MIAMI | A trilingual celebration in honor of St. Charbel brought hundreds to Mass July 26 at Our Lady of Lebanon, the only Maronite Catholic Church in Miami-Dade County.

The special Mass was preceded by a rosary and was celebrated by Father Elie Saade, newly installed pastor at Our Lady of Lebanon, and Bishop Emeritus Fernando Isern of Pueblo, Colo. The Mass was celebrated in Spanish, Aramaic and English.

�Saint Charbel is a famous Maronite Catholic saint who is well known not only in Lebanon but worldwide including Latin America,� said Father Saade. �This Mass isn�t only for the Lebanese or Maronite community. We are opening it up to everyone who would like to participate and we have plenty of people from other nationalities here praying to St. Charbel.�

Many suffering from sickness or ailments attended the service to pray to St. Charbel in hopes of an intercession.

�I�m here praying for my son who�s sick,� said Arturo Estopi�an. �I�m praying for a miracle for him. He has a genetic degenerative condition and we have faith that through prayer he will find relief.�  

St. Charbel was a Lebanese hermit beatified by Pope Paul VI on Dec. 5, 1965 and canonized as a saint by the same pope on Oct. 9, 1977. Miracles are attributed to him worldwide, from Russia to Japan to Mexico to Brazil.

Both Maronite Catholics and Roman Catholics are in union with the pope. In addition to the pope, Maronites also have a patriarch elected by their bishops and confirmed by the Holy See. 

�What we use is the language of Jesus Christ, that�s our liturgical language,� explained Father Saade. �Instead of it being Latin like in the Roman Catholic Church, our liturgical language is Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ.�

Maronite Catholics tend to derive from Lebanon. In Miami, a unique characteristic is that the majority of the parishioners at Our Lady of Lebanon are Hispanic and although their liturgical language is Aramaic, Mass is also celebrated in Spanish.

�Catholic means universal and seeing the Church get filled with people of diverse backgrounds and countries is what makes our Church beautiful and unified,� said Father Saade. �The diversity within the unity is what makes our Church holy.�

�There�s approximately 15,000 families of Lebanese origin living in South Florida and they are who primarily make up our parish community,� said Nabil Salem, a parishioner at Our Lady of Lebanon for more than 25 years. �Many came from Cuba, others Venezuela, Argentina and throughout Latin America. I really credit our Spanish-speaking members of our community for their devotion to St. Charbel.�

At the end of the Mass, those in attendance were blessed with holy oil brought from the tomb of St. Charbel in Lebanon.

�I invite anyone interested in experiencing the richness of the Catholic Church to come to a Mass,� said Father Saade. �That�s a richness we have to take advantage of as Catholics: That we have different forms in the Catholic Church and the Maronite Church is one family among 22 families in the Catholic Church.�

For Mass times and more information, visit Our Lady of Lebanon's website, www.ololmiami.org. There is also a Maronite Catholic church in Broward County, Heart of Jesus in Fort Lauderdale.