asked for a grace of conversion, saying: “There is no peace without conversion of Hearts.”
As a gift for the monastery, the Pope brought a lamp.
“There are documented 30,000 miracles received,” he said.
At the end of the Holy Father visited the museum accompanied by the Superior of the Maronite Convent.
Leo appeared relaxed and interested, asking many questions.
Leaving the Monastery of Saint Maroun he greeted some of the pilgrims gathered outside.
On his way from the Monastery of Saint Maroun in Annaya to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon (about 26 miles), Leo XIV could see the port of Beirut, where a blast killed more than 200 people on August 4, 2020.
Day #5 Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon
The second moment of the morning was meeting with bishops, priests, consecrated persons and pastoral workers at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, which is visited also by the Muslims.
Thus, the figure of Our Lady is uniting Christians and Muslims in the country.
Leo XIV reached the Shrine in a car.
People present in the Marian Shrine welcomed the Holy Father with great enthusiasm and a long ovation, and he answered with a warm and surprising "thank you" in Arabic, the common language of Lebanon.
The Holy Father was welcomed by Raphaël Bedros XXI, Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia for the Catholic Armenians, who called the Shrine a place where “the peoples are united and the religions meet and reconcile.”
Before Leo XIV’s speech there were four witnesses who presented, in a moving way, different realities of today’s Lebanon.
First was Fr. Youhanna-Fouad Fahed, a Lebanese Maronite pastor from Debbabiyé, a village at the Syrian border; then Loren Capobres, a Filipino from the pastoral ministry of migrants; then, Sister Dima Chebib, director of a school in Baalbeck; and finally, Fr. Charbel Fayad, CM, chaplain in a prison.
The Pope at the beginning of his speech quoted words of St. John Paul II who in his Message to the Citizens of Lebanon in 1984 called the Lebanese “the ones responsible for hope.”
Leo XIV said that the Shrine of Harissa is “a symbol of unity for the entire Lebanese people” where prayer “gives us the strength to continue to hope and work, even when surrounded by the sound of weapons and when the very necessities of daily life become a challenge.”
Speaking about building peace, he said that “we must anchor ourselves to heaven” and asked to “love without being afraid of losing those things which pass away and let us give without measure.” These roots are strong like of cedars which are a symbol of Lebanon present in their flag. He recalled the words of Pope Benedict XVI who spoke about “the unifying power of love even in the moments of trial.”
Thanks to love “can we free ourselves of injustice and oppression, even when, as we have heard, we are betrayed by people and organizations that ruthlessly exploit the desperation of those who have no alternative.”
The Holy Father recalled the responsibility for young people and asked to “foster their presence, even in ecclesial structures, appreciating their fresh contributions and providing them with opportunities” and to “offer them concrete and viable prospects for rebirth and future growth.”
In response to the witness of Loren, a Filipino migrant, the Holy Father invited to “to take a stand to ensure that no one else will have to flee from his or her country due to senseless and cruel conflicts, and that whoever knocks at the doors of our communities may never feel rejected, but welcomed with the words that Loren herself stated: 'Welcome home!'”
Commenting Sister Dima’s testimony, the Holy Father encouraged to cultivate education so dear to the Lebanese people. In the complex situation that the country is facing he noted to “share bread, fear and hope” and to “to love in the midst of hate, to serve even in exhaustion and to believe in a future that exceeds every expectation.” He also recalled that “our first school is the Cross and that our one Teacher is Christ (cf. Mt 23:10).”
Fr. Charbel Fayad, a chaplain in a prison, had presented a Golden Rose to the Pope, leading the Pope to say that that our lives should be "scented" with the sweet scent of roses — the fragrance of Christ.
After his speech, the Pope offered a golden rose to a wooden statue of Our Lady, and stopped for a longer while of prayer. Then, the faithful sang the Magnificat in Arabic and the Our Father in French.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon was built in 1904, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX. The inauguration took place on the first Sunday of May, 1908, which has since become the annual feast day of Our Lady of Lebanon. The white bronze statue of the Madonna, cast in Lyon (France), is 8.50 meters high and weighs about 15 tons.
Day #5 Beirut Ecumenical and Interreligious Meeting
On the afternoon of the 5th day of his first Apostolic journey, the Holy Father, back in Beirut, the capital, held an ecumenical and interreligious meeting in the Martyrs’ Square, then met with young people in the Square of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerké, outside of Beirut.
The sky in the afternoon cleared, and sunset bathed the city in gold.
The Martyrs’ Square is near the port where the tragic explosion took place in 2020, aggravating already difficult situation in Beirut caused by the 1975-1990 civil war. Pope Francis wanted to visit Lebanon for that reason, and today Leo XIV realized that dream.
Lebanon in its unique history and tradition goes back to ancient biblical times and is the only country in the Middle East where Christian are not in the extreme minority. Before the Holy Father delivered his address, leaders of other Churches and religions coexisting in the country spoke. In their addresses, a tone of respect dominated, and the hope for good relations in their dialogue with the Catholic Church and the Apostolic See. The Holy Father attentively listened to all the speeches.
In his address, pronounced in English, Leo XIV underlined the uniqueness of Lebanon, a land “where minarets and church bell towers stand side by side, yet both reach skyward, testifies to the enduring faith of this Land and the steadfast devotion of its people to the one God.”
What unites the Middle East in this dramatic moments of “the arduous journey and the unceasing quest for the precious gift of peace” is “our common humanity, and our belief on a God of love and mercy.”
The Pope continued: “In an age when coexistence can seem like a distant dream, the people of Lebanon, while embracing different religions, stand as a powerful reminder that fear, distrust and prejudice do not have the final word, and that unity, reconciliation, and peace are possible.”
Leo recalled that, 60 years ago, the Second Vatican Council with the promulgation of “the Declaration Nostra Aetate, opened a new horizon for encounter and mutual respect between Catholics and people of different religions, emphasizing that true dialogue and collaboration is rooted in love -- the only foundation for peace, justice, and reconciliation.”
The dialogue “inspired by divine love, should embrace all people of goodwill, reject prejudice, discrimination and persecution, and affirm the equal dignity of every human being,” he said.
“Here, the land itself becomes more than a mere site of encounter between Jesus and a pleading mother; it becomes a place where humility, trust, and perseverance overcome all barriers and meet God’s boundless love that embraces every human heart,” said the Pope recalling that Jesus i in the region of the Decapolis encountered the Syro-Phoenician woman.
At the end of his address, Leo XIV also spoke about timeless symbolism of olive trees as trees of reconciliation and peace.
“From this tree flows oil that heals -- a balm for physical and spiritual wounds -- manifesting the boundless compassion of God for all who suffer. Its oil also provides light, serving as a reminder of the call to illuminate our hearts through faith, charity, and humility,” he said.
At the very end, Leo XIV entrusted the whole country to Our Lady of Lebanon who is venerated on March 25, a day which is a holiday in the country.
At the end the Pope planted an olive tree.
[End, report on Pope Leo's 1st full day in Lebanon by Anna Artymiak]
