Saint Charbel as portrayed by maronite monks and artists of all times.

No one ever photographed Saint Charbel, neither did anyone paint a portrait of him in his lifetime. On May 8th, 1950, still another extraordinary event occurred. Several Maronite missionaries took a photo of themselves before the Saint’s grave. After the photo was developed, it turned out that there was another unknown figure—that of a monk—standing among them. Some of the elderly monks recognized that figure as Father Charbel himself, and from that time on this photo has been the prototype of all subsequent portraits of the saintly hermit.