Fifty of the most beautiful sayings attributed to Saint Charbel:
(These sayings circulate among Saint Charbel’s devotees and are attributed to him; the saint himself left no writings.)
“Sin gives you nothing but anxiety, sadness, misery and emptiness.”
“If a person does not turn into love, he dies.”
“The cross is the key to the door of heaven.”
“Your weakness is there for you to overcome it, not to use as an excuse.”
“Sanctify the present moment of your life.”
“Holiness is a constant transformation of matter into light.”
“Holiness is grace and will: the grace comes from God, and the will from you.”
“Believe and take courage to bear witness.”
“Love in order to become holy.”
“Guide your senses so that they glorify God.”
“The most important, greatest and holiest sign is the sign of the cross.”
“The most important and greatest message is the message of the Gospel.”
“The most important and greatest miracle is the Holy Eucharist.”
“People want many things they do not need, and need many things they do not want.”
“If you do not remain in love, you will weep for it.”
“Wisdom is mastering yourself.”
“God is love, God is truth, God is true love.”
“A person only fulfils himself through love.”
“Man came out of the heart of God and returns to the heart of God.”
“Your happiness is not in stone; stone does not give happiness.”
“Your happiness does not come from people, because they do not possess it.”
“A human being is worth far more than gold; a human being is a child of God, and his worth comes from God and is in God.”
“Gold does not free a person from his chains; it only makes them shine brighter.”
“Make your whole life a prayer and a service.” “Your wealth is measured by how few your needs are, not by how much you own.”
“Do not begin anything on earth that does not end in heaven.”
“Do not walk any road on earth that does not lead you to heaven.”
“If you want to judge someone, judge yourself first.”
“Why is the way of men a way down, and the way of God a way up?!”
“Love is universal, without limits and without conditions.”
“Holiness is not luck; holiness is a choice.”
“Sow the earth with prayer and incense. Be saints and sanctify the earth.”
“Christianity is not a religion, a temple, a book or a sanctuary;
Christianity is the very person of Jesus Christ.”
“Do not forget that you are not of this world. Do not drown in it; pass through it,
rise above it, and lift it up to the Lord by the power of the Lord.”
“Only Jesus Christ can free all people from all their burdens,
loads and weights, because a slave cannot free a slave.”
“Commit yourselves fully to the Church and all her teaching, persevere in prayer without tiring, honour our Mother the Virgin Mary
and arm yourselves with the rosary, because the name of Mary scatters darkness and crushes evil.”
“The tear of repentance falls only on the cheek of the courageous believer.”
“The cross is the key that opens the lock of sin, that breaks the chains of death
and opens the door of heaven. The cross is the key to heaven; there is no other key.”
“Keep the warmth of the family, because the warmth of the whole world cannot replace it.”
“Through the cross, the Church, the Gospel and the Eucharist you will become holy. God created you
to become holy, not to die… Holiness is not luck; holiness is a choice.”
“A person only grasps the truth in the world of God.”
“What is the use of speed and running if the direction is wrong?”
“Your five senses are incomplete; it is the heart that completes them.”
“You cannot go toward holiness without passing through humanity.”
“The things that happen within you are much more important than the things that happen to you.”
“Let your prayers to the Lord split the deaf rocks and burst open the mute springs;
the rocks hear prayer and the springs speak, and all of them pray and glorify God.”
“If Christ is not in you, how will you give him to your children?”
“The first and basic weapon against the devil is truthfulness.
Every true word you speak is an arrow you shoot into the heart of the Evil One.”
“Confess your sins and you kill the evil inside you. The devil’s whole aim is to distract you from God.”
“Your prayer alone with the Lord places you in the Lord’s heart; your family prayer, in the bosom of the family, places you in the bosom of the Trinity;
and your communal prayer, in the heart of the Church, makes you firm in the Body of Christ.”
