It’s no easy feat for a parishioner to get their hands on a first-class relic at the request of their parish priest. But on St Charbel’s feast, anything is possible for St Luke’s Revesby’s Rita Torbay. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
More than 1000 attendees filled the pews to welcome a first-class relic of St Charbel from Annaya, Lebanon, to its new Sydney home on July 21, on the feast of the beloved saint.
But its journey began much earlier.
“I was leaving Mass one day in February last year when (parish priest) Fr Dariusz Basiaga approached me with the request,” Ms Torbay said.
“My husband’s uncle is an abbot in Lebanon and that was the only avenue I could think of. We asked him and he explained we’d need to process a letter request.”
Not long afterwards, Ms Torbay and her family booked a trip during the July school holidays and arrived at St Charbel’s monastery on his feast day.
“They had thousands of pilgrims coming for the feast, but to my amazement, at one o’clock there was barely anyone. The lady there said everyone had just left not much earlier and if I had arrived another time I wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere near the church.”
After dropping off the letter, Ms Torbay prayed for a response before flying out five days later. Almost 24 hours before take-off, she received a phone call from Fr John-Paul Bassil, a superior of the Mariamite Maronite Order stationed at Our Lady of Lebanon in Sydney.
“Congratulations, your relic has been approved,” Fr Bassil said.
Fr Bassile last weekend brought the relic to St Luke’s and, alongside Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, celebrated Mass with Fr Dariusz Basiaga SDS, Fr Greg Skulski SDS, Fr Benjamin Saliba and Deacon Aisavali.
Directly after Mass the archbishop installed and blessed the relic and new statues of St Luke and St Charbel.
FULL STORY
Miracle gift of St Charbel’s relics for Revesby (By George Al-Akiki, The Catholic Weekly)
