One-of-a-kind spiritual center in Pittsburgh focuses on ‘miracles saint’ St. Sharbel
The Saint Sharbel Spiritual Life Center opened in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood in December 2023, offering retreats, spiritual courses, sacraments, and a library of over 10,000 books. The center houses a first‑class relic of St. Sharbel Makhlouf, linked to the 2016 miraculous healing of a blind woman in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Anne Borik, founder of the Saint Sharbel Global Prayer Net and investigator of the Phoenix miracle, directs the center. Maronite Bishop Gregory Mansour emphasized that the center aims to deepen devotion to the Eucharist, Mary, and asceticism alongside St. Sharbel’s intercessory miracles.
2 months ago
The Saint Sharbel Spiritual Life Center in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood is a 10,300‑square‑foot Catholic retreat and formation hub dedicated to the Maronite “miracle saint” St Sharbel Makhlouf, housing his first‑class relic and offering a range of liturgical, educational, and contemplative programs. 1 2
The center opened its doors in December 2023, with an official dedication on April 13 2024. It was described by Maronite Bishop Gregory Mansour as “the only one of its kind in the world.” 1
St Sharbel, a Lebanese Maronite priest and hermit (1828‑1898), was canonized in 1954 and is Lebanon’s patron saint, renowned for miraculous healings. His feast is celebrated on July 24 in the Latin rite and the third Sunday of July in the Maronite rite. 2
The center houses a first‑class relic of St Sharbel that was linked to the 2016 cure of Dafne Gutierrez, a blind woman in Phoenix who regained sight after venerating the relic. Dr Anne Borik, a Catholic physician and founder of the Saint Sharbel Global Prayer Net, led the medical investigation of that miracle and now directs the center. 1 2
These offerings aim to deepen devotion to the Eucharist, Mary, the Church, asceticism, silence, and solitude—values embodied by St Sharbel. 2
Dr Anne Borik serves as the center’s director, overseeing both its spiritual and operational activities. 1
The center seeks additional funding to expand its housing capacity and programmatic reach, reinforcing its mission to promote a “deep and abiding spiritual life” alongside the saint’s famed miracles. 2*
Investigate Maronite veneration of St. Sharbel within Catholic tradition
Maronite devotion to St. Sharbel (Charbel Makhlouf) is fully Catholic in substance: it is the venerating “cult of the saints” rooted in the Church’s apostolic tradition, and it has been explicitly confirmed and extended by the Roman Catholic Church through beatification and canonization and ongoing papal recognition of his intercession and pilgrimage-fame.
The Church’s teaching and practice treats the veneration of saints—liturgical and devotional—as an ancient ecclesial phenomenon, “rooted in the Scriptures,” which both Eastern and Western Churches have always practiced. It is also emphasized that the Church has defended and explained the theological basis of this cult and disciplined its expressions, precisely to keep it faithful to Christian life and doctrine.
In other words, Maronite veneration of Sharbel is not “extra” to Catholic tradition; it is an instance of a common Catholic reality, expressed through the Maronite rite’s own spirituality, language, and devotional life.
Catholic tradition also teaches that saintly intercession extends beyond death—especially connected with their tombs and relics. An official discussion in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis for Sharbel’s cause states that saintly intercession “is extended through the centuries,” particularly at their sepulchres or in the presence of their relics, and it cites St. John Damascene on saints as a source of benefits and healing for those who ask with “no doubt.”
This helps explain why Maronites (and other Catholics) do not merely “remember” Sharbel but also seek his intercession in a concrete devotional way—often tied to places associated with his holy life and remains.
Pope Paul VI’s beatification speech explicitly frames Sharbel as a monk/eremite of the Lebanese Maronite Order, and highlights that his elevation “enrolled” him among the blessed “according to the current procedure of the Catholic Church.”
Paul VI also presents the event as a symbol of union between the East and West and as a joyful honor given by the Church of Rome to the Maronite Church and, through it, the Eastern Churches.
In his later homily at canonization, Paul VI makes a key point for your question: he canonizes Sharbel and extends his cult to the entire Church.
That matters for “within Catholic tradition,” because it means Maronite veneration is not merely tolerated as a local custom; it is publicly approved at the level of universal Catholic discipline through canonization.
Long after canonization, Pope Leo XIV’s 2025 visit underscores that Sharbel “has never ceased to intercede for us,” and he describes a continuing pattern of pilgrimage to Sharbel’s tomb—especially on the 22nd day of each month—where thousands pray and seek renewal.
So Maronite (and wider Catholic) veneration is presented by the Holy See not as superstition, but as a living form of Christian prayer tied to a recognized saint.
In Paul VI’s beatification and canonization teaching, Sharbel’s holiness is characterized by a life “centered” on celebration of the Mass, silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and heroic virtue including obedience, poverty, and chastity.
This is important for understanding Maronite veneration: it is not only directed at Sharbel as a “miracle worker,” but also at him as a saintly exemplar of a particular ecclesial charism—especially contemplative and eremitical life rooted in Eastern monastic tradition.
Pope Leo XIV summarizes Sharbel’s legacy as teaching people (including those living “without God”) how to pray and how to be silent, modest, and poor—countercultural behaviors that attract people like “fresh, pure water draws” those in a desert.
This pope-centered framing aligns with how Maronite spirituality commonly presents Sharbel: as a saint whose eremitical hiddenness becomes a pastoral gift to the Church through prayer and intercession.
Paul VI explicitly treats Sharbel’s cult as belonging to the whole Church: he speaks of joy shared by “Orient and Occident,” and of the Roman Church honoring the Maronite Church.
John Paul II, addressing the Maronites, reiterates their communion with Rome and notes that his predecessor Pope Paul VI canonized Sharbel.
A practical sign of Sharbel’s catholicity is that his memorial appears in the liturgical calendar used across the Latin Church (in the United States it is listed on July 24 as “Saint Sharbel Makhlūf, Priest”).
That liturgical visibility shows that Maronite veneration has become part of broader Catholic worship—not only a local ethnic-religious custom.
Maronite veneration of St. Sharbel is within Catholic tradition because:
These elements together show that Maronite Sharbel devotion is not a departure from Catholicism but a Catholic expression of the same Church’s communion with its saints.