The Healing of Nohad El Shami

On the night of January 21st, 1993, Nohad El Shami — a 55-year-old Maronite mother of twelve from Beirut — had been suffering for months from a partial paralysis caused by the obstruction of the carotid arteries leading to her brain. Doctors had warned that without urgent surgery she would not recover the use of her body.

That night, in a state between sleep and waking, she saw two monks approach her bed. One of them placed his hands on her neck and performed what felt like a surgical operation, while the other held her head. When she awoke, she found two fresh incisions on either side of her neck — and discovered, to her astonishment, that she could walk freely.

The monks of Annaya, after examining the wounds and questioning her, identified the figures she had seen as Saint Charbel and Saint Maron. The scars remained visible on her neck for the rest of her life, and on the 22nd of every month she went in pilgrimage to the monastery to give thanks, until her death in May 2025. Her case has been studied by physicians and is among the most thoroughly documented miracles of the 20th century.