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Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, presided over a thanksgiving Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica on October 21, 2024. The Mass was part of the celebrations of the canonization of three Maronite martyrs, the Massabki brothers: Francis, Abdel Mooti, and Raphael. These three were among the 11 Martyrs of Damascus canonized on Sunday. And the only three of the 14 newly canonized who were not religious.
“They can be role models for every layman. They show how much courage in the faith and perseverance for the faith can pay off,” Bishop Simon Faddoul told Vatican News.
[See the slideshow below for images from the celebration.]
The laymen were faithful supporters of the priests and religious working in the region, providing them with financial backing thanks to their successes in the silk trade and their family wealth.
In fact the three lay martyrs had another brother, Abdallah, who was a priest. He was the only one not martyred, as he was not with them at the time of their attack.
Simple, faithful lives
The three brothers had lived lives of simplicity, but great spiritual depth.
Francis was a father of eight children. While he was quite prosperous as a merchant, he was known for his generosity. He was very devoted to Our Lady and had taken refuge in the monastery to pray before an image of Our Lady of Sorrows, who had filled him with peace.
In the monastery, he received an offer from the militia to be set free, along with his loved ones and those who depended on him. Francis courageously replied:
“Sheikh Abdallah can take the money I lent him; he can also take my life, but no one can make me renounce my faith. I am a Maronite Christian, and I will die in the faith of Christ. As our Lord Jesus commanded, we do not fear those who can kill the body.”
Abdel Mooti was also a husband and father, and was a teacher. Before his death, he told his students about the grace of martyrdom and what it means. He was killed a few minutes after his older brother, also refusing to renounce his faith.
Finally, Raphael was the youngest of the brothers; he was not yet married and served the church as a sacristan. He was in a different part of the monastery than his brothers, and didn’t realize they’d been killed, but like them he refused to renounce his faith and joined them in heaven.
11 “Martyrs of Damascus”
In addition to the three laymen, there were eight religious recognized for their martyrdom, but the conflict took the lives of thousands.
Early in the summer of 1860, the predominantly Christian town of Zahlé in the Bekaa Valley, reputed to be impregnable, fell into the hands of Druze militias who set it on fire. Seeing their action go unpunished by the Ottoman Empire, which was supposed to protect religious minorities, the Druze continued their massacre for several days throughout Lebanon.
The pogrom continued in Damascus in July, where between 4,000 and 6,000 Christians were lynched by militias. Among them, members of the Franciscan convent of Bab Tuma were targeted on July 9 and 10.
The community’s superior at the time was Fr. Emmanuel Ruiz, a Spanish Discalced Carmelite. When the revolt broke out, he realized that death was inevitable. Fearing that the tabernacle would be desecrated, he went to the church to consume the Holy Species (the consecrated hosts). He was interrupted by the assailants and beheaded on the altar.
Seven other Franciscan monks were killed in the Damascus massacre: Spaniards Carmelo Bolta Bañuls, Nicanor Ascanio Soria, Nicolás María Alberca Torres, Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez, Francisco Pinazo Peñalver, Juan Jacob Fernández, and Austrian Engelbert Kolland.
The 11 martyrs of Damascus were beatified in 1926 by Pius XI.
3 of thousands throughout history
Bishop Simon Faddoul noted how the regions of the Holy Land are marked by the witness of martyrdom. “Many of forefathers paid with their lives for their faith. These three are known but thousands are not known.”
“We are proud of them. We want to encourage each other to persevere in the land … it has been watered by the sweat and blood of martyrs,” he said.
About 21% of Lebanon’s population is Maronite (within an overall Christian population of 32%).
As John Burger reported in this helpful article about Christians in Lebanon:
The Maronite Church traces its origin to the late 4th century, when a monastery was founded around the charismatic figure of the monk St. Maron. By the 8th century, the monks “moved with their band of followers into the remote mountains of Lebanon, where they existed in relative isolation for centuries.”
Because of the Crusades, the Maronites came into contact with the Latin Church in the 12th century. In 1182 the entire Maronite nation formally confirmed its union with Rome.
“There is a strong tradition among the Maronites that their Church never lacked communion with the Holy See,” explains Fr. Ronald Roberson, writing in The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey.
The Maronite liturgy is of West Syrian origin, but it has been influenced by the East Syrian and Latin traditions, Fr. Roberson explained: “The [liturgy of the] Eucharist is essentially a variation of the Syriac liturgy of St. James. Originally celebrated in Syriac, the liturgy has been for the most part in Arabic since the Arab invasions.”
Body of Christ
The martyrs canonized on Sunday are just a further emphasis of the unity between Maronite and Latin Christians.
“We feel that our Church is present in the universal Church worldwide. … We feel that all members are finding themselves as part of the Body of Christ,” Bishop Simon Faddoul said.
And today we celebrate...