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The Miracle Record

Nohad El Shami - St. Charbel Healing (1993)

Healing Image Video

The story in one line

Nohad El Shami experienced a sudden healing linked to Saint Charbel after a dream-vision.

The basic story

In 1993, Lebanese devotional sources reported that Nohad El Shami recovered from hemiplegia after a dream in which St. Charbel and St. Maroun operated on her neck. The story is closely associated with the shrine of Annaya and the 22nd-of-the-month pilgrimage practice.

Historical setting

Nohad El Shami's case belongs to the Lebanese shrine tradition of Saint Charbel, where a dream-vision account and later medical recovery became part of the monastery's healing record.

Lebanon January 22, 1993 Annaya pilgrimages

Reported healing date

January 22, 1993

The devotional summaries center the neck-operation dream and recovery on the night of January 22, 1993.

Condition in the file

Hemiplegia

The Saint Charbel summary describes major arterial blockage in the brain and resulting paralysis.

Physical sign in reports

Two neck wounds

The public devotional record says two surgical-like marks were visible on waking.

Continuing practice

22nd-of-the-month pilgrimages

The cited Charbel sources connect the healing directly with the monthly Annaya pilgrimages on the 22nd.

Primary-source file

Section titled “Primary-source file”
Devotional case summary St. Charbel heals Nohad El Shami from hemiplegia

The Saint Charbel page gives the hospital course, the January 22 dream account, and the recovery narrative.

saintcharbel.net.au Devotional miracle overview Saint Sharbel’s miracles

This overview connects the Nohad case with the monthly Annaya pilgrimages and the wider St. Charbel miracle tradition.

familyofsaintsharbel.org Public retelling video The miracles of St. Charbel | Nohad El Shami

The official devotional video retells the case and its link to the 22nd-of-the-month practice.

youtube.com

The video below is a Saint Charbel ministry retelling of the Nohad El Shami healing and the 22nd-of-the-month devotional practice associated with it.[3]

The reported healing

Section titled “The reported healing”

According to Maronite devotional sources, Nohad El Shami, a Lebanese mother of twelve, suffered a serious episode of hemiplegia in January 1993.[1] In plain terms, that means one side of her body was said to be paralyzed. The same sources say she was hospitalized after doctors found major arterial blockage in the brain.[1]

The standard devotional account says that after she returned home, she had a dream in which St. Charbel and St. Maroun stood beside her bed and operated on her neck. When she awoke, she reportedly found two surgical-like wounds on her neck and discovered that she could move normally again.[1][2]

Nohad file

  1. Illness Hospitalized and paralyzed The public story begins with a severe neurological episode and major loss of movement.
  2. Night Dream of operation The central claim is a dream in which St. Charbel and St. Maroun operate on her neck.
  3. Morning Wounds and recovery She says she woke with two neck marks and the ability to move again.
  4. Afterward Monthly pilgrimage The story is tied to the continuing 22nd-of-the-month pilgrimages at Annaya.
Open full graphic
A visual explainer showing Nohad El Shami's public file from hospital paralysis to the dream, the neck wounds, and the monthly Annaya pilgrimage tradition.
The Nohad El Shami file moves in a simple sequence: paralysis, dream of St. Charbel and St. Maroun, waking with neck wounds and restored movement, then the 22nd-of-the-month pilgrimage practice. Local explainer graphic

The following night, the same sources say St. Charbel told her to visit the hermitage at Annaya on the 22nd of each month. That one detail is what later turned a private healing story into a public monthly pilgrimage tradition.[1] [2]

The Saint Charbel account gives the episode a fuller step-by-step sequence. After leaving the hospital, Nohad is described as bedridden, in severe pain, and dependent on her husband and children for basic care.[1] One dream placed her at the hermitage receiving Communion from St. Charbel, and on the night of January 22, 1993 the better-known dream of the two monks and the neck surgery followed.[1]

When she awoke, the source says, she found two long wounds on her neck and discovered that she could move her arms and legs normally again.[1]

Publicly documented chronology

Section titled “Publicly documented chronology”

The public devotional file for Nohad El Shami is organized around a short sequence:

  • hospitalization for hemiplegia in January 1993[1]
  • return home bedridden after the hospital episode[1]
  • the dream and reported neck operation on the night of January 22, 1993[1]
  • recovery on waking, followed by the instruction to visit Annaya on the 22nd of each month[1] [2]

That final point is what ties the healing account to the enduring Annaya devotional calendar.[1] [2]

What followed in Annaya

Section titled “What followed in Annaya”

The cited devotional sources connect the Nohad El Shami account with St. Charbel Makhlouf devotion and with the shrine at Annaya, Lebanon.[1] [2]

Those same sources say the story is tied to:

  • monthly pilgrimages on the 22nd[1] [2]
  • St. Charbel devotional life in Annaya[1] [2]
  • ongoing retellings by Charbel ministries[1] [3]

The monthly devotion is one of the clearest public effects of the story. The Saint Charbel ministry says that since the January 22, 1993 dream, large crowds have gathered in Annaya on the 22nd of each month for prayer and Mass.[1] So even if a reader is unsure what to make of the dream itself, the public result is easy to understand: the story created a fixed monthly pilgrimage pattern at the shrine.

Source profile

Section titled “Source profile”

The public sources give us several concrete things:

  • named physicians and hospitals are given in devotional summaries[1]
  • the date of the reported healing is fixed in shrine tradition[1][2]
  • the story is central to the public devotional life of Annaya today[2]

What remains limited is also important to say plainly:

  • most of the public evidence is preserved in shrine and devotional retellings
  • no peer-reviewed medical case report was found
  • the public sources are devotional summaries rather than a published secular medical dossier

References

Section titled “References”
  1. Saint Charbel. “St Charbel heals Nohad El Shami from hemiplegia.” A devotional summary naming the doctors, hospital course, dream account, and recovery. Available at: https://saintcharbel.net.au/miracles/st-charbel-heals-nohad-el-shami-from-hemiplegia/
  2. Family of Saint Sharbel USA. “Saint Sharbel’s Miracles.” Devotional overview of miracles associated with the saint, including the Nohad El Shami case and its role in the 22nd-of-the-month Annaya pilgrimages. Available at: https://www.familyofsaintsharbel.org/miracles.html
  3. Saint Charbel. “The Miracles of St. Charbel | Nohad El Shami.” Official devotional video recounting the case and the devotion that followed. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMaVPopJpyU