Andre accompanied family and friends to the monastery of Kfifane where he prayed fervently at the grave of Kassab. The people around him heard him say "I beg you, Fr. Al-Hardini, give me a drop of blood for I am so tired to the point where I can't even beg for blood on the street." He then asked to wear the monastic habit, moments later he was cured, and cried out with joy, "I wore the monastic habit, I am cured, I don't need blood anymore!" Andre has not required any blood transfusions since that day, and in 1991 he married Rola Salim Raad. They have three children, a son named Charbel and two daughters named Rafca and Maria. Today, Andre is in excellent health and has become a Maronite priest. Veneration The cause for Kassab's canonization was formally accepted by the Holy See on 7 September 1978 and he was declared Venerable. On 2 May 1996, Bishop Khalil Abi-Nader, retired Bishop of the Maronite Diocese of Beirut, obtained the permission of Cardinal Sfeir to start the investigation of the miracle of Andre Najm. On 26 September 1996, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome began to study the miracle. On 27 February 1997, the five-member medical team unanimously voted to accept the cure of Andre Najm as a miracle. On 9 May 1997, the seven-member theological team also voted unanimously to accept the miracle. On 1 July 1997, the General Assembly of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which includes twenty-four cardinals, accepted the miracle attributed to the intercession of Kassab. On 7 July 1997, in the presence of Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints published the decree accepting the miracle. Kassab's beatification by Pope John Paul II was held at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on Sunday, 10 May 1998. He was later canonized on Sunday, 16 May 2004, by the same pope. The Maronite Church celebrates his feast day on December 14. References External links Life of St. Hardini on YouTube (English subtitle movie) Vatican biography of Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini Saints.SQPN Santiebeati Catholic Online 1808 births 1858 deaths Lebanese Maronites Eastern Catholic monks Eastern Catholic priests Lebanese Maronite saints Catholic devotions 19th-century Christian clergy 19th-century Christian saints Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II