Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini

Having become a professor of moral theology and director of the scholasticate at Kfifane and Bhersaf, Father Nimatullah notably had the future Saint Charbel Makhlouf as a student from 1853 to 1858. Appointed Assistant General of the Lebanese Maronite Order three times by the Holy See, he invested himself in the formation of monks and founded free schools. Despite his influence, he refused the office of Superior General, preferring the humble tasks of bookbinding and sewing. During the civil wars of 1840 and 1845, he chose to remain within his community rather than retire to a hermitage.

Nicknamed the "Saint of Kfifane," he led a life of rigorous asceticism, spending long hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. His devotion to the Virgin Mary was marked by the daily recitation of the Rosary and fasting. In December 1858, struck by severe pneumonia, he passed away on December 14 at the monastery of Kfifane at the age of 50. His confreres testified to a splendid light and a sweet fragrance in his cell, and his body remained miraculously incorruptible after his death.

The cause for beatification was introduced in Rome in 1926. Declared Venerable in 1989, he was beatified on May 10, 1998, by Pope John Paul II following the miraculous healing of Andre Najm, who suffered from incurable leukemia, after a pilgrimage to Kfifane in 1987. Father Nimatullah was subsequently canonized by John Paul II on May 16, 2004.

The spirituality of Saint Nimatullah unites contemplative prayer and theological study. He left strong maxims on the salvation of the soul ("The wise man is he who saves his soul") and fraternal charity. His vision of monastic life compares the monk to a king whose crown is the love of God. As the spiritual master of Saint Charbel, he remains a pillar of the Maronite tradition.